Life in the saline margin
by Rob Yarham from on (#KRB5)
Church Norton, West Sussex As the sun comes out, a slim grey greenshank wakes from its slumber and starts to preen
The South Downs are hidden behind low cloud as wind drives the rain across the harbour. Raindrops fall on the brambles all around me and run down the ripening blackberries and blue-grey juniper berries. I put my hood up, cover the telescope and sit on a bench overlooking the harbour, sheltering among the bushes, to wait for the tide to fall.
It is hard to imagine now, but the harbour at Pagham once bustled with boats - from Roman times to the 14th century - until storms engulfed the area in 1341. The inlets began silting up and the channels became too narrow and shallow.
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