Monday, 3rd November: A mild, but mostly overcast morning, with occasional heavy showers in a brisk south-westerly breeze.....
Selsey Bill: What was presumably the Black-necked Grebe seen recently off Church Norton popped up on the sea quite close inshore this morning, whilst other highlights included a Spoonbill going east over the gardens, a Bonxie going west, one or two Red-throated and Great Northern Divers, a Kittiwake sat close in and plenty of Gannets and Razorbills. Full log below. (IP/AH/P&LH/AW/ML)
(0715-1000hrs) (SW, F5-6)
Great Northern Diver - 1E, 2W
Red-throated Diver - 1W, 1os
Black-necked Grebe - 1os
Great Crested Grebe - 14W
Gannet - 196W
Common Scoter - 2W
Red-breasted Merganser - 1W
Oystercatcher - 1
Turnstone - 10
Great Skua - 1W
Mediterranean Gull - 2E, 22W, 1os
Common Gull - 3W
Kittiwake - 1os
Razorbill - 154W
auk sp - 103W
Pied Wagtail - 2W
Rock Pipit - 1
Black-necked Grebe (AW), Kittiwake (AW top two, AH middle, LH lower), Bonxie, Great Northern Diver, Red-throated diver, Razorbills, Gannets (AH) & Mediterranean Gull (LH) at the Bill
(1120-1250hrs) (P&LH)
Great Northern Diver -
Great Crested Grebe - 2os
Gannet - 207W, 40os
Oystercatcher - 1
Mediterranean Gull - 15W
Kittiwake - 8W
Razorbill - 59W
Three Great Northern Divers were offshore at 1330hrs. (MRe)
(1400-1500hrs) (P&LH)
Gannet - 23W
Shag - 1W
Oystercatcher - 3
Mediterranean Gull - 12W
Kittiwake - 4W
Guillemot - 2W
Razorbill - 4W
Gannets (above) & Mediterranean Gulls at the Bill (LH)
Ferry Pool: There were five Avocets on the pool this morning, along with c25 Lapwings, c40 Shovelers and c70 Teal. (AH)
Avocets (above) & Teal on the Ferry (AH)
Church Norton: It was very quiet in the harbour, with seemingly almost everything roosting up at the other end currently, with the exceptions being two Greenshanks, c40 Redshanks, a handful of Curlews and a dozen or so Wigeon and Teal, plus a couple of Great Crested Grebes, whilst the equally quiet hedges just yielded a Blackcap, a Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest among a large flock of Blue Tits. (AH)
Greenshanks, Redshanks and Teal (above) & Blackcap at Church Norton (AH)
Honer reservoir: Having checked a couple of likely spots previously, which produced nothing more than a Goldcrest, I decided on a visit here, but that also proved to be disapponting, with nothing more than four Mute Swans, ten Coots, three Shelduck, two Teal, two Mallard and three Little Grebes, plus a Chiffchaff and a Grey Wagtail which flew over. (OM)
East Head: There were c600 Brent Geese in the harbour this morning, along with c550 Wigeon and c100 Teal, whilst waders included seven Greenshanks, c40 Bar-tailed Godwits, c150 Black-tailed Godwits, a Snipe, 17 Knot, c145 Dunlin,, c40 Curlews, c50 Lapwings, 16 Golden Plovers, 15 Grey Plovers and c95 Ringed Plovers.
There were also six Sandwich Terns, a Common Gull, two Mediterranean Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull, with a Gannet offshore.
A Water Rail was around Snowhill Creek, whilst passerines included two Firecrests, four Goldcrests, a Chiffchaff, three Stonechats, a Rock Pipit, three Meadow Pipits, 95 Linnets and two Reed Buntings, plus a Redwing over. (PA)
Sunday, 2nd November: After heavy overnight rain, a reasonable morning of sun and cloud in a moderate westerly breeze.....
Selsey Bill: An Arctic Skua and three Little Gulls went west and there were still plenty of Gannets and auks moving about this morning, with a fair few Skylarks going north, too, and two Black Redstarts and a Rock Pipit dropped in. Full log later. (SH/BI/PB/MRB/IP/AH/CRJ/ML)
(0700-0900hrs) (W, F4-5)
Great Northern Diver - 1os
Red-throated Diver - 1W
Great Crested Grebe - 2W
Gannet - 2E, 190W
Shag - 5E, 1os
Brent Goose - 1E
Common Scoter - 3E
Oystercatcher - 3W
Sanderling - 6W
Turnstone - 10
Arctic Skua - 1W
Little Gull - 3W
Mediterranean Gull - 3E, 12W
Common Gull - 2W
Guillemot - 1W
Razorbill - 191W
auk sp - 447W
Skylark - 68N
Pied Wagtail - 2
Rock Pipit - 1
Meadow Pipit - 4W
Black Redstart - 2
Redpoll - 1W
Goldfinch - 40
Arctic Skua (above), Red-throated Diver, Kittiwake, Black Redstart & Rock Pipit at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: Three Avocets were on the pool this morning, along with a Snipe, eight Lapwings, three Shelducks, c30 Shovelers and c60 Teal, whilst a female Stonechat was along the edge. (AH/PB/MRB)
East Beach: The juvenile Turtle Dove was still in Marine Drive this morning. (SR/IP/BI/PB/MRB)
Turtle Dove with Collared Doves at East Beach (BI)
Park Farm, Selsey: There were two Firecrests in Park Lane this morning. (MRe)
Church Norton: There were c40 Brent Geese in the harbour at high tide this morning, along with a few Pintail, Wigeon and Teal, with c30 Grey Plovers, a Kingfisher, a Little Grebe and three Great Crested Grebes also about,
A female Marsh Harrier and a Sparrowhawk went over, but two Redpolls over and a Jay were the only passerines of note. (PB/MRB)
Earlier, there was a bit of visible migration over the Severals area, including34 Redpolls, 56 Siskins, 38 Linnets, 223 Goldfinches, 13 Chaffinches, 28 Meadow Pipits, two Grey Wagtails, 15 Pied Wagtails, 12 Skyylarks and three Goldcrests, with half a dozen more, a Reed Bunting, two Chiffchaffs, two Cetti's Warblers and two Stonechats in the hedges and two Water Rails calling from the reeds. (MRe)
This afternoon, two Curlew Sandpipers were along the west side, before they flew off, calling. (PA)
Curlew Sandpipers at Church Norton (PA)
Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: A Red Kite went over Marsh Farm early this afternoon and a Black Redstart was at the Chalder Farm Cottages, on Chalder Lane. (SR)
North Wall: The Wheatear was still along the wall this morning, together with a couple of Meadow Pipits and at least six Rock Pipits, two Yellowhammers, but up to ten Reed Buntings, a Pied Wagtail, two Chiffchaffs, two Stonechats and a couple of calling Cetti's Warblers were about it otherwise, whilst two Marsh Harriers were over the fields and the Breech Pool just held three Little Grebes, five Shovelers and a dozen Mallards.
There were lots of waders in the harbour, though, including two Spotted Redshanks, c40 Black-tailed Godwits, c100 Redshank, c40 Grey Plovers and Knot, 100 Dunlin and c50 Lapwings, and wildfowl, too, including 22 Brent Geese that flew in, c30 Pintail, c100 Wigeon and c200 Teal.
There were also three Goldcrests, four Meadow Pipits, two Skylarks, two Green Woodpeckers and a Kestrel at Halsey's Farm, another Goldcrest along the lane and the odd sight of a tagged Curlew feeding on the lawn of Little Welbourne. (AH/JDW/LP/MJa/MRi et al)
Wheatear (AH top, LP middle, EB lower) (above), Rock Pipits (AH top, LP lower) , Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting (AH), Pied Wagtail, Kestrel (LP), Spotted Redshanks, Redshanks and Black-tailed Godwits, Black-tailed Godwits, Pintail, Wigeon (AH), Shoveler (EB), Teal (LP top, EB lower), Curlew (AH) & Starlings (EB) at the North Wall
Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Merlin, two Marsh Harriers, three Kestrels and a Buzzard were on the wing today, with 15 Egyptian Geese,c100 Lapwings and Golden Plovers on the reserve and four Snipe on the stilt Pools.
Also, along the banks there were a Reed Bunting, two Yellowhammers, four Goldcrests, three Cetti's Warblers, six Stonechats, eight Meadow Pipits, c30 Skylarks and c20 Linnets and Goldfinches. (S&SaH)
Saturday, 1st November: A better day than forecast - bright and breezy, and mild, too, in a brisk south-westerly breeze.....
Selsey Bill: It was quieter than yesterday, with the highlight being another potential Pallid Swift seen and photographed over the sea and then the houses before it moved off west.
Update - PA's pictures of the swift have been widely circulated and the overwhelming consensus is that it indeed appears to be a Pallid Swift, but we will have to wait for confirmation from BBRC in due course.
There were also a flourish of 15 Balearic Shearwaters west early on, and later a Manx Shearwater, with a Merlin also seen heading west offshore. Full log below. (SH/BI/PB/PA/MRe/IP/AH/OM/CRJ)
(0700-1300hrs) (SW, F5-6)
Great Northern Diver - 3E, 1W
Red-throated Diver - 1os
Great Crested Grebe - 1W
Balearic Shearwater - 15W
Manx Shearwater - 1W
Gannet - 1E, 33W
Shag - 4E, 2W
Brent Goose - 2W
Teal - 4os
Common Scoter - 1E
Red-breasted Merganser - 4W
Merlin - 1W
Oystercatcher - 3W
Sanderling - 10E
Turnstone - 14
Mediterranean Gull - 1E, 4W
Kittiwake - 51W
Guillemot - 2W
Razorbill - 45W
potential Pallid Swift - 1W
Skylark - 18N
Swallow - 1
Pied Wagtail - 10N
Meadow Pipit - 7W
Redpoll - 3W
Goldfinch - 40W
potential Pallid Swift at the Bill (PA)
Ferry Pool: At high tide this morning there were a Spotted Redshank, two Green Sandpipers and three Avocets on the pool (Pa), though latter there were just a handful of Lapwings, c20 Shovelers and c50 Teal present.(AH).
This afternoon a Grey Phalarope dropped in on the pool for a short while, though, unfortunately, it didn't linger long. (PA)
Grey Phalarope on the Ferry PA)
East Beach: The juvenile Turtle Dove put in another brief appearance in Marine Drive this morning. (SR)
Turtle Dove at East Beach (SR)
Selsey: The Black Redstart was still in gardens behind Asda this morning. (MRe)
Park Farm, Selsey: A Dartford Warbler was in the small scrap of hedge between the fields this morning, and a Grey Wagtail was in the vicinity, too. (IP/RM/JWo)
Church Norton: There were c60 Brent Geese in the harbour, along with three Pintail among plenty of Wigeon and Teal, but a couple of Knot, a dozen Grey Plovers and c25 Dunlin were it for waders beyond the usual Curlews, Redshanks and Oystercatchers.
The bushes were very quiet, but a couple of Swallows went over, a Mistle Thrush was in the car-park and a dozen Skylarks and a few Meadow Pipits were along the spit and a Marsh Harrier was out hunting for a prolonged time around the Severals and then the harbour (AH/IP/RM/JWo/AW)
Marsh Harrier (above), Brent Geese, Wigeon & Skylark at Church Norton (AH)
North Wall: A Wheatear was still along the wall this morning as well as two Rock Pipits, and at Halsey’s Farm there were three Yellowhammers, three Stonechats, two Reed Buntings, three Curlews, five Meadow Pipits and a Skylark.
Out in the Harbour around high tide, there was the usual mix of Wigeon, Teal, Pintail and Shelduck, with 32 Black-tailed Godwits, 26 Lapwings, three Golden Plovers, and three Brent Geese out on the mud.
A pair of Stonechats and two Pied Wagtails were in the paddock, with a Chiffchaff in the surrounding trees and a Marsh Harrier further back over the reeds. (MJa/CT/LP/SP)
Wheatear (above), Yellowhammer, Rock Pipit & Stonechat at the North Wall (LP)
Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Short-eared Owl was out on the reserve this afternoon, with a Peregrine, two Marsh Harriers, a Sparrowhawk and three Kestrels out hunting, too, with c200 Golden Plovers, c300 Lapwings, 20 Egyptian Geese and a Greenshank on the reserve and four snipe on the stilt Pool.
The banks were quiet, though, with just two Stonechats, a Yellowhammer, five Linnets and 15 Meadow Pipits seen. (SH)
