Saturday 13 September 2014

13th - 15th September 2014

Monday, 15th September: A chill and brisk northerly first thing, still dry and warming up as the morning progressed....with sun and some cloud.
 
Selsey Bill (0800 - 0945hrs): Dry, hazy sun, wind N/NE4. (Obs: OM). Not much to report; very little happening offshore and just a bit of visible migration overland.
Gannet - 3E
Little Egret - 2 os
Common Tern - 1E
Sandwich Tern - 2E, 1os
Med Gull  1W
Yellow Wagtail - 4E
Grey Wagtail - 1E
Meadow Pipit - 12E
Jay - 2E over gardens
Chiffchaff - 7 gardens
Swallow - 50E
House Martin - 60E
 
Warner Lane horse paddocks: No sign of the Wryneck, so far, but a couple of Whitethroats and 20+ Meadow Pipits present, and a Jay, 2 Grey Wagtails, 50+ House Martins and a Buzzard went over. (AH/OM) 

Meadow Pipit (above), Whitethroat & Jay at Warner Lane (AH)



North Wall: Early on there were 9 Curlew Sandpipers along White's Creek but after an unknown disturbance they all retreated seawards. On the Breach Pool were 42 Black-tailed Godwits and 4 Common Snipe. A Great Spotted Woodpecker sitting on one of the fence posts was unusual. At least 5 Whinchats along the fence at the back, in company with 2 Roe Deer, and 3 calling Cetti's Warblers were along the Wall. A small eastward movement of Swallows and Sand Martins. (JDW)
Additional info... Today I rode down to the North Wall, along to the Ferry Pool and back through Marsh Farm....Honer Reservoir ..1 Greenshank briefly, flew off north; Summer Lane S.F. 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Pied and 2 Grey Wagtails; Breach Pool, 71 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Snipe and 6 Whinchats on the fence to rear; North Wall bushes 4 Reed Warbler,1 Cettis Warbler,1 Blackcap, 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Common Blue butterfly; Newly ploughed field just east of Rookery Lane, 270 Herring Gulls (mostly adults) 1 Yellow-legged Gull, 100 Black-headed Gull, 1 Buzzard; Marsh/Chalder Farms, 10 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Buzzard; Bramber Farm, 1 male Redstart  (CRJ).   
 
Curlew Sandpipers in White's Creek (JDW)
 
Ferry Pool: Almost the same as yesterday - one Green Sandpiper, a Common Sandpiper, three Common Snipe, four Avocets, a dozen Lapwing and 15 Black-tailed Godwits, plus 40 Teal. (AH/OM)
 
Church Norton: Predictably quiet in the cold northerly - a single Wheatear on the beach, circa 100 Meadow Pipits, 40 Linnets and 20 Goldfinches, plus a few hirundines going east, a couple of Chiffchaffs by the Mound and a Whimbrel in the harbour. (AH)
This evening there was a Wheatear, a Kingfisher and two Sandwich Terns seen from the spit and 80 Wigeon flew up through the harbour. (S&SaH/AH)

Medmerry: Easton's Lane to Earnley flood pools: I did the long walk to the beach, utilising the new benches en route, and although there were a few migrants to be seen it was fairly quiet overall. The 'Stilt pool' was disappointingly devoid of waders except for 3 Common Sandpipers, but appears to have been taken over by a plague of Canada Geese.... I counted about 420 plus a couple of other 'plastic' specimens! The best on offer was probably the Yellow Wagtails and  today's tally (excluding Canadas) was as follows:-
Teal - 80
Wigeon - 6
Common Sandpiper - 4
Avocet - 2 juvs
Yellow-legged Gull - 2 ads
Med Gull - 2
Yellow Wagtail - 25
Grey Wagtail - 2E
Meadow Pipit - 45
Wheatear - 1
Linnet- c.500 (in three large flocks)

 Yellow Wagtails at Medmerry (OM)

 Juv Avocets at Medmerry (OM)

Earnley flood storage pool, (alias the 'Stilt pool') with 400+ Canada Geese currently resident (OM).

Chainbridge - Ham:  The strongest sign of migration was a mixed flock making its way east along the ploughed edge of a field running alongside the banks, it consisted of c50 Meadow Pipits, 8 Yellow Wagtails and 2 Wheatears.  Strangely there was flock of c30 Linnets flying in the opposite direction.  Also 4 Buzzards, 3 Kestrels, 1 Peregrine, a singing Cetti's Warbler, c50 Goldfinches, 26 Swallows, 4 House Martins, and 6 more Wheatears along with a Whitethroat, near the Chainbridge (SR).
 
Sunday, 14th September: The wind is still from the north-east quadrant, but a bit brisker today, keeping the birds down. Although conditions have not been conducive to heavy migrant falls so far this month, there are still some bits and pieces to maintain the interest......for instance, another Wryneck was seen this morning at Selsey (but thus far was as unco-operative as have been this autumn's previous two), a Marsh Harrier arrived from the sea at the Bill, Curlew Sands were again present at the North Wall and a Grasshopper Warbler and a Hobby appeared at the Gravel pits.

Warner Lane horse paddocks: A Wryneck was present for a brief while late morning before flying off. Also seen 1230hrs. (BI)
 
Wryneck at Warner Lane paddocks (BI)
 
Selsey Bill (0630-0930hrs)Dry, cloud and sun. Wind fresh NE4. (Obs: JA/PB/AGB/SH/OM/AH et al). Highlight was a Marsh Harrier in off the sea early on, but otherwise it was slow-going. There was a steady eastward flow of House Martins with a few Meadow Pipits and Swallows amongst them, whilst the somewhat demented Great Spotted Woodpecker was also seen again zooming about over various gardens and the playing field.
Gannet - 13E, 3W
Brent Goose - 1W
Eider - 1W
Marsh Harrier - 1 female in off the sea (0700hrs)
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1W
Common Tern - 7E
Sandwich Tern - 21E, 2W
Med Gull - 68E
House Martin - 1540E (largely juv birds)
Swallow - 105E

Sand Martin - 6E
Meadow Pipit - 110E
Yellow Wagtail - 9E

Grey Wagtail - 1E
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1 gardens
Chiffchaff  - 10 gardens

 
Northcommon Farm: Quiet this morning; 3 Goldcrests and 6 Chiffchaffs were the only migrants I could find, apart from the hirundines passing through. A Great Spotted and 2 Green Woodpeckers were also present and a small flock of c.10 Long-tailed Tits (OM).

Ferry Pool: The only waders were a Green Sandpiper and a Snipe, plus the usual 4 Avocets, 16 Black-tailed Godwits and 20 Lapwing. There was a big mixed flock of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits roaming about, with half a dozen Chiffchaffs and two Blackcaps amongst them. (AH)

Snipe and Green Sandpiper on Ferry (left) & Chiffchaff nearby (AH)

Halsey's Farm/North Wall: Almost birdless through Halsey's Farm bar a Buzzard, a Kestrel and a few Meadow Pipits. White's Creek was again where most of the interest lay, with 6 Curlew Sandpipers and 9 Spotted Redshank still present, along with 2 Greenshank, 20+ Dunlin, 100+ Redshank and a Kingfisher. In the Breach Pool there were a couple of Snipe, 20 Lapwing, 35 Black-tailed Godwits and 40 Teal, whilst 2 Yellow Wagtails, 10 Meadow Pipits and 6 Reed Buntings went over. (AH/PB/AGB/BI)


Curlew Sandpipers (above) & Snipe and Teal from the North Wall (AH)
 
Spotted Redshanks at White's Creek (DM)
 
Highlights not covered above included an Osprey overhead at 15.40 which then hovered over the west side in the sun until 15.53 and a juvenile Marsh Harrier quartering around Owl Point most of the afternoon. Ducks included 17 Pintail and some 200 Wigeon. A Sandwich tern flew N to S across the whole Harbour at 14.00. Waders for me were 6 juv curlew sandpipers and one juv little stint 4 Greenshank and 10 Spotted Redshank, a Common Sandpiper, a juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit with a broken right leg, a Golden Plover, 6 Grey Plover and an Avocet. Also four Whinchats and two Kingfishers were seen, plus two adults and a juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls. (ARK per SOS)

Chi GP's: Drayton Pits: The surprise highlight was a Grasshopper Warbler that  silently flushed from long grass when almost underfoot, and keeping low flicked across to an adjacent bush, hesitating for a moment before disappearing. A Hobby also put in a brief appearance and 2 Cetti's Warblers were heard, but there were no waders at all and the water levels remain too high for such a prospect. The usual wildfowl were present and Gadwall numbers are building up again, though a flock of 5 Wigeon and 4 Shoveler were probably new in. Two broods of Great Crested Grebes were noted; one consisted of an adult with a well grown juvenile of almost adult size, whilst the other brood consisted of an adult with four very stripy and fairly small ('half size') young - presumably a late brood as the adult was seen to be still feeding them (OM).

Medmerry: Ham Farm - A Spotted Flycatcher and a couple of Chiffchaffs were in a sheltered bit of hedge early evening, but not much else about bar 50 Swallows over. (AH)

Saturday, 13th September: More of the same; high pressure, dry, sun and cloud with a light NE breeze.

First news today is of a Nuthatch on the edge of our patch in a Runcton garden - a Peninsula rarity and garden tick for the observer! (CRJ).
 
Selsey Bill: There was a modest but steady trickle of birds going east this morning, including a Swift, a couple of Jays and a number of Grey and Yellow Wagtails, Meadow Pipits, Linnets and hirundines, plus 3 Wheatears on the beach, 10+ of Sandwich Terns and Common Terns offshore and a steady movement of Mediterranean Gulls going east then west. (JA/SH/AH/GH)
Fulmar - 1E
Gannet - 6E, 2W
Little Egret - 3E, 1W
Brent - 3W, 1E
Teal - 9E
Eider - 5W
Kestrel - 2 ob
Curlew - 1E
Mediterranean Gull 122E later drifting back west
Sandwich Tern - 18E, 2W
Common Tern - 20E
Swift - 1E
Yellow Wagtail -  39E, 1W
Grey Wagtail - 5E
Meadow Pipit - 70E
Swallow - 28E
House Martin - 473E
Wheatear - 3 ob
Jay - 2 ob
Linnet - 20E

Selsey: Northcommon Farm/area: A brief look around late afternoon, breezy and quiet:  3 Spotted Flycatchers, c100 House Martins, c75 Swallows, some Sand Martins, 3 Chiffchaffs (SR/SH). Earlier, 3 Common Swifts nearby over the village at Manor Road (SR/S&SaH)

 
Spotted Flycatcher at Northcommon Farm (SH) 
 
Church Norton: There was a steady trickle of Meadow Pipits along the beach at Church Norton, too, numbering about 40 birds by 10am, plus 150 House Martins, 30 Swallows and 2 Sand Martins, all going east. There were at least 3 Wheatears on the spit and about 5 Whitethroats along the Severals, but otherwise it was quiet, with a Green Woodpecker being just about the only bird seen around the churchyard/hide area. (AH)
There were another 50+ Meadow Pipits, 200+ House Martins and Swallows moving east later in the morning, plus 6 Sandwich Terns and 3 Common Terns offshore and a Curlew Sandpiper in the harbour by the concrete slabs. (S&SaH)
 
Green Woodpecker & Wheatear (above) & Meadow Pipit at Church Norton (AH)
 
Ferry Pool: A Snipe and a Common Sandpiper joined the 4 Green Sandpipers at the back of the Ferry early on, and there were still 4 Avocets, 12 Black-tailed Godwits and 30 Lapwing present.
A look at the Ferry field later on produced about a dozen Yellow Wagtails and 40 Rooks around the cattle, and 7 Wheatears together along the central fence-line.
This evening there was a Spotted Redshank and 3 Curlew Sandpipers, including a moulting adult, on the pool. (AH)
 
 
Yellow Wagtails (above) & Rooks on Ferry Field (AH)
 

No comments:

Post a Comment