29th - 31st August 2025

Sunday, 31st August: Remaining changeable; cloudy at first but soon becoming bright and breezy, with sunny spells and periods of heavy cloud, with the occasional heavy and squally shower, in a fresh SW wind force 3-4, increasing to 5-6 later.

Climping - Atherington: I basically stayed in and around Atherington, trying for some of the scarcer species, but in the end my efforts failed to locate anything too exciting, although a small highlight was finding a Kingfisher on the new (but private) wildlife pond. There were a few of the regular migrants about, including at least 12 Chiffchaffs, four Willow Warblers, several Whitethroats and eight Blackcaps, plus at least two Whinchats. Other regular species included Little Egret (3), Buzzard (2), Kestrel, Skylark (10), Green Woodpecker (3), Great Spotted Woodpecker (2) and Jay (3).

As it turned out, there were a number of other birders on the wider Climping patch this morning and I met up with four of them. They had managed to add a few more species to the overall tally, including two Redstarts, a couple more Whinchats - and eventually even a Pied Flycatcher in the same general area as I'd previously been successful some days ago. Can't win them all I guess!

The Kingfisher at the new wildlife pool Atherington

Jay and (below) Whinchat at Climping

The old Atherington sign that still exists, on a wall above a ditch near the Bailiffscourt entrance. It's overlooked by most folks that pass by, but I've looked at it many times over the years and felt I should at least document it for posterity. The hamlet of Atherington still partly exists - though nowadays included as part of Climping - but coastal erosion caused the majority of it to be washed away by the sea between the early 1600's to the late 1700's. A similar fate befell the adjacent hamlet of Cudlow, just to the west, where just a large agricultural field ('Cudlow's field') is now all that exists - and even that is subject to severe coastal erosion at the present time.

Saturday, 30th August: Another very changeable day of sunny spells, frequent grey cloud and some heavy showers, with blustery SW winds gusting at times up to force 6-7.

Elmer Rocks: There were many hundreds of gulls offshore in at least two massive flocks this morning, but mostly very distant and beyond identification range, though c.30 Gannets were amongst them, generally heading west. A Grey Heron flew east offshore and a couple of Little Egrets did likewise along the shoreline, but the most prominent species was Ringed Plover, with 45 feeding along the beach amongst the seaweed and including two colour-ringed birds. Oddly, there were just half a dozen Turnstones with them today, although a Common Sandpiper was a surprise as it flew up to settle on the rock islands. 

A Grey Wagtail flew west along the beach and a single Willow Warbler was in the tamarisk by the Kiosk, whilst a couple of Blackcaps and a Chiffchaff were in the bushes by the set-aside area, but generally there were very few small birds on offer. Other species seen included Buzzard (2), Green Woodpecker (4), Great Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch (5), Starling (150+) and Swallow (10).

Ringed Plovers on Elmer beach this morning: (above) colour-ringed juvenile and (below) colour-ringed adult

Ringed Plovers feeding on the beach, and (below) adult squabbling with a colour-ringed juvenile, whilst (bottom) Grey Heron flying east offshore

Friday, 29th August: Low pressure and changeable conditions now dominating, with heavy thundery rain and strong winds overnight and into the morning, followed by a period of sunshine with a moderate W/SW wind, before heavy showers and thunder returned by mid afternoon.

Climping - Atherington: I waited for the wind and rain to subside before venturing out about 0930hrs, when the clouds broke and some sunshine came through. It was very slow with few birds noted along the hedgerows at first, though it picked up just a bit later. A total of at least 14 Blackcaps were feeding in the berry bushes, but the only other warblers seen were a couple of Whitethroats, a Willow Warbler and two Chiffchaffs. A smallish gathering of Swallows and House Martins was present, then a Grey Wagtail appeared on the new wildlife pond - at exactly the same spot as previously reported three days ago - though it didn't stay long. Other species logged included Skylark (15), Buzzard (2), Kestrel, Wheatear, Goldfinch (12) and Linnet.

Grey Wagtail at Atherington (Climping) - in exactly the same spot as my last visit several days ago.

Bilsham farm: A brief visit to the reservoir - dodging the roadworks and the threatening weather - found an influx of Tufted Ducks with a total of 29 birds present, plus two Pochard and ten Little Grebes, whilst feeding around the edges were three Common Sandpipers and two Pied Wagtails.

Two of the three Common Sandpipers at Bilsham reservoir this morning

26th - 28th August 2025

Thursday, 28th August: A fine and sunny start to the day, with just a very light SW breeze and feeling quite warm, but soon changing to heavy cloud with showers and a brisk W/SW wind, interspersed with sunny periods.

Elmer Rocks: A lovely morning at first, the calm sea producing little except a large and distant gull flock way out, and a Great Crested Grebe closer inshore, whilst a small number of feeding Ringed Plovers and Turnstones were spread out across the rockpools and seaweed, along with three Little Egrets. Three Wheatears were also offshore, but all perched on the rock islands, as if in a departure lounge waiting to leave! 

Behind the beach, in the gardens, set-aside and hedgerows, were three Chiffchaffs (two singing), a Willow Warbler, a couple of Blackcaps, a Whitethroat and a Reed Warbler, although it was notably quiet for passerines, not helped by the increasingly blustery wind. However, perhaps the scarcest bird this morning was a Coal Tit, singing at times and showing briefly in the tree canopy - generally very scarce in this coastal corner of the county.

Wheatears looking out to sea from the offshore rock islands at Elmer Rocks and apparently ready to depart!

Wednesday, 27th August: A change to more unsettled conditions now, with heavy cloud and showers at times, periods of sunshine and quite fresh to blustery SW winds force 4-6, with the risk of thunder later.

Lidsey WTW area: After hoping it would rain for a such a long while now, when it came it caught me out and I got a good old soaking from a heavy and prolonged shower! However, the Wood Sandpiper was still present at the sewage works, but with contractors using heavy machinery at the entrance to the works near the favoured sludge pool, the bird soon flew off and out of view. At a small reservoir nearby were eight Gadwall, 15 Mallard, three Tufted Ducks and ten Little Grebes. In the bushes, small birds were remarkably few, but did include two Chiffchaffs, a Whitethroat or two, a Blackcap and a few Long-tailed Tits.

The Wood Sandpiper at Lidsey WTW area this morning

Bilsham farm: There were two Green Woodpeckers and eight Greenfinch around the donkey compound, plus a couple of unidentified Chiff/Willows chasing about, but again it was quiet for migrants here. At the reservoir there were still three Common Sandpipers, whilst on the water were 12 Little Grebes, two drake Pochard, 11 Tufted Ducks and 28 Coots.

(above) Green Woodpecker near the donkey paddock and (below) Tufted Ducks and two drake Pochard (with Coot centre foreground) on the reservoir.

Tuesday, 26th August: Grey and rather cloudy to start, with literally just a few drops of rain in a brief shower, then gradually brightening through the day to become moderately warm, bright and sunny, but with a fresh W/SW wind, gusting to force 5-6 later.

Lidsey WTW: I was joined by my long-standing birding friend (Bernie Forbes) for a look around some of the patch this morning. We started by following up on some information received and were delighted to find a splendid Wood Sandpiper just inside the sewage works, on a small area of rather murky flood water which was just viewable through the fence from the public footpath which runs alongside the works. A Pied Wagtail and a dozen Mallard were also present in this area, with a small number of Swallows overhead.

The Wood Sandpiper at Lidsey WTW this morning

Climping - Atherington: It proved to be disappointingly quiet this morning, with rather few migrants in the trees and hedgerows. We logged about three Blackcaps, the same of Whitethroats and Willow Warbler, a Chiffchaff or two, and a small group of Long-tailed Tits, before stumbling across a Coal Tit, a decidedly scarce species in this locality. Nearby, a visit to a newly-installed but private wildlife pond produced a Grey Wagtail taking advantage of this new habitat. A small gathering of Swallows and House Martins were also feeding in the vicinity and a Kestrel was also present. There was little else on offer that we could find however, so we then opted to leave the local patch and head for Pagham Harbour for a change of habitat.

(above) Coal Tit at Atherington and (below) Grey Wagtail on a new (but private) wildlife pond

22nd - 25th August 2025

Bank Holiday Monday, 25th August: After a fresh and slightly chilly start, it soon became a very warm and sunny day - and a Bank Holiday at that (!) - with prolonged sunshine, blue skies and a moderate SE breeze 3-4.

Bilsham farm: An early morning visit to the reservoir found it to be similar to my last visit, with three Common Sandpipers and two Pied Wagtails around the edges, and ten Little Grebes, two Mallard, a drake Pochard and 11 Tufted Ducks on the water. A mixed flock of hirundines was present; mainly Swallows but with a few House and Sand Martins, whilst at least two Willow Warblers were in the hedges.

Common Sandpiper (and Coot) at Bilsham reservoir

Climping - Atherington: It was notably quieter here this morning, during a fairly short visit, my highlights being a total of four Spotted Flycatchers, one at Bailiffscourt and three together in the trees at a nearby uncultivated field,  and also two Redstarts.  These apart, I logged just four Whitethroats, two Blackcaps, three Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff, with 50+ Swallows and about 20 House Martins over the fields.

(above) Spotted Flycatcher at Bailiffscourt and (below) Spotted Flycatchers in the trees at an uncultivated field, Atherington.

Saturday, 23rd August: Another fairly calm and pleasant day of sunny periods and cloud after a cool start and still remaining very dry. Wind light to moderate N/NW at first, soon becoming variable then backing to S/SW 2-3.

Climping - Atherington: Another early visit to the Atherington area, which started rather slowly but soon picked up when I re-visited yesterday's Pied Flycatcher site. It wasn't long before a Pied Fly showed, using the same hedge to drop down for a quick feed in the field, then returning to the safety of the hedge. However, any doubts I had had about two birds being present were quickly dispelled when I got a view of the two birds simultaneously dropping into the field, albeit well spaced apart, before one and then the other returned to the hedge. Also present were two Redstarts, one an obvious male.

I made a check of other areas and the set-aside for migrants, recording just a few Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Willow Warblers and a couple of Chiffchaffs, plus low numbers of hirundines, but including about five Swifts, but otherwise there was nothing exciting to report and I decided to move on.

Pied Flycatcher at Atherington this morning

Bilsham farm: There were three Common Sandpipers and two Pied Wagtails around the reservoir this morning, whilst on the water were nine Little Grebes, a couple of Mallard, three Pochard and 12 Tufted Ducks. A good number of hirundines were visiting to feed over the water before moving on, and in the time I was there at least 150 Swallows, 30 House Martins and 20 Sand Martins passed through. A couple of Linnets were on the perimeter fence, one of which was joined by two Willow Warblers, with a couple more of the latter nearby. A few Goldfinches and Greenfinches were also around but nothing out of the ordinary.

Common Sandpipers at Bilsham reservoir this morning (plus Pied Wagtail in lower image)

House Martins over the reservoir (above), Linnet with two Willow Warblers on reservoir fence and family of Goldfinches

Friday, 22nd August: A pleasant sunny morning, still very dry, but with the brisk NE wind that has dominated for some while finally abating, backing to a fairly light to moderate SW force 3-4.

Climping - Atherington: At last a change from the blasting north-easterly, and with it a change of fortunes which produced an interesting morning. I stayed in the Atherington area, initially finding a few of the commoner migrants, including three Chiffchaffs, each one singing briefly, until I stumbled across a pocket of activity in a long hedgerow near to the Bailiffscourt entrance.

First up was a female-type Redstart, before a second bird, a male, also appeared. As I was scanning, a more brown and white bird appeared, flicking out of the hedgerow to feed briefly on the ground, then back again, although more distant - but the white wing flash gave away its identity as a Pied Flycatcher. This sudden excitement saw me trying to watch whilst grabbing a few photo's - never my strong point - but I got some sort of images. 

Later, it transpired there were at least three Redstarts along this hedge and a fourth nearby, whilst what I assumed was the same Pied Flycatcher showed better and nearer, still flicking out of the hedge, to feed briefly on the field, then back again. However, on this occasion it struck me that the flycatcher seemed to show much more black in the wing than I recalled from my first views and I began to wonder if in fact there were two different birds, although I never actually saw them in the same field of view and hesitate to say for certain.

There were also a number of other migrants logged through the morning, as per my log below:-

Grey Heron - 1

Sandwich Tern - 2

House Martin - 25+

Buzzard - 3

Swallow - 50

Sand Martin - 20+

Swift - 1

Green Woodpecker - 3

Yellow Wagtail - 1+ heard

Wheatear - 6

Whinchat - 1

Skylark - 12

Pied Flycatcher - 1+

Redstart - 4

Whitethroat - 5

Blackcap - 2

Willow Warbler - 6

Chiffchaff - 3 (all briefly singing)

Pied Flycatcher in the field at Atherington, where it was back and forth to the hedgeline

This poor, rather blurry and fairly distant image of the initial flycatcher view seems to be different from the above two views, but it is hard to be certain.

Male (above) and female Redstarts this morning

Wheatears at Climping (lower pic with Blue Tit) and (bottom) Whinchat

19th - 21st August 2025

Thursday, 21st August: A brighter sort of day, with plenty of sunshine and white scattered cloud, but still with a brisk NE wind force 4-5, taking the edge off the temperature in unsheltered locations. 

Elmer Rocks: Only limited time available today, but an hour or so was enough, as wader numbers were much reduced after yesterday's good totals. I logged just a dozen Oystercatchers, 25 Ringed Plovers and a couple of Sanderlings, but I struggled to find a single Turnstone, although a Grey Plover flew over westwards. A Yellow Wagtail flew over calling, but remained unseen, and the bushes were generally quiet, producing four Whitethroats and four Willow Warblers. Three Green Woodpeckers, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a few Goldfinches and Greenfinches were the best of the rest. A nice Small Copper butterfly also caught my attention on the set-aside behind the beach.

Willow Warbler and Small Copper butterfly on the set-aside area behind Elmer beach

Elmer & Ancton: A brief visit to the Ancton horse paddocks area found things very quiet this morning, the highlight being a Raven, which flew over cronking but was only briefly seen as it passed overhead, quickly disappearing from view when it was obscured by the woodland edge. Other species recorded included Willow Warbler, Whitethroat (2), Swallow (4), Stock Dove (4), Green Woodpecker (2) and Goldfinch (10).

Stock Dove at Ancton horse paddocks

Wednesday, 20th August: Fairly similar to yesterday weather-wise; a cool, dry and cloudy start with a blustery NE wind force 4-5, especially along the coast, before becoming much brighter and warmer with sunny periods as the cloud eventually cleared.

Elmer Rocks: There was quite a gathering of waders this morning, roosting on the rock islands and adjacent beach as the high tide approached. Turnstones were the most numerous species and I counted at least 85, whilst there were also 40+ Ringed Plovers, eight Sanderlings and 23 Oystercatchers. Offshore, a total of five Sandwich Terns were moving back and forth and two Shelduck flew west, though it was otherwise quiet bar just a few Mediterranean Gulls and several Little Egrets, whilst along the rocks at the back of the beach were two Wheatears.

The persistent and blustery NE wind and bright sky that we have at the moment does no favours for the coastal birder, with most small birds laying low or keeping well hidden, and a search around the woods and fields behind the beach produced little. A total of two Blackcaps (one singing occasionally), five Whitethroats, four Willow Warblers, several Greenfinches, a few Swallows and two Jays were the best I could muster.

At Elmer Rocks this morning: Turnstones (above) and Oystercatchers (below) roosting near high tide, with Sandwich Tern (bottom) offshore.

The two Wheatears on the rocks at Elmer

Tuesday, 19th August: Cool, grey and cloudy again to start, in a brisk NE wind force 4-5, but warming up through the day as the wind eased a notch or so and some hazy brightness broke through, though remaining very dry.

Elmer & Ancton: A visit to the nearby horse paddocks this morning produced a nice Tree Pipit, which popped up conveniently on a fenceline for a short while, inviting a photo; not the best moment then for my little camera to flash up 'lens error' and malfunction! So be it - and this bird of the morning quietly slipped away.

It was generally fairly quiet here, but a total of eight Willow Warblers included no less than six chasing around in one large bush, whilst at least two Blackcaps and two Whitethroats were also nearby. Four Swallows overhead may have been resident birds that nested at the stables, and two each of Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were present. Six Greenfinches were very active and a noisy, presumably juvenile Buzzard was flying around giving begging calls and a second bird was more distant.

Buzzard over Lane End horse paddocks, Ancton

Bilsham farm: A quick visit to the reservoir didn't really pay off today and it was clear that a number of birds had moved on since my last visit yesterday. There was just one Common Sandpiper, eight Tufted Ducks, one drake Pochard and eight Little Grebes, so I called it a day and left early.

Today's Common Sandpiper at Bilsham reservoir