NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

Two weeks ago I was in West Sussex, on a beautiful sunny day in which I met up with a couple of friendly faces from my birding past ( you can read about it here ). I took a detour on my way home, to Shoreham, to see plant that I have long lusted after, Starry Clover (pictured above). The drive was a lengthy one considering the short distance, and the traffic seemed to be back to pre-Covid levels, with plenty of queues, hold-ups and busy junctions. I crawled into Shoreham - the clover's home - and parked up by the fort, to be greeted by hundreds of people flopping about the beach, strolling the paths and enjoying ice-creams, drinks and the sun. My clover quest was a rushed affair, due to the species being by a busy footpath, with my self-conscious attempts to photograph the flowers drawing plenty of bemused attention. I then, rather reluctantly, walked some 500m to check on a site for Childing Pink, at a small cordoned off area of sandy ground, along the harbour's edge. It was h...

Back in the mid-1970s one of my regular haunts was Pagham Harbour (above), courtesy of a train and bus ride. I tried to visit once a month, sometimes twice, and can safely say that it became a special place for me. Over the years the visits became infrequent, and until today had last made the trip in 2010. Another was therefore long overdue. It was quite an emotional day. I arrived at 05.30hrs accompanied by a light that was ethereal. A clear azure sky turned water and wet mud into liquid mercury and silver, the stillness amplifying the cries of the nesting gulls and terns across the harbour. Throughout the visit I was serenaded by an urgent murmur coming from the colony, on two occasions being startled by the birds as they were spooked, a sudden roar, not unlike a jet aircraft, which died as quickly as it began. Mediterranean Gulls, Sandwich, Common and Little Terns patrolled the water between harbour and sea, sharing the skies with the ubiquitous Black-headed. A Peregrine hunted out ...