1st - 3rd December 2015

Thursday, 3rd December: Another mild, grey and blustery day, after brief early morning glimpses of sunshine, with a fresh and somewhat chilly wind from the S/SW...

Selsey Bill: Another quietish day, with the view on the three mystery ducks veering towards Common Scoter after they took flight from the same area when a fishing boat disturbed them. Otherwise there were six Great Northern Divers on the sea, viewable at the same time, but just a few Gannets, Kittiwakes, auks and Great Crested Grebes moving west. Full log follows....
0730-1045hrs:  (Obs: C&ME/PC/OM/AH)
Great Northern Diver - 6os
Slavonian Grebe - 1os
Great Crested Grebe - 4W
Gannet - 7W
Common Scoter - 5os
Red-breasted Merganser - 2E, 3W
Guillemot - 1os then E
Razorbill - 1W
Auk sp -  3W, 4os
Kittiwake - 7W
Mediterranean Gull - 2W

Great Northern Divers at the Bill (AH)

Sunrise at the Bill this morning... we've seen so little of the sun these last few weeks it's worth having two shots! (OM)

Selsey East Beach Pond: The Water Rail was squealing again from the reeds, but otherwise just a couple of Goldcrests present, a Sparrowhawk through and a gathering of 22 Collared Doves about. (OM)

Chichester Marina: There were two Black Brants in among the large Brent Goose flock this morning, in fields behind Saltern Way, and among other birds seen were a Great Northern Diver, a Sandwich Tern, 12 Red-breasted Mergansers and five Goldeneye in the channel and three 'grey' geese over. Also a calling Cetti's Warbler and 2 squealing Water Rails from the reed bed plus  a very striking pale Common Buzzard nearby. (BFF/DM)

 Black Brant at Chichester Marina (Salterns Way) (DM)

Fishbourne Creek: In the channel were 5 Greenshank, 3 Spotted Redshanks and a Whimbrel. Also logged were a  Cetti's Warbler, 2 Stonechats ,a Kingfisher, 5 Rock Pipits plus 10 Yellowhammers around the horse field. At Apuldram church car-park there were 2 Firecrests. (BFF/DM) 

Church Norton: A Firecrest was along the path to the harbour, but being elusive in the ivy, along with a Chiffchaff and half a dozen Goldcrests, whilst there was an equally elusive Dartford around the Reedy Marsh area, with similar numbers of Goldcrest there, too.
Not much else to report- there were 30+ Goldfinches and Greenfinches around the hide/mound area, and a few Reed Buntings and Meadow Pipits along the west side, plus a couple of Grey Herons and a dozen each of Stock Dove and Lapwing on the ploughed fields. Huge numbers of Lapwing and Dunlin came up from the harbour when a low-flying Chinook helicopter disturbed them, and a few Pintail were among the mass of wildfowl. (AH)

Grey Heron (above), Redshank & Chiffchaff at Church Norton (AH)

Ferry Pool: Almost birdless this morning - just an Avocet, a Shelduck and 18 Shoveler present. (AH)

Shoveler on the Ferry (AH)

Pagham Churchyard was notably quiet bird-wise, with just 15 Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Goldcrests and a Grey Wagtail noted (OM)

North Wall: Early pm, in the meadow behind the Breach Pool was a gathering of some 1700 Brent Geese, all Dark-bellied save for the family of five (two ads, three juvs) Pale-bellied Brent Geese which were on our side of the flock, much concealed in the grass, keeping together and moving as one. On the Pool there were 100 Black-tailed Godwits, a Snipe and a Water Rail. (ARK per SOS)

Pagham Lagoon: Late morning on the main lagoon there were four Goldeneye - two males and two redheads presumed females, and on the tidal lagoon a fifth one, a redhead too. (ARK per SOS)

Wednesday, 2nd December: Marginally better weather than yesterday, but still a strong south-westerly and heavy cloud cover.....

Selsey Bill: Not a lot moving today, but the three mystery ducks, still looking most like Long-tailed Ducks, were near the mile basket again. Otherwise there were a few Kittiwakes, Gannets and auks west, plus over 60 Dunlin, and again some Great Northern Divers on the sea. Full log below....  
(0745-1100hrs): (Obs: C&ME/AH/JD/DS)
Great Northern Diver - 4os
Great Crested Grebe - 3W, 2os
Gannet - 4E, 22W
Brent Goose - 10E, 3W
Common Scoter - 1E, 3os
Red-breasted Merganser - 6E, 11W
Pintail - 4W
Dunlin - 76W
Guillemot - 1W  
auk sp - 12W 
Sandwich Tern - 2E
Little Gull - 1E                
Kittiwake - 16W
Mediterranean Gull - 12W
Linnet - 13N     
 

Ferry Pool: No Lapwings at all this morning, with the only waders present being two Avocets and six Black-tailed Godwits - the Buzzard sat on the post at the back may have had something to do with it - though there were a lot of wildfowl, including 120 Teal, 80 Shoveler, 300 Wigeon and 25 Shelduck. (AH)

Teal (above) & Buzzard and Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: Plenty of birds about, including 2000+ Lapwing up over the back of the harbour, 800+ Dunlin and 500+ Brent Geese across the mud, but nothing out of the ordinary, with just two Mallard on the sea, and a Chiffchaff and a few Goldcrests in the bushes. (AH/A&YF)

Sidlesham Churchyard: Not much out of the ordinary, but there is plenty of promising habitat. Among birds seen were a pair of Jays, 20+ Goldcrests, 20+ Goldfinches, a dozen Long-tailed Tits and similar of Blackbird. (AH)

Goldcrests in Sidlesham Churchyard (AH)

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: There was a Stonechat along the lane to the buildings, where there were plenty of Starlings, Pied Wagtail, Chaffinches and House Sparrows, but not a lot else. (AH)

Tuesday, 1st December: A fairly gloomy start to the last month of the year; cloudy and changeable, with a fresh-strong westerly wind and the chance of heavy showers plus the odd bit of brightness......

Selsey Bill: Not masses of movement, but quite an interesting morning, most notably for the three small diving ducks on the water, just in front of the Mile-basket rocks. They were probably Long-tailed Ducks, but the rough water and distance made it impossible to completely eliminate Common Scoter, though their size and shape, and their manner, suggested the former. Otherwise there were 160 Kittiwakes west, and a couple of Sandwich Terns east, plus the more usual suspects. Full log below.....

(0800-1000hrs)  (Obs: AH/BFF/DIS/JD et al)

Great Northern Diver - 4os

Red-throated Diver - 7W

Great Crested Grebe - 1E, 8W

Gannet - 2W

Common Scoter - 3E, 1os

Long-tailed Duck - 3 'probables' os

Red-breasted Merganser - 8E, 4W
Sanderling - 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 3W

Common Gull - 2W

Kittiwake - 160W

Sandwich Tern - 2E

Guillemot - 5W

Razorbill - 2W, 1os

auk sp - 30W

Linnet - 2W

Goldfinch - 80W

Great Northern Diver (above) & Kittiwake at the Bill (AH)

Runcton: A Song Thrush was singing and feeding my garden this morning, probably less than a handful of sightings here this year... (CRJ)

Song Thrush in a Runcton garden - never a common sight there (CRJ)

Long Pool: Very little along the Long Pool, bar a Shoveler on the water, couple of Reed Buntings in the hedges and three Skylarks over, but there was an interesting selection in Ferry Channel, including a Spotted Redshank, an Avocet, three Grey Plovers, four Curlews, 30 Redshank, two Little Egrets, a Grey Heron, a fly-over Snipe, plus a Kingfisher that flew down the channel, plus it or another along the rife along the west side.

There were also 500+ Lapwings drifting about overheard for a long time, unsure where to settle, plus 80 Brent Geese and 40 Wigeon over west. (AH)

Spotted Redshank and Grey Heron (above), Avocet and Little Egret, Redshank & Shoveler along Long Pool (AH)

Ferry Pool: The Grey Wagtail was briefly in the Environment Agency yard, whilst on the pool there were 500+ Lapwing, 20 Shelduck and the usual Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler numbers. (AH)
Also, from the Tramway, a Red-throated Diver was seen flying to the west and 29 Avocets came out of the harbour. (JD/DS)

Lapwings over the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were three Chiffchaffs and six Siskins with 25 Goldfinches around the Churchyard. In the gorse by the Severals a male Dartford Warbler was seen and heard. Offshore there were eight Red-breasted Mergansers and single Great Crested Grebe. In the harbour there were 55 Knot,30 Ringed Plover and a Whimbrel. (BFF/DIS et al)