Gems and a Purple Heron.

Saturday 16th October 2021.

Some of the moths present in my moth box this morning including Angle Shades, Large Yellow Underwing, Black Rustic and Lesser Yellow Underwing. 

Well, it was a ‘Gem’ of a morning with not only some nice moths first thing today, but also catching up with the juvenile Purple Heron over the back of Pagham Village. I was toying with the idea of going into the New Forest for the Ring Ouzels, but I decided to shelve that for now and possibly try next week instead. I had to laugh again at the useless weather prediction for today’s weather on Good Morning Britain yesterday, that said it should be dry and sunny, as I drove from Pagham Village to Church NOrton in pouring torrential rain!

The two Gem moths in my moth box today. An infrequent visitor to my garden. 

Andy didn't join me today as he had other things to attend to and so I had a nice lay-in before I checked my moth box. Another reasonable haul of moths this morning including two cracking Gem moths, a regular immigrant moth from southern Europe and my first for the year. One is pretty good, but two is exceptional for me here in Southsea. The following moths were present this morning:

• 1 Cypress Carpet
• 3 Double-striped Pug
• 4 Angle Shades
• 8 Common Plume
• 3 Beautiful Plume
• 2 Pale Mottled Willow
• 2 Box Tree Moth
• 2 L-album Wainscot
• 2 Black Rustic
• 2 Gem
• 1 Lesser Yellow Underwing
• 1 Large Yellow Underwing
• 1 Light Brown Apple Moth
• 2 Tachystola acroxantha
• 2 Garden Carpet

While checking the moths, my first sighting of Redwing was had as a pair flew high south overhead, calling in while doing so. A Chiffchaff was calling in a nearby garden and a Meadow Pipit flew overhead too. I suppose I could have stood here for quite some time as there seemed to be a bit of a movement going on overhead, but I had bigger ‘fish to fry’!

The juvenile Purple Heron showing very well at the end of Summer Lane, Pagham.

The Purple Heron, off Summer Lane in the Village of Pagham, was on my radar, a bird that has been present in this area for well over a week and a good addition to my year list too. However, the weather was not looking good as rain was falling as I neared the site. A new Housing Estate is currently being built off Summer Lane (more countryside being ripped up for expensive new houses), but on a plus side, I parked up in a side road grabbed my binoculars and camera and made my way to the small bridge to the field where the Heron was feeding. Fortunately for me, a passing birder in his car told me the bird was still present, showing well and devouring rodents for breakfast!

More photos of the juvenile Purple Heron this morning.

To view the bird, one had to cross the small bridge over the river and then look from the Five-bar gate looking south. It did not take long for me to pick the bird up, skulking extremely slowly in a marshy area looking for more breakfast. Getting comfortable, using the gate as balance, I grabbed quite a few decent photos and film footage of this elusive bird at my leisure and was amazed on how stealthy the bird was, especially its head that it hardly moved. Then literally snake-like, it thrust out its dagger-like bill and grabbed a hapless Frog and quickly devoured it. I have only seen a handful of Purple Herons in my lifetime, the last was an adult flying over the Solent heading towards the Isle of Wight, which was NOT accepted by the Hampshire Ornithological Society (not a happy bunny over that one!).

Swallows resting on an overhead wire by the Water Treatment Works off Summer Lane.

The Swallows joined by a couple of Pied Wagtails.

While very happy with the Purple Heron now on my year list, I also saw a nice variety of birds here to keep me entertained. While walking along Summer Lane, a flock of 7 Skylarks flew low overhead and a flock of 6 Curlew headed north. A Siskin flew north along with a few small flocks of Meadow Pipits and as I crossed the bridge, a Kingfisher was heard, but not seen. After enjoying the Purple Heron, walking back towards the bridge, two Grey Herons landed near the river along with a single Little Egret, but all flew off as I neared. Both Cetti’s Warbler and Water Rail were heard only as was a Stonechat.

A couple of Grey Herons were scrapping for territory not far from where the Purple Heron was.

A Common Buzzard was near the Water Treatment Works.

The Water Treatment Works area held my attention as I could see a Common Buzzard perched on a fence post nearby and a small flock of Swallows perched on the overhead wire and were also joined by a few Pied Wagtails. A pair of Grey Wagtails were also seen in the area along with at least 6 more Pied Wagtails. A large flock of 50+ Goldfinches took off and landed in a bush by the perimeter fence and in a nearby hedge, I counted at least 5 Chiffchaffs with a small flock of Long-tailed Tits. Chiffchaffs were calling all over the place, though I was hoping for something more rare. A few Jays were noted flying over the countryside; now a familiar Autumn sight.

High tide in White's Creek, Pagham Harbour.

A Curlew in the midday sun close to the North Wall. 

Pintail flying in off the harbour heading north.

As I was not far from the North Wall area of Pagham Harbour, I could not resist taking a look along the harbour wall. The tide was up within the harbour and there were a lot of restless waders and wildfowl jostling for space on the remaining bit of mud. There was a good variety of birds here and my trip here kicked off nicely with good numbers of calling Wigeon in White’s Creek along with a few Great Crested Grebes on the water. A small flock of Brent Geese flew low over the water heading south. Waders here included Lapwing, Redshank, Grey Plover and also a flock of around 20+ Golden Plover, my first of the Autumn. A few Common Snipe also flew over, with another on the Breech Pool among the 44+ Black-tailed Godwits.

A preening Black-tailed Godwit and a sleeping drake Teal on the Breech Pool.

A Common Snipe (in the water) with Teal, Mallard and a Cormorant on the Breech Pool.

I walked up the bushes at Owl Copse and then made the return journey back to the car, just in time before the heavy rain came in. However, a few Reed Buntings and a male Kestrel were added to my day sightings here on the North Wall. I could not find one Cattle Egret here at this site, though at nearby Marsh Farm, there were 25 present. I expected the Cows were out grazing!

Common Knapweed was one of the few flowering plants along the North Wall.

My last stop of the day was Church Norton, for there was always a chance of a Ring Ouzel hiding in the shrubberies! Nope! To be honest, it was fairly quiet, especially the Churchyard where the only birds of note were a pair of Mistle Thrushes and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. The Churchyard was screaming for something like a Dusky Warbler skulking here! The harbour held at least a dozen or so Great Crested Grebes on the water and waders out on the spit in the harbour, including Grey Plover and a few Dunlin. I did find a lone Whimbrel on the edge of the salt-marsh having a bath and good numbers of Redshank were abundant throughout the harbour. I then took a walk towards the beach and the small pool adjacent to the Pony Field held a Greenshank and at least a dozen Teal. All the local Corvids and Wood Pigeons took off unexpectedly from the trees and hedgerows to the north as three Common Buzzards chased each other. My last notable sighting was a small group of 3 Siskins flying north over the woodland. Apparently, there was an adult Spoonbill in the middle of the harbour, but not seen by me. 

Storm clouds over Pagham Village in the distance.

Grey Plover in the harbour with Black-headed Gulls. 

Redshank in the harbour.

Greenshank in the small stream by the Pony Field.

The Whimbrel in the harbour viewed from Church Norton.

Though the weather looked very dark and bleak over towards Pagham Village, it was now sunny here and therefore made my way back home. Another superb morning's birding here in West Sussex and I was also keeping up with the 'Lazee Birders Group Whatsapp' page and their sightings of the Ring Ouzels at Leaden Hall, in the New Forest. The Pectoral Sandpiper was present again today at Oxey Marshes. Below, film footage of the superb juvenile Purple Heron.