Birdwatching

Where to watch birds in and around Littlehampton

Birdwatching in the Littlehampton area benefits from the town's position at the meeting point of several different habitats. The sea, the beach, the river estuary, the water meadows, the hedgerows of the surrounding farmland and the gardens of the town itself each support different bird communities, and a day's birdwatching that takes in all of these habitats can produce an impressive species list.

The harbour mouth and the adjacent beaches are the best places to watch seabirds and coastal species. Gulls are the most obvious, with herring gulls, black-headed gulls, great black-backed gulls and common gulls all present throughout the year. Terns, including common terns and sandwich terns, appear during the summer breeding season, fishing in the shallow waters and resting on the beach between dives. In winter, the sea off Littlehampton may hold divers, grebes, scoters and other seabirds that come inshore to feed.

The River Arun estuary is the richest birdwatching site in the area, particularly during the autumn and winter months when migrant wading birds arrive from their breeding grounds in the Arctic and sub-Arctic. The mudflats exposed at low tide provide feeding grounds for curlews, redshanks, dunlins, grey plovers and a variety of other waders. The best viewing points are along the riverside path, where the walker can scan the mud from a slight elevation, using binoculars or a telescope to identify the feeding birds.

The water meadows upstream of the town, particularly in the Arun valley between Littlehampton and Arundel, attract wildfowl and raptors during the winter. Flocks of wigeon, teal, shoveler and other ducks graze the flooded fields, and the presence of large numbers of birds attracts predators, including peregrine falcons and marsh harriers. The sight of a peregrine stooping on a flock of waders over the estuary is one of the great wildlife spectacles of the south coast, and Littlehampton birders see it regularly during the winter months.

Spring and summer bring a different cast of characters. Swallows and house martins arrive from Africa in April, hawking insects over the river and the open fields. Cuckoos, increasingly rare in many parts of England, still call from the hedgerows and woodland edges of the Arun valley. Nightingales sing from the dense scrub along the river, their song one of the most celebrated sounds in the natural world, heard in the gathering dusk of a May evening.

For beginners, the Littlehampton area is an excellent place to start birdwatching. The variety of habitats within a small area ensures that there is always something to see, and the relatively flat terrain makes walking easy. Binoculars are the essential tool, and a field guide to British birds will help with identification. The RSPB and the Sussex Ornithological Society both provide resources for beginners, and the local birding community is generally welcoming to newcomers who show interest and enthusiasm.

Birdwatching contributes to conservation through citizen science programmes such as the BTO's Garden BirdWatch and the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch, which gather data on bird populations and distribution. The records submitted by birdwatchers in the Littlehampton area contribute to the national picture and help guide conservation priorities.