West Wittering

A lovely day at West Wittering on Sunday.  Sunny, windy and a very high tide and very crowded with dog walkers.  I suppose the attraction is that everywhere else is so waterlogged that WW is an ideal place to bring the dog if you do not want it to get too muddy.   A small flock of Sanderling put in an appearance on the beach as we arrived, but did not stay long as the tide was racing in and it was getting crowded with people and dogs. I spotted one with a blue ring again, but not the red ring. Presumably it was the same bird.
With the tide coming in so high many birds had been squeezed off the foreshore and were taking to the fields.  Besides the usual flocks of Brent Geese, there were Oystercatchers, Dunlin, Curlew, Ringed Plover and Lapwings in the fields.
Water levels were high in Snowshill, too, but I am not sure if this is due to high tide levels, or the new sea defences retaining more water.  There were a few Teal, Wigeon and Lapwing there.  We were amused by a Carrion Crow which flew in with a large white object -a piece of bread? - which it stashed in the tussocky grass.  Having poked it in well, he pulled up tufts of grass and pushed them in on top.  Then stalked away.
Ella Nore was packed out.  Dunlin and Curlew were shoulder to shoulder and a nearby sailing boat was covered in Turnstones and group of eight Great-crested Grebe sailed by
Star turn of the day was, however, a Great Northern Diver out in the harbour.  Glad to get in out of the rough sea, I expect.
Part of the path to Ella Nore is bordered with old Oak trees, some now in danger of collapsing as the shoreline is eroded.  They have probably been here a long time.  A very common plant in the understory is Butcher's Broome, a key ancient woodland indicator plant.  But at one time Elm may well have been dominant; one section is now a sad avenue of dead young Elms.  There are suckers arising, but they too will no doubt succumb to Dutch Elm disease eventually.  On a brighter note, there was some Winter Heliotrope in flower at the end of the path.

East Head

The brilliant sunshine and blue sky brought out the crowds at East Head yesterday.  The crowds of people and dogs on the beach did not put off flocks of up to fifty Sanderling feeding vigorously at the water's edge at low tide.  They skittered back and forth, probing into the sand with their beaks and pulling up nice juicy lugworms.  It was not just the kids and dogs running around that they had to put up with; Common and Black-headed Gulls were crowding in looking for the chance to snatch a worm away and sometimes they succeeded.  Why can't they get their own lunch?  You have to admire the sheer tenacity of these little birds as they make the most of the opportunity to feed while the tide is at its lowest and the sand is uncovered.  Among them were two birds with rings.  Both had a blue ring on the right leg and one had a white ring on the left leg and the other had a red ring on its left leg.

There was little to see on the dunes apart from a small flock of Skylarks and that is probably due to the high level of disturbance on this Christmas holiday.  Snowshill was also quiet with small numbers of Wigeon, Teal and Lapwing.  With the tide out there were plenty of feeding opportunities elsewhere.  Work on the new sea wall here has ended with some tree-planting and landscaping.  It should now start to settle in and it will be interesting to see what effect it has on bird numbers. There was a huge flock of Brent Geese on the meadows and many of these moved round to fields north.of Roman Landing.  It is one of the great sights and sounds of Sussex wildlife to see and hear these flocks on the move.

We walked round to Ella Nore, but with the tide out so far and all the birds feeding at the water's edge it was hard to make out what they all were, but there were lots of Dunlin, some Curlew, Redshank, Grey Plover, Oystercatcher and Shelduck.  While most waders feed on the most recently uncovered mud at the water's edge, Bar-tailed Godwits prefer to get right in the water and wade about.  There were no birds on Ella Nore itself, not surprising as the tide was out.  When it is in this gets very crowded and it is fascinating to watch flocks flying in and out and struggling to establish a space for themselves.

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.