10th - 13th October 2016

Thursday, 13th October: A cold and grey start with a strong eastlerly wind, though brightening a little through the morning....

Just a short note to say thanks to AH & BI for keeping the blog going so well over the last week during my trip northwards. It proved to be an excellent antidote to Scad (=doldrums) but now it's great to be back. (OM)  

Selsey Bill: A fairly brief look early on produced just two Brent Geese west and c30 Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls offshore and six Chiffchaffs along the front, but no overhead migration at all. (AH)

Chiffchaff at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were two Green Sandpipers present this morning, along with a dozen Lapwing, three Shelduck and eight Teal. A Grey Wagtail was by the pumping station and there were a further 30 Lapwing and 25 Stock Doves in the cultivated field, and a big flock of Long-tailed and Blue Tits, with one or two Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests among them was in the hedge opposite. (AH)

Stock Doves over the Bill (AH)

Church Norton: There were just a couple of Jays and the Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the churchyard, and very little in the harbour at high tide, though half a dozen Pintail were with the Wigeon and Teal and there were four Bar-tailed Godwits among the roosting waders.
Along the Severals there were four Stonechats, a Rock Pipit went over, along with c40 Linnets, c 30 Goldfinches, c20 Meadow Pipits and 30 Pied Wagtails, half a dozen Dunlin were with 30 Turnstones on the beach and there were around a dozen House Martins and Swallows feeding overhead.
In the fields around Greenlease Farm there were around 150 Linnets, 200+ Meadow Pipits and 100+ Pied Wagtails, plus 30 Curlews, but not much else. (AH)

House Martin (above), Linnets, Pintails, Curlew & Pintail at Church Norton (AH)

Runcton: A great dog-walk down the lane this afternoon, starting off with two Stonechats, then a Peregrine being harassed by corvids and ending with a loud call alerting me to two Green Sandpipers flying into the rife, (CRJ)

Wednesday, 12th October: Much greyer today, but still relatively mild despite the brisk easterly breeze....

Sidlesham Churchyard and surrounding area: A Firecrest was in with a flock of 14 Goldcrests, also c15 Chiffchaffs, a House Martin, 9 Pied Wagtails, 2 Blackcaps, 3 Yellowhammers, 2 Stonechats, 6 Grey Partridges, a Kestrel and a Buzzard in the vicinity. (SR)

Ferry Pool: Just a roosting flock of c45 Lapwings, three Shelduck and two Teal on the pool this morning. (AH)

Church Norton: It was fairly quiet this morning on the full tide, though the Whimbrel looks like it has settled in for the winter in its usual area around the bench. There were a Great Spotted and a Green Woodpecker in the big dead fir-tree tree in the churchyard and a few Jays were about, though there were barely more than a couple of Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs present.
There were still at least six Stonechats along the beach, plus one or two Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs in the shelter between the Severals, but visible migration was limited to a single Redwing, one or two Siskins, six Swallows and a dozen or so Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtails, with many more of both in the fields behind, along with at least 200 Linnets.  Also, a Common Seal was offshore.(AH/CRJ) 

Later in the day there were 30 Wigeon on the first Several and another 15 in the harbour along with 30 Pintail. The Stonechats were still present along the beach with five Chiffchaff and three Reed Buntings nearby, whilst Swallow numbers had increased with c.50 over plus 6 House Martins. Other flyovers included 2 Redpoll, 5 Siskin, 30 Goldfinches and 50 Linnets and on the fields behind Greenlease Farm were another 110 Linnets along with 160 Pied Wagtails and a single Yellow Wagtail. (CRJ)

Whimbrel (above), Stonechat, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker & Common Seal at Church Norton (AH)

Halsey's Farm to North Wall: There was a pair of Stonechats at Halsey's Farm, plus a couple of Goldcrests by the houses, but not much else.

Along the wall there were a few Reed Buntings and a single Chiffchaff, plus 40 or so Goldfinches and a few Meadow Pipits over, whilst on the Breech Pool there were a Ruff, at least four Spotted Redshank, six Greenshank, 14 Snipe and c40 each of Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit.

There were similar totals of these latter two in White's Creek, plus c150 Lapwing and 20 Golden Plover, and a Kingfisher was briefly present. (AH)

Ruff (above), Spotted Redshanks, Golden Plovers, Snipe & Reed Bunting from North Wall (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Stilt Pool - Late this afternoon there was a Whinchat, three Wheatears and a Stonechat near the first viewpoint, a Snipe was nearby, a Hobby flew over southwards and offshore there were two Gannets and two Brent Geese went west. (S&SaH)

Whinchat (above) & Wheatear at Medmerry (SH)

Tuesday, 11th October: It remains crisp and bright with a moderate easterly breeze....

Selsey Bill: There was not too much about this morning, with nothing bar half a dozen Mediterranean Gulls offshore, and a look along the front yielded just a dozen Chiffchaffs in the bushes, a flock of about 15 Swallows feeding over the Oval Field area and maybe a dozen each of Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Linnet over. (AH)

Chiffchaff at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Just 20 Lapwings, eight Wigeon, two Teal and a Shelduck were on the pool this morning, and c30 Stock Doves were in the field. (AH)

Church Norton: A male Merlin was in Rectory Lane, along with 50+ Meadow Pipits, and the Dartford Warbler was along the beach again this morning, along with four Stonechats, two Sparrowhawks, three Reed Buntings, a Blackcap, plus a few Chiffchaffs. Offshore were 150 Black-headed Gulls and 9 Mediterranean Gulls, and on the first Several there were 10 Wigeon, and small parties of Pied Wagtails ,Meadow Pipits, Swallows, Linnets , Goldfinches and a few Siskin were recorded flying east.

A pair of Mistle Thrushes were on the fir-trees in the car-park, and there were up to four Jays, a Green and a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a couple of Blackcaps and half a dozen Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests in the vicinity. 

A look along the west side was fairly unproductive, though there were a pair of Stonechats, half a dozen Linnets, a couple of Sparrowhawks and a Jay, plus a handful of Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails over.

Out in the harbour there were 30+ Pintail, half a dozen Bar-tailed Godwits, a dozen Knot, c50 Grey Plover and c300 Dunlin, and the Peregrine was also about. (AH/CRJ/A&YF)

Mistle Thrushes (above), Jays, Sparrowhawk, Blackcap & Pintail at Church Norton (AH)

Curlew over the harbour (CRJ)

Snowhill Creek: Last evening a handful of Brent Geese had arrived and this morning there were at least 200 present, arriving almost to the day from previous years. (MR)

Monday, 10th October: Another bright and breezy day, chilly early on, but very pleasant away from the moderate north-easterly breeze....

Selsey Bill: There was no sign of the Yellow-browed Warbler this morning, but the Dartford Warbler was showing very well along the gardens west of Bill House, and there were also 20+ Chiffchaffs, two Blackcaps, a Song Thrush and a Stonechat along the front and eight House Martins, 20+ Pied Wagtails, 10 Meadow Pipits, 40 Goldfinch, a Grey Wagtail north and 15 Linnets over, but a Sandwich Tern and two Brent Geese east, and four of the latter west offshore, plus a handful of distant Gannets was the total offshore. Also Clouded Yellow and Comma butterflies. (AH/CRJ/SR/GH et al)

Dartford Warbler at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were four Green Sandpipers on the pool this morning, plus 30 roosting Lapwing, eight Wigeon and six Teal, and a Kingfisher was briefly in the channel opposite. (AH)

Green Sandpiper on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There was no sign of the Black Redstarts this morning, but there was a Dartford Warbler along the beach, along with at least eight Stonechats, and the total of Chiffchaffs spread between the hide area, the beach and Greenlease Farm must have exceeded 40 birds. 

A pair of Ravens went north over Greenlease Farm and the covey of eleven Grey Partridges were still in the fields, along with c200 Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipits, and there were also a few Goldcrests and a pair of Jays in the churchyard. (AH) 
This evening there were a minimum of ten Stonechats along the first several with a dozen Chiffchaffs and in the harbour were 36 Brent Geese. (S&SaH)

Dartford Warbler (above), Ravens, Grey Partridges, Jay, Chiffchaff, Meadow Pipit & Pied Wagtail at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool The cool wind didn't seem to deter the Stonechats today of which there were at least 20 along the paths and near Marsh Barn with a sprinkling of Meadow Pipits. On the Stilt Pool at least 200 Canada Geese and 30 Wigeon but little else apart from a single Lapwing. A Green Sandpiper was by the first sluice and a Clouded Yellow was in this area too. (BI)