There have been regular reports of  Canada geese at the recently constructed coastal flood area at

Medmerry so that’s where we’re off today for the first time in at least five years. It’s matured since the last visit and now has good car parks and well marked footpaths. It’s clearly popular with dog walkers and birders but we’re hoping to miss many of them by going early in the morning.

After a day of 50 knot winds in the Solent it’s still blowy and when we get to the beach the waves breaking are impressive, lots of spray glistening in the bright sunlight against a bright blue sky.

From the sea wall there’s an excellent view of both the tidal area and the water outside the wall. It’s outside where the birds are today, twenty or more geese are sitting there when we arrive. A flight of eight mallard take off, circle round then disappear to the north. Minutes later a skein of thirty or more other geese arrive and land. They don’t stay for long and soon lift off close by when this snap was taken. Surprisingly the tidal side is almost deserted, just a couple

of cormorants messing about.

There’s plenty of grass and scrub around but few flowers out, just the odd patch of Fleabane like this one. Naturally there’s plenty of flowers that have gone to seed but little colour. The grassland clearly pleases the skylarks as there are several around. For some reason they’re flying about quite close to the ground rather than soaring up in the sky where you cant see them, rather nice for a change!

 

Returning to the car park I noticed this plaque that marks this area as a First World War airfield. On the

adjacent board displaying a map is a reminder of the areas use in the Second World War, as a bombing range! Apparently when the tide is out it’s easy to find the bullets Spitfires fired as they practised shooting targets on the beach.