Avocets, Bonelli’s Warbler and a Chaffinch

Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs

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Yesterday I visited Pagham Harbour in the vague hope that the Long-eared Owl was still there. Many others had the same thought! Apparently it was showing well on a tall gorse branch set back from the path by the visitor centre on Sunday and Monday morning, but was less visible when the wind increased Monday afternoon. I enjoyed my wander around the reserve, seeing a Whitethroat and my first red Admiral and Comma of the season. The Comma was in aerial combat with two much larger Peacocks and saw both of them off.  There were plenty of Peacocks (butterfly variety) around. A Chaffinch proclaimed his territory from the top of a gorse tree. I saw my first Avocets since Pensthorpe on the mud flats of the Ferry Pool when I checked the hide.

A birder told me the Bonelli’s Warbler was still at Church Norton so I headed there. It was easy to find as there were a dozen or more borders at the back of the hide. The bird was difficult to see and there were other warblers around, but every so often it showed itself 70 metres away, but never stopped still for more than a few seconds. A Willow Warbler landed near me so I grabbed a shot.

Avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta

Avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta

Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs

Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs

Comma, Polygonia c-album

Greenfinch, Carduelis chloris

Magpie, Pica pica

Peacock, Inachis io

Red admiral, Vanessa atalanta

Redshank, Tringa totanus

Redshank, Tringa totanus

This Redshank kept bobbing up and down and pursued another nearby, which then flew off.

Western Bonelli's Warbler, Phylloscopus bonelli

Whitethroat, Sylvia communis

Willow Warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus

reflections