Williamson's Weekly Nature Notes

Of course, many '“ like American waders '“ are blown, even across the Atlantic, just as monarch butterflies find themselves blown 3,000 miles. But many must have been helped.

Perhaps increased shipping traffic helps. Tired migrants of many species have been known to hitch a lift '“ after all, they readily land on light-ships to get a rest, where they have in the past been monitored and long lists of birds recorded in the North Sea.

News earlier in the new year told us of a red-breasted goose flying with the closely related Brent geese at West Wittering.

How wonderful to think that this exquisite little bird could have come all the way from eastern Europe on its own account.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette February 13