4th-6th September 2014

Saturday, 6th September: Another grey and still start to the day....

Selsey Bill: 0630-0930hrs (SH JA)
Great Crested Grebe - 2E
Fulmar - 2W, 1E
Gannet - 5w, 1E
Eider - 12 os
Black-tailed Godwit - 2W
Turnstone - 14 ob
Arctic Skua - 1W
Mediterranean Gull - 5W
Sandwich Tern - 9os
Common Tern - 5os
Swallow  - 1083E
House Martin - 24E
Sand Martin - 5E
Meadow Pipit - 48E
Yellow Wagtail - 33E,3W
Grey Wagtail - 2E
Pied Wagtail - 1 obs
Willow Warbler - 8 in gardens

Northcommon Farm: This afternoon there were 2 Pied Flycatchers again, with 10+ Spotted Flycatchers, 2 Redstarts, 4 Lesser Whitethroats, 12 Yellow Wagtails, a Willow Warbler, 4 Green Woodpeckers and 1000+ mixed hirundines. (S&SaH/SR et al)

Pied Flycatcher (above), Spotted Flycatcher (both SH) & Green Woodpecker (SR) at Northcommon Farm

 

Horse Paddocks, Warner Lane: A pair of Redstarts, 2 Whitethroats, 1 Willow Warbler, 52 Goldfinches, c150 House Martins, c75 Swallows. (SR)
Church Norton (from Selsey): (S&SaH)
4 Redstart
4 Whinchat
8 Wheatear
20 +Whitethroat
1 Grey Wagtail
20+ Yellow Wagtail
2000+ Swallows with a few House and Sand Martin amongst them
2 Peregrine
4 Buzzard
3 Sparrowhawk
20+ Sandwich Tern offshore
10+ Common Tern offshore



Whinchat in Manor Road, Selsey (SH)

 

Highlight of a walk from Selsey to Church Norton were a Pied Flycatcher at the east end of Park Lane and a flock of 19 Little Terns feeding close offshore early on.
Other birds of note included 50+ Yellow Wagtail, including a couple on the tideline, a Grey Wagtail and 3 Pied Wagtails, 10+ Wheatears, 2 Whinchats, 2 Spotted Flycatchers, a Garden Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat and numerous Whitethroats and Blackcaps. (IP)
Not much to add this evening, but there were somewhere between 15 and 20 Spotted Flycatchers around the churchyard and car park area. (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were 4 Green Sandpipers today, plus 5 Avocets, 40 Lapwings and about 20 Black-tailed Godwits dropped in. (AH et al)

Black-tailed Godwits on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool/Ferry Channel: Very little along the Long Pool, bar a couple of Whitethroats, but quite a few flighty waders in the channel on the rising tide - namely a Spotted Redshank, a Greenshank, 2 juvenile Curlew Sandpipers, a Bar-tailed Godwit, a Whimbrel and about 40 each of Redshank and Grey Plover, plus a Kingfisher. (AH)

Friday, 5th September: A rather grey and gloomy morning, but also still , which is always a pleasant novelty on the peninsula.....

Medmerry: West Sands to the breach - Birds of the morning were the 4 Little Stints that dropped in with around 25 Dunlin to roost on the mud near the beach. Also present were  a Common Sandpiper, 4 Common Terns, 10 or so Sandwich Terns, with similar numbers of Wheatears spread about, 8 Yellow Wagtails over, plus a couple on the mud, a Willow Warbler, 150+ Linnets, 30 Ringed Plovers, 10 Lapwing, a Curlew and 17 Little Egrets. (AH/SR/CRJ)

Little Stints (above), Sandwich Tern & Wheatear and Linnet at Medmerry (AH)

 

Northcommon Farm: Three Pied Flycatchers together at Flycatcher Corner this morning. (GH/BI) They couldn't be refound later, but there was a male Redstart and several Spotted Flycatchers around. (CRJ)

 

Horses Paddock, Warner Lane: 1 Whinchat, 3 Whitethroat, 2 Willow Warblers, c40 Swallows, plus a Small Copper butterfly.(SR)

Small Copper at Warner Lane (SR)

 

Selsey: Hundreds of Swallows and House Martins and one Peregrine over our garden on the north of the town tonight. (S&SaH)
A calling Whimbrel over my East Beach garden this evening. (SR)

 

Ferry Pool: Now 6 Green Sandpipers at the back, but still no other waders bar the usual species -  7 Avocet, 2 Black-tailed Godwit and 60 Lapwing. Also 35 Teal and 14 Shelducks present, too. (AH)

Teal on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were at least 2 Redstarts and 5 Spotted Flycatchers in the churchyard/hide area, along with 4 Blackcaps, and there were 8 Sandwich Terns in the harbour. (AH/BI/CRJ))
Later on there were 4 Curlew Sandpipers, (CRJ/RI)) and still one this evening, plus 3 Greenshank. (AH)

Redstart (above) & Spotted Flycatcher (BI)

Curlew Sandpiper (above) & Greenshank at Church Norton (AH)

Thursday, 4th September: A morning that started bright and still, before quickly clouding over with a nagging easterly wind....

Medmerry: Easton Lane area - A look around the hedgerows and maize fields was productive this morning, before wind picked up. In a couple of fairly small areas of hedge and bramble there were a female Redstart, a Tree Pipit, a Lesser Whitethroat, 5+ Whitethroats, 10+ Sedge Warblers, 4+ Reed Warblers, 10+ Chiffchaffs and 20+ Willow Warblers. Also 10+ Yellow Wagtails and 20+ Meadow Pipits flying about, 6 Stock Doves on nearby stubble and plenty of House Martins and Swallows overhead. (AH)

Tree Pipit (above), Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers, Willow Warbler & Chiffchaff at Medmerry (AH)

 

 

 

Easton Lane westwards - This afternoon there was a Common Sandpiper, a Green Sandpiper and an Avocet in the pools. (RJS)

Ferry Pool: Action replay of yesterday, really, with 5 Green Sandpipers, 7 Avocets, 5 Black-tailed Godwits and 50 Lapwing present, plus a solitary Dunlin. Also 20 Teal and another 30 flew over with 50+ Mallards. (AH)

Green Sandpiper on the Ferry (AH)

 

Church Norton: Still a couple of Spotted Flycatchers behind the hide and a few Willow/Chiffs, but the wind was keeping birds low, and the churchyard was empty except for the massed gang of lawn-mowers, strimmers and leave blowers.

In the harbour there was a Greenshank, 2 Whimbrel, 6 Sandwich Terns and 100+ Redshank, plus more Swallows and House Martins over east. (AH)

 

Whimbrel at Church Norton (AH)

This evening a juvenile Marsh Harrier was hunting over the harbour at around 7pm, and there were 3 Wheatears in the fields at Park Farm, a Redstart by the horse's field and 3 Spotted Flycatchers in the car-park, whilst there were 3 Sandwich Terns and 2 Common Terns offshore and about 8 Great Crested Grebes offshore and in the harbour, plus 2 Pintail flew over. (AH/S&SaH)

 

Redstart at Church Norton (AH)

 

Sidlesham: A Hobby low over our garden this evening, ironically when there are the lowest numbers of Swallows about in weeks. (AH)