17th - 18th July 2026

Saturday, 18th July: The breeze was back round to the north-east this morning, and moderate to fresh, but it remains very warm and mostly sunny........

Selsey Bill: A flock of 12 Sand Martins east along the beach was the only thing of note this morning. Full log below. (AH/IP)

(0650-0805hrs) (NE, F4)

Gannet - 2E, 3W, 1os

Mediterranean Gull - 4W

Great Black-backed Gull - 1W

Sandwich Tern - 16os

Swift - 10

Sand Martin - 12E

House Martin - 5

Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were just four Little Ringed Plovers, the Shelduck family, the Oystercatcher family and five adult and five young Avocets on the pool this morning, with three or four Cattle Egrets among the cows in the back of the fields. (AH)

Little Ringed Plover (above) & Little Ringed Plover and Avocet at the Ferry (AH)

Mill Pond Marsh: The Green Sandpiper, a Common Sandpiper and three Black-tailed Godwits were on the flooded field this morning, along with four Teal and a Little Grebe and two chicks. (AH)

Common Sandpiper (above) & Green Sandpiper and Black-tailed Godwits at Mill Pond Marsh (AH)

North Wall: There was a bit a variety early on, with a Spotted Redshank, a Little Ringed Plover, and four Avocets on the Breech Pool, and two Common Sandpipers along Bremere Rife, with another at Owl Point, but all had moved on by 8am.

Otherwise, it was just the regular species with eight Cattle Egrets in Owl Copse, a Kingfisher along Owl Water and a Black-tailed Godwit along the rife, whilst a couple of Swallows were still around the stables and a few Sand Martins flew over, but along White’s Creek it was just the usual Redshanks, Lapwings, and Curlews. (MJa/BI/LP)

Kingfisher (above), Cattle Egret & Black-tailed Godwit at the North Wall (LP)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The Stilt Pool was quite busy this morning, with a Green Sandpiper, three Common Sandpipers, three Greenshanks, a Dunlin, five Lapwings, five Avocets and five Oystercatchers, including a well-grown chick, all present, whilst 18 Common Terns were around the rafts, four Sandwich Terns were offshore, a Kingfisher and half a dozen Lapwings and Curlews were on the reserve.

Also, a Hobby was hunting dragonflies over the banks, where there were c20 Whitethroats, three Reed Warblers, a Sedge Warbler, a Cetti's Warbler, a Chiffchaff, three Reed Buntings and 11 Yellowhammers noted, plus two Kestrels, two House Martins, six Sand Martins and ten Swallows over. (S&SaH/MaJ)

Medmerry: Chainbridge to Ham - A Yellowhammer, a Reed Bunting and a couple of Reed Warblers and Whitethroats, plus half a dozen Swallows over, was about it around the Chainbridge area this morning, whilst at Ham at least five Corn Buntings - looking like a family group - were between the viewpoint and the maize crop, with another two on the edge of the tidal area, but there wasn't too much else beyond a Stonechat, another Reed Bunting and a dozen or so Linnets and Skylarks, with two or three Little Terns and half a dozen Sandwich Terns fishing offshore from the breach. (AH)

Corn Buntings (above), Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Reed Warbler & Stonechat at Medmerry (AH)

Friday, 17th July: The morning started still and very warm, though the breeze picked up from the south-west through the morning, bringing some white cloud with it.....

Selsey Bill: An unsurprisingly quiet morning, with a large flock of Mediterranean Gulls on the shingle bar the only thing of note. Full log below. (IP/AH)

(0630-0730hrs) (S, F1)

Oystercatcher - 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 100os

Great Black-backed Gull - 4os

Sandwich Tern - 20os

Swift - 14

Swallow - 6E

Sand Martin - 2E

House Martin - 15

Mediterranean Gulls (above) & Swift at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The only exception to the usual four species this morning was a Common Sandpiper, with five Little Ringed Plovers, the Shelduck family, the Oystercatcher family and six adult and five young Avocets still present. (AH)

Common Sandpiper (above), Little Ringed Plover, Avocet & Oystercatchers at the Ferry (AH)

Mill Pond Marsh: The Green Sandpiper and two Common Sandpipers were present again this morning, though, otherwise it was just lots of Coots and Moorhens. (AH et al)

Green Sandpiper at Mill Pond Marsh (AH)

Pagham Spit: At the end of the spit this morning there was the remarkable sight of at least 60 Little Terns, half of which were juveniles, fishing in the channel and sitting out on the banks. Also around were a Common Tern and several Sandwich Terns, whilst c300 Mediterranean Gulls were sat out on the mud.

Four Ringed Plovers, 12 Turnstones, 10 Redshanks, six Curlews and a Black-tailed Godwit were the only waders about, and small birds along the spit were limited to a few Linnets, House Sparrows and Skylarks. (LP)

Little Terns at Pagham Spit (LP)

North Wall: There were seven Common Sandpipers in White's Creek early on, though all but one soon dispersed, whilst there were also a Spotted Redshank, c50 Redshanks, a Whimbrel and a dozen or so Black-tailed Godwits and Curlews in the creek and adjacent harbour, and two or three Little Terns were about, too.

Two Little Ringed Plovers were the only waders on the Breech Pool, though a Kingfisher was briefly present there and a few Swallows went over and there were just a few Reed Warblers, Whitethroats and Reed Buntings along the wall. A Bullfinch was also along the east side. (MJa/LP/AH/CT/BI et al)

Spotted Redshank (above), Little Ringed Plover, Little Tern & Whimbrel at the North Wall (AH)

Church Norton: This evening there were just the usual mix of large numbers of Sandwich Terns, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls in the harbour, including an increase to at least 20 juveniles of the latter, and mostly around the concrete blocks, with relatively little activity remaining on the island. (AH)

Sandwich Terns (above), Mediterranean Gulls & Mediterranean Gull and Black-headed Gull at Church Norton (AH)

Upper Norton: Late in the evening, a parakeet sp - presumably a Ring-necked Parakeet - flew over the B2145 by the Trident Business Park. (M Reade)

Medmerry: Ham Farm - There were five Corn Buntings in the maize field behind the viewpoint this morning. (MWh)

West Itchenor to Ella Nore: The WeBS count this afternoon produced a good count of 50 Whimbrel in the harbour, with a Common Sandpiper also about and a Coal Tit in the trees.

There was also the rather sad - and bizarre! - sight of a headless long-dead Manx Shearwater wedged into a tree. (SM)

Almodington: A Red Kite went over the village this afternoon. (SH)

15th - 16th July 2026

Thursday, 16th July: The weather is pretty unchanging at present, with another very warm and sunny morning just moderated by the fresh north-easterly breeze........

Selsey Bill: Apart from a big flock of Mediterranean Gulls on the bar, it was just the usual mix this morning. Full log below. (AH)

(0700-0800hrs) (NE, F5-6)

Gannet - 2E

Mediterranean Gull - 6W, 75os

Great Black-backed Gull - 6os

Sandwich Tern - 30os

Little Tern - 6os

Swift - 4

Swallow - 8E

House Martin - 15

Little Tern (above), Sandwich Tern & House Martin at Selsey Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were just the Shelduck family, a juvenile Oystercatcher and the six adult and five young Avocets on the pool this morning, whilst four Cattle Egrets were in the fields. (AH)

Shelduck family (above), Oystercatcher & Cattle Egrets at the Ferry (AH)

Mill Pond Marsh: A Green Sandpiper, two Common Sandpipers and a Black-tailed Godwit were on the flooded field this morning, along with a Teal and an adult and two young Little Grebes, plus a couple of Reed Warblers in the reeds and four Swallows over. (AH)

Green Sandpiper (above), Common Sandpiper & Little Grebe chick at Mill Pond Marsh (AH)

East side: In White’s Creek this morning there were two Spotted Redshanks and 39 loafing adult Mediterranean Gulls, whilst along the East side there were three Great Crested Grebes, another 100 Mediterranean Gulls, a few Great Black-backed Gulls, c50 Herring Gulls, nine Black-tailed Godwits and a single Bar-tailed Godwit, with six Goldfinches and a Greenfinch in the bushes. (CRJ)

North Wall: An adult Yellow-legged Gull was in the harbour, a Kingfisher, two Spotted Redshank and two Common Sandpipers were in White's Creek and five Little Terns were in the channel this morning, along with c60 Grey Plovers, a Whimbrel, 15 Curlews, c50 Redshanks and 22 Black-tailed Godwits.

Also, a Yellow Wagtail went over the wall, but a handful of Reed Buntings, a couple of Chiffchaffs and Linnets and a Reed Warbler, was about it, otherwise beyond ten or so Swallows and Sand Martins over and seven Cattle Egrets in Owl Copse.. (AWi/LP/SP/CRJ/MJa)

Spotted Redshank (above), Common Sandpiper & Kingfisher at the North Wall (LP)

Church Norton: There was a continuous arrival of (mainly) adult Mediterranean Gulls coming into the harbour from the west, producing a cautious estimate of at least 800 birds present by mid-morning, along with the usual Sandwich Terns and Black-headed Gulls in reduced numbers and a handful of Little Terns.

Otherwise, there were just a dozen Black-tailed Godwits and a few Curlews about, with a couple of Skylarks and half a dozen Linnets along the front and a couple of Swallows over. (AH)

Sandwich Tern (above) & Mediterranean Gulls at Church Norton (AH)

Later, a look along the west side produced a Whimbrel, several Redshanks, Curlews and Lapwings, plus a Meadow Pipit. (EB)

Whimbrel (above), Lapwing, Redshank & Meadow Pipit at Church Norton (EB)

This evening there were up to a dozen juvenile Mediterranean Gulls and the first Common Gull since May among the vast numbers of birds on the mud, with at least ten Little Terns still about, along with c30 Black-tailed Godwits. (AH)

Mediterranean Gulls (above) Common Gull and Sandwich Terns & Black-tailed Godwits at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - There were five Common Sandpipers, four Greenshanks, a Redshank,, a Black-tailed Godwit, one young and six adult Oystercatchers and four Lapwings on the Stilt Pool this morning, with two more Common Sandpipers, a Whimbrel, two Curlews, five more Lapwings, c25 Common Terns and c20 Mediterranean Gulls on the reserve, plus three Little Terns offshore and a House Martin, c30 Sand Martins and Swallows, a Buzzard and two Kestrels over.

Also, seen from the banks were a Yellow Wagtail, five Meadow Pipits, two Chiffchaffs, two Reed Warblers, c20 Whitethroats, two Stonechats, four Greenfinches, c20 Yellowhammers and c50 Goldfinches. (S&SaH)

Wednesday, 15th July: The north-easterly breeze dropped overnight, but quickly picked up again this morning, and it continues very warm and sunny....

Selsey Bill: At least 25 Little Terns, of which ten were juveniles, were feeding off Hillfield Road this morning, though it was otherwise predictably slow. Full log below. (AH)

(0700-0815hrs) (NE, F5-6)

Gannet - 4os

Mediterranean Gull - 2E

Sandwich Tern - 40os

Common Tern - 3os

Little Tern - 25os (inc 10 juvs)

Swift - 6

Swallow - 7E

House Martin - 12

juvenile Little Terns (above), Little Terns, Little Tern and Common Tern & Common Tern at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: An adult and three juvenile Little Ringed Plovers were at the front this morning, with the Shelduck family, the Oystercatcher family and six adult and five young Avocets present, too. (AH)

Little Ringed Plovers (above) & Avocet and Shelduck family at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: A quick look produced two Spotted Redshanks and three Black-tailed Godwits on the Breech Pool, a Common Sandpiper near the sluice and the first Marsh Harrier in quite a while going over. (AH/LP/SP et al)

Spotted Redshanks (above) & Black-tailed Godwit at the North Wall (AH)

East side: There weren't too many waders about this morning, with just a Whimbrel, four Curlews, six Lapwings, c30 Black-tailed Godwits and c40 Redshanks spread along White's Creek and the channel, whilst further down, a large loafing flock of gulls contained c150 Mediterranean Gulls, including one juvenile, c30 Great Black-backed Gulls and c200 Herring and Black-headed Gulls.

Also, at least a dozen Little Terns were feeding in the harbour and a handful of Sand Martins and Swallows went over. (AH)

Whimbrel (above), Little Tern & Mediterranean Gull along the East side (AH)