It’s Friday so it’s off to Church Norton for a quick walk before picking up some fresh fish from Julie’s for

dinner tonight. It’s another grey day with little wind but the neap tide is close to high water so we’re hoping to see some wildfowl in Pagham Harbour.

We’re not completely disappointed as there are a few wigeon about as well as some Brent Geese, as always! The harbour is quite large so the birds seem to spread out over a large area, much of which is not that accessible. We only see relatively few close to the spit that leads to the entrance, there may be more out of sight; no sign of any waders. If you’re used to Fishbourne it seems a little disappointing as is often the case.

Out on the shingle there are several fishermen who have erected a couple of tents. Whether they’ve stayed the night or have arrived early in the morning to catch the incoming tide is not known; they don’t seem to be particularly active. Perhaps they’ve nearly finished, or perhaps it seemed like a good idea at the time but didn’t work out in practise. Either way there’s a cold breeze from the east so I’m sure they appreciated being able to get out of it from time to time.

Amongst the shingle there are a few strongly growing plants making striking splodges of bright green on an otherwise bare, stony landscape. The Sea Cabbage remains in large clumps, whose leaves are almost

evergreen; well they haven’t died off yet. There are also some clumps of Beach Poppy with plenty of green leaves supporting some dried up stalks; the last mortal remains of flowers that died months ago.

Returning through the lane past Pigeon Farm the collection of old vehicles seems to grow with every visit. The rusting shapes of dumper trucks, excavators and rollers may be fascinating but they’re going to be a nightmare to remove when the owner finally gives up.

Amongst the undergrowth on the side of the path was this log with a particularly attractive fungi growing from it’s side. It appears to be a Branching Oyster which is edible but I’m not inclined to take a chance yet as my mushroom identification is in it’s infancy.