Beechwoods

Vast areas of the western South Downs are covered in Beech plantation. Beeches are among my favourite trees, but, as in any plantation there is limited wildlife interest. Lovely as Beech trees are, these single age monocultures provide limited habitat for other species. Maturing trees like these at Eartham Woods cast a lot of shade and there is little ground flora over most of the forest. Here there is Soft Shield fern Polystichum setiferum and Bracken and Brambles. You will see and hear few birds in these woods, but wrens, robins and dunnocks inhabit the rides and we saw blue and great tits. You will occasionally see deer and we saw a young Roebuck sprint across the path just a few yards from where this photo was taken.

Chidham

The Chidham peninsular juts south into Chichester Harbour, bounded on the west side by Thorney Channel and on the east by Bosham Channel. It is part of the Sussex coastal plain and is flat, low-lying and mostly intensively farmed. In the centre is the straggling village of Chidham, now mostly gentrified. There is a small car park provided by the Chichester Harbour Authority half way down the east side and about 300m from the shoreline. There is a footpath along the shoreline which takes you around the whole peninsular, except for a small diversion around the Cobnor Activity Centre. When the tide is high the section from Cobnor Point west is impassable.

The best birdwatching is at Cobnor Point. When the tide is in large numbers of waders mass on a bank running southwest from the Point. Here you can see large numbers of Knot, Dunlin, Redshank, Grey Plover etc. from this point. Periodically they rise up in great flocks and wheal and turn before returning to the roost again. When the tide falls the flocks disperse over the mud and spread out over the banks to feed. On yesterday's visit there were also Oystercatchers, Turnstones and Little Egret. Out on the water and on the fields there were large parties of Brent Geese. In the waters of Bosham Channel there were four Great Crested Grebes, a Little Grebe and a "Redhead" (female or imm. Red-Breasted Merganser or Goosander).

Inland there is little of note in this intensively farmed landscape, but I did see two Roe Deer and a Buzzard near the car park. There is more to see on the east side than on the west and there are also nice views across to Bosham and Itchenor on the east side making it a more pleasant walk.