Sunday, 3rd July: A largely dry, bright day with sunshine and cloud and light to moderate mainly southerly winds; becoming sunnier and warmer by afternoon.
Selsey Bill (0600 - 0830hrs): (Obs: SH/PB/SR/IP)
Gannet - 16E, 22W
Common Scoter - 3W
Little Tern - 7E, 4W, 6os
Common Tern - 4E, 10W, 5os
Sandwich Tern - 5E, 3W
House Martin - 5p
Pied Wagtail - 2p
Church Norton: The first Whinchat of the autumn was in the field behind the Severals and 30+ Swifts, 20+ House Martins and three Sand Martins were overhead.
There were a remarkable 12 Common Sandpipers roosting on the beach together, whilst eight Grey Plover and a Dunlin flew over. Also, there were four Peregrines over the harbour together, three Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel were in the area, a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff were in the Bluebell wood, a very young juvenile Little Grebe on the second Several, a dozen Sandwich Terns were feeding offshore and carrying fish off west, and there were still plenty of Little and Common Terns around the island. (S&SaH/PB) Later on five Sand Martins went over Priory Wood. (IP)
Additionally, Rectory Lane had two singing Whitethroats, 6 Skylarks, 2 Red-legged Partridges, a Green Woodpecker and 2 Stock Doves, whilst House Martins were still active around Norton Corner Cottages. Around the churchyard were a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Song Thrush and a few Chiffchaffs. Greenlease Farm had a large mixed hirundine flock of c50 birds and Swallows were making use of derelict buildings; also present were c30 Swifts, a Jay, 2 Buzzards and 4 Whitethroats. (SR) 
Whinchat (above) & juvenile Little Grebe at Church Norton (SH)
Common Sandpipers off Church Norton (SH)
North Wall: Very quiet on the North Wall this morning, with just a few Curlew and Whimbrel in the harbour and 10 Black-tailed Godwits on the Breech Pool. Along the paths a few Reed and Sedge Warbler families, a male Whitethroat, a single Cetti’s Warbler, and two pairs of Linnet, the males in stunning summer plumage. Across the fields there were a pair of Kestrels, a Buzzard, 30 Swallows, three Sand Martins and a couple of Common Swifts were hawking insects, and there were also Meadow Brown butterflies in their hundreds. (CRJ)
Ferry Pool: There were three Little Ringed Plovers, tthree Common Sandpipers, forty Redshank in three groups, plus eight Shelduck and two Teal on the pool at various times this morning. (IP/AH)
Common Sandpipers (above) & Teal on the Ferry (AH)
Long Pool/West Side: Not too much along the Long Pool, though there were eight or nine juvenile Gadwall, the juvenile Little Grebe and the Great Crested Grebe family all still present, plus a few Reed and Sedge Warblers, but not much song, though Reed Buntings and Linnets were both still singing well. Along the west side it was very quiet, with just a Meadow Pipit and a few Whitethroats and Linnets of note.
In Ferry Channel there were two Common Sandpipers, a Whimbrel, 40 Curlew (before they flew off towards the North Wall) and up to 80 Redshank, along with a couple of Shelducks with 22 young - surely a creche rather than all their own!. (AH)
Juvenile Gadwalls (above), Linnet, Reed Bunting, Curlew, Meadow Pipit & Shelducks from Long Pool (AH)
Medmerry: Porthole Farm to Ham Farm - Not too much out of the ordinary this evening, but a nice selection of breeding birds including several Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings and families of Whitethroat and Swallow along Ham Lane and adjacent hedges, half a dozen Stock Doves around Porthole Farm, and a couple of singing Corn Buntings and several Skylarks around the banks at Ham Farm. (AH)
Corn Bunting (above), Yellowhammer, Whitethroat & Swallows at Medmerry (AH)
Saturday, 2nd July: A brighter, mainly dry and very breezy day, with strong W/SW winds but some sun among the heavy and fast-moving cloud....
Selsey Bill: Another quiet morning with just seven species in the log in four hours, including the usual smattering of Gannets, Little, Common and Sandwich Terns, a handful of Common Scoter, and slightly less expected two Common Sandpipers west. The Bill House garden is worth a mention as it was in full bloom and looking fine today - at least for the masses of bumblebees and other insects using it. Full log below....
0600-1000hrs: (Obs: SH/SR/AH/OM)Gannet - 20E, 16W
Common Scoter - 8E, 3W
Common Sandpiper - 2W
Swift - 3os
Little Tern - 1E, 4os
Common Tern - 2E, 30W, 9os
Sandwich Tern - 1E, 8W, 2os
Gannet (above) & Common Tern past the Bill (AH)
Bill House garden in full bloom (with masses of bumblebees!) (OM)
(1715-1815hrs) (SH)
Gannet - 5E, 7W
Common Tern - 15W, 7os
Sandwich Tern - 8W
Little Tern - 2W, 13os
Ferry Pool: At varying times this morning there were as many as four Common Sandpipers on the pool, but also three, two, one and none were seen! Otherwise a Little Ringed Plover flew in, and there were two Teal, a handful of Shelduck and a couple of Redshank, plus the Whitethroat singing by the road-side, and six Mute Swan cygnets in the channel opposite. (SH/AH/OM/IP)
Common Sandpiper (above), Little Ringed Plover, Teal & Mute Swan cygnets around the Ferry (AH)
Late afternoon there was a Little Ringed Plover, a Black-tailed Godwit and a flock of 21 Redshank on the pool. (AH)
Little Ringed Plover (above) & Redshanks on the Ferry (AH)
Church Norton: A Common Sandpiper was here as well, along with a Whimbrel, 20+ Curlew and a few Ringed Plovers, whilst there were still plenty of Little and Common Terns around the island and offshore, plus half a dozen Sandwich Terns. There were actually two Blackcaps and two Chiffchaffs singing near the car-park (which probably explains why they are still singing this late), but not much else in the strong wind beyond the odd Linnet and Skylark and a few swifts over. (AH)
Whimbrel (above), Common Sandpiper, Sandwich Tern, Linnet, Skylark & Chiffchaff at Church Norton (AH)
North Wall: On the Breech Pool the water level was looking good for waders and there were 37 Black-tailed Godwits and two Redshank present. Two Teal and the usual gathering of dowdy Mallards was about it for wildfowl, but above the pool there were ten Swifts and two Sand Martins. Two Sedge Warbler and several Reed Warbler families were along the poolside edges and reeds, whilst a Cetti's Warbler managed a bit of subdued song and a showy Kestrel was hunting near the stables. Out in the saltmarsh were a minimum of 30 Curlew, several Oystercatchers and 40 or so Lapwings. (OM)
Black-tailed Godwits on the Breech Pool and Kestrel in the horse paddock at the North Wall. (OM)
Friday, 1st July: Yet another cold, windy and grey morning with the odd drizzly squall, but at least no rain.....though still feeling somewhat damp in the brisk W/SW wind.
Selsey Bill: Very little was moving despite the conditions looking quite promising. (AH)
(0720-0820hrs)
Gannet - 8E, 29W
Sandwich Tern - 5E
Little Tern - 2os
Common Tern - 4os
Gannet - 1E, 4W
Mediterranean Gull - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 1E, 9W
Common Tern - 2E, 4W, 4os
Little Tern - minimum count of 21 birds feeding along the Mile Basket line, but birds shooting off east and drifting in from the east so at least 30 and possibly 40 birds involved.
Ferry Pool: There were four Common Sandpipers present this morning early on and still there later, along with an Avocet, four Shelducks, three Pied Wagtails and a singing Whitethroat. (AH)
Common Sandpipers (above) & Avocet on the Ferry (AH)
Church Norton: Biggest surprise this morning was a Barn Owl briefly hunting over the back of the horse field before dropping down and not resurfacing. Also there were four Common Sandpipers (different to those above) around the concrete blocks, along with a Whimbrel, ten Curlews and 20 Redshank, plus a young-looking juvenile Great Black-backed Gull and two Mediterranean Gulls.
There was still plenty of Little and Common Tern activity in the harbour, at least half a dozen Sandwich Terns were present, too, and three Gannets went west. Unsurprisingly there was little passerine activity, though the Blackcap and Chiffchaff were still singing near the car-park and there were a few Linnets and Skylarks along the start of the spit. (AH)
Barn Owl (above), Chiffchaff, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Gannets, Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls, Whimbrel, Curlew and Lesser Black-backed Gull & Common Sandpiper at Church Norton (AH)
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