Saturday, 11th April: A mostly grey and unseasonably cool morning, though brightening up a bit later on, in a fresh and gusty south-westerly..........
Selsey Bill: There was a bit of activity this morning, including a Bonxie, 46 Brent Geese, 107 Common Scoters and four Common Terns east, a Little Tern, a Fulmar and over 200 Gannets west and 25 Swallows coming in off the sea. Full log below. (JA/SH/BI/M-OW/IP/AH/JFi)
(0600-0930hrs) (SSW, F5)
Great Northern Diver - 3os
Red-throated Diver - 1E, 2W, 1os
diver sp - 1E
Great Crested Grebe - 2W
Fulmar - 1W
Gannet - 85E, 227W
Brent Goose - 46E
Common Scoter - 107E, 4W
Red-breasted Merganser - 4W
Oystercatcher - 3E, 3W
Curlew - 5W
Turnstone - 1W, 2 present
Great Skua - 1E
Mediterranean Gull - 6E, 86W
Common Gull - 1E, 4W
Great Black-backed Gull - 1E, 14W, 2os
Kittiwake - 2E, 1W
Sandwich Tern - 32E, 21W
Common Tern - 4E
'Commic' Tern - 1E
Little Tern - 1W
Guillemot - 1E, 1os
Razorbill - 1W, 1os
auk sp - 4E, 14W
Swallow - 25N
Gannets (above), Common Scoters & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: A Little Ringed Plover was on the pool again this morning, along with seven Avocets, four Redshanks and 37 Black-tailed Godwits, but the fields just held three Lapwings, whilst wildfowl comprised six Gadwall, 14 Shovelers, ten Mallard, c25 Shelducks and a pair of Canada Geese, with two Swallows and a House Martin going over. (AH/HB et al)
Long Pool: The Spotted Redshank was among c20 Redshanks along Ferry Channel this morning, whilst a Whitethroat, a Reed Warbler, three Sedge Warblers, five Cetti's Warblers, a couple of Reed Buntings and Skylarks and c20 Linnets, plus a couple of Swallows over, were seen/heard along the path. (AH/HB et al)
Linnet along the Long Pool (AH)
Church Norton: The first Cuckoo of the year was calling intermittently near the concrete wall late this morning. (GW)
Also about were three Whimbrel, a Bar-tailed Godwit, half a dozen Knot and a dozen Grey Plovers, with at least 500 Mediterranean Gulls dominating the harbour, where there were also c50 Sandwich Terns and c200 Black-headed Gulls, whilst a Painted Lady was seen along the west side.. (AH/GW/RS et al)
Whimbrels (above), Grey Plover, Mediterranean Gulls & Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gulls at Church Norton (AH)
North Wall: It was cold and windy along the wall this morning, and predictably all of the small birds were laying low, but there was a Wheatear along the rocks and nine Swallows flew over, whilst both male and female Marsh Harriers were about, as well as two Buzzards and out in the fields were two Brent Geese, two Gadwall, five Shelduck, three Curlews and a Skylark.
A Spotted Redshank was in White’s Creek, along with eight Redshanks and twelve Teal, and a Kingfisher flew out from the sluice, whilst on the Breech Pool there was just a Little Grebe and a Great Crested Grebe. (LP/MJa/CT)
Wheatear (above), Spotted Redshank, Skylark & Brent Geese and Shelducks at the North Wall (LP)
Friday, 10th April: The morning started cool and grey in a light northerly breeze, warming up slowly as it shifted to the south and slowly freshened......
Selsey Bill: There was nothing really moving again this morning, though there was some interest, including a Bonxie west, a Fulmar east and another west and a Wheatear in off the sea. Full log below. (JA/SH/BI/IP/MO-W/AH)
(0600-0830hrs) (N, F2-3)
Great Northern Diver - 11os
Red-throated Diver - 3E
Fulmar - 1E, 1W
Gannet - 8E, 23W, 1os
Shag - 1os
Mallard - 2W
Common Scoter - 3E, 1os
Oystercatcher - 2E, 2W
Curlew - 1E
Great Skua - 1W
Mediterranean Gull - 12E, 2os
Black-headed Gull - 7E
Common Gull - 3E
Great Black-backed Gull - 3E, 13os
Sandwich Tern - 22E, 1W
Swallow - 1N
Wheatear - 1N
Gannet at the Bill (AH)
(1500-1630hrs) (SH/JA/AH)
Great Northern Diver - 4os
Gannet - 2E, 2W
Shag - 1W
Red-breasted Merganser - 3os
Mediterranean Gull - 6E
Common Gull - 1E
Sandwich Tern - 3E, 4W
Common Tern - 1E
Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: A Little Ringed Plover was on the islands this morning, along with 44 Black-tailed Godwits, four Redshanks and seven Avocets, with a couple of Lapwings in the fields, whilst there were also 34 Shelducks, 16 Shovelers, four Teal, two Gadwall and eight Mallards present. (AH)
Little Ringed Plover (above), Little Ringed Plover and Black-tailed Godwits & Avocet at the Ferry (AH)
Long Pool: A Great White Egret flew over late this morning (AW), whilst earlier the Spotted Redshank was with c20 Redshanks at the far end of Ferry Channel and a pair of Shovelers, a pair of Little Grebes and a pair of Great Crested Grebes were on the pool.
There were also a Whitethroat, a Reed Warbler, at least three Sedge and Cetti's Warblers, half a dozen Reed Buntings and c20 Linnets along the path (AH/AW)
Great White Egret (AW), Spotted Redshank, Spotted Redshank and Redshank, Shoveler & Reed Bunting (AH) along the Long Pool
This afternoon there were two Reed Warblers and two Sedge Warblers singing from Long Pool., whilst wo Egyptian Geese flew over and six Gadwall were chasing each other around and the smart looking summer plumage Spotted Redshank was in the Ferry channel again. (AW/AH).
Spotted Redshank (AH top, AW lower), Egyptian Geese & Gadwall (AW) at the Long Pool
Mill Pond Marsh: A Redpoll was feeding in a garden and a Sedge Warbler was along the lane this morning. (LL)
North Wall: A Glossy Ibis flew across the fields from Owl Copse early on, and there were lots of Sedge Warblers and Reed Warblers singing in the reeds, with a few Blackcaps, Cetti’s Warblers, Reed Buntings, and a Whitethroat along the bushes.
Two Brent Geese and two Gadwall were in the fields, and the male Marsh Harrier was about all morning but there was nothing out in the harbour beside nine Redshanks, 12 Teal and a few Curlews.
At Halsey’s Farm a Kingfisher was along the rife and two Buzzards were up high, but apart from a couple of Swallows passing through that was about it.
Also, a local posted some pics on a local Facebook page of two Black Swans off Pagham Spit yesterday. (MJa/LP/SP)
Reed Bunting (above), Gadwall & Brent Geese at the North Wall (LP)
Church Norton: A Whitethroat was singing here today, but a couple of Chiffchaffs was about it otherwise, though there were still c150 Sandwich Terns and c300 Mediterranean Gulls among the Black-headed Gulls and there were also a couple of Black-tailed Godwits about. (GR/AH et al)
Sandwich Terns at Church Norton (AH)
This evening there were at least 800 Mediterranean Gulls around the island and harbour, along with c150 Sandwich Terns and a single Bar-tailed Godwit. (AH)
Mediterranean Gulls at Church Norton (AH)
Chichester GPs: A Little Gull was still on West Trout Lake today, whilst a Common Tern was sat on one of the buoys on Ivy Lake and at least two Reed Warblers were singing from Nunnery Lake. (NM)
Fishbourne Creek: On the low tide there were 13 Curlew, a Whimbrel, six Greenshanks, 20 Black-tailed Godwits, 30 Redshank, a Dunlin and a Brent Goose along the Creek, whilst there were three Wigeon at Fishbourne.
In the bushes there were seven Chiffchaffs, four Blackcaps, four Cetti's Warblers, a Whitethroat, two Yellowhammers and a Willow Warbler. (RW)
Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - There were at least 21 Whitethroats along the banks this morning, along with a Dartford Warbler, three Reed Warblers, two Willow Warblers, nine Chiffchaffs, nine Cetti's Warblers, three Stonechats, three Meadow Pipits, three Reed Buntings, seven Yellowhammers, c30 Skylarks and c60 Linnets, plus a lone Swallow over.
There wasn't too much else going on, though, with just an avocet and eight Ringed Plovers on the Stilt Pool and a Little Ringed Plover on the pool opposite, plus a Kestrel and three Buzzards over. (S&SaH)
Bracklesham: An intriguing report has appeared via Facebook of a (presumably Great-tailed) Grackle present in the vicinity and seen several times. (per Eds)
Great-tailed Grackle at Bracklesham (per Facebook)
