4th - 6th March 2016

Sunday, 6th March: A dry and fairly bright morning with periods of sunshine and a moderate W/NW breeze - but with increasing amounts of cloud cover as the day progressed.....and the odd heavy shower.

Selsey Bill: (0630-0900hrs) (SH/JA/IP)

Great Northern Diver - 4os

Great Crested Grebe - 1E, 2W
Common Scoter - 8E
Red-breasted Merganser - 11E, 1W, 4os

Sandwich Tern - 1E
auk sp - 1W
Also a 2nd-w Mediterranean Gull (PJ)

Ferry Pool: A Green Sandpiper was present early on, along with two Avocets, half a dozen Snipe and Black-tailed Godwits, ten Redshank, eight Curlews, 12 Shoveler, 40 Teal, 200 Wigeon, 300 Brent Geese and 800 Lapwing. (AH)

Green Sandpiper (above) & Shovelers and Black-tailed Godwit on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: Not much to report - there were three Red-breasted Mergansers and a Great Crested Grebe in the harbour, plus one of each offshore, a Peregrine on the island, a pair of Pintail among the Teal and Wigeon, plus at least 500 Brent Geese. (AH)
Later on there were two Slavonian Grebes offshore, and at least 20 Pintail in the harbour. (IP)
Late this afternoon there were seven Red-breasted Mergansers offshore, a Grey Partridge in the fields behind the Severals and a Buzzard and the two Peregrines in the vicinity. (S&SaH)

Park Farm, Selsey: The Black Redstart was again in the horse paddocks this morning. (IP) 

Medmerry (West): Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Red Kite went over west late morning spooking two Spoonbills that were out on the reserve.
There were a good selection of other raptors this morning, too, including nine Buzzards, four Kestrels, a Sparrowhawk and a Peregrine sat out on reserve. Also seen were a Green Sandpiper by the second sluice and the Common Sandpiper on the Stilt Pools, along with 18 Avocets, 30+ Skylarks very busy displaying, five Yellowhammers, two  Reed Buntings and two Stonechats. (S&SaH)

Red Kite over Medmerry (SH)

Late this afternoon a Little Owl was around Marsh Farm - the first sighting here since well before Christmas - and the two Barn Owls were out and hunting nearby. Also the Common and Green Sandpipers were still in their respective familiar locations, and a single Fieldfare flew into the poplars. (AH/IP)

Little Owl (above) & Barn Owls at Medmerry (AH)

Porthole Farm to Chainbridge - There was just a Grey Wagtail, and - surprisingly - no Pied Wagtails around the sewage farm, and a few Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers along the hedges.

Most of the activity was around the stubble fields south and east of Ham Farm, where there were a couple of Corn Buntings among 30+ Yellowhammers and a dozen or so Linnets and Goldfinches. There were only a few Meadow Pipits, but Skylark numbers must have exceeded fifty birds.

There wasn't much else about, though - just eight Ringed Plovers, ten Redshank and six Curlews on the pools by the breach, along with 40 Teal and a few Wigeon and Shelduck, whilst the Chainbridge held just three Brent Geese, and a dozen Stock Doves went over. (AH)

Skylark (above), Corn Buntings & Yellowhammers at Medmerry (AH)

Medmerry (East): The Black Redstart was still present today at the west end of West Sands Car Park (P,B & B James). 
Also a Sandwich Tern was fishing off the breach this afternoon. (PH)

Chichester Marina: A Buzzard was on the fence near Saltern's Way and the Black Brant was with the Brent Goose flock near the farm buildings. A Red-breasted Merganser was by the lock gates in the marina itself. At Apuldram marsh were a few Snipe and Lapwings. Not much of note on Birdham Pool but there were two Goldcrests and a Great Spotted Woodpecker along the path.  (BI)

Buzzard, Black Brant amongst Dark-bellied Brent Geese and Red-breasted Merganser at Chi Marina (BI)

Saturday, 5th March: A crisp, bright and cool start to the morning with a moderate northerly wind, though gradually clouding over with the possibility of showers later....

Selsey Bill: (0645-0845hrs) (SH/PB/SR)

Great Northern Diver - 3os

Great Crested Grebe - 1E, 2W
Fulmar - 1os 
Brent Goose - 1E, 1W
Common Scoter - 3E, 2W
Red-breasted Merganser - 9E, 2W, 4os

Pied Wagtail 1N
Grey Wagtail - 1W

Selsey: The Black Redstart was again in the horse paddock at Park Farm, and two Grey Partridges were nearby. 

Also, the Blackcap was in our garden again at the north of the village. (S&SaH/PB)

Black Redstart at Park Farm, Selsey (SH)

Church Norton: There were 8 Slavonian Grebes and a Great Northern Diver offshore this morning, and there was also a Stonechat on the beach and three Great Spotted Woodpeckers by the railway carriages. (S&SaH/PB)

There was not much in the harbour this morning, though there were a pair of Pintail present, along with several hundred Brent Geese and a few Dunlin and Grey Plover on the dropping tide, and a Stonechat was along Rectory Lane. (AH)

Stonechat (above) & Pintail at Church Norton (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were at least 10 Snipe lurking in the reeds at the front, and a couple of Golden Plover among 500 or more Lapwing, along with a pair of Avocets, ten Redshank, five Black-tailed Godwits and a few Shoveler and Teal, plus 300 Wigeon and 200 Brent Geese on the field. (AH)
Also, a Green Sandpiper was on the pool again this afternoon. (S&SaH)

Snipe (above), Golden Plover & Brent Geese and Wigeon over the Ferry (AH)

Chichester Marina: The Black Brant was on the fields along Saltern's Way this morning, in the company of 1500 Brent Geese. On the water there were seven Red-breasted Mergansers and five Goldeneye, plus a few Little and Great Crested Grebes, and at least 500 Dunlin, 25 Black-tailed Godwits and 40 Grey Plovers on the mud. (AH)

Black Brant and Brent Geese (above) & Red-breasted Mergansers at Chichester Marina (AH)

Medmerry west was pretty quiet in the wind, just a few Meadow Pipits & singing Skylarks on the way to the pools. On the stilt pools, a Red-breasted Merganser,  a pair of Gadwall, a Shoveler, twenty Teal and similar of Wigeon and fifteen Avocets. (BI)

Avocets, Red-breasted Merganser and Meadow Pipit at Medmerry (BI)

Sidlesham churchyard: A Buzzard was over the churchyard this afternoon. (S&SaH)

Friday, 4th March: A half-decent early spring morning, bright and brisk, with a west to north-westerly breeze....but not very conducive to any hopes of early migration!

Selsey Bill (0730-1100hrs): (Obs: C&ME/OM/JA)  Nice day but very little moving and just a few Great Northern Divers on the sea. Full log below.... 
Red-throated Diver - 2E
Great Northern Diver - 2os
Diver sp - 1E
Great Crested Grebe - 1W, 1os
Brent Goose - 5E, 2W
Common Scoter - 1E
Red-breasted Merganser - 6E, 3W, 2os
Oystercatcher - 3W

Later, between 1150-1230hrs, at least 4 Great Northern Divers were present offshore, with some flying around then dropping onto the sea again (BI) 

Selsey (West) Coastguards: No sign of any migrants though 3 Red-breasted Mergansers were close inshore (OM).

Ferry Pool: A Green Sandpiper and a Snipe were on the pool, along with two Avocets, five Black-tailed Godwits, ten Redshank, two Shoveler and a dozen Teal, whilst on the field there were 80- Brent geese and 500 Lapwings. (AH)

Teal on the Ferry (AH)

East Head: A Short-eared Owl over the dunes livened up a very quiet walk round, with nothing on the water bar a single Great Crested Grebe and just the usual selection of Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Linnets to be found. 

There were also at least 2000 Brent Geese on the fields, with more arriving all the time.(AH)

Short-eared Owl (above), Linnet & Brent Geese at East Head (AH)

Snowhill Creek: A Spotted Redshank was on the pools and a Greenshank was in the harbour, a Peregrine shot through low, and there were half a dozen Goldcrests and a Chiffchaff in the gorse. (AH)

Spotted Redshank (above), with Little Egret, Greenshank, Peregrine & Goldcrest at Snowhill Creek (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Marsh Barn - Late this afternoon around 15 Fieldfares flew into the poplars from the north, and a Yellowhammer was singing at dusk, but not much else was about. (AH)

Fieldfares at Medmerry (AH)

Church Norton: A female Marsh Harrier was flushed from the west side early afternoon (N. Peters per SOS), and was also seen earlier over the North Wall by a visiting birder. (AH)

Sidlesham: Along Church Farm Lane, a Barn Owl  was hunting at c17.45 hrs; other birds down the lane included 3 singing Yellowhammers. (S.Allday)