The week began with the saga of the Glaucous Gull which brought so much excitement when it appeared in the Harbour last week. After a couple of days stay the bird departed and it was expected that was the last it would be seen. However on Friday it reappeared on the beach at Church Norton looking a little sorry for itself. Reports were received that a glaucous gull with the left wing drooping had been reported from the Isle of Wight a few days previous. So it looked as the bird at Pagham had a little excursion. After it had been seen at Church Norton it flew off. The next day it was located on the spit and was rescued as it could not fly, and was taken to Brent Lodge but unfortunately did not recover.
On a more positive note the harbour has been full with birds over the last week with over 14,000 recorded on the month high tide counts. Over the week there have been 1000 Black Tailed Godwit, 3300 Lapwing, 1000+ Grey Plover, 2000+ Dunlin, 2300 Brent Geese, 600 Knot and 500 Golden Plover. Long staying celebrities continued to delight the public with the Ruddy Shelduck still floating around the Harbour and the Slavonian Grebe still present on Pagham Lagoon
If you have a little time, have a look at the end of the track from Church Norton Car Park, if you are lucky you may see UK’s smallest bird, the Firecrest. Despite it diminutive size, have a closer look as it is beautifully marked. Another surprised was the continued presence of the Nuthatch in one of our woodland areas.
The Warden, RSPB Crook of Baldoon