22nd - 24th June 2016

Friday, 24th June: A considerable improvement on recent days - bright and breezy and even some sunshine, though less than forecast....

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Chainbridge - A very amenable Cuckoo was feeding along the fence-line between the car-park and poplars, dropping down into the Ox-eye Daisies to feed. There were plenty of Yellowhammers and Skylarks along the banks, four Sand Martins went over and a Lapwing was with a well-grown chick on one of the pools.

The Little Owl was out in the sun at Marsh Farm, along with a few Stock Doves, but the Stilt Pool was fairly quiet, with three juvenile Little Ringed Plovers and two Avocets families, with a chick each, being the only waders present. There were also a family of Mute Swans, a family of Canada Geese and the pair of Shelduck still had their one youngster. Somewhat surprisingly, a juvenile Stonechat appeared on the rocks at the far end, among the Linnets and Meadow Pipits. (AH)

Cuckoo (above), Little Owl, juveniles of Little Ringed Plover, Avocet & Lapwing, & Skylark at Medmerry (AH)

Ferry Pool: No sign of the Cattle Egret again, and just a Lapwing, a Redshank and four Shelduck on the pool, though a Cuckoo flew over and a couple of Reed Warblers were in the reeds.

Around the Tramway there were plenty of Whitethroats and one or two Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, plus a family of Long-tailed Tits. (AH)

Whitethroat (above) & Long-tailed Tit around Tramway (AH)

Church Norton: This evening there were still numerous Little and Common Terns coming and going from Tern Island, with more offshore, along with two or three Sandwich Terns and Gannets. 

In the harbour there were 20+ Curlews, eight Dunlin and a flock of seven Knot were flying about, including one summer-plumaged bird, along with a single Mediterranean Gull and several Skylarks and Linnets were on the spit. (AH)

Little Tern (above), Common Tern, Skylark, Dunlins & Little Egret at Church Norton (AH)

Thursday, 23rd June: A humid and cloudy morning, though at least dry after a night of thundery downpours, with a light SE wind, set to become stronger and more variable with the return of the thundery rain by mid-afternoon. Not much of a summer so far.... but at last it is EU referendum day!

Ferry Pool/Long Pool: There was no sign of the Cattle Egret early on, and just two Oystercatchers, two Teal and a dozen Shelduck were on the pool, whilst the family of nine now juvenile Gadwall were still doing well along the Long Pool (AH/AB)

Teal on the Ferry (AH)

Later on in the morning there were two Green Sandpipers and a single Little Ringed Plover on the pool, but still no sign of the Cattle Egret in the adjacent field, and later still there were just two Black-tailed Godwits present. (BFF/DM) 

Selsey Bill: (0900-1100hrs) Fairly quiet although 33 Common Scoter were lurking offshore in flocks of 20 W,4E & 9W, and also there were 16 Gannet  and 2 Mediterranean Gulls E. (BFF/DM) 

Church Norton: There were still plenty of Little and Common Terns around the island, but not much else beyond a single Black-tailed Godwit, five Ringed Plovers and a dozen Curlew on the mud.

A Blackcap and a Chiffchaff were singing near the car-park, a Lesser Whitethroat was singing along the path to the beach, and a few Reed Buntings, Linnets, Reed Warblers and Whitethroats were along the first Several, as were three Teal. (AH)

Blackcap (above), Reed Bunting & Linnet at Church Norton (AH)

Later on, seven Mediterranean Gulls went over the harbour, and seven  Dunlin, single Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit, five Knot  (including one in summer-plumage), single Greenshank and Common Sandpiper were all out on the mud. There were also two well grown Black-headed Gull chicks on the island and two Great Crested Grebes on the water. (BFF/DM)

Wednesday, 22nd June: A fairly murky, damp and drizzly morning with light-moderate southerly-based winds, though due to clear later......

Ferry Pool: The Cattle Egret was again present early on at least, plus five Black-tailed Godwits, five Redshanks, 12 Shelduck, two Reed Warblers and two Reed Buntings. (AH)

Two Common Terns were also along the Ferry channel this morning (CG)

Shelduck and Reed Bunting at the Ferry (CG) 

Common Tern along Ferry channel (CG)

North Wall & East side: A dank morning with constant drizzle and few birds on offer! There were no waders on the Breech Pool, not helped by a high water level, and rather few wildfowl too, with just a few Tufted and Mallard gathered. A family of Reed Warblers were active by the sluice, and further Reed Warblers and two Sedge Warblers were along the edges of the reedbed. A Cuckoo was also active, not calling but flying about, to the annoyance of the small birds in the area, and the Swallows were still around the horse paddocks.

Along White's creek there were just half a dozen Shelduck and a couple of Grey Herons but little else. Further along the East side a Great Crested Grebe was in the channel and up to eight Curlew and a few Oystercatchers were on the mudflats, whilst 24 Mute Swans were counted. At least four Whitethroats were present and still singing and a couple of Greenfinch families were noted plus a few Goldfinch, but it was a fairly uninspiring morning overall! (OM)

 Grey Heron in White's creek and Greenfinch and Goldfinches along the East side (OM)

 Panoramic view of Pagham Harbour on a gloomy morning from the 'old jetty' on the East side (OM)

Church Norton: At the Severals I had a brief look this morning in the damp drizzle.  The Tufted Ducks had 9 small ducklings whilst the Mute Swans only appeared to have one cygnet.  There were 3 juvenile Coots, 2 adult Little Grebes, 2 Reed Buntings, singing Reed and Sedge Warblers, a flock of 12 Linnets and plenty of croaking from the Marsh Frogs.  Offshore were 3 Little Terns and a Cuckoo was calling from the Priory. (SR)