17th - 19th October 2015

Monday, 19th October: A still and gloomy start before the breeze inevitably picked up as the sun came out....

Ferry Pool: Still four Green Sandpipers present this morning, along with two Snipe, five Dunlin, two Avocets, c20 Black-tailed Godwits and c80 Lapwing. The Grey Wagtail appeared briefly, and there were a dozen Shoveler, c20 Wigeon and c60 Teal on the water. (AH)

There was a Lesser Whitethroat by the road in the Discovery Area this morning, and two Chiffchaffs in bushes by the creek along the Tramway. (A&YF)

Lapwing (above), Shoveler & Teal on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool/West side: A Spotted Redshank was in the channel first thing, along with 30 Redshank, an Avocet and a few Grey Plovers, and at least 500 Wigeon, with a fair few Teal and Pintail among them flew into the harbour from the west. 

There were two Water Rails - one seen, one heard - along the pool, plus several Little Grebes, but the hedges along the pool and the west side were quiet, with 20+ Reed Buntings scattered about, and probably double that of Goldcrests being the most evident. A Kingfisher was in the rife between the ploughed fields, and there were four Stock Doves and a few Skylarks, Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits on/over the fields. (AH)

Spotted and Common Redshank (above), Kingfisher & Little Grebe from Long Pool (AH)

Church Norton: A pair of Mistle Thrushes - the first reported for a while - were in the churchyard, but bar a flock of a dozen or so Siskins that dropped into the trees before flying off over the harbour and a few calling Goldcrests it was very quiet. 

A pair of Stonechats were by the concrete wall, and there was a big flock - perhaps 3-400 birds - of mixed Goldfinches and Greenfinches commuting between the spit and the hedge by the horse field. The only other birds of note were a Whimbrel in the harbour and a flock of 35 or so Brent Geese which dropped into the harbour from the east. (AH)

Mistle Thrushes (above), Wigeon & Stonechat at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: On the Breech Pool this morning 15 Snipe were feeding along the edges, whilst 35 Black-tailed Godwits and two Water Rails were also present (one of the latter seen and one heard), but otherwise it was just the usual selection of wildfowl including 50 Teal. There were six Spotted Redshanks in White's Creek - including a flock of five feeding in amongst a Brent Goose flock of c.80 birds on the creek at low tide - and also a Greenshank. A Kingfisher was by the sluice and 2 Yellow-legged Gulls and 55 Golden Plover were on the mudflats. A search of the trees and bushes in the area produced 9 Chiffchaffs, 10 Goldcrests and a flock of 23 Collared Doves, whilst three Cetti's Warblers were also logged, and a single Redpoll and 5 Siskin flew over (OM).

Chiffchaff and Yellow-legged Gulls in the North wall area (OM)

Medmerry:  The footpath along the cliffs at West beach has reopened and a short visit produced a Wheatear, a Stonechat and a handful of Meadow Pipits.  In the reserve itself it was generally quiet; from Ham viewpoint I had a couple of Buzzards, 6 Tufted Duck, 14 Meadow Pipits, 4 Black-tailed Godwits and a Peregrine out on the mudflats. (SR)

Easton viewpoint had 2 Green Sandpipers, a Kingfisher, a Wheatear, 2 Stonechats, a Grey Wagtail and c100 Lapwing. Stilt Pool had the usual c200 Canada Geese, 2 Greylag Geese, plenty Teal and Wigeon.  The only waders were 2 Black-tailed Godwits.  The sluice opposite held another Kingfisher and better views of the Peregrine. (SR)

Sunday, 18th October: Not a bad day, with a grey start followed by a little sunshine, and the north-easterly breeze cool rather than cold...... meanwhile we still await that quality bird needed as an antidote to the current outbreak of Scad (=Sussex coast autumn doldrums!)

Selsey Bill (0720-0910hrs): Nothing really moving offshore, bar the odd Gannet and Shag, and only a little visible migration ..... (Obs: SH/C&ME/PB/SR/AH). Log below......

Gannet - 1E, 20W
Brent Goose - 10W
Common Scoter - 3W
Auk sp - 2 os
Mediterranean Gull - 5E
Pied Wagtail - 4ob

Meadow Pipit - 2NE
Swallow - 11E
Chiffchaff - 5 gardens
Linnet - 24E

Chiffchaff at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The Kingfisher was present early on, whilst later the Grey Wagtail was present, too, along with four Green Sandpipers, three Snipe, five Dunlin and two Avocets, along with the usual 30+ Black-tailed Godwits and 100+ Lapwing, with the same again of the latter on the adjacent cropped field. (AH/IP)

Kingfisher (above) & Green Sandpipers on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: This morning there were at least 100 Pied Wagtails in a newly ploughed field (and possibly even twice that number), and also logged were 3 Sparrowhawks, a Stonechat, 2 Chiffchaffs, 20+ Swallows, 3 Redwings and a Kingfisher (S&SaH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - Still a couple of 'summer' birds about this morning, in the form of a Whinchat (presumably the same bird as last weekend) near Marsh Farm , and a Wheatear along the beach. A Short-eared Owl (presumably in off the sea) was over the Stilt Pool before drifting east, and the White-fronted Goose was still on the Stilt Pool, in the company of two Greylags, the two Bar-headed Geese and c300 Canada Geese, plus plenty of Wigeon and Teal.

A Water Rail and a Green Sandpiper were both around the sluice opposite Marsh Barn, a Kingfisher was by the sluice near the poplars and four Gadwall, a Tufted Duck, a Grey Heron and three Teal were on the small pool opposite.

Around the banks there were up to ten Stonechats, a few Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings, 20+ Skylarks and numerous Meadow Pipits and Linnets. (AH/IP)

Whinchat (above), Wheatear, Short-eared Owl, White-fronted Goose, Water Rail & Reed Bunting at Medmerry (AH)

This afternoon there were two Sandwich Terns offshore and a (the?) Short-eared Owl was hunting near the Stilt Pool. (PH)

Later on there were three Wheatears present, including one with an injured right leg, six Stonechats, a Green Sandpiper, three Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk about, whilst the White-fronted Goose flew off with the Canada Goose flock. Also, what was presumably the same Short-eared Owl was hunting the banks at dusk. (S&SaH)

Wheatear with injured leg at Medmerry (SH)

Porthole Farm - There was a pair of Grey Partridges under one of the hedges late this afternoon, a Green Sandpiper shot out of a ditch and flew towards the Ferry, and several Yellowhammers were sitting out enjoying the sun, though surprisingly there was not a Chiffchaff to be seen, and only a handful of Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits were about. The big female Sparrowhawk sat on the fence at the eastern end of the sewage works may have had something to do with it! (AH)

Grey Partridges (above), Yellowhammer & Sparrowhawk at Medmerry (AH)

Saturday, 17th October: High pressure still dominating and more of the same weather wise.... dry but cool, mainly cloudy with some brighter periods, but also a fairly brisk N/NE wind force 4-5....

Selsey Bill  (0715-0920hrs):  (Obs: SH)

Gannet - 1E, 5W
Shag - 1E
Little Egret - 1E
Peregrine - 1 p
Mediterranean Gull - 3W
Meadow Pipit - 3E, 4ob
Pied Wagtail - 13E, 7ob
Chiffchaff - 5 gardens
Goldfinch - 26E
Siskin - 8E
Chaffinch - 2E
Greenfinch - 4 ob
Linnet - 3ob
also, Grey seal 1os

Ferry Pool: A Snipe was close by the road this morning as were 15 or so Black-tailed Godwits. At the back, two Green Sandpipers and a Common Sandpiper. There were also 30 Golden Plover, 30 Lapwings, half a dozen Dunlin, ten Shoveler and plenty of Teal and Black-headed Gulls. (BI)

Golden Plover (above) and with Lapwings (below), and Snipe on the Ferry Pool (BI) 

Church Norton: Two Chiffchaffs in the Churchyard whilst in the harbour were some Dunlin, plenty of Redshank and the two Whimbrel, plus some Wigeon & Teal. A Jay was along the hedges here and a Goldcrest was heard but not seen. Along the spit were three Green Woodpeckers and a  Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over, also lots of Meadow Pipits here, a Skylark and flock of Linnets. Two Pied Wagtails flew over and there were still half a dozen Swallows around. Along the beach path by the Severals were three Stonechats, two Reed Buntings, more Meadow Pipits and a calling Cetti's Warbler.  (BI)

Chiffchaff, Green Woodpecker and Stonechat at Church Norton (BI)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pools: The White-fronted Goose was back on the pool with the two Bar-headed Geese and the 250 Canada Geese. A Water Rail was here too. A few Stonechats were seen on the way down, a Kingfisher and a Wheatear by the sluice and three Gadwall on Easton sluice pool. There were a few Yellowhammers and Linnets from Easton viewpoint and many Gulls, Mallard and Teal out on the mud and in the creek occasionally spooked by a Peregrine. (BI)

Wheatear at Medmerry (BI)