As the title says, this was our last day spent at Pagham. We spent most of the morning packing up and getting ready to head out. After we'd gotten checked out, we headed around the harbour one last time before we headed back.
The wind was absolutely brutal, with gusty winds blowing across much of the area. This made looking at anything through the binoculars or taking any photos a difficult if not impossible challenge. We saw the mergansers in the same spot as we had all weekend, though at a further distance than before. Additionally we saw the large flocks of Linnets that Mark had seen over the weekend, with plenty of goldfinches mixed in. Various waders were along the tidal line, which was right the way in, so gave us good views of anything there. Redshank, Curlew, and Oystercatchers were the most common sightings. Also along the way we saw one lone little egret hunched down out of the wind.
We made the dam wall in good time and had a decent look around. More Redshank, Curlew and Oystercatchers were about, with a lone Grey Plover. On the right of the dam wall, there were plenty of waterfowl about, including Wigeon and Teal, a few Black-tailed Godwits, Lapwings, Great-crested Grebes, Cormorant, and heard a Cetti's Warbler nearby. We also got an alright look at the male Garganey through the binoculars, though he was huddled up against the far bank. With the high winds, photos were impossible.
On our way back I got a close-up view of a Kestrel as it battled the winds directly above Mark's head - winds making photos again just too difficult. We also spotted our first Little Tortoiseshell, which gave us good views and a chance to photograph something out of the wind :) And our last spot of the day was a lone Meadow Pipit. Here's a selection of the very few photos we managed this day:
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| Meadow Pipit | Curlew |
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| Small Tortoiseshell | Grape Hyacinth |
~Jen
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