CROYDON RSPB MEMBERS' GROUP - TRIP REPORT

Foot and mouth disease restrictions claimed another casualty from our outings list - Stodmarsh was still closed - but a timely reopening at Pagham allowed us to restore this popular destination to our programme, following enforced cancellation of the early April trip.

After leaving balmy conditions in Croydon, we shivered under a mantle of cloud as we began our day at Pagham with a short circular walk around behind the visitor centre. Song thrush, reed warbler, blackcap and whitethroat were among the first birds seen, followed by lapwing, oystercatcher, curlew and redshank when we reached a viewpoint over the harbour. An early highlight followed when a presumed blackbird, ignored by most as it left pathside bushes to fly out over the saltmarsh, turned back and revealed a white flash across its breast before plunging into a thicket of nettles and brambles; another couple of half-decent flight views before it disappeared for good allowed us to verify the bird's identity as a ring ouzel.

Our next stop was to scan the Ferry Pool, where more lapwings, coots, black-headed gulls and a common sandpiper were to be seen and ringed and little ringed plovers on a bare muddy spit out in the middle provided an interesting side-by-side comparison. We were ready to move on when an unfamiliar tern-like bird floated gracefully over our heads and on over the pool to land amongst scattered weeds in an uncultivated sandy field beyond. We could scarcely believe what we were seeing - but this was unmistakably a pratincole! Scopes were focused on this most untypical of waders and, when it briefly took flight again, white trailing edges to the wings confirmed it as a collared pratincole, a summer migrant from Africa, normally coming no nearer to Britain than the Camargue and southern Spain (and last recorded at Pagham in 1977, as the warden advised us later).

The day had warmed up by this time, encouraging two or three wall brown butterflies and some blue-tailed damselflies to emerge onto the footpath as we heading down beside the western edge of the harbour. We took a timely break for lunch on the shingle spit at Church Norton, just as the incoming tide was forcing waders (oystercatchers, half a dozen bar-tailed godwits, ten turnstones, three dunlins and a flock of about twenty grey plovers), terns (twenty Sandwich and three commons), gulls (a large motley collection of mainly immature herrings and great black-backs) and cormorants to congregate on the few islands and short lengths of breakwater remaining above water. A little later on we were able to search the short grass and scattered bushes of the horse paddock, hoping for chats, but finding linnets, mistle thrushes and pheasants. A hobby also appeared and showed intermittently over the copse behind the priory for the next hour or more (could it be breeding there?). After a seawatch from the beach had produced only a great crested grebe and a moulting female eider on the water and a fulmar in flight, we gave up and began our return walk, picking up goldcrest, knot in summer plumage, great spotted woodpecker and three red-legged partridges at various points en route, before pausing for final looks at the pratincole, the undisputed bird-of-the-day.