Waders and Winter Heliotrope at Ella Nore

Yesterday the tide was high at around noon and a stiff south wind was driving the sea up into Chichester Harbour sending great waves crashing over The Winner and Stocker’s Sand.  When the tide is high like that huge flocks of waders take refuge on Ella Nore, a shingle bank on the east shore of the harbour.  Most of them were hidden from view as I watched from the waterside path but every now and then a huge flock would take off and wheel back and forth over the water.  As they flew west they turned their pale undersides towards me and the whole flock flickered and flashed white.  Then as the turned back to fly east their duller grey upper sides showed and they almost vanished against the grey background of sea and sky.  Each time they flew back and forth a few times and then settled back down again out of sight on the far side of the Nore.  Why do they take off and fly about in these great flocks?  My first reaction is to look for a predator as flocking behaviour is done to confuse them, but I did not see one on this occasion and rarely does that turn out to be the cause.  Perhaps it is simply a jockeying for space as the rising tide crowds more birds into a smaller space or the arrival of more birds.  

It is not easy to identify birds when they are flying back and forth in a huge flocks on the move like that at a distance, but there were Dunlin, Turnstones, Ringed Plover and Grey Plover.  Additionally, on the shingle and not taking part in the flight were Shelduck, Curlew and Oystercatchers.  A solitary Little Egret sat on the bank in the salt marsh between the Nore and the shoreline.  

As I stood watching I became aware of a strong vanilla scent in the air around me and looked down and saw that I was standing next to a clump of Winter Heliotrope in full flower.  This is a naturalised plant that is now quite widespread.  It is one of those plants with a contrarian lifestyle, flowering when few other plants do.  Pollinating insects are few and far between at this time of year, but if the heliotrope is the only one in flower then it will have few competitors for their attention.  However on this occasion it was not the only plant in bloom.  All along the shoreline path Gorse was abundant and in full flower, a glorious sight on a progressively gloomy midwinter day.