Wednesday 22 November 2017

22nd - 24th November 2017

Friday, 24th NovemberThe wind died away overnight to leave a fairly cool, calm morning under mostly grey skies...

Selsey Bill: Very little was moving, but on the sea offshore there were four Great Northern Divers, four Common Scoters and at least nine Red-breasted Mergansers. Full log below...
(0745-0945hrs)  (AH/C&ME)
Great Northern Diver - 4os
Great Crested Grebe - 2os
Shag - 2E
Brent Goose - 6E
Common Scoter - 1E, 4os
Red-breasted Merganser - 7W, 9os
Mediterranean Gull - 3E, 6W
Razorbill - 3E
Pied Wagtail - 6N
Chiffchaff - 1p

Oystercatcher on the Oval Field at the Bill (AH)


Medmerry: Toe End - The Glossy Ibis was still by the building site today. Also, a female-type Black Redstart was along the nearby fences. (SH/J Harrington)


Ferry Pool: There were around 200 Lapwing on the pool and similar on the fields this morning, with a Shelduck and 40 Teal on the pool and c100 Wigeon on the back fields. (AH)


Lapwing (above) && Wigeon at the Ferry (AH)


Sidlesham churchyard area: A Yellow-legged Gull was on the grass in the Fieldgate campsite, and a Firecrest and two Redwing were down Church Farm Lane this morning. (A&YF)

Church Norton: The Velvet Scoter wasn't showing today, though there were two distant Common Scoters and a closer Slavonian Grebe offshore. (J Harrington)

Itchenor Pond: There was nothing of note here, with just a handful of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, plus a couple of Chaffinches noted. (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: There were a lot of birds in the creek at low tide, including many Wigeon, Brent Geese and commoner waders and gulls, though there was not too much out of the ordinary beyond a couple of Greenshank, 40 Black-tailed Godwits, three Red-breasted Mergansers, a Lesser Black-backed Gull and at least 100 Common Gulls.
Along the edges there were a couple of Rock Pipits and a Grey Wagtail, with a Stonechat, two Chiffchaffs, three Reed Buntings and half a dozen Yellowhammers in the bushes. (AH)


Rock Pipit (above), Yellow Wagtail, Yellowhammer, Stonechat, Chiffchaff, Red-breasted Merganser, Brent Goose, Lesser Black-backed Gull & Common Gulls at Fishbourne Creek (AH)









North Wall: On the Breech Pool there were two Little Grebes and around 60 Mallard, whilst along the Wall there was a small flock of seven Reed Buntings and a Cetti's Warbler was calling and in the field behind there were 120 Wigeon.
On the east side of Pagham Rife there was a flock of 44 Mute Swans who have now been joined by the two Black Swans, whilst on Honer reservoir the only birds to be seen were 56 Canada Geese. In a partially flooded field south east of the reservoir there was a flock of 19 Pied Wagtails and three Yellowhammers and in the adjacent field there were 23 Shelduck, and 52 Fieldfare were feeding on berries along Honer Lane. There were also two Kestrels and three Goldcrest along Church Lane. (JDW)

Fieldfare (above), Reed Bunting, Pied Wagtail & Kestrel around the North Wall (JDW)







Thursday, 23rd NovemberAfter a wet and stormy night, another bright and blustery day with a strong west-south-westerly persisting, gusting to near gale force.....


Selsey BillHighlight of the morning was a Red-necked Grebe, that went first east at around 9am and then back west again about half an hour later. 
Otherwise, there was a bit more going on than of late, with at least seven Great Northern Divers and a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers offshore and over 25 Great Crested Grebes west, whilst there was also a Chiffchaff in the ornamental garden. Full log below.....
0715-1245hrs:   (OM/C&ME/AH/MO-W/KF)
Red-throated Diver - 1E, 3W
Great Northern Diver - 7 os (moving back and forth)
Red-necked Grebe - 1E later flew back W
Great Crested Grebe - 29W
Shag - 2E
Gannet - 6W
Brent Goose - 4E
Red-breasted Merganser - 4E, 26W, 5os
Razorbill - 2E, 1W
auk sp - 10E, 4W
Kittiwake - 8W
Mediterranean Gull - 2E, 1W
Great Black-backed Gull - 42W
Pied Wagtail - 2W
Goldfinch - 12W
Greenfinch - 6 gardens
Chiffchaff - 2 gardens


Red-necked Grebe (above), Great Northern Diver, Great Northern & Red-throated Divers, Red-breasted Mergansers & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)






Chiffchaff at the Bill (Broadreeds ornamental garden) (OM)

Medmerry: Toe End - The Glossy Ibis was still by the building site today. (D & J Killick per SOS)

Ferry Pool: There were half a dozen Golden Plover among c200 Lapwings on the field, with 25 Teal and three Shelduck on the pool. (AH)


Golden Plovers and Lapwings (above) & Teal at the Ferry (AH)


Church Norton: A female-type Marsh Harrier was out in the harbour this morning, upsetting the many waders, whilst the Velvet Scoter, four Red-breasted Mergansers and ten Great Crested Grebes were in the main channel.
There wasn't too much else of note, though, with 800+ Brent Geese and c1000 Dunlin being the most obvious species in the harbour, and just a lone Red-breasted Merganser on the sea. (AH)
Also the Spoonbill was again in the harbour and two Eider were offshore this afternoon. (D & J Killick per SOS)



Marsh Harrier (above), Red-breasted Mergansers, Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plovers & Brent Geese at Church Norton (AH)





Wednesday, 22nd NovemberA bright, but very windy, day with a near gale-force southerly wind by late morning.....

Selsey BillVery little was moving this morning. Full log below (AH)
(0730-0815hrs)
Great Northern Diver - 1E
Gannet - 9W
Shag - 1E
Red-breasted Merganser - 1W
Razorbill - 1E
Mediterranean Gull - 1W
Pied Wagtail - 1W

Ferry Pool: There were a Redshank, a Shelduck and 30 Teal on the pool and c200 Wigeon and similar of Lapwing on the field. (AH)

Teal on the Ferry (AH)


Church Norton: The Velvet Scoter was still along the main channel this morning, but there wasn't too much else of note, though there were still large numbers of Brent Geese and Dunlin in the harbour. 
The Peregrine buzzed around upsetting everything, including at least 500 Lapwing and 100 Golden Plover on the far side of the harbour, 25 Avocets were in the main channel, a Red-breasted Merganser was near the harbour mouth and a big feeding frenzy of Little Egrets, Grey Herons, Cormorants and gulls was going on near Tern Island. (AH)
There were two Firecrests in the churchyard this afternoon and the Whiimbrel was in its usual patch. (AB)

Velvet Scoter (above), Avocets, Peregrine, Curlew, Dunlin, Lapwings, Dunlin, Grey Plover and Bar-tailed Godwits & Wigeon at Church Norton (AH)









North Wall: Had some great views of a Water Rail this morning in the first part of the Breech Pool - usually just heard but for once one was quite obliging and hung around for a few photos. 

Other birds present were 30+ Black-tailed Godwits, Teal, Wigeon, Mallards and a Cormorant struggling to dive in the shallow water. The fields held large numbers of Curlew, and Stonechats popped up and down along the fence line. Harbour side saw a large flock of Brent Geese fly in as the tide rose when I left and the last bird seen was the resident Kingfisher by the sluice gates. (G Whitehead)



Water Rail (above) & Black-tailed Godwit from the North Wall (G Whitehead)



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