Spring arrivals and our own ‘reality TV’ stars

Spring has arrived and our first summer migrants are arriving. Wheatears have been touching down on our shingle beaches and in open farmland across Pagham Harbour and Medmerry. The smart little males have a grey crown and back, black wings and an orange flush to the breast. Sporting a black patch through its eye and a white stripe above, it flashes its white rump as it flies ahead. It is this flash of white that gave rise to its name, the Old English for ‘white’ being ‘wheat’ and ‘arse’ being ‘ear’.

Chiffchaffs, the first of our warblers to arrive, have been singing from the treetops. Warblers can be tricky to tell apart and are often tagged with the unfortunate nickname of ‘little brown jobs’ or ‘LBJS’. However, the olive-brown chiffchaff with its dark legs can be easily identified when it sings, repeating its name ‘chiff, chaff ’ over and over as regular as a metronome.

Soon our countryside will be alive with birdsong, as each species claims

its territory and tries to attract a mate and gives rise to the springtime phenomenon of the ‘Dawn Chorus’.

There is something very special about witnessing this natural event first hand, from a single voice breaking the silence in the dark, which is gradually joined by each species like instruments being introduced in a symphony, until the full orchestra reaches its crescendo as the sun climbs higher in the sky.

If you would like to experience the Dawn Chorus yourself, join our Warden in a secret part of our reserve on Sunday 05 May.

For more information pop into our Visitor Centre on the B2145 or visit www. rspb.org.uk/paghamharbour

Meanwhile, the kestrels have taken to their nestbox again and we’ve witnessed the male offering the female food on the nest-cam. We also have a second pair of blue tits on the nestcams bringing in nesting material.

However, the new star of the our ‘reality show’ is a beautiful tawny owl. She is currently sitting on eggs, although being very coy as to how many!