13th - 16th July 2016

Saturday, 16th July: At long last it is starting to feel like summer, with a warm, mostly sunny day and only a moderate breeze....

Selsey Bill: Nothing unusual, but a few Common Scoter east, a few Sandwich Terns west and a few Little and Common Terns offshore, plus a few Sand Martins and Swallows moving westwards and the usual House Martins back on the puddles. Full log below. 
(SH/SR/PB/JA/AH)
Fulmar - 4W
Gannet - 13E, 13W
Common Scoter - 14E
Common Tern - 3E, 2W, 21os
Little Tern - 1W,8os
Sandwich Tern - 3E, 9W
auk sp - 2W
Swallow - 8W
Sand Martin - 20W
House Martin - 12p

Sandwich Terns (above) & House Martins at the Bill (AH)

Selsey: There were another couple of impressive moth's in JA's trap this morning - a Privet Hawk Moth and a Garden Carpet. (SH)

Privet Hawk Moth (above) & Garden Carpet at Selsey (SH)

Ferry Pool: There were six Little Ringed Plovers on the edges of the pool this morning, along with a Green Sandpiper, the juvenile Lapwing, a juvenile Avocet, six Teal and four Shelduck. (AH/PB)

Little Ringed Plover (above) & Green Sandpiper on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: Along the pool there were a couple of very young Little Grebes, the Great Crested Grebe family, a mother Tufted Duck with five small ducklings, the usual gathering of juvenile Gadwall and also two Shoveler. There was very little singing except for a couple of Reed Buntings, though a few Sedge and Reed Warblers were about, plus a few Sand Martins and Swallows went over.

Along Ferry Channel there were a Common Sandpiper, about five Whimbrel, c20 Redshanks and a few Curlew. (AH/PB)

Shoveler and Great Crested Grebes (above), Sedge Warbler & juvenile Gadwall along Long Pool (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - There were two Green Sandpipers by the second sluice and two Common Sandpipers, four Little Ringed Plovers, two Avocets and four Black-tailed Godwits on the Stilt Pool this morning. Also a Sedge Warbler was near the second sluice and a Green and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew out of the poplars early on. (IP)

Church Norton: There were 40+ Common Terns roosting on the mud flats with a few Little and Sandwich Terns mixed in, and plenty of all three offshore, as well. Over the Severals there were two Buzzards, two Sparrowhawks, three Kestrels and a Mediterranean Gull all at once, plus 50+ each of Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin, with a further two Buzzards and two Sparrowhawks over Park Farm, Selesy. (S&SaH)

Sidlesham: This evening there were 100+ Sand Martins and 50+ Swallows feeding over our garden, and earlier on two Mediterranean Gulls went over west. (AH)

Mediterranean Gull (above), Sand Martin & Swallow over Sidlesham (AH)

Friday, 15th July: A pleasant summer's morning, with - at last - a bit less breeze and sunny spells between the clouds....

Ferry Pool: There was a Green Sandpiper on the pool this morning and three Common Sandpipers dropped in and promptly flew off again, whilst the usual two juvenile Lapwings and four Shelduck were also present. (AH)

Green Sandpiper (above) & juvenile Lapwing on the Ferry (AH)

This evening there were 28 Black-tailed Godwits and a Little Ringed Plover present. (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - There was a female Garganey on the Stilt Pool this morning, in the company of nine Shovelers early on, before they all took off and headed away east. 
There were no Barn Owls this morning, though the Little Owl was at Marsh Farm in its usual spot, a pair of Grey Partridges flew out from the bank and there was another big movement of Sand Martins, with probably in excess of 500 birds heading south-west, with a few Swallows and half a dozen Swifts among them.
On the Stilt Pool there were two Common Sandpipers, a pair of Avocets with a half-grown youngster and at least six Little Ringed Plovers, and the female Gadwall still had five ducklings. There were also three Green Sandpipers by the second sluice, at least 20 Stock Doves in the area and plenty of Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings, Linnets, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits, plus one or two singing Reed Warblers and dozens of Six-spotted Burnet moths. (AH)

Garganey and Shovelers (above),Sand Martins, Skylark, Little Owl, Stock Doves, Little Ringed Plover, juvenile Reed Bunting & Six-spotted Burnet moths at Medmerry (AH)

Medmerry: Chainbridge Field - A slow walk around the field in increasingly blowy conditions this afternoon gave me 26 species, nothing out of the ordinary but there was a flock of c30 Swallows, 2 Reed Warblers with others calling,18 Pied Wagtails including several juveniles, a Kestrel carrying prey, a Green Woodpecker and plenty Whitethroats and Linnets.

Ham Viewpoint - Despite the wind, two Corn Buntings were calling but there was little else apart from a hunting Kestrel with an Avocet trying to chase it away, a few calling Whitethroats and the delightful constant song of the Skylarks. (SR)

Church Norton: A Hobby went over the car-park, and a few Sand Martins were heading over west, but there were just a few Whitethroats and Chiffchaffs along the hedges.
In the harbour there were 30+ Sandwich Terns, the usual Little and Common Tern activity, six Whimbrel and c150 Dunlin, along with a very large Catamaran yacht, which ought to have known better and was grounded by the tide. (AH)

Hobby (above), Sandwich Tern, Dunlins, Whimbrel & yacht at Church Norton (AH)

Thursday, 14th July: Better than yesterday, with more sun before the clouds built up, but still with a nagging north-westerly keeping the temperature (and the birds!) down....

Selsey Bill: (0700-0800hrs) (SR)
Gannet - 9E, 5W
Common Scoter - 1E
Sandwich Tern - 12E, 5W
Common Tern - 2W
Commic Tern - c50os
House Martin - 2p
Swift - 1p

Park Farm, Selsey: There were 100+ Sand Martins, 20+ House Martins and 50+ Swallows going over this evening, along with the resident Sparrowhawk. (S&SaH)

Ferry Pool: There were still seven Little Ringed Plovers around the pool this morning, but not too much else beyond four Teal, two Shelduck, four Stock Doves and two Pied Wagtails. (AH/BFF)

Little Ringed Plovers (above) & Stock Dove at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: In the harbour this morning there were 45 Dunlin, 15 Whimbrel, three Knot and two Black-tailed Godwits, with 70 Sand Martins going north over the reserve, plus the usual numbers of Little and Common Terns etc. (BFF)

This evening there were a Gannet and 12 Sandwich Terns offshore, and plenty of Little and Common Terns in the harbour, along with a Whimbrel and a summer-plumage Golden Plover, and 50+ Sand Martins were over the Severals. (SH)

Long Pool: Fairly quiet along the pool, with most song now finished, though the odd Reed Warbler did pipe up now and again, and the juvenile Gadwalls were flying about. In Ferry Channel there were eight Avocets, including four juveniles, a Common Sandpiper, two Whimbrel, 20 Curlews and c75 Redshank, while up to ten Little Terns were feeding in the harbour off the far end. (AH)

Avocets (above), Redshank & Reed Warbler from Long Pool (AH)

Early this evening there were two Greenshank flying around calling over the Long Pool. (AH)

Greenshank over the Long Pool (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane - A Barn Owl was out hunting late this evening, though there was not much else of note about. (PB)

Sidlesham: A Little Owl was sat out on a roadside telegraph pole this evening, just north-west of the garage on the B2145. (PB)

Fishbourne Creek: Pretty quiet here, with just three Greenshank and four Whimbrel of note in the harbour, along with c60 Curlew, c175 Mute Swans and at least 1000 Black-headed Gulls. Along the edges there were a Yellowhammer, a Reed Bunting and a Blackcap, plus a few Swallows over. (AH)

Greenshanks (above), Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting & Mute Swans at Fishbourne Creek (AH)

Medmerry: Ham Lane - There were at least 50 Sand Martins and 20 Swallows about early on. (AH)

Swallows at Medmerry (AH)

Sidlesham: There were at least 100 Sand Martins and 50 Swallows feeding high over our garden this evening. (AH)

Wednesday, 13th July: Generally cloudy with the odd bit of brightness, but cool for the time of year with a fresh W/NW wind and as ever the risk of showers later....

Just a short note to say that AH will be running the blog single-handedly for the next week - despite his pressure of work(!) - so the usual co-operation from the regulars would be appreciated during my absence. (OM)

Ferry Pool: Early this morning the ten Little Ringed Plovers were still present, though only two were there later on. Also a Green Sandpiper, two Avocets, three Black-tailed Godwits and the juvenile Lapwing were all present at different times, along with a Whitethroat still carrying food. (AH/SH)

Green Sandpiper (above), Little Ringed Plovers & Whitethroat at the Ferry (AH)

Late this afternoon there was a Spotted Redshank in Ferry Channel, and on the pool itself there were three Lapwings, a Black-tailed Godwit and six Avocets, with 30 Sand Martins over south and a Buzzard also about. (S&SaH)

Spotted Redshank and Redshank in Ferry Channel (SH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Barn Owl was out hunting early on again, and a Green Sandpiper was by the second sluice, along with three Grey Herons and five Little Egrets, with a Green Woodpecker in the poplars.

There were Skylarks, Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers all along the banks, with plenty of Linnets and Meadow Pipits around the Stilt Pool and the fields, with several singing Reed Warblers and families of Whitethroats along the pools and hedges. Also, at least 100 Sand Martins and a few Swallows went through in a generally westerly direction.

On the Stilt Pool there were two Common Sandpipers and two Little Ringed Plovers, the female Gadwall with (now only) six ducklings and the Mute Swan family, whilst there were a couple of families of Ringed Plover on the reserve, plus a couple of Redshank. (AH)

Barn Owl (above), Sand Martins, Reed Warbler, Skylark, Common Sandpiper, Meadow Pipit & Linnet at Medmerry (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: This evening there were 30+ Sand Martins and 30+ Swallows overhead, plus nine Pied Wagtails in the vicinity, and 15 Swifts went over our garden to the north of the village. (S&SaH)

North Wall: On White's Creek there wereLittle Egrets and a pair of Mute Swans with six cygnets. Wader numbers are picking up on the Breech Pool - there were 51 Common Redshank, 27 Black-tailed Godwits, 18 Lapwing, four Dunlin and a Spotted Redshank, but the only ducks present were Mallard. 

A Sparrowhawk was hunting over the saltmarsh, and there were families of Common Whitethroat all along Pagham Rife, but nothing was to be seen on Honer reservoir. Also, there were 18 Long-tailed Tits in my Pagham garden. (JDW)

Black-tailed Godwits from the North Wall (JDW)