Monday, 9th February: Another fairly grey, but mild morning in a light to moderate, but freshening, south-easterly breeze............
Selsey Bill: A Little Gull and a few Red-throated Divers went east and a Slavonian Grebe and a Fulmar went west, but not much else was on the move. Full log later. (PM/PB/PA/AH/IP et al)
(0730-0930hrs) (SE, F3-4)
Great Northern Diver - 1E, 2os
Red-throated Diver - 43E, 4os
Slavonian Grebe - 1W
Great Crested Grebe - 2E, 1os
Fulmar - 1W
Shag - 10E
Brent Goose - 3W
Common Scoter - 3E, 6os
Red-breasted Merganser - 6E, 4os
Oystercatcher - 1
Little Gull - 1E
Mediterranean Gull - 8E
Common Gull - 5E
Great Black-backed Gull - 5E
Kittiwake - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 2E
auk sp - 1WLittle Gull (above), Great Northern Diver, Red-throated Divers, Shags & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: The Green Sandpiper was present again this morning, along with a couple of Redshanks, c750 Lapwings, a pair of Tufted Ducks, six Gadwall, 27 Shelducks, c100 Shovelers, c150 Teal and c300 Wigeon.
Also, at least 300 Golden Plovers and 500 Lapwings were up over the harbour, seen from the channel opposite. (AH/PA et al)
Teal (above) & Shelduck and Shovelers at the Ferry (AH)
North Wall: Two Ruff were in Honer 3 field this morning, and around the other flooded fields there were 38 Curlew, 100 Lapwings, four Egyptian Geese, a Brent Goose, four Shovelers, eight Gadwall and a few Wigeon and Teal, whilst at Owl Copse, 20 Cattle Egrets and ten Grey Herons were in the trees, and a Little Grebe was on the water.
A Rock Pipit was along the wall, and two Yellowhammers, eight Reed Buntings and four Song Thrushes were along the bushes, but it was quieter at Halsey’s Farm, with just three Meadow Pipits and two Skylarks along the fences.
A Spotted Redshank was along White’s Creek and three Snipe flew out from the harbour, whilst around the Paddock, there was a Grey Wagtail, two Pied Wagtails, a Chiffchaff, a Green Woodpecker and a Jay, also three Marsh Harriers, two Buzzards and a Kestrel were over the fields further back. (LP/MJa/CT/GHi/IH/CRJ)
Ruffs (above), Little Grebe, Cattle Egret, Gadwall, Reed Bunting, Rock Pipit & Green Woodpecker at the North Wall (LP)
Fishbourne Creek: A drake Goldeneye was south of Dell Quay, along with five Red-breasted Mergansers, whilst two three Greenshanks and a single Snipe were among the Dunlin, Curlews, Redshanks, Grey Plovers and Turnstone along the creek.
An impressive count of c2,500+ Common Gulls were in the 4,000+ gull roost with c40 Mediterranean Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull present, too, whilst other notable species were a Chiffchaff, a Grey Wagtail and six Rock Pipits. (PM/PB/PA)
Greenshanks (above) & Red-breasted Mergansers at Fishbourne Creek (PA)
Chichester Marina: The highlight of a look here was a Nuthatch, along with two Tree-creepers in Salterns Copse, with a Rock Pipits also in the vicinity, and a Coal Tit was at nearby Birdham Pool.
Among the birds in the harbour there were 15 Red-breasted Mergansers and at least 1000 Brent Geese, plus an Avocet among the roosting waders. (PA)
Nuthatch (above) & Tree-creeper at Chichester Marina (PA)
Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A flock of c250 Fieldfares was in one of the roadside stubble fields this morning, along with a Grey Wagtail, a handful of Meadow Pipits and Goldfinches and at least 500 Starlings.
The banks, though, were pretty quiet, with just one Dartford Warbler, two Stonechats, a dozen Skylarks and c30 Linnets noted, plus a few Stock Doves, a Marsh Harrier and a Buzzard over.
An Avocet and a handful of Redshanks were the only waders on the Stilt Pool, which otherwise held c20 Tufted Ducks, four Little Grebes, half a dozen Gadwall, c50 Wigeon and at least 200 Teal, plus a dozen Common Gulls, whilst c150 Brent Geese and c50 Canada Geese were out on the reserve and c40 Redshanks and a few Teal were by the poplars. (AH)
Fieldfares (above), Stonechat, Stock Doves, Common Gulls & Avocet, Tufted Duck and Gadwall at Medmerry (AH)
Sunday, 8th February: A very misty, murky morning in just a light southerly breeze............
Selsey Bill: There was a bit of variety this morning, including a Red-necked Grebe, two Slavonian Grebes, a Little Gull and ten Brent Geese east, though the number of birds remains low. Full log below. (JA/SH/PB/MRB/AGB/P&LH/AH/IP et al)
(0710-0910hrs) (SW, F2)
Great Northern Diver - 3os
Red-throated Diver - 6E, 2W, 4os
Red-necked Grebe - 1E
Slavonian Grebe - 1E, 2os
Great Crested Grebe - 3os
Gannet - 2E, 1W
Shag - 8E
Brent Goose - 8E
Teal - 2W
Common Scoter - 2E, 2W, 10os
Red-breasted Merganser - 3W, 9os
Oystercatcher - 2E
Turnstone - 4E
Little Gull - 1E
Mediterranean Gull - 5E, 1W
Black-headed Gull - 77E
Common Gull - 21E
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1os
Great Black-backed Gull - 8E, 2os
Kittiwake - 1E
Sandwich Tern - 2E, 1os
Pied Wagtail - 1
Starling - 500E
Early this afternoon, a Red-throated Diver went east, with another offshore, along with a Common Gull and five Mediterranean Gulls. (P&LH)
Shags (above), Sandwich Tern & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: The Green Sandpiper was on the roadside pool this morning and a Snipe flew out from the back, but otherwise there were c1200 Lapwings spread about the pool and fields, along with six Gadwall, 14 Shelducks, c100 Shovelers and Teal and c300 Wigeon. (AH)
Green Sandpiper (above) & Gadwall and Teal at the Ferry (AH)
Church Norton: In the harbour this morning, there were a Greenshank, 14 Turnstones, six Ringed Plovers, c100 Knot and Grey Plovers and c600 Dunlin, plus a dozen or so Brent Geese, Shelducks and Teal, with just a Red-breasted Merganser and four Great Crested Grebes offshore. (P&LH)
North Wall: Six Ruff were in the flooded Honer fields, as well as 29 Canada Geese, two Shovelers, and a few Wigeon and Teal, whilst at Owl Copse, eight Grey Herons were in the trees, and at Halsey’s Farm, 20 Common Gulls were along the rife and a Skylark was on the fence.
A Rock Pipit was along the wall and three Spotted Redshanks were in White’s Creek, whilst further out in the harbour, the large flocks of Lapwings and Black-tailed Godwits were still present.
Two Meadow Pipits, a Pied Wagtail and a Reed Bunting were around the Paddock and further back, both male and female Marsh Harriers were over the reeds. (MJa/LP/DHi)
Ruffs (above), Reed Bunting, Rock Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Skylark & Grey Heron at the North Wall (LP)
This afternoon there was an increase to ten Ruff on Honer 2 field, with another among the Lapwing flocks, with the three first-winter White-fronted Geese also dropping in, along with two Egyptian Geese and a Spotted Redshank, and, later on, three Marsh Harriers came in to roost.
There was also an increase in Black-tailed Godwit numbers to c1250 birds.(PA)
Ruff and Redshank (above) & White-fronted Geese at the North Wall (PA)
Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - Around 50 Fieldfares were seen along the banks this morning, together with five Dartford Warblers, five Stonechats, three Goldcrests, two Cetti's Warblers, two Reed Buntings, a single Yellowhammer, a dozen Skylarks and c50 Linnets.
Also, an avocet was on the Stilt Pool, c50 Golden Plovers, c200 Lapwings and c300 Brent Geese were on the reserve and a Raven and a Marsh Harrier went over. (S&SaH)
Fishbourne Creek: A Spotted Redshank and at least five Greenshanks were in the creek at low tide this morning, along with 1000+ Dunlin, 50 Turnstones, c500 Wigeon, c50 Teal and at least 1500 Brent Geese.
Also, four Red-breasted Mergansers and six Great Crested Grebes were south of Dell Quay. (AH/RAI)
Greenshanks (above), Dunlin & Wigeon at Fishbourne Creek (AH)
Saturday, 7th February: After the inevitable overnight rain, a mostly grey, if mild morning, brighter at times, but also with spells of drizzly rain.......
Selsey Bill: It was another morning with little on the move. Full log below. (SH/AH)
(0730-0900hrs) (S, F6)
Red-throated Diver - 1E, 1os
Fulmar - 1W
Gannet - 4E, 11W, 3os
Shag - 3E
Common Scoter - 3E, 14os
Red-breasted Merganser - 2E
Turnstone - 4E
Common Gull - 5E
Great Black-backed Gull - 1E, 3W, 4os
Kittiwake - 2E, 3W
Sandwich Tern - 4E
Common Scoters (above) & Common Gull at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: The Green Sandpiper dropped in on the roadside pool this morning, with an Avocet, four Redshanks and nine Curlews among c500 Lapwings on the field.
There were also three Gadwall, c80 Shovelers, c100 Teal and c250 Wigeon present, with ten Mediterranean Gulls and c130 Common Gulls about, too. (AH/GW)
Green Sandpiper (above), Shovelers & Avocet, Curlews and Lapwings at the Ferry (AH)
This afternoon, c50 Avocets were roosting on the pool, along with a few Golden Plovers and 1000+ Lapwings, with seven Gadwall among the wildfowl present. (GW/ATh/AH/EB)
Avocets and Lapwings on the Ferry (AH)
Park Farm, Selsey: A flock of c200 Brent Geese were on the fields this morning, with a Grey Wagtail also about. (SH)
Chichester Marina: A Black-necked Grebe was in the channel off Salterns Copse, drifting towards Dell Quay late this morning. (GJ/PJ/BJ)
Black-necked Grebe at Chichester Marina (GJ)
Fishbourne Creek: A female Goldeneye and five Red-breasted Mergansers were at Dell Quay early this afternoon. (IP)
Hunston: The Glossy Ibis was again in the flooded fields with six Cattle Egrets along Mundham Road this afternoon. (PA/RH)
Glossy Ibis at Hunston (PA)
East Head: The Snow Bunting re-appeared late this afternoon at the northern end of the head. (RHa/PA)
Snow Bunting at East Head (PA)
Runcton: A female Blackcap and a female Sparrowhawk were both seen in the garden today. (CRJ)
East side: There was nothing out of the ordinary this morning, but the sheer number of birds in the harbour was pretty spectacular, with very rough counts including c4000 Lapwings, c300 Golden Plovers, c1000 Black-tailed Godwits, c2500 Brent Geese, with a Pale-bellied bird among them, c300 Wigeon, c100 Teal and Pintail, c250 Common Gulls, c50 Mediterranean Gulls,175 Great Black-backed Gulls and half a dozen Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
Oddly, there were no great numbers of the regular waders about, and relatively few Herring and Black-headed Gulls in the roost. (AH/LP)
Pale-bellied Brent Goose (above), Black-tailed Godwits, Golden Plovers, Common Gulls and Brent Geese, Lesser and Great Black-backed Gulls, Black-tailed Godwits and Brent Geese & Pintail, Wigeon, Teal and Brent Geese along the East side (AH)
Pagham Spit: In addition to many of the species seen along the East side earlier, there were also c3000 Dunlin, c400 Grey Plovers, c200 Knot, two Bar-tailed Godwits counted, with a good selection of gulls seen, including a probable first-winter Caspian Gull, two Yellow-legged Gulls, ten Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a good count of 375 Great Black-backed Gulls. (PA)
Yellow-legged Gull and Great Black-backed Gulls at Pagham Spit (PA)
Church Norton: A quick look this afternoon produced two Greenshanks, c50 Redshanks, c100 Dunlin and c50 Grey Plovers, including an unseasonal summer-plumage bird, roosting in the harbour at high tide, whilst a female Marsh Harrier went over and a few Shelducks, Teal and Wigeon were about, too. (AH)
Grey Plovers (above) & Greenshanks at Church Norton (AH)
