Monday 28 July 2014

28th - 29th July 2014

Tuesday, 29th July: Cloudy at first with a NW breeze force 3; some sunshine forecast later. After the success of 'our' Black-winged Stilts, news now comes of another Mediterranean species breeding on the south coast nearby............ Bee-eaters have nested and are raising young on the Isle of Wight (thanks to SR for first bringing this to my attention). The news has now been widely released on the birding media so I won't repeat the full location here, but it just goes to show how things are changing .... a near miss for the Peninsula, so perhaps next year!! (OM).

Selsey East Beach/area:  (SR)
Eider - 1 ob (moulting fem. present for some weeks) 
Wheatear - 1 ob
Ringed Plover - 1 ob. before flying E
Turnstone - 35 ob
Little Egret - 1E
House Martin - 27 + 1 active nest
Swift - 11
Linnet - 1 ob
 
Selsey Bill (07.15 - 08.15hrs): cloud, wind N3  (Obs: SR)
Gannet - 8E, 2W
Oystercatcher - 8E, 2W
Common Scoter - c.100 os
Sandwich Tern - 12 os (inc 2 juv)
Common Tern - 12 os
Turnstone - 3 ob
 
 Moulting Eider off East Selsey (SR)
 
Ferry Pool: This morning there were 3 Common Sandpipers, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, a Kingfisher, 2 Lesser Whitethroats and a Great Spotted Woodpecker on or around the Ferry (CRJ) By mid afternoon there were 5 vocal Common Sandpipers,  still 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 3 Black-tailed Godwits; 18 juvenile Shelduck, 29 Lapwing, 1 Kestrel and a Buzzard (SR).
 
Church Norton: Around the bushes there were 2 Willow Warblers, 3 Blackcaps, a Whitethroat carrying food and a Song Thrush. In the harbour there were 1 Greenshank, 2 Sanderlings, 3 Whimbrel, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit and 111 Dunlin. There were 70 Sand Martins over and what is presumably the Chichester family of Peregrines were also in the harbour. (CRJ)
 
Pagham Spit: The Little Tern colony on the Spit still appears to be thriving - at least 20 birds were airborne at one stage, including half a dozen juveniles, and there were still several youngsters being fed on the shingle, too. Also there were a few Sandwich Terns about, families of both Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover with young, and 20+ Turnstones. There were a few Willow Warblers along the gorse, too. (AH)

Little Terns on Pagham Spit (AH)


Pagham Lagoon: Around the Lagoon this morning there was a juvenile Great Crested Grebe, 5 Mediterranean Gulls, 3 Common Sandpipers and 16 Little Grebes. (AH)

Juvenile Great Crested Grebe (above) & Mediterranean Gulls on the Lagoon (AH)

North Wall: The water level still seemed high this morning and the only waders present were 45 Black-tailed Godwits. A pair of Common Terns were feeding along the Breach Pool and half a dozen Teal and a few Sedge Warblers were present, too.
In the harbour there were 6 Yellow-legged Gulls and 20 Mediterranean Gulls, and around White's Creek there were 2 Whimbrel, 1 Common Sandpiper, 20 Curlew, 60 Dunlin and 50 Redshank. (AH)


Medmerry: Easton Lane - Earnley flood pool: The 5 Black-winged Stilts were again present, plus 21 Yellow-legged Gulls, 4 Little Ringed Plovers, 3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Green Sandpiper, 21 Dunlin and 3 Yellow Wagtails (DIS/DM). 
This evening in the same area there were 14 species of wader on show - 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Ruff, 3 Green Sandpiper, 4 Common Sandpiper, 4 of the Black-winged Stilts, 20+ Avocet (inc 4 pairs with young), 16 Little Ringed Plover, 40 Dunlin, 2 Grey Plover, 11 Sanderling, 1 Black-tailed Godwit and a few Lapwing, Redshank and Oystercatcher.
Also present were 2 Wheatear, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker,1 Green Woodpecker, 20+ Sand Martin, 30+ Swallow, 2 Buzzard, 3 Kestrel, 2 Yellow-legged Gull and 30+ Mediterranean Gull, along with 24 Hares and 5 Clouded Yellows. (S&SaH)

 Medmerry:- The Black-winged Stilt family, and a young Coot (DM).






Two views of the iconic Spitfire over Medmerry today (DM).



Monday, 28th July: A cooler, grey start to the week, with a brisk north-easterly and thunder rumbling ..... then the skies blackened, yet somehow the Peninsula missed out on the severe morning thunderstorms and flash floods that hit the county just a little further along the coast at Worthing and all points east! As the cloud eventually subsided it became warm, sunny and humid by afternoon, before the threat of more thundery showers later.

Selsey Bill (0830-1000hrs): Thundery with heavy cloud and sunshine. Wind NE3. (Obs: OM/BFF) We were kept on our toes trying to assess whether the ominous black clouds would give us a soaking at any minute, but in the event they didn't. The birding was very slow save for the unusual appearance of a Green Woodpecker along the beach!  Log....
Gannet - 4E
Common Scoter - c.150 os
Dunlin - 1W
Green Woodpecker - 1W along beach; later seen in gardens
Common Tern - 12 os fishing
Sandwich Tern - 5 os fishing
Swift - 6 p
 
 
Two views of the weather at the Bill this morning from the same spot: (above) looking east (left) where ominous thunder clouds are gathering, and (below) looking west (right) with the bright sunshine playing down on the Isle of Wight, highlighting the white Culver cliff (OM).
 
Selsey: A Common Tern was over our house in the middle of Selsey - a rare occurrence despite them being regular on the nearby coast. (SH)
 
Ferry Pool: The Ferry would appear to have been refilled with water from the harbour and, predictably, wader numbers have dropped right away - the sum total this morning being one Common Sandpiper, one Dunlin and one Lapwing! (AH) A bit later things had improved slightly; a couple of Avocets, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 12 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Dunlin, 14 Lapwing, 9 juv Shelduck and a Stock Dove (OM/BFF/SR).

Common Sandpiper on the Ferry (AH)
 
Church Norton: Still at least 50 Sandwich and 30 Common Terns in the harbour, plus 30 Dunlin, 3-4 Whimbrel and a dozen Curlew. A juv Peregrine practised a sortie across the mudflats without much success except for disturbing everything. Not much activity in the bushes around the hide/churchyard area - a family of Song Thrushes on the elderberries, a couple of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, two Willow Warblers calling and a few juvenile Robins and Blackbirds was about it. (AH/BFF/OM)

Song Thrush at Church Norton (AH)
 
This evening there were 60+ Sandwich Terns, 20+ Common Terns, 4 Little Terns, 2 Mediterranean Gulls (and a juvenile on the beach), a Common Gull, 3-4 Whimbrels and 20+ Dunlin in the harbour and 50+ Swallows/Sand Martins and half a dozen Swifts over. (AH/S&SaH)

Juvenile Mediterranean Gull at Church Norton (AH)
 
Medmerry: Two mature gentlemen took the long stroll (at a sensible pace) from Easton's Lane - Earnley flood pools ('Stilt pool') and then most of the way towards the breach, by which time the weather was warm and sunny. En route we passed BI on his pushbike, enviously eyeing up his mode of transport. Birding highlights were all 5 Black-winged Stilts (2 ads, 3 juvs) together and showing quite well for a time, a Wood Sandpiper on a saltmarsh pool (viewable from beach) and 15 Yellow-legged Gulls roosting on the mudflats (only one juv, all the rest ads or near-ads) - views of the latter being somewhat hampered by a serious heat haze. The clear non-avian highlight was a count of at least 20 Clouded Yellow butterflies which obviously find this habitat to their liking! Back-up birds included a Green and 5 Common Sandpipers, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 12 Dunlin, 4 Avocets, 2-300 Linnets, 40 Pied Wagtails, 3 Kestrels, 3 Buzzards and several Yellowhammers (OM/BFF).

Clouded Yellow, Medmerry (BI).

Wood Sandpiper, Medmerry (BFF). (This record shot is the best we could do between us in the circumstances, even though we both had a camera. I wouldn't even publish mine! OM)

Chichester Gravel Pits: lunchtime. Not much about - family parties of Long-tailed Tits and Chiffchaffs, a single Willow Warbler and all 3 species of hirundine over Ivy Lake with a single Swift - but the highlight was a pair of Kingfishers that were very active around Nunnery Lake. Quite a few Common Blue Damsels present along the main path near the road. (AB)

Kingfisher (above) & Common Blue Damselfly at Chichester Pits (AB)

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