14th - 16th October 2016

Sunday, 16th October: Rain early on, clearing to become cloudy and changeable with periods of sunshine, but blustery with a strong SSW wind 6-7.....

Selsey Bill: Apart from Gannets, not a great deal moving in the strong southerly wind, though a couple of Arctic Skuas passed through.  Full log below....

0730-0930hrs:  (Obs: SH/SR/AH)

Gannet - 31E, 159W

Common Scoter - 1E

auk sp - 1W
Kestrel - 1S

Arctic Skua - 2W

Sandwich Tern - 2os

Mediterranean Gull - 2W

Skylark - 3W

Pied Wagtail - 1p
Also 1600-1700hrs: (SH)
Gannet - 5E, 12W
Arctic Skua - 1W (l/p)
Common Gull - 5W
Mediterranean Gull - 2os

Sandwich Tern & Gannet at the Bill (AH)

Selsey (west): Late afternoon Crablands Meadows had 3 Stonechats, 3 Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap and there was another pair of Stonechats on the Go-Kart track behind Medmerry Windmill along West Beach. (SR)

Ferry Pool: There were four Green Sandpipers and four Snipe roosting on the pool this morning, along with c60 Redshank, 12 Lapwing, 16 Teal and a Grey Wagtail by the road. (AH)

Grey Wagtail (above) & Teal on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: Similar to yesterday, with just the odd Chiffchaff and Goldcrest in the bushes, plus a Blackcap, half a dozen Swallows and Meadow Pipits over, a couple of pairs of Stonechats along the front and c50 Linnets on the spit.

The Rock Pipit was again with c60 Turnstones and c20 Dunlin on the foreshore, a few Mediterranean Gulls were offshore, and in the harbour there were a single Sandwich Tern, 16 Bar-tailed Godwits, 25 Brent Geese, c50 Grey Plovers, c20 Ringed Plovers and the regular Whimbrel. (AH)
Later there were 10 Grey Partridges between the Severals and a couple of Sparrowhawks over, whilst between there and Park Farm were 6 Swallows and a Grey Wagtail. (SH)

Rock Pipit (above), Sandwich Tern, Bar-tailed Godwit, Turnstones & Swallow at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry (east side): This afternoon there were 2 Ring Ouzels, a Merlin, a Wheatear and a Raven north of the Breach around the shingle area. (IL)

Saturday, 15th October: A very mild and sunny, if breezy, day after a grey start, with the wind switching round to the south....

Selsey Bill: Generally very quiet, though a Velvet Scoter east was unexpected, and after 9am there was a sudden movement of over 200 Gannets which went through west, tailing off after 0945 (CRJ). Full log below.....

0715-1000hrs: (Obs: CRJ/SH/PB/SR/AH)

Gannet - 2E, 225W
Brent Goose - 6W
Common Scoter - 1E, 3W
Velvet Scoter - 1E 
Teal - 8E
Shoveler - 15W
Turnstone - 7ob
auk sp - 1W
Arctic Skua - 1E (l/p, 0952)
Sandwich Tern - 2E
Kittiwake - 1E, 1W
Common Gull - 2W
Mediterranean Gull - 21E, 9W, 3os
Pied Wagtail - 6N

Meadow Pipit - 4N

Also 1500-1645hrs: (SH/GH/AH)

Gannet - 13E, 24W

Brent Goose - 2W

Razorbill - 2E
Arctic Skua - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 1os

Mediterranean Gull - 26E

Selsey: Park Farm - A Stonechat and 2 Blackcaps were present this morning (SH)

Ferry Pool: After a complete blank at high tide yesterday, the opposite was true today, with five Green Sandpipers roosting together, three Snipe, c70 Lapwing, c80 Redshank and a dozen Teal on the pool today, plus four Skylarks over. (AH)

Green Sandpipers and Snipe, Snipe & Lapwings and Redshank on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: The bushes were very quiet, with just one or two Jays, Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests on offer, and not much along the Severals beyond a couple of Reed Buntings and four Chiffchaffs, and six Shoveler in the second Several, whilst there were just a handful of Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails, Linnets and Goldfinches over, plus four Swallows.

A Rock Pipit was among c75 Turnstones and 12 Dunlin on the foreshore, and c30 Gannets went west, mirroring the movement at the Bill, plus similar of Mediterranean Gulls.

There was little out of the ordinary in the harbour on the big tide, though the pair of Peregrines were present, and there were still a few Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails and Linnets along Rectory Lane, along with a few Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls. (AH)
Later, there were 2 Sparrowhawks and 4 Buzzards, 12 Swallows, a House Martin and 10 Chiffchaffs, plus a Kingfisher at the second Severals and a Raven flew west over the rear of the Severals. (SH)

Rock Pipit (above), Dunlin, Dunlin and Turnstones & Shoveler, Mediterranean Gull & Chiffchaff at Church Norton (AH)

Sidlesham Churchyard: A quick look late morning produced a Jay, half a dozen Song Thrushes, a couple of Linnets over and a scattering of Goldcrests in the tall trees. (AH)

Jay in Sidlesham Churchyard (AH)

North Wall & Fields: The high tide wader roost this morning on the Breech Pool consisted of 150+ Redshank and 45 Black-tailed Godwits but also held 8 Greenshank and at least 5 Spotted Redshanks amongst the flock. Also present were 15 Snipe, 40 Golden Plover overhead, a Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail. A  walk along the Wall and across some of the North Fields was decidedly unproductive with few passerines on show and all I logged were 6 Chiffchaffs, a couple of Reed Buntings and a Cetti's Warbler (plus 2 Clouded Yellow butterflies). (OM)

 Greenshanks with Snipe and Teal on the Breech Pool and (below) Grey Wagtail  (OM)

Pagham churchyard: Little here also; singles of Chiffchaff, Goldcrest and Blackcap plus a Mistle Thrush. (OM)



Friday, 14th October: Another very grey and breezy morning, though not especially cold given the easterly wind direction.......

Selsey Bill: Nothing was moving early on, though a bit later twenty or so each of Gannets and Mediterranean Gulls had gathered offshore, four Sandwich Terns went east and ten Brent Geese went west, with twenty Swallows over. There was little to report from the gardens beyond a scattering of Chiffchaffs, despite a good search. Full log below.....
0730-0930hrs: E/NE 3-4 (Obs: OM/CRJ/SR/AH)
Gannet - 5W, 20os
Brent Goose - 3E, 10W
Peregrine - 1E
Woodpigeon - 50NE
Sandwich Tern - 4E
Mediterranean Gull - 20os
Meadow Pipit - 15E
Pied Wagtail - 22E
Swallow - 22E
Chiffchaff - 9 gardens
Linnet - 45E
Goldfinch - 30E

Brent Geese (above) & Gannet off the Bill (AH)

Selsey: East Beach pond held only 3 Chiffchaffs this morning, whilst a good search of the Northcommon farm area was little better, producing just 2 Chiffchaffs, a couple of Goldcrests, ten Long-tailed Tits and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. (OM)

 Selsey: Windmill Beach: There was quite a lot of small bird activity here this morning with a large flock of Linnets & Goldfinches commuting between the beach and the go-cart track and c.40 Pied Wagtails on the beach itself. By the rock groyne were two Rock Pipits and half a dozen Meadow Pipits and there was also a Wheatear on the beach whilst over the shingle there were thirty Swallows feeding up. A Stonechat and more Linnets were along the path by the amusements. (BI)

 Wheatear, above, & Rock Pipit, below, at Windmill Beach

Park Farm, Selsey: This evening a Ring Ouzel was along the poplars towards Greenlease Farm, before flying off towards the Severals and a Stonechat was in the vicinity. (SH)

Ferry Pool: Just a Black-tailed Godwit and eleven Teal were present early on, and later, on the high tide, there were no birds at all! (AH)
At dusk this evening there were two Water Rails in the creek behind the Visitor Centre. (AH)

Black-tailed Godwit and Teal on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: Another quiet morning around the bushes, with just a few Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests, plus a couple of Jays to show, whilst along the beach there were four Stonechats and a little overhead movement including three Skylarks, six Pied Wagtails, 15 Meadow Pipits and c60 Goldfinches, plus four Swallows.

There was not much in the harbour on the high tide, just 25 Brent Geese, a few Grey Plover,  a Curlew, Redshank and Dunlin, plus a Bar-tailed Godwit, whilst there were c60 Turnstones and 20 Dunlin on the foreshore and a Great Crested Grebe and a dozen Mediterranean Gulls offshore. (AH)

I checked out the coast from Park Road to the oak copse; only birds notable were 5 Chiffchaffs and 2 Goldcrests, plus 4 Skylark east. In the field behind the first Several was a flock of 200 Linnets, plus 30 Pied Wagtails, 20 Meadow Pipits and a Buzzard. I then did a quick circuit around Church Norton harbour, noting only a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Jays and a Peregrine. (CRJ)

Redshank and Grey Plover (above), Curlew, Dunlin and Turnstones & Stonechat at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry, Easton Lane: A quick look from here up to Marsh Barn was fairly unproductive in the stiff breeze but there were a few Stonechats, Meadow Pipits and Yellowhammers around Marsh Barn and there was a Wheatear near the Easton viewpoint. (BI)

Wheatear at Medmerry west (BI)

Medmerry, East side: A look from the viewpoint here and around Toe End found it very quiet with only four Oystercatchers on the mud, a small flock of Meadow Pipits, two Reed Buntings and two Stonechats in the area. (BI)