April 24 Combined - Flipbook - Page 18
Community news Hayling Herald
Chichester Harbour Conservancy
By Kate L’Amie
AS the tide ebbs out through
Chichester Harbour entrance, the
most overlooked of our harbour
habitats is revealed. Mud, glorious
mud!
It is so much more than just mud,
the mudflats of Chichester Harbour
are nature’s larder; one square metre
may contain up to 70,000 small
creatures.
They are a carbon sink and provide a vital food source for the
internationally important populations of wading birds and waterfowl
that spend their winters here. At
low water you’ll see curlew, godwits,
dunlin, plovers, redshank, avocets
and more, furiously feeding before
the tide comes in and covers their
food source.
What is on the mudflat menu?
Ragworms, lugworms, mud
shrimps, cockles and other shellfish are there for an all you can eat
buffet.
Different birds species have different preferences for food, with bills
specially adapted for their food of
choice.
The long, curved bill of a curlew
allows them to probe deep into the
mud where they feast on lugworms
and ragworms.
The up-turned bill of an avocet is
perfect for sifting through the top
layers of soft mud still covered by
shallow water where they find mud
shrimps and other invertebrates.
And the oystercatcher? Incredibly
some are adapted to hammer into
shellfish, others are adapted to twist
and stab, and they can even vary
between being right-billed or leftbilled.
Not only an incredible food
Oystercatchers Chichester Harbour mudflats
source for birds, the intertidal
mudflats provide a resting space for
the two species of seal that frequent
Chichester Harbour. Common
seals and grey seals spend time here
when the tide is low, resting, digest-
Pic: Shirley Rushmer
ing, socialising and even birthing
their pups (common seals).
Mud, glorious mud – food source
for birds, space for seals and an
important carbon store.
n Visit conservancy.co.uk
YOUTH
EDITION
the
of
Wednesday
Hayling Island, British Legion
7.30am, 9.00am, 10.30am, 5.30pm & 7.00pm
3–6 APRIL
WED/THURS/FRI:
7.30PM
SAT:
12 + 4PM
Saturday
Hayling Island, St Andrews Church
8.30am and 10.00am
PM
TICKETS
£12
HAYLING COMMUNITY CENTRE
www.haylingmusicalsociety.co.uk
BY L. FRANK BAUM
Contact Bev 07922 457610
WITH MUSIC AND LYRICS BY
HAROLD ARLEN AND E. Y. HARBURG
BACKGROUND MUSIC BY HERBERT STOTHART •
DANCE AND VOCAL ARRANGEMENTS BY PETER HOWARD •
ORCHESTRATION BY LARRY WILCOX • ADAPTED BY JOHN KANE
FOR THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
BASED UPON THE CLASSIC MOTION PICTURE OWNED BY TURNER
ENTERTAINMENT CO. AND DISTRIBUTED IN ALL MEDIA BY WARNER BROS
This amateur production of THE WIZARD OF OZ: YOUTH EDITION is presented
by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of
Tams-Witmark LLC.www.concordtheatricals.co.uk
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