Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 26th

Sunday, 28th August: A very grey and windy start, with some brighter spells later.....and periods of light drizzly rain.

Selsey Bill: Fairly quiet, with just a few Gannets, Sandwich Terns and Common Terns moving west this morning. Full log below..... (SH/JA/PB/SR/AH)
Gannet - 14E, 50W
Common Scoter - 1E, 3W
Auk sp - 3W
Common Tern - 19W
Sandwich Tern - 12E, 20W
Mediterranean Gull - 2E
Sand Martin - 7W
Swallow - 3W
Also 1345 - 1500hrs: (SH)
Gannet - 7E, 24W
Shearwater sp. - 1E (at 1355hrs; probably a Balearic but very distant)
Common Scoter - 1E
Common Tern - 3W
Sandwich Tern - 2os

Gannet past the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The only waders present were two Little Ringed Plovers and a dozen Lapwing, along with a dozen Shelduck and c40 Teal. (AH)

Teal on the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: The five Little Stints were reported to have been seen early on but not later, though there were a dozen Greenshank, a couple of Spotted Redshank, c.80 Redshanks, seven Dunlin and forty Black-tailed Godwits on the pool, a Yellow Wagtail & a Wheatear along the wall and at least one Knot in the harbour. There was also a Common Sandpiper near the sluice and another in the harbour with a Grey Plover. More Yellow Wagtails, probably 25, were with the cattle, a Painted Lady butterfly was by the small bridge and a group of Swallows were hawking over the fields. The hedges were mainly quiet with just singles of Whitethroat and Willow Warbler seen and there were a few Linnets out on the saltmarsh. (DIS/DM/RI/BI)

Church Norton: There were two Little Terns roosting on the island and at least half a dozen Sandwich Terns and a dozen Common Terns were around the harbour, along with a couple of Common Sandpipers, a Greenshank, two or three Whimbrel, 30+ Turnstones and a dozen Mediterranean Gulls, with a couple of Gannets offshore.
It was very quiet around the hedges, with just the odd Willow/Chiff heard and none seen! (AH/RJS/A&YF et al)
Later, there were 9 Wheatears and a Whitethroat, whilst offshore were a Gannet, and at least 10 each of Common and Sandwich Tern. (S&SaH)

Little Terns (above), Sandwich Terns, Sandwich and Common Terns & Common Sandpiper at Church Norton (AH)

Chi GPs- Drayton Pits: Disappointingly quiet overall, with rather little noted on the pools or in the hedgerows. There were at least 60 Tufted Ducks, including a female with a brood of three smallish young - presumably a late breeder - but otherwise just a handful of Teal, half a dozen Pochard and eight Gadwall were the only wildfowl of note, whilst at least four pairs of Little Grebe were accompanied by juveniles. Five Willow Warblers and a mixed flock of Blue and Long-tailed Tits were about the best I could do for small birds, with the usual noisy pair of Green Woodpeckers nearby. The highlight was probably non-avian, with the discovery of a Wasp Spider - my first at this site. (OM)

Tufted Duck with three young and Wasp Spider at Drayton GPs (OM)

Saturday, 27th August: Still fairly warm with sunshine and cloud and a moderate E/NE breeze, but with the increasing risk of thundery showers....

In case you missed yesterday's late posting....the Oval Field at Selsey Bill has now been designated a Village Green....for fuller details see yesterday's blog.

Selsey Bill: (0700-0900hrs) (SR) F4/5E

Fulmar - 1E, 1W

Gannet - 14E, 14W

Common Scoter - 1W4

Shelduck - 4E

Teal - 1W

Turnstone - 18obs

Kittiwake - 1E

Common Tern - 1E, 2W

Sandwich Tern - 5E, 2W, 2os.

Sand Martin - 50E

House Martin - c200E

Swallow - c300E

Wheatear - 1obs.

Willow Warbler - 6 in gardens

+ 1 wandering Hedgehog taken in to Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital!

Hedgehog found at the Bill (SR)

Medmerry (east side) - Breach towards Northcommon Farm: An Osprey was fishing at the breach and a Curlew Sandpiper was with a flock of 100 mixed Dunlin and Ringed Plover. Also seen were 4 Yellow Wagtails, a Wheatear, 2 Whitethroats, 100+ sand Martins and 20+ Swallows (SH).

Ferry Pool: No sign of the Ruff this morning, though there was a Golden Plover, briefly, two Greenshank, three Green Sandpipers and a Little Ringed Plover present, along with c30 Lapwing, 18 Shelduck and c40 Teal. A Wheatear dropped in briefly by the road and four Stock Doves were on the cultivated field, but the he nearby bushes were very quiet, with just a couple of Willow/Chiffs and Whitethroats seen. (AH)

Greenshank (above), Green Sandpipers and Lapwings & Stock Doves at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: The five Little Stints were on the Breech Pool again, along with three Curlew Sandpipers, five Dunlin, three Common Sandpipers, a Green Sandpiper, three Greenshank, c60 Black-tailed Godwits and c100 Redshank, and a Pintail among the Teal and Mallard., Also there were a couple of Wheatears along the wall, a few Whitethroats in the hedges, a few dozen Sand Martins and Swallows and two Peregrines over, at least 50 Yellow Wagtails among the cattle and a Spotted Flycatcher at Halsey's Farm. (AH/BI/D&MB/ARK et al) Later on a Marsh Harrier was over the fields behind. (AB)

Later, at around 1700hrs, there were 2 Ospreys over the harbour fishing and both caught fish; later one of them or possibly a third bird was seen high over Halseys farm with a fish before drifting off north. Also......
5 Little Stints
5 Dunlin
9 Spotted Redshanks
5 Greenshank
1 Snipe
2 Common Sandpipers
2 Kingfishers
20 Sand Martins
6 Yellow Wagtails (SH)

Curlew Sandpipers (above), Curlew Sandpipers and Little Stints, Little Stints, Pintail & Common Sandpiper from North Wall (AH) & Little Stints (BI)

East side of harbour: There were as many as a dozen Curlew Sandpipers at the end of White's Creek on the dropping tide before they swiftly dispersed, and also out in the harbour were three or four Whimbrel and Greenshank, a couple of Grey Plovers, half a dozen juvenile Black-tailed Godwits, c30 Knot, six Wigeon and many Dunlin. (AH)

Curlew Sandpipers and Dunlin (above), Grey Plovers, Knot & juvenile Black-tailed Godwits from East side (AH)

Church Norton: Fairly quiet this morning, with highlights being nine Yellow Wagtails along the beach, six Common and eight Sandwich Terns in the harbour and a Reed Bunting at Park Farm, Selsey. (S&SaH)
Also, there were a couple of Spotted Flycatchers and a few Willow Warblers around the churchyard late in the afternoon. (P&JW)

Friday, 26th August: Another very nice summer's day, warm under hazy sunshine.....

Information has been received that the Oval Field at Selsey Bill has now been designated a VILLAGE GREEN - under WSCC Village Green Registration No 96, (with thanks to Jerry Goodman). Hopefully it will now remain an open green space for all of us to enjoy long into the future. Apparently a plaque will soon be placed on the wall of the end house to commemorate that status. Whilst this status may bring with it some restrictions - and some may not consider it the ideal solution - we need to bear in mind the development plans that so nearly despoiled the site and I'm sure most will consider this a very satisfactory outcome in all the circumstances. (OM)

Ferry Pool: The Ruff, a Little Ringed Plover, a Black-tailed Godwit and 24 Lapwings were the only waders present on the pool, along with 35 Teal and 16 Shelduck.

A Whinchat was along the Tramway, a couple of Garden Warblers were reported near the Visitor Centre by a visiting birder and there were lots of Whitethroats, plus a few Reed Buntings, Blackcaps and Willow Warblers throughout the area. (AH)

Ruff (above), Whitethroat & Reed Bunting around the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: It was generally quieter than yesterday, though there was still a Whinchat, a Lesser Whitethroat and half a dozen Wheatears along the beach, plus a Yellow Wagtail and 50+ Swallows over, and a Spotted Flycatcher and a few Blackcaps, Willow Warblers and Whitethroats around the hide area.

There was not much to report in the harbour - just half a dozen Sandwich Terns and a couple of Common Terns, a few Dunlin and Ringed Plover and a Peregrine and a Sparrowhawk over. (AH/A&YF)

Sandwich Terns (above), Sparrowhawk & Wheatear at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: There were five Little Stints on the Breech Pool this morning along with two Avocets, around 50 Yellow Wagtails in with the cattle, a Whinchat and a couple of Wheatears along the wall as well as five Cetti's Warblers, plenty of Whitethroats and still the odd Reed Warbler present. At Halsey's Farm were two Redstarts, a male and a female, two Lesser Whitethroats and a few Chiffchaffs & Willow Warblers. (BI/TG/DP/MP) Later on there were 200 Yellow Wagtails at Honer Farm. (DP/MP)

Little Stints and Lapwing, above, Yellow Wagtails & Redstart at North Wall (BI)

Also a Greenshank was on White's Creek, a Kingfisher was behind the sluices, and.there were Black-tailed Godwits, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Lapwings, Dunlin, Redshank, 60+ Mallard, seven Teal and three Moorhen.

Apart from a splendid male Redstart the bushes and hedges around the fields contained very few birds, though a Clouded Yellow butterfly was in the field behind Owl Copse. (JDW)

Grey Heron, Little Stints and Lapwing, Greenshank & Black-tailed Godwits, Lapwing and Mallard (JDW)

There were two Curlew Sandpipers in White's Creek this morning, and a(nother?) Little Stint, was present as well. (HR)

This evening on the Breech Pool there were still the 5 Little Stints, plus 14 Greenshank, 7 Spotted Redshank, 40+ Lapwing, c150+ Redshank, 10 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Avocets and a single Snipe, Also, 3 Yellow Wagtails went west and up to 3 Wheatears were along the fence. Out in the harbour there were 4 Wigeon,2 Pintail, a Black Swan, c10 Knot, and a Common Sandpiper. (CRJ/AB)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Stilt Pool - Fairly quiet mid-morning but there were 100 Yellow Wagtails around the cattle, three Common Sandpipers and the two Bar-headed Geese on the Stilt pool with Canada Geese flock and three Wheatears along the beach. On the way back to Easton Lane a Hobby gave good views and there were still a few Clouded Yellows and Common Blues by the banks here. (BI)

Later, several Wheatears were around the south of Medmerry at lunchtime today plus a fly-through (N-to-S) Raven. An Osprey did finally turn up but didn't hang around long, whilst a pair of Mute Swans was perhaps unusual for this part of the site. (GW)