This mornings walk got off to a good start as soon as I got out of the car and heard a veritable dawn chorus of birdsong, really lively!
Lots of wildfowl about and plenty of variety but what was a little different was the number of Coots. There were at least 100 around the Lavant outfall; two large groups of 30 and others spread around. Quite a few knots were there too as well as a bird that looked rather like a spotted redshank but I couldn’t be certain. It did have a thinner beak and mottled markings, also quite slight; I hope it was a spotshank.
Richard Williams, writing in the Chichester Observer this morning, said that there were lots of Godwits in the channel “right now” Unfortunately none were to be seen today, maybe another day.
The first surprise was to see a Barn Owl float over the field surrounded by the seawall family close to the ground. It lifted up over the seawall where I could see it’s characteristic plumage, no doubt what it was, then it flew off northwards.
The second delight was to see a Kingfisher dart out from the outflow and away over the marsh towards the channel. The briefest flash of red then the iridescent blue as darted away.