19th - 21st November 2014

Friday, 21st November: More of the same weather-wise; remaining dull and cloudy, but still fairly mild for the time of year, with a fresh E/SE wind and the likelihood of some heavy showers later.

 

Church Norton: A quick look in the harbour produced the 2 Spoonbills roosting out in the middle, and 3 Red-breasted Mergansers and 2 Great Crested Grebes on the water, plus at least 50 Knot amongst 200+ Dunlin.

There was a big flock of Long-tailed Tits moving through the churchyard, with at least half a dozen Goldcrests with them. (AH)

 

Goldcrest (above) & Long-tailed Tit at Church Norton (AH)

 

Fishbourne Creek: I retreated from the strong easterly wind blowing across the harbour at Church Norton to the relative shelter of Dell Quay, but the tide was too high for much to be on show. Best birds were a couple of Kingfishers along the eastern edge.

Very quiet in the harbour - a couple of hundred Wigeon and Brent Geese, a dozen Little Grebes and a few Great Crested Grebes were the only birds on the water, and all the waders - including c50 Lapwing, c20 Grey Plover and Black-tailed Godwit and c200 Redshank were all packed in on a few bits of dry ground at the northern end.

Around the riding school and the churchyard there were up to 20 Yellowhammers, a Mistle Thrush, 6 Song Thrushes and a few Long-tailed Tits and Goldcrests, plus a pair of Buzzards. (AH)

 

Kingfishers in Fishbourne Creek (AH)

 

Thursday, 20th November: A fairly dismal and overcast morning with a moderate E/NE wind and conditions likely to remain this way throughout the day.

 

Selsey Bill: (0745-1015hrs) (C&ME)
Great Northern Diver - 1E, 2os

Red- throated Diver - 1W, 2E

Slavonian Grebe - 1W

Great Crested Grebe - 5W

Gannet - 1W

Brent Goose - 22W, 9E

Shelduck - 5E

Eider - 6W

Red-breasted Merganser - 1W, 9E
Dunlin - 18E
Skylark - 4 in off sea 

Medmerry: West Sands to the breach - In a brief visit this afternoon, still one Black Redstart in the car park at the far end of West Sands caravan park and the Great Northern Diver still on the eastern most pool from the viewpoint. (Paul James per SOS)

Ferry Pool: Wigeon 73, Lapwing 2, Black-Headed Gull 232 with 2 unseasonal Yellow-legged Gulls, Curlew 7, Herring Gull 46, Shoveler 33 and Shelduck 6 (IL}

Church Norton:  a single Rock Pipit, plus the 2 Spoonbills on Tern Island and the regular Whimbrel in the harbour (IL}

 

Whimbrel in the harbour (IL}

North Wall: Not a lot happening along the Wall, the highlight being 4 Rock Pipits close to the sluice. On the Breach Pool over a 100 noisy Teal, 60 Mallard and a single Little Grebe. 38 Curlew in the field behind the Pool. A further 23 Curlew and 5 Black-tailed Godwits in Honer Field. In the large field immediately east of Marsh Farm were 140 Wigeon but they were disturbed by some guy tearing around on a quad bike. A very recent growth of pretty yellow fungi in the field behind Owl Copse. (JDW)

 

Fungus on the North Wall (JDW)

 

East Head: Nothing out of the ordinary this morning, but plenty of the regular species about. There were c120 Sanderlings on the beach with a dozen Dunlin amongst them, but nothing on the water bar two Great Crested Grebes. There were possibly 3 pairs of Stonechats around the dunes, along with half a dozen Reed Buntings, and along the inner edge c100 Skylarks, c50 Meadow Pipits, c200 Linnets and two Rock Pipits, with 2-300 Dunlin and 40 Grey Plovers roosting nearby,

In Snowhill Creek there were c30 Golden Plover with 300+ Lapwings, 12 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Snipe and plenty of Wigeon and Teal. A Sparrowhawk was in the hedgerow, and there were at least 2000 Brent Geese on the grass, with good numbers of juveniles amongst them. (AH)

 

 

Sanderling and Dunlin (above), Skylark, Rock Pipit, Sparrowhawk & juvenile Brent Geese at East Head (AH)

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, 19th November: A brisk SSE wind, with mostly heavy cloud and the occasional sunny break... but despite the drier weather and better birding conditions it felt like a real mid-November doldrums day with very little new to report and not much happening, despite the tinge of east in the wind. 

With the end of the year now but a few weeks away, the editors are busily compiling data behind the scenes to update some of the pages. As a starter, readers can now click the page link to view the up-to-date Selsey Peninsula checklist which has just been added..... I won't spoil the fun here, but before you look, have a guess at how many species you think are on the list ... you may be surprised!

Selsey Bill (0745-0915hrs): (Obs: AH/C&ME)
Great Northern Diver - 4E, 2os
Red-throated Diver - 2E
diver sp - 1W
Slavonian Grebe - 1E, then os
Great Crested Grebe - 4W
Gannet - 12E
Brent Goose - 1E, 11W
Red-breasted Merganser - 12W
Kittiwake - 1W
Razorbill - 2E
auk sp -1E
Pied Wagtail - 2p

Additional seawatch until 1105hrs (C&ME}
Red-throated Diver - 1W
diver sp - 3W
Great Crested Grebe - 1E
Gannet - 9W, 3E
Brent Goose - 41W
Red-breasted Merganser - 3E
Arctic Skua - 1W
Razorbill - 3W
auk sp - 9E 

Church Norton: Not much on the move in the harbour on the high tide - the 2 Spoonbills and the Whimbrel were still present, plus a Red-breasted Merganser, with another offshore with 5 Great Crested Grebes.

A Firecrest was briefly present (per A&YF) in the hide/churchyard area, along with 3 Redwings, 3 Jays, both Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Chiffchaff, a few Goldcrests and c40 Goldfinches. (AH)

 

Jays at Church Norton (AH)

 

West Wittering & Ella Nore: Tempted by the easterly airflow of the last couple of days I decided to try something a bit different and felt this area was worthy of some serious tree and bush-bashing. Despite my best efforts though, no hidden gems were located and it actually turned out to be hard work with few passerines on offer... all I came up with were half a dozen Goldcrests, a single Chiffchaff, a Cetti's Warbler and a couple of small tit flocks which were mainly Long-tailed Tits. Back-up birds were few too, except for the flock of 1200+ Brent Geese, with a distant Greenshank, 5 Bar-tailed Godwits and 65 Curlew the most notable amongst the common waders and 4 Jays, 30 Meadow Pipits, a Sparrowhawk and a Buzzard making up the numbers.... perhaps I timed it wrong but there was just nothing worth mentioning on Snowhill marsh when I visited (OM).

 

Birdham Pool: A brief visit produced 6+ Little Grebes, 5 Tufted Ducks, 2+ Gadwall and 5 Wigeon on the pool - the latter two species tucked into the reeds at the back and hard to count - plus a couple of Goldcrests in the surrounding vegetation (OM).