19th - 21st November 2015

Saturday, 21st November: A notable change to much cooler conditions, with a strong NW wind now dominating and early cloud and rain, although things should brighten up considerably later....

Selsey Bill (0710-0930hrs): (Obs: JA/SH/PB/AH) - There was a bit of movement offshore, including a Black-throated and a few Red-throated Divers and Brent Geese west, four Great Northern Divers were offshore and a Black Redstart popped up a couple of times. Full log below....

Red-throated Diver - 3W
Black-throated Diver - 1W
Great Northern Diver - 4 os
Great Crested Grebe - 2E, 8W, 1os

Gannet - 1E

Brent Goose - 4E, 68W

Shelduck - 1W

Common Scoter - 1E, 1W, 1os

Red-breasted Merganser - 14W

Wigeon - 1W
Teal - 11W

Dunlin - 3W

Curlew - 1W

Kestrel - 1 area

Auk sp - 2E, 3W, 1 os

Kittiwake - 17W

Common Gull - 7W

Mediterranean Gull - 6W, 3os
Black Redstart - 1p
Goldfinch - 155W, 16N

 

Black Redstart (above), Common Scoter, Brent Geese & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Selsey area: Two Green Sandpipers, a Snipe and a Grey Wagtail were feeding in puddles near Park Farm reservoir, whilst a Kingfisher flew low over the fields towards Selsey! (SH)

Church Norton: Not much to report in the very windy conditions - two Peregrines were chasing each other about the harbour until the one carrying prey managed to shake its tormentor off and head off towards the North Wall. There were several hundred Brent Geese about along with lesser numbers of Grey Plover, Redshank, Curlew and Dunlin, but small birds were more or less non-existent save a few Goldfinches and a few calling Goldcrests. (AH)

Peregrines (above) & sheltering Redshank at Church Norton (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were 100+ Lapwing and Wigeon on the field, and a handful of Black-tailed Godwits and Snipe tucked in among the roosting wildfowl on hte sheltered bank, including 24 Shelduck, 40 Shoveler and 50+ Wigeon and Teal. (AH)

Shelduck and Shoveler on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: Not much along the hedges in the wind - just a couple of Goldcrests and Reed Buntings, on the pool there were three Littlle Grebes, in Ferry Channel there were a Grey Plover, 20 or so Redshanks and at least 30 Shelduck at the far end, and there were a few Red-legged Partridges on the ploughed fields. (AH/BI)

Red-legged Partridges (above) (BI), Grey Plover & Mallards (AH) from the Long Pool

Pagham Lagoon/Spit: This morning a fine drake Goldeneye (the first of the autumn) was on the Lagoon, along with 40 Little Grebes, 30 Tufted Ducks and a Kingfisher.

Along the spit at low tide, a Curlew was feeding in sea purslane, a drake Red-breasted Merganser was on the entrance channel and, unintentionally flushed from the beach, a Short-eared Owl was immediately blown over to the Church Norton spit thanks to the NW gale! (ARK per SOS)

Friday, 20th November: For once, a better morning than forecast, with rain not really amounting to more than heavy drizzle and fading away earlier than predicted, whilst a lighter breeze made for a pleasant change.....

Ferry Pool: A Short-eared Owl flew over eastwards into the harbour as the rain eased, and on the pool a Snipe and three Avocets joined the regular roost of 300+ Lapwings. Also there were 50+ Black-tailed Godwits, 30+ Curlews, 60+ Wigeon and another 200 or so Lapwings feeding out on Ferry Field, which the birds have just started frequenting again. (AH)

Short-eared Owl over the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool/West Side: At least one of the Dartford Warblers was present again around the Hay-bales area, and half a dozen Yellowhammers were along the edge of the adjacent ploughed field. Also a Kingfisher flew along the rife and a Fieldfare and at least five Song Thrushes were around the far hedges, and a couple of Buzzards were being active, too. There was not much along the Long Pool - just a few Goldcrests and Reed Buntings, plus a flock of nine Snipe flew over. (AH)

At least one Dartford Warbler was also still showing a bit further along the harbour side at Reedy Marsh this morning, so hopefully both are still about Also a Goldcrest or two, a Chiffchaff, a Green Woodpecker and six Wrens were nearby (BI).

Dartford Warbler (above) & Yellowhammer along, & Snipe over the west side of the harbour (AH)

Selsey East Beach Pond: A very welcome patch tick this morning in the shape of a Kingfisher, though other than that very little activity in the torrential rain - just two Chiffchaffs, one Goldcrest and the usual fishing Grey Heron and Cormorant. (SR)

North Wall area: There were five Spotted Redshank in White's Creek this morning, along with several hundred Lapwing and 100+ Wigeon. Further into the harbour there were 50+ Golden Plover with more Lapwing, plus a few Grey Plover and Curlew and 20+ Pintail and 300+ Brent Geese. There were 30+ Reed Buntings along the hedge adjoining the Slipe field, plus a few Goldcrests and Goldfinches. (AH)

Spotted Redshanks (above), Wigeon & Grey Heron and Cormorant in White's Creek (AH)

There was little on Pagham Lagoon - just a dozen Little Grebes and Tufted Ducks of note, the Breech Pool held just a dozen Mallard, and Pagham churchyard held a big flock of Long-tailed Tits with a few Goldcrests among them. (AH)

Little Grebe on Pagham Lagoon (AH)

Medmerry: Ham ponds - A Marsh Harrier was present over the east side of the reserve this morning. (PH)

East Side/ Breach: A Black Redstart was around the caravans near "Island View," just before the Oasis Centre on the way down. On the rocks/rough ground there was a surprise in the form of a very late Wheatear, along with plenty of Linnets and Meadow Pipits and four Stonechats. A Kestrel was hovering over, whilst on the water from the viewpoint there were good numbers -  into the 100s - of Brent Geese, Teal and Wigeon, with thirty or so Pintail mixed in, and with more Brent Geese arriving all the time. (BI)

Pintail, Wigeon and Brent Geese (above) & Kestrel at Medmerry (AH)

Thursday, 19th November: What must be one of the most dismal days of the year, with a stronger westerly wind than forecast and heavy rain for most of the day......

Ferry Pool: There were five Avocets this morning, along with a dozen Black-tailed Godwits and c300 Lapwings on the pool, with more of the latter dropping in all the time, plus the usual Teal and Shoveler numbers. (AH)

Black-tailed Godwit (above) & Avocet on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: Not much about, though three or four Redwings were flying about with similar numbers of Blackbirds and Song Thrushes and Reed Buntings - all upset by a Sparrowhawk shooting through, whilst along the channel there were 20+ Redshank and a Grey Heron flew along its length. (AH)

Grey Heron over the Long Pool (AH)

Church Norton: Very little to report before the rain took hold - the Whimbrel was in the harbour with a scattering of commoner waders, plus a couple of hundred Brent Geese, and just a few unseen calling Goldcrests and Long-tailed Tits in the bushes and a pair of Jays over. (AH)

Whimbrel at Church Norton (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: Another wet and very dull day though it didn't rain here until 0900hrs! There were two delightful Firecrest in the trees in the Apuldram church car park and 48 Yellowhammers around the horse paddock and hedgerows, along with.20 Long-tailed Tits and 3 Goldcrests in the area. 

Around the harbour there were four Rock Pipits, six Greenshank and a Kingfisher that was hovering right under my nose! (BFF)

Selsey: While walking the dogs this evening there was a steady flow of calling Redwings overhead, heading north. (SH)