Pagham Harbour and beachcombing

Goose Barnacles, Lepas anatifera

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

Thursday was a blue sky day so I headed off to Pagham Harbour to photograph a structure that a correspondent had spotted on my blog of 2011. Peter Kirk is interested in bombing ranges and believes it is the wreck of a WWII bombing practice target used in the harbour. I found it quickly and took photos which Peter believes confirm its identity. I saw 10 Herons next to a reed bed by North Dyke. Half were sitting on fence posts, the others were in the field or the adjacent ditch. There were over a thousand Brent Geese in a  nearby field.
  On Friday I visited the beach armed only with my camera phone as it was drizzly. I found many dogfish and a float with Goose Barnacles attached.
  On Saturday I attended the Sussex Ornithological Society's annual conference at Haywards Heath. As usual as very well organised event with four excellent speakers:

Return of the Red Kite - Keith Betton (VP of BTO, County Bird Recorder for Hampshire)
The British Birds Rarities Commitee - Nigel Hudson (secretary of BBRC)
Ashdown Forest, Special Protected Area - Steve Alton (Conservation Officer for Ashdown Forest)
Birding a Local Patch (Longham Lakes near Poole) - Dominic Couzens (Wildlife writer)

  On Sunday I attended a club dig in drizzle and found nothing! As compensation I visited the beach again and was delighted to find my first Barrel Jellyfish. These have been turning up in numbers on southern beaches recently. I also found three more clusters of Goose Barnacles attached to a plastic bottle and pieces of polystyrene.

Pagham Harbour:

Brent Geese, Branta bernicla

Brent Geese

Curlews, Numenius arquata

Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea

Grey Herons

8 Grey Herons

Mute Swan, Cygnus olor

Brent Geese, Branta bernicla

Redshanks, Tringa totanus

Sea Purslane, Halimione portulacoides

Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula

Wigeon, Anas penelope

Wigeon, Anas penelope

possible WWII bombing range target

Beach combing:

Edible Crab, Cancer pagurus

selfie!

Dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula

Goose Barnacles, Lepas anatifera

Goose Barnacles

flotsam

Oystercatchers, Haematopus ostralegus

East Beach cafe

Sunday:

Barrel Jellyfish, Rhizostoma pulmo

Barrel Jellyfish

Dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula

Dogfish

European lobster shell, Homarus gammarus

European lobster shell

Goose Barnacles, Lepas anatifera

cirrus of Goose Barnacle

Oarweed, Laminaria digitata

I think I have correctly identified the following two algae, but am open to correction.

Saw Wrack, Fucas serratus

Saw Wrack among brown algae, Bifurcaria bifurcata