Monday 1 February 2016

Pagham Harbour and beachcombing

Goose Barnacles, Lepas anatifera
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

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