From scan of a transparency. Not a spectacular landscape, and I'm not expecting a lot of views, but many British birders will know of this place. It's part of the Pagham Harbour complex which also includes Church Norton, Pagham Lagoon, and other locations. Over the years I saw many rare or uncommon species there: it's tempting to list some of the rare waders especially, but the Gallery is not the place!
Though one bird must be mentioned. On 19 August 1984 there were about 12 of us (including for once all 3 of my close family who are birdwatchers) in or by the hide. The cry went up from someone scanning the telegraph poles set back from the pool: "Bee-eater on the wires!". We watched this exquisitely beautiful bird in a shimmering heat haze for about 10 minutes before it flew towards to the sea, never to be seen again. An official rarity back then, the record was duly accepted.
In the picture are a Shelduck, a couple of Coots, a Dunlin (on the sandbar a little to the left of the Shelduck), and a corvid in the grass. And in the centre a rarity for Britain: the wader is not a Snipe or Bar-tailed Godwit but a Long-billed Dowitcher. You'll just have to take my word for it!
Thanks for reading! I rarely think about what I might be doing if not housebound, but once in a while the thought occurs that there's nowhere I'd rather be than here, not just for the the rarities but because it's a place loved by both birds and birders.
