11th - 15th APRIL

Monday, 15th April: The Archives have now been updated to include Vol 5 and I'm working on Vol 6, the final album.

Selsey Bill: (0625-1025hrs) Sunny, dry, SW4  (Obs:CRJ/GH/cE/ME)

Great Northern Diver - 3 os

Red-throated Diver - 2E

Diver sp - 4E

Slavonian Grebe - 2 os

Gannet - 9E, 14W

Fulmar - 1E, 1W

Brent Goose - 363E

Shelduck  - 1E, 2W

Com Scoter - 123E, 11W

Velvet Scoter  - 11E

Tufted Duck - 3E

Eider - 1E

R/b Merganser - 5E, 2W

Oystercatcher - 18E

Bar-tailed Godwit - 1W

Whimbrel - 1W

Great Skua - 2E

Arctic Skua - 2E

Med Gull - 4E

Sandwich Tern - 149E

Common Tern - 3 os

Meadow Pipit - 38W, 6N

Pied/alba Wagtail - 3N

Swallow - 6N

Woodpigeon - 15W

Skylark - 1W

Linnet - 3N

 

Pagham Hbr: AF reports that at Church Norton (hedgerow up to the beach) this morning there were 3 Redstarts, 2 Whitethroats, 10 Willow Warblers, several Chiffchaffs, a Ring Ouzel, 2 Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk; also a Red Admiral and a Peacock butterfly in the spring sunshine.

1 Sedge Warbler singing along Long Pool, (& Peter Callis had 2 plus Lesser Whitethroat singing along North Wall). This evening 2 Whimbrel & 25 Black-tailed Godwits at Church Norton

Female wheatear at East Beach, whilst at Park Farm (Selsey) a male Yellowhammer, a Buzzard and a Kestrel, plus a number of chiffchaffs singing (SR).

Whimbrel (photo: Andy House)
 

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Sunday, 14th April: Nothing outstanding but a few waders starting to move and over a dozen skuas this morning. Mainly dry and cloudy, some sun later, wind SSE4.

Selsey Bill (0555 - 1030hrs):  (Obs JA/SH et al)

Great Northern Diver - 4os

Red-throated Diver - 12E, 1os

Diver sp - 3E

Great Crested Grebe - 1W

Slavonian Grebe - 1os

Gannet - 87E, 29W

Fulmar - 2E, 2W

Brent Goose - 125E

Shelduck - 6W

Shoveler - 12E

Pochard - 2E

Common Scoter - 47E, 100os

Velvet Scoter - 11E

Red-breasted Merganser - 4E, 2W, 1os

Oystercatcher - 1W, 1ob

Curlew - 1W

Whimbrel - 37E

Grey Plover- 1ob

Bar-tailed Godwit - 17E

Arctic Skua - 7E

Great Skua - 5E plus one on beach before heading off west (see pic)

Common Gull - 37E

Black-headed Gull - 12E

Kittiwake - 4E, 1W

Little Gull - 2E

Sandwich Tern - 212E, 16os

Common Tern - 9E

C/A Tern - 24E

Little Tern - 1E

auk sp - 1E, 2W

Pied Wagtail - 1E

White Wagtail - 1E

Swallow - 1N 

Wheatear - 2ob before moving off north.
Additional sea-watch (1030-1350hrs): (Obs GH/SR)
Manx Shearwater - 1W
Black-throated Diver - 3E
Brent Goose - 39E
Eider - 1E
Golden Plover - 20N
Arctic Skua - 3E
Sandwich Tern - 240E
A further 2 hrs in the evening produced more Sandwich Terns, 5 Little Gulls and an Arctic Skua. (SH) amongst other sightings.
 

Great Skua, Selsey Bill beach (photo: Sam Hill)

News received 1pm of a Ring Ouzel at Pagham Hbr - apparently in top of a hedge at the back of Long Pool field (per Ivan Lang).

Update from SH/SaH/IP:

Just done our usual walk Park Farm Selsey - Church Norton (11.30am to 2pm), highlights as follows:

Common Redstart (male) at the back of Park Farm late morning.

2 Firecrests in Bluebell Wood early afternoon with a lot of Goldcrests (many more than of late).

Blackcaps - 3 females and a male in S&SaH's garden, 1 female at Park Farm and one female in my garden

 Swallows - c.20 as we walked (inc 2 that are flying around Park Farm as if they are returning breeders)
 Sand Martin - one over the second Several and Chiffchaffs - lots calling all round the walk

News of 2 Pom Skuas passing Worthing late morning, so it looks like the Pom season 2013 is officially open!

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Saturday, 13th April: A distinctly average morning at the Bill with early passage soon petering out. The weather was much the same, beginning dry and fairly bright but quickly going downhill to give rain by late morning; it was also decidedly cool due to the wind. Three Arctic Skuas, a Bonxie and two Little Gulls were the best on offer, but all observers had left by just after 1100hrs.
Selsey Bill (0555-1110hrs): Dry at first, rain before noon. Wind cool SW3 backing SSE4. (Obs:JA/SH/CRJ/IP/PB et al):
Great Northern Diver - 1E, 5 os
Red-throated Diver - 7E
Diver sp - 1E
Great Crested Grebe - 1W, 1 os
Little Egret - 1W
Brent Goose - 225E, 2W
Shelduck - 2 ob
Common Scoter - 36E, 120 os
R/b Merganser - 15E, 8W, 5 os
Gannet - 5E, 4W
Fulmar - 4W
Bar-tailed Godwit - 2E
Oystercatcher - 1E
Turnstone - 24 ob
Great Skua - 1E
Arctic Skua - 3E
Black-headed Gull - 50E
Med Gull - 2W
Common Gull - 39E
Little Gull - 2E
Sandwich Tern - 29E
Common Tern - 4E
C/A Tern - 2E
Woodpigeon - 29E
Meadow Pipit - 8N
Wheatear - 1 ob
Black Redstart - 1 gardens
evening watch (1600-1800hrs): continuous rain, S5-6 (Obs:JA/SH/C.Northwood)
Gannet - 58E, 14W
Fulmar - 4E, 1W
Grey Plover - 1E
Great Skua - 1E, 1 os
Kittiwake - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 15E
Common Tern - 2E
Northcommon Farm, Selsey: A Firecrest was the only bird worth a mention.
Pagham Hbr: A male Common Redstart and a Blackcap at Church Norton churchyard (CRJ).

Common Redstart, Church Norton (photo: Sam Hill)

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Friday, 12th April: ...one of those days I dread, when for some reason the number of birds seen whilst sea-watching at the Bill bears no comparison with the numbers seen further east at sites such as Seaford and beyond. To put it another way, we were stuffed out of sight! I say we, but I wasn't actually there today; I received an early call from Bob Self at Seaford telling me of their stuff streaming by (thanks Bob), so I made some urgent calls and was glad when I eventually located JA who was already watching the Bill. My panic turned to disappointment when I learned of the results! Well every cloud has a silver lining as I didn't miss too much - perhaps better luck tomorrow.

Selsey Bill (0600 - 1515hrs): SSE5 sunshine and showers, then SW5 cloudy:
(Obs: JA/SR/AB/CE/ME/GH )
Great Northern Diver - 1E, 3os
Red-throated Diver - 10E
Diver sp - 2E
Great Crested Grebe - 1os
Slavonian Grebe - 1E, 1os
Gannet - 16E, 24W
Fulmar - 1E, 1W
Mute Swan - 1 os
Brent Goose - 163E, 5W
Common Scoter - 116E, 150os
Velvet Scoter - 4E
Red-breasted Merganser - 5E, 6W, 2os
Whimbrel - 1E
Turnstone - 2W, 7ob
Oystercatcher - 1E, 2ob
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1W
Auk sp - 1E
Arctic Skua - 3E
Great Skua - 7E
Little Gull - 1E
Common Gull - 83E
Med' Gull - 6E
Sandwich Tern - 146E, 12os
Common Tern - 31E
C/A Tern - 9E
Little Tern - 1 os
Meadow Pipit - 96N
Swallow - 32N
House Martin - 18N
Chiffchaff - 2 gardens
Willow Warbler - 1 gardens
Linnet - 11N.

This exhausted newly-arrived Willow/Chiff was photo'd as it sought cover from the wind, up against a beach groyne (photo: Sarah Russell).
Not too certain from the pic. Had another long look... can't help feeling the wings look longish, so despite the dull (wet?) plumage, probably Willow? Tricky sometimes.




1715-1915hrs: Not to be outdone, an additional report from the late shift,  (Obs: IP/SH/AH). Quiet, but a good effort - it will pay off soon!

G N Diver - 2 os

Brent Goose - 74W (2 flocks, 24 & 50)

Shelduck - 1E

Eider - 5E (one flock 3m,2f)

Common Scoter -  11E, flock c.100 still os

Gannet - 16 W

Common Tern - 1 os

Sandwich Tern - 15 os

Med Gull - 2 ob

Rook - 1W

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Thursday, 11th April: Heavy rain overnight. Early morning rain/drizzle, gradually becoming drier, but remaining rather murky offshore. Some brightness and clearer horizons mid-morning and milder than of late. Wind WSW 3-4. Sea passage was again slow, the highlight being a Garganey passing some way out, its pale grey forewing, dark breast and contrasting pale belly eventually clinching it. The other feature of the morning was small passerines arriving N from the misty sea - with the first notable arrival of Willow Warblers. Some were readily identifiable but others less so, appearing darker due their soaking wet plumage, but the gardens held at least 15 Willows and 5 Chiffchaffs.


checking out the warblers in Bill House garden

There is one other news item today, which may involve a new bird for the Bill that got away. Basically a lady appeared at Pagham Harbour Visitor centre yesterday and produced to the volunteer on duty a photo of a bird allegedly taken in her  Selsey garden on the evening of 9/4 - it appears to be a pic of a Red-breasted Flycatcher (prob 1st-sum) !!  Trouble is, no contact details were taken from the lady and no location either, so the sighting remains unconfirmed and there is currently no way of even ensuring this is a genuine report........... but keep your eyes open.
 

Selsey Bill (0650-1200hrs): (Obs:CRJ/GH/OM/AHet al).

Great Northern Diver - 3 os (one in almost full s/p)

Red-throated Diver - 3E

Diver sp - 7E

Slavonian Grebe - 1 os flew W

Great Crested Grebe - 1W, 1 os

Brent Goose - 220E, 15W

Shoveler - 2E

Garganey - 1W (0820hrs)

Common Scoter - 9E, 30 os

R/b Merganser - 5E, 3W, 8 os

Gannet - 4E, 1W

Fulmar - 1E, 4W

Sandwich Tern - 22E, 9W

C/A Tern - 2E

Med Gull - 1E, 1os

Sparrowhawk - 1 p

Woodpigeon - 2N

Meadow Pipit - 12N

Swallow - 3N

Wheatear - 5 (2N, 3 ob)

Black Redstart - 1

Blackcap - 2 gardens

Chiffchaff - 5+ gardens

Willow Warbler - 15+gardens (see photo)

Goldcrest - 5 gardens
evening watch: 1650-1930hrs: (Obs: JA/SH/IP) Well done to the late shift.
Great Northern Diver - 11 os (amazing!)
Red-throated Diver - 6E
Slavonian Grebe  - 4 (2 s/p, birds displaying os)
Brent Goose - 1277E
R/b Merganser - 1 os
Sandwich Tern - 8E, 12 os
Common Tern - 2E, 2 os
Little Gull - 1E
Common Gull - 14E
Arctic Skua - 1E  + late report of a second (d/p) bird.                   
                                                                                                   Willow Warbler at Bill-tip (photo:Andy House)

 Northcommon Farm, Selsey: 2 White Wagtails in the horse paddock field (opposite the sub-station), 6 Willow Warblers and several Goldcrests. The feeding flock of Curlews was  again present.

                                                                                                   Garganey, Breech Pool (photo: Andy House)

 Pagham Hbr: There were various reports today. At the North wall/Breech Pool a party of 3 Garganey was present (JW) although later when AH went to photograph them he found them to be rather unobliging (which is his excuse for this photo....!)     
Also Stonechat, Peregrine, 40 Brent & 80 Black-tailed Godwits there. A later report of 2 Spoonbills flying over but no further details.

                                                   Common Redstart, male, Church Norton (photo: Andy House)
 

Sidlesham Ferry Pool: Yesterdays Yellow Wagtail was again reported though elusive, plus a Swallow and 2 Sand Martins, 45 Shoveler and 2 Avocets.

Church Norton this evening produced a male Common Redstart and a fem-type Black Redstart.

                                                 

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