16th - 19th May

Sunday, 19th May: A rather short update today I'm afraid. A slow news day I think ....at Selsey Bill the only report of interest I received was of two Hobbies arriving (JA). The Peninsula fared a little better; at Pagham Harbour there was a Curlew Sandpiper at Church Norton,  a Knot, 6 Dunlin, 12 Bar-tailed Godwits and 3 Whimbrel in the harbour, 2 Spotted Flycatchers in Glebe Meadow and 11 Black-tailed Godwits and a pair of Redshank on the Ferry Pool.

 

 

(top) - Curlew Sandpiper at Church Norton, (centre) - Redshanks on Ferry Pool, and (lower) - Spotted Flycatcher at Glebe Meadow (all photo's: Andy House)

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

Saturday, 18th May: A bit distracted today; having made plans not to go birding this weekend and spend some 'quality time' at home dealing with domestic stuff, I soon found my plans in tatters when a mega rarity Dusky Thrush was found in Kent! Could I ignore it? A message from ES this morning, some hastily remade promises, a few re-arrangements and two elderly twitchers were on their way to Margate at a leisurely 9am. It was successful too - as a good number of Sussex birders who were also there can verify - but there was a price to pay locally with news of a Pomarine Skua off the Bill, and then a BEE-EATER at Church Norton. Andy House describes the event.... "Having missed a Pom at a deadly quiet Bill, I decided to give Church Norton a go. The only thing of note was 3 Spotted Flycatchers behind the hide, and following one as it flicked up into a dead tree in the churchyard hedge I did a serious double-take as my view stopped on a Bee-Eater, sat on the upper-most branch. Once I convinced myself I wasn't seeing things I grabbed a few pics and started ringing people. Sadly, just as I finished the first call, to Sam Hill, it took off, circled higher and higher, calling as it went, and drifted away south and into the sun, not to be seen again (so far, at least.) "

Well done Andy, nice find, and just reward for all the visits you've made to Norton this spring.

Bee-eater, Church Norton, 18th May (photos: Andy House)

Selsey Bill  - very quiet this morning (per JA) - the highlight was a Pomarine Skua E (0823hrs) but otherwise little to report except a Yellow Wagtail in N and a small stream of Swallows arriving.

Peninsula: Pagham Hbr held the bird of the day, a Bee-eater at Church Norton (see above), plus 3 Spotted Flycatchers there. A Cuckoo and another Spotted Flycatcher were near the Ferry Pool.
Chi GPs (Ivy Lake): The 1st-w Little Gull giving excellent views whilst hawking insects, c.50 Common Terns, c.75 Swifts and c.50 House Martins; a Hobby was also reported before I arrived. No Arctic Terns located. (GH)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Friday, 17th May: An interesting day. The locals welcomed one of the Seaford regulars for the second day running, following yesterday's short visit by Ewan Urquhart, when Sharafin Gardner joined us for a while. Sea-watching started with a very early flurry of activity before things quickly slowed down, then George Heath's young eyes yet again picked up a largish raptor coming in over the sea from way out. It was obviously a Harrier and its size even at distance initially suggested Marsh, until its white rump declared it as a ringtail; its size and wing breadth sadly excluded Monty's, so it was obviously a Hen Harrier - a scarce bird at the Bill. Then a strange spring record of a flock of 17 Jays flying NW over Bill House - we didn't see any of them coming in from the sea so perhaps they were coasting, as they just suddenly appeared....this is in fact the third occurrence of Jays appearing in this manner in the last ten days or so (previously two and five). At Pagham Harbour today, a couple of Spotted Flycatchers, a Little Ringed Plover and a Turtle Dove.

ATurtle Dove spent the day in a Selsey garden (courtesy of Roland & Andrea Smith). (photo: Andy House)

Selsey Bill (0510-1300hrs): Dry, sunshine and cloud. Wind light NE1-2, then E 2-3 later.
(Obs: JA/OM/GH/SR/M&CE et al)
Great Northern Diver - 5 os (some s/p)
Diver Sp - 2E
Common Scoter - 138E
Fulmar - 5E, 2W
Gannet - 45E, 15W
Sanderling - 21E
Dunlin - 5E
bar-tailed Godwit - 4E
Whimbrel - 1E
Razorbill - 1E, 7W
Guillemot - 1E, 2os
Auk sp - 1E, 5W
Hen Harrier - 1N (ringtail)
Hobby - 1N
Sparrowhawk - 1 p
Arctic Skua - 5E
Kittiwake - 7E
C/A Tern - 94E, 80os
Common Tern - 90E
Sandwich Tern - 71E
Little Tern - 5E, 25 os
Swift - 2N
Swallow - 90N
House Martin - 3N

Meadow Pipit - 1 ob
Jay - flock 17 NW

Sanderlings on the beach at Selsey Bill, and
(below) a pair of Common Terns dispaying (lower photo: Andy House).

 

Peninsula: At Pagham Hbr a Turtle Dove was present at one site, a Little Ringed Plover was on the Breech Pool this afternoon (M&CE) and 2 Spotted Flycatchers were in the Halseys/North Wall area. Also 10 Knot in the harbour. 

Chi GPS Ivy Lake held a Little Gull and a good number of Common Terns. A couple of Arctic terns were also reported.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Thursday, 16th May: A fine, sunny and calm day with a light S/SW breeze looked very promising, especially after a spell of bad weather and unfavourable winds, but pleasant as it was to be sitting on the wall amongst the gallery, enjoying the banter with the locals and a chat to visitors, the sea yet again failed to produce much passage. They think it's all over......it is now!  Well maybe, but personally I think it's not too late yet for a few more surprises from the sea - I hope so anyway. The Serin did not appear again so presumably it has gone, whilst the very early team scored with an incoming Hobby, a Black-throated Diver and 5 Eider before things slowed down. Most observers had drifted away by late morning, so I decided to take a break from the sea and return later, and my decision to visit Northcommon Farm (Selsey) was soon rewarded with a small fall of 3 Spotted Flycatchers. A year tick for me - and a few others too, so I put the news out (see pic's by Ads Bowley). I returned to the Bill at 1330hrs where the sun was glaring over the sea and nothing was really happening except Sanderlings, Dunlins and Turnstones dropping in on the shoreline to feed. I was about to leave when a Wheatear suddenly landed on the beach from the sea; a fairly late bird I thought and a quick glance through the bin's showed it was a female, I was immediately struck by the stance, size and height of the bird, which was clearly larger than Northern, appearing longer-legged, longer-winged and consistently rather upright, whilst the upperbreast colour seemed quite extensive for a female with traces of the colour extending down to the sides of the lower belly. Overall, I felt this just had to be a Greenland Wheatear. I tried to get a few pics (see below) but I couldn't really get close enough, then the inevitable dog walker came along, so the pics I managed are heavily cropped but they do give the idea. Never the easiest without trapping and measuring, but if you disagree I'd be keen to hear why (and disappointed!)

 Greenland Wheatear, Selsey Bill, 16th May. Note the upright, bold stance, longish legs and fairly extensive breast colouration extending to sides of lower belly.

Note the overall size, upright stance and long wings in this shot.

Note the large size, upright stance, longish wings, legs and amount/extent of colour saturation (despite shadowing)

 

 

 

Spotted Flycatcher, Northcommon Farm, Selsey (photos: Ads Bowley)

 

Selsey Bill (0600-1130 & 1330-1500hrs): Dry, sunny, calm, some light cloud. Wind S/SW 1-2/3.
(Obs: CG/CF/OM/JW et al)
Great Northern Diver - 5 os
Black-throated Diver - 1E
Great Crested Grebe - 2W
Little Egret - 1N
Eider - 5E
Common Scoter - 186E, 34W
Fulmar - 1W
Gannet - 5E
Sanderling - 38E, 7os
Dunlin - 25E, 20 os
Turnstone - 10 os
Oystercatcher - 1E
Whimbrel - 10E
Hobby - 1 NE
Arctic Skua - 1E
C/A Tern - 25E
Common Tern - c.100 os, most slowly drifted off E
Little Tern - 10 os
Sandwich Tern - 4E, 10 os
Swift - 3N
Swallow - 36N
Sand Martin - 1N
Wheatear - 1 Greenland  (see above)

Northcommon Farm, Selsey: 3 Spotted Flycatchers, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler.

Peninsula: The only report received before I signed off for the day was from Chi GPs Ivy Lake
where a Hobby and a Little Gull were seen (JW).