26th - 28th October 2016

Friday, 28th October: Another mild morning, mostly grey and with a westerly breeze, but with the odd sunny spell.....

Selsey Bill : A Great Northern Diver was offshore and a Merlin appeared, plus a bit of vis. mig, but mainly standard fare for the time of year....
0730-0930hrs: cloudy, SW4  (Obs: JA/C&ME)
Great Northern Diver - 1os
Gannet - 6E, 52W
Common Scoter - 3E, 1W
Red-breasted Merganser - 1W
Merlin - 1 area (fem)
Woodpigeon - 70W
Stock Dove - 2W
Kittiwake - 4W
Mediterranean Gull - 1os
Razorbill - 7W
auk sp - 6E
Swallow - 1W
Pied/alba Wagtail - 15W
Meadow Pipit - 22W
Goldfinch - 76W
Greenfinch - 26W
Chaffinch - 18W
Linnet - 12W

Also 0930-1100hrs: (C&ME)
Great Northern Diver - 2os
Gannet - 121W
Brent Goose - 5W
Common Scoter - 3E, 1W
Wigeon - 2W
auk sp - 4E
Razorbill - 3E, 4W
Kittiwake - 3W
Mediterranean Gull - 4W
Meadow Pipit - 37NE
 
Ferry Pool/Long Pool: There were just one Green Sandpiper and one Snipe on the pool, plus at least 150 Lapwing, 40 Wigeon and 20 Teal this morning.
It was quiet along the Long Pool, with just a Chiffchaff, a couple of Goldcrests and Long-tailed Tits and half a dozen Reed Buntings in the hedges and one or Grey Plover and Redshank in the channel. (AH)

Green Sandpiper (above), Teal & Grey Plover around Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: The only unusual birds were a couple of Coal Tits that dropped into one of the dead trees in the car-park for maybe 20 seconds before heading off south-west. Otherwise it was slow going, with maybe half a dozen Goldcrests and a couple of Jays around the hide/churchyard area, four Stonechats and a couple of Reed Buntings by the second Several and another half a dozen Goldcrests in the oak copse.
There were a Gadwall, a Pintail and five Shovelers on the second Several, a dozen Mediterranean Gulls offshore and in the harbour there were eight Bar-tailed Godwits and 20 Grey Plover among the commoner waders. (AH)

Coal Tit (above), Jay, Reed Bunting, Stonechat, Bar-tailed Godwit, Gadwall & Pintail and Shoveler at Church Norton (AH)

Pagham churchyard: The rather still and cloudy conditions looked promising, but again there was little on offer here.... 25+ Blackbirds, 8 Goldcrests and a Green Woodpecker were about it. (OM)

 

Chichester GP's - Drayton pits: The autumnal increase in wildfowl numbers is well underway, with 55 Shoveler, 30 Gadwall and 20+ Wigeon being of note. There were also 13 Snipe along the banks, plus 4 Cetti's Warblers making their presence felt. The berry-laden hedgerows held a surprise in the form of a Ring Ouzel with 20+ Blackbirds, and also 7 Chiffchaffs, half a dozen Goldcrests and 15+ Long-tailed Tits, whilst 3 Buzzards soared together overhead. (OM)

 

 Shovelers (with Wigeon above & Coot below) at Drayton GP's....there were 55 this morning (OM)

Buzzard at Drayton GPs (OM)

Thursday, 27th October: A morning that began with dense fog that was reluctant to clear, until around midday when it suddenly lifted to leave a warm sunny afternoon....

Selsey Bill: (1315-1445hrs) (C&ME)
Great Northern Diver - 1os
Gannet - 62W
Commn Scoter - 2W
Grey Plover - 1E
Common Gull - 1os
Mediterranean Gull - 1W
Razorbill - 1os
auk sp - 4E

Ferry Pool: There was a brief view of, and call from, a possible Pallas's Warbler behind the Visitor Centre, but it was in a big mixed flock of Long-tailed Tits and Chiffchaffs that moved on and it could not be re-located for confirmation. (IL)

On the pool itself, when the fog lifted, there were six Snipe, a Green Sandpiper, c200 Lapwing and c40 Wigeon. (AH)

Snipe (above), Green Sandpiper & Lapwings on the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: No sign of the Bearded Tits in the fog, though there were 40-50 Reed Buntings along the path, plus half a dozen Meadow Pipits and a couple of Chiffchaffs. Just about discernible on the pool were four Spotted Redshanks, three Greenshank, ten Snipe, 30 Black-tailed Godwits and 150 Lapwing, plus a Kingfisher flew through. (AH/JDW)

Spotted Redshank (above), Reed Bunting & Meadow Pipit from North Wall (AH)

After the fog eventually lifted I was rewarded with a short viewing of one Bearded Tit at 11.30, and there were also Snipe, Pintail, Grey Heron and lots of Reed Buntings on the Breech Pool. (TRo)

Bearded Tit (above), Pintail, Grey Heron & Reed Bunting from North Wall (TRo)

Wednesday, 26th October: Another mild and pleasant morning, with a slight south-westerly breeze and a mix of sunshine and cloud.....

Selsey Bill 0915-1245hrs:  (Obs: C&ME)
Great Northern Diver - 2os
Great Crested Grebe - 1E 
Shag - 1E
Gannet - 70W
Brent Goose  - 7W                   
Common Scoter - 2E
Wigeon - 4E
Dunlin - 35W
Razorbill - 3E, 6W
Mediterranean Gull - 6W 
Meadow Pipit - 18N               
Pied Wagtail - 5p                    
Chiffchaff - 4 gardens                      

North Wall: There were four Bearded Tits present this morning in the still conditions. (PC)

Unfortunately they had disappeared again later on. 

Behind the stables was a mixed flock of tits numbering about 20, the majority of which were Long-tailed, and in the horse field was a Green Woodpecker. On the Breech Pool there were 23 Snipe, 2 Greenshank, a Spotted Redshank and 50 plus Black-tailed Godwits, along with a  Grey Wagtail, 2 Grey Herons, a Water Rail and 40 plus Teal. Also, Wood Pigeon numbers are escalating as the hawthorn berries ripen. (JDW)

Snipe (above) & Wood Pigeon from North Wall (JDW)

Pagham Lagoon: A Kingfisher was flying about the lagoon but there was little else on offer; 42 Brent Geese, 6 Wigeon, a Great Crested Grebe, 13 Little Grebes and 12 Tufted Ducks. Nearby was a flock of around 30 Linnets and two flocks of Long-tailed Tits. (SR)

Church Norton: Three Stonechats and a Black Redstart were in the horse field this morning and a Redwing by the concrete wall. (A&YF)
Three Brent Geese went west offshore and 70 Turnstones were along the beach, whilst at Park Copse there were 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a flock including a minimum of 8 Long-tailed Tits, 6 Goldcrests, 2 Chiffchaffs, 3 Lesser Redpolls and a Siskin. 
By the Severals there were Stonechats and in the harbour there were 8+ Avocets, 12 Great Crested Grebes and a Kingfisher, but otherwise it was just the usual seasonal mix. (MD)
 

Ferry Pool: There were six Snipe present this morning, along with a Green Sandpiper, c80 Lapwing, c40 Wigeon and 12 Teal, a Kingfisher flew through and a Grey Wagtail was briefly in the Environment Agency yard. (AH)

Snipe (above), Grey Wagtail & Wigeon around the Ferry (AH)

Medmerry: Breach and Windmill area - There was no sign of any Black Redstarts this morning, with just a Rock Pipit, a Reed Bunting and two pairs of Stonechat of note among c50 Linnets, c200 Meadow Pipits and c100 Pied Wagtails around the caravans and rough ground, whilst around the breach there were 20 Grey Plovers, 40 Dunlin and a couple of Curlew and Ringed Plover. There was nothing much around the windmill area save a big flock of Goldfinches and a handful of Meadow Pipits. (AH)

Rock Pipit (above), Reed Bunting, Stonechat & Linnet at Medmerry (AH)

Medmerry: Ham Farm area - It was quiet here, too, though there were three pairs of Stonechat around the banks, along with a couple of Reed Buntings and a few Meadow Pipits, and there were at least 50 Skylarks in the fields. 

Out on the reserve there were a few dozen Skylarks and plenty of Wigeon and Teal, plus half a dozen Shelduck, but that was about it.

Also, along Ham Lane, near Old House Farm, there were at least 300 Lapwings on the freshly ploughed fields. (AH)

Skylark (above), Meadow Pipit & Lapwings at Medmerry (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane - The barn owl was out hunting at 17.45, and there were also eight Stonechats about, along with a Buzzard and four Kestrels. (S&SaH)