13th - 16th October 2015

Friday, 16th October: Another grey and windy autumnal day, though not quite as cold as might be expected with the wind from the north-east.....

Selsey Bill (0800-1015hrs): cloudy, N/NE4  (Obs: M&CE)
Gannet - 2W

Shag - 7E

Brent Goose - 1E, 10W 

Turnstone - 15 ob

Sandwich Tern - 2E, 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 8 os

Meadow Pipit - 52N

Pied/alba Wagtail - 22N
Goldfinch - 20 ob

Chiffchaff - 3 gardens         

 Later in the day there were  11 Chiffchaffs along the front - 6 at Bill House and 5 in the garden opposite the tea caravan, also 1 Clouded Yellow,1 Red Admiral and 2 Small Whites. (BC)

North Wall: A Short-eared Owl was along the wall before flying into the harbour to go back to sleep, and there were two Rock Pipits along the wall, too. Not too much was on the Breech Pool, just half a dozen Shipe, c40 Black-tailed Godwits and similar of Teal and Mallard, with very few small birds visible in the wind, bar a couple of Stonechats and a few reed Buntings.

White's Creek was quite busy, with six Spotted Redshanks (all together at one point) and a Greenshank among the numerous Lapwings and Black-tailed Godwits. A Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail both came and went a couple of times, and up to a dozen Golden Plover went up with the Lapwings in the harbour.

Not too much out in the wider harbour beyond the regular birds, but a Lesser Black-backed Gull was among the flock, and at least ten Great Crested Grebes were out in front of the hide, whilst the bushes were pretty quiet beyond a few Goldcrests and Reed Buntings. (AH/PC)

Spotted Redshanks (above), with Black-tailed Godwit, Short-eared Owl, Rock Pipit & Stonechat from the North Wall (AH)

Pagham Lagoon: Not much to report - just 20 or so Little Grebes, a dozen Tufted Ducks and 50+ Coots being about the sum. (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were just two Green Sandpipers this morning, along with a single Avocet, six Dunlin, 35 Black-tailed Godwits and 220 Lapwing. The Grey Wagtail was briefly present, and there were a dozen Shoveler among the 60 or so Teal. (AH)
Later on there three Green Sandpipers and a Common Sandpiper, as well as 40+ Golden Plover over (and 15 on the field), and a juvenile Peregrine. (E. Stubbs)
This evening there were 80 Golden Plover in with the roosting Lapwings. (AB)

Green Sandpiper (above) & Shoveler on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were two Chiffchaffs, two Goldcrests, a Jay and a Green Woodpecker around the churchyard/hide area, and there were two Whimbrel in the harbour this morning. (BI)
A Short-eared Owl came off the sea at 12:00 before circling the paddock field just north of The Severals. Also seen were 40+ Pintail in the harbour, 10+ Swallows going east and, off the spit, a drake Red-breasted Merganser and 2 Gannets W. (E Stubbs)

Long Pool/West side: Totals seen included  2-3 Cetti's Warblers, 1 (singing) Willow Warbler, 17 Grey Partridge, 2 Yellowhammers, 3 Blackcaps and 1 Short-eared Owl seen distantly hunting over Sidlesham Quay/North Wall area at (13:50). 1 Spotted Redshank and 1 Greenshank. (E Stubbs)

Medmerry: Breach/Chainbridge area - There were two Stonechats this morning, and a few Siskins went over, but there were no waders except Oystercatchers around the pools. Very little around Chainbridge either - just a singing Skylark and a Kestrel of note, and just Goldfinches and Starlings in the fields towards the Coastguard station.  (BI)

Chichester GPs: Ivy lake complex - Very little of note here, just a couple of Goldcrests in the bushes. (BI)

Thursday, 15th October: A cold, grey day, with a brisk north-easterly and heavy cloud cover with just a hint of hazy sun at times......feeling ok in the sheltered spots but notably chilly in the open.

Selsey Bill (0800-1100hrs): Cloudy, NE 3, dry  (Obs; C&ME/OM) Eight Shags moved east, close to the shoreline again (we've had several such days this autumn; all appear juv-type birds and we can only speculate as to their origins), whilst a little vis mig was also noted. Log....

Gannet - 3E, 7W

Shag - 8E

Brent Goose - 2W

Shelduck - 1E

Red-breasted Merganser - 3E

Sandwich Tern - 1E, 2W

Mediterranean Gull - 1E, 2W

Ringed Plover - 1 ob

Turnstone - 25 ob

Meadow Pipit - 41N

Pied/alba Wagtail - 17N

Swallow - 63 E/SE (some offshore may have then headed S)

Song Thrush - 1N

Starling - 45N

Chiffchaff - 10 gardens

Goldfinch - 50E

Selsey area: East beach pond held 8 Chiffchaffs and 4 Goldcrests, whilst a small flock of Siskins and several Pied Wagtails moved overhead.

Northcommon Farm was again quiet, with no more than 4 Chiffchaffs and a similar number of Goldcrests, plus a Green Woodpecker (or perhaps 2).

Warner Lane area - a flock of 32 Curlew was present in the damp paddocks (presumably having commuted from Northcommon Fm), but otherwise just 2 Stonechat, 6 Chiffchaffs, a couple of Goldcrests and a few Meadow Pipits. (OM)

Part of the Curlew flock at Warner Lane (OM) 

Ferry Pool: There were again four Green Sandpipers this morning, along with seven Dunlin, a Snipe, an Avocet, c25 Black-tailed Godwits and c60 Lapwing. A Golden Plover flew over with some Lapwing, and the Kingfisher and the Grey Wagtail made brief appearances. There were still plenty of Teal, plus a few Shoveler and Wigeon on the pool, and in the adjacent hedges there were a couple of Blackcaps and 50+ Goldfinches. (OM/AH)

Snipe (above), with Avocet, Avocet & Goldfinches around the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: Very autumnal today, with the only summer birds on show being a single Wheatear along the spit and half a dozen Swallows over the Severals. A couple of Jays and a few heard but unseen Goldcrests were around the churchyard, whilst along the spit there were 30+ Skylarks, a dozen Meadow Pipits and a huge finch flock, which was a long way along the new spit but looked like it was probably Linnets. Also a Green Woodpecker and a Red-legged Partridge were unlikely birds on the spit. 

There was some visible migration, with 14 Siskins, c200 Goldfinches, c40 Linnets, 12 Pied Wagtails and c25 Meadow Pipits all going east along the beach. The Whimbrel was in the harbour, as were 40+ Brent Geese and good numbers of Wigeon and Teal. (AH)

This afternoon there were three Stonechats along the Severals, and also a single Chiffchaff, six Long-tailed Tits  and a Jay about. (CRJ)

Wheatear (above), Brent Geese, Green Woodpecker, Whimbrel & with Grey Plover at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: Much colder this morning. Lots of waders along White's Creek - Redshank, Black-tailed Godwits, Lapwing, Oystercatcher and 14 Golden Plover plus a Pied Wagtail. On the Breech Pool was an obliging Water Rail, a Kingfisher, 37 Black-tailed Godwits and 13 Common Snipe. Along the Wall was a mixed flock of Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits and Reed Buntings. A pair of Stonechats were at Owl Water with a late Sedge Warbler. About 30 Swallows went through eastwards but 5 House Martins bucked the trend by going westwards. A very pale Wood Pigeon  was at Owl Copse. On Honer reservoir were 3 Little Grebes, 14 Coot, 3 Mute Swans and a Tufted Duck. A flock of some 60 Linnets were feeding in the sunflower patch just SE of the reservoir, and 2 Stonechats were in the same location. A pair of Green Woodpeckers was along Pagham Rife. (JDW)

 North Wall selection: Water Rail (above), odd pale Wood Pigeon, Stonechat and Pied Wagtail (JDW)

Wednesday, 14th October: Another beautiful, bright morning, but still with a brisk and chill northerly breeze.....

Ferry Pool: There were four Green Sandpipers at the back this morning, along with eight Dunlin, and there were 30 Black-tailed Godwits and 50 Lapwing on the pool, and double that of the latter on the cultivated field nearby. There were also at least a dozen Shoveler, 35 Wigeon, five Shelducks and c60 Teal present, but very little around the tramway area bar a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a few Chiffchaffs and Long-tailed Tits. (AH)

Black-tailed Godwits (above), Wigeon and Teal & Great Spotted Woodpecker around the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: There were up to half a dozen Redwing in the hedges by the small pool, before flying off, and a Merlin put on a show chasing passerines over the stubble fields. Along the pool there were a dozen Chiffchaffs, four calling Cetti's Warblers, up to 30 Reed Buntings, two Stonechats and a few fly-over Linnets, Goldfinches and Meadow Pipits. Also up to 30 House Martins and 50 Swallows appeared and started to feed low down, whilst there were 200+ Teal in the channel and 50+ Red-legged Partridges on the stubble fields. (AH)

Merlin (above), House Martin, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting & Red-legged Partridges and Collared Doves along hte Long Pool (AH)

Medmerry: Ham Farm to Chainbridge - Highlight was a Ring Ouzel, which flew out of the copse near the farm and off high towards the Chainbridge Field. Otherwise it was fairly typical stuff - at least 50 Skylarks on the fields towards the breach, a couple of hundred Meadow Pipits and Goldfinches around the banks, plus a couple of pairs of Stonechats, and a few Linnets, Reed Buntings and Chiffchaffs in the hedges. Around a dozen Swallows went over, but there was little to see out on the reserve, with just a couple of Curlews and Oystercatchers by the breach, and at least five Kestrels, one of which was devouring a small bird of some kind. (AH)

Ring Ouzel (above), Stonechat, Skylark, Swallow & Kestrel at Medmerry (AH)

Tuesday, 13th October: A bright, but very chilly morning, with the wind much brisker and from the north......and again clouding over in the afternoon.

Having just returned home from another day in the field that could at best be described as ordinary, I feel I have to confess to suffering from a bout of the Scad (Sussex coastal autumn doldrums) at the moment. It is an annual event but seems particularly painful so far this year....basically, it's half-way through October, there's east in the wind and just about every other part of the country is dripping with scarce, rare and even mega-rare birds, whilst our little area remains something of a rarity desert. True, we do tend to get our rarities rather later in the month and hopefully some will appear, but there's been literally hundreds of Yellow-browed Warblers elsewhere, so where's ours? It's certainly not for the lack of trying.....and if I read about another Red-flanked Bluetail.......!!  OK, whinge over, feeling a bit better now....until I read today's rarity updates! (OM).

Selsey Bill (0800-1130hrs)  Sunny, cool, NW4  (Obs: C&ME/GH)

Gannet - 5E, 2W  
Shag - 1E
Brent Goose - 48W   
Common Scoter - 7E, 2W
Kingfisher - 1E
Sandwich Tern - 4E
Mediterranean Gull  - 1W       
Meadow Pipit - 13N
Swallow  - 54NE 
                                

Selsey: East Beach pond: Bush-bashing time for me, producing 8 Chiffchaffs and 5 Goldcrests, plus a small flock of Siskin east, whilst a couple of Grey Herons seemed quite unconcerned by my presence.

Warner Lane paddocks/area: There were 4 Snipe, 2 Song Thrushes, 4 Stonechats, 7 Chiffchaffs, 15 Siskin and a few Swallows drifting east.

Northcommon Farm held more of the same...half a dozen Chiffchaffs and a few Goldcrests, a Grey Wagtail, a couple of Buzzards and 2 Siskin over (OM)

Grey Heron at East Beach pond (OM)

Ferry Pool: Most of the 'usual suspects' present this morning, including two Green Sandpipers, a Common Sandpiper, a Snipe, seven Dunlin, five Avocet, c60 Lapwing and 22 Black-tailed Godwits. There were also ten Shoveler, four Wigeon, c 80 Teal and an adult and three juvenile Shelducks present, whilst the Grey Wagtail appeared a couple of times and around a dozen Swallows went over. (AH)

Green Sandpiper (above), Avocet & with Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin and Lapwing on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: Pretty quiet in the cold northerly, with just the Whimbrel and a few Brent Geese of note in the harbour. It was quiet in the bushes, too, with just a couple of Blackcaps and a handful of Chiffchaffs, plus a couple of flocks of Long-tailed Tits and a few Jays to be found of a circuit including the Severals and Greenlease Farm. A single Stonechat was on the beach and a couple of Reed Buntings were in the Severals, whilst visible migration consisted of c150 Goldfinches, c60 Linnets, c20 Meadow Pipits, some heard but unseen Siskins and a handful of Pied Wagtails and Swallows, all going east. (AH)

Stonechat (above), Long-tailed Tit & Kestrel at Church Norton (AH)

Chi GPs: Ivy Lake -  Spent more time sifting through the Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests though only smallish numbers present; also 30+ Long-tailed Tits and a Cetti's Warbler there, whilst 2 Black Swans were the only noteworthy birds on the lakes. (OM)

Black Swans at Ivy Lake (OM)