Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 4th

Tuesday, 6th October: Not quite as wet as predicted, but a blustery south-easterly and plenty of heavy cloud made a mild but grey morning....

Selsey Bill (0745-0945hrs): Cloudy after showers, SSE4-5. (Obs: OM/AH/CRJ/JD/DS)
An Arctic Skua went west at around 7.50am and some immature Shags went east, almost along the strandline, two Razorbills came in from the west to land on the sea, but otherwise virtually the only thing moving was Gannets, with 150+, virtually all going east. Log below.....

Gannet - 185E, 7W
Shag - 8E
Common Scoter - 2E
Arctic Skua - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 1E
Mediterranean Gull - 8E
Razorbill - 2 os
Kestrel - 1 over gardens/beach
Meadow Pipit - 38E
Swallow - 7 out S

Shag (above) & Gannets at the Bill (AH)

Selsey area: Northcommon farm - a fairly thorough search of the area failed to produce anything out of the ordinary and small birds were few in the blustery conditions. However one observer was lucky enough to locate a Firecrest (GJ) but otherwise there were just a few Chiffchaffs and six Goldcrests (OM/JD/DS/GJ)

Warner Lane paddocks/area - there were 4 Snipe, 4 Chiffchaffs, around 10 Meadow Pipits and a Stonechat (OM).

Meadow Pipit at Warner Lane paddocks (OM)

East beach pool: Seven Chiffchaffs and three Goldcrests were the best on offer (OM).

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The White-fronted Goose was still present today and there was a Common Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper about, though otherwise it was pretty quiet. (RJS)

Ferry Pool: The Curlew Sandpiper was still present with about twenty Dunlin, as was a Greenshank, a Common Sandpiper and two Green Sandpipers, though Avocet numbers had risen to eleven birds. Otherwise there were still c25 Black-tailed Godwits, c80 Lapwing, five Shelduck and plenty of Teal. (CRJ/AH)

Curlew Sandpiper and Dunlins (above), Avocets & Black-tailed Godwits at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: Generally very quiet in the strong south-easterly wind, though a Hobby over the Severals was unexpected, whilst 3 Buzzards were more regular. and 4 Roe Deer were present. A Whimbrel was in the harbour and 5 Mediterranean Gulls offshore, but there were far fewer waders about than yesterday, bar a few Curlew and Redshank, and hardly any activity in the bushes bar the odd fleeting Chiffchaff or Blackcap. (AH/CRJ)

Hobby (above) & Whimbrel at Church Norton (AH)

Monday, 5th October: A real change in the weather as expected; suddenly feeling distinctly more autumnal with rain, heavy cloud and a strong Southerly wind......

On a different note, may I just post a note here to ask you to help me to help the RSPB.... to cut a long story short, I was persuaded to do a bit of collecting and recycling of materials which are then sold to raise funds on their behalf. Trouble is, I've got a 10 kg sack to fill (!), so if you have any old mobile phones, cameras, jewellery (cosmetic or otherwise), watches, electronic gadgets, old laptops etc etc ..broken or otherwise.. I would be delighted to receive them to assist the fund raising effort. I shall probably only do this as a one-off, and I am very grateful to those who have already donated, but I'm sure everyone has at least one old mobile, camera or watch knocking about indoors, so why not clear some space and assist a good cause at the same time. Please put your stuff in your car to hand over when you see AH or me, or you can email me on the usual address above to arrange where to leave it...many thanks (OM)

All contributions gratefully received (OM)

Selsey Bill (1600 - 1700hrs): (Obs: SH)
Gannet - 2E, 1W

Great Crested Grebe - 1W
Brent Goose - 36W
Razorbill - 1W
Mediterranean Gull - 2E, 1W

Ferry Pool: Still plenty of birds about, including the Curlew Sandpiper, two Green Sandpipers, two Common Sandpipers, three Snipe, six Avocets, c20 Black-tailed Godwits and c80 Lapwing, with another 150+ out on the ploughed fields. Also the Grey Wagtail dropped in briefly and there were seven Shelduck, 12 Shoveler and c50 Teal present. (AH)

Curlew Sandpiper (above) & Common Sandpiper on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: Several Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were along the hedges, along with a couple of Stonechats, half a dozen each of Reed Bunting and Meadow Pipit and a flock of c80 Goldfinches. At least 50 Swallows were feeding low, a Sparrowhawk came out when the rain eased and there were a few Stock Doves on the fields, whilst there were 30+ Redshank, 50+ Teal and 100+ Wigeon in the channel. (AH)

Blackcaps (above), Stonechat, Goldfinch & Stock Dove along the Long Pool(AH)

Church Norton: Just the odd Blackcap and Chiffchaff in the bushes in the rain, whilst in the harbour a Greenshank flew through, a Bar-tailed Godwit was among c40 Black-tailed Godwits, and there were plenty of Grey Plover, Dunlin and Redshank on the dropping tide, along with six Brent Geese and 15 Pintail. (AH)

Bar-tailed Godwit (above), Greenshank & Grey Plovers at Church Norton (AH)

Sunday, 4th October: Still sunny, with some cloud and a light E wind... however it seems the spell of fine weather is due to break by the end of the day...

Selsey Bill: (0650-0900hrs) (SH/SR/AH)
Gannet - 6W
Brent Goose - 11W
Sandwich Tern - 6E
Meadow Pipit - 7N
Pied Wagtail - 87E
Swallow - 64E
House Martin - 9E
Chiffchaff - 4 in Bill House garden
Siskin - 68E
Redpoll - 3E
Linnet - 31E
Goldfinch - 12p
Chaffinch - 6E
Greenfinch - 33E
Reed Bunting - 1N after briefly landing

Brent Geese (above) & Reed Bunting at the Bill (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The White-fronted Goose first reported a couple of days ago (per R. Best) gave itself up on the Stilt Pool this morning, in among the Canada Geese. Though not the wariest of birds it wasn't exactly tame either and given the date and the possibility it is last winter's first-year bird it will be presumed wild unless proven otherwise!

Otherwise it was fairly quiet - two Common Sandpipers and a Dunlin were the only waders present, though there were a couple of Shoveler and plenty of Wigeon and Teal about, plus 20 or more Mediterranean Gulls, whilst along the banks there was a single Wheatear, four Stonechats, five Corn Buntings, a dozen or so Yellowhammers and 50+ Linnets, and the Kingfisher was again by the sluice near the poplars. (SR/AH/BI)

Also the female Hen Harrier was seen again this morning, sat on a fence post out on the reserve. (R. Best) And the Marsh Harrier was also present. (SR)

The White-front was still showing well on the stilt pool mid-afternoon. One of the Ospreys was on a post In the middle of the reserve eating a large fish and a Kingfisher was near the first sluice (SH).

White-fronted Goose (SR above, others AH) & Wheatear at Medmerry

Osprey at Medmerry (SH)

Selsey: A Sparrowhawk was in our garden on the North of the village. (SH)

Sparrowhawk in a Selsey garden (SH)

North Wall area: There were three Spotted Redshanks in White's Creek, in the company of 46 Redshanks, 50+ Wigeon and two Little Grebes. On the Breech Pool there were 76 Lapwing, 58 Black-tailed Godwits and seven Common Snipe. A few Swallows were passing through and Chiffchaffs were present in most scrubby locations, as were a scattering of Stonechats.

On Honer reservoir there were 140 Black-headed Gulls, 12 Coot and three Little Grebes, and there were four Stonechats and seven Yellowhammers around the same location were. Altogether there were 11 Stonechats seen. (JDW)

Stonechat (above), Yellowhammer & Lapwing around North Wall (JDW)

Ferry Pool: There were two Greenshank early on, along with the Curlew Sandpiper, two Common Sandpipers, three Green Sandpipers, c30 Dunlin, six Avocets and the usual Lapwings and Black-tailed Godwits, whilst the Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher were again briefly present. Later on this afternoon a Spotted Redshank was also present. (AH)

Greenshanks (above) & Curlew Sandpiper on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A Whinchat, a Wheatear and at least four Stonechats were along the beach, though it as generally quiet, with just a few Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs about, plus a few Swallows overhead and four Skylarks went east along the strandline. There were definitely two Whimbrels in the harbour, though there wasn't much else to report, whilst two Brent Geese flew west offshore. (AH/S&SaH)

Stonechat & Great Spotted Woodpecker at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry: Breach and Chainbridge areas - It was very quiet around the Breach, with just a Curlew and two Grey Plovers on the mud, though there was a big mixed Linnet and Goldfinch flock of several hundred birds and 50+ Meadow Pipits around the viewpoint.

It was equally quiet around the Chainbridge Field and adhacent areas, though there were a dozen Chiffchaffs and a Reed Bunting in the hedges and a few Skylarks were moving about. (AH)