10th - 12th November 2016

Saturday, 12th November: Late autumn proper..... leaden grey skies, heavy rain at times and a driving SSE wind force 5-6!

Selsey Bill: At least some rewards this morning to those hardy souls who braved the conditions, with a bit of movement and some Velvet Scoters and Goosanders passing, plus an Arctic Skua....Full log below....
0700-1000hrs: (Obs: SH/JA/AH)

Red-throated Diver - 1E, 1os

Great Northern Diver - 1E, 2os
Gannet - 13E, 4W
Brent Goose - 2W
Shelduck - 7E
Common Scoter - 1E, 15W
Velvet Scoter - 7E
Red-breasted Merganser - 1E, 22W
Goosander - 1E, 2W
Teal - 3W
Ringed Plover - 1E
Auk sp - 1os
Arctic Skua - 1E (d/p)
Common Gull - 1os
Kittiwake - 13E
Mediterranean Gull - 3E, 2os

(1430-1530hrs) (SH)
Great Crested Grebe - 1os
Mditerranean Gull - 1E
Kittiwake - 1E
Not quite as good this afternoon!

Shelducks (above), Common Gull & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Also, there were eight Sanderlings with the Turnstones at the end of Hillfield Road. (AH)

Sanderlings at the Bill (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: There were four Redwing present this morning, plus another on the outskirts of the village. (S&SaH)

Ferry Pool: A bit of water in the Ferry has worked wonders, with a whole selection of birds present this morning, including 33 Avocets, 18 Shoveler, a Spotted Redshank (before it re-located across the road into the channel), a Green Sandpiper, two Redshank, four Black-tailed Godwits, 75 Lapwing, four Shelduck, c40 Teal, c150 Wigeon and a Grey Wagtail. (AH)

Spotted Redshank (above), Grey Wagtail, Green Sandpiper, Avocets & Avocets, Shoveler, Shelduck and Wigeon around the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: The two Goosanders were present again late morning, though they were hard to see near the harbour mouth. Also about were two Red-breasted Mergansers and three Great Crested Grebes offshore, with four more of the latter and five Little Grebes in the harbour, along with the regular Whimbrel and ten Bar-tailed Godwits and a single Black-tailed Godwit, plus quite a few Grey Plover and other regular waders and wildfowl. (S&SaH/AH)

Whimbrel (above) & Bar-tailed Godwits at Church Norton (AH)

East Head: Well not the worst conditions I've ever done a WeBS count in, but certainly not the best - two hours of driving rain rendered scope and bins largely useless! None the less, good numbers of waders for the first time this winter, including 1000 Dunlin, 300 Golden Plover and 100 Grey Plover, and around 500 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, but very mobile. Non WeBS birds included a Kingfisher on the crabbing pool, Rock Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Stonechat. (GM per SOS)

Friday, 11th November: An absolutely glorious late autumn morning, crisp and bright early on, and becoming warmer as the day progressed....

Selsey Bill: Very quiet this morning in a brief look. Full log below. (AH/BI/JA)

(0750-0930hrs)

Great Northern Diver - 1os

Gannet - 7E, 5W

Brent Goose - 17W

Red-breasted Merganser - 1E, 5W, 2os

Common Scoter - 1W

auk sp - 28E

Meadow Pipit - 2p

Church Norton: There was a nice start to the morning in the form of two redhead Goosanders and a Long-tailed Duck in the harbour on the high tide. Three more Goosanders had flown through the harbour early on (JD), and later on the Long-tailed Duck re-appeared offshore from the harbour mouth, and also offshore were three Slavonian Grebes and up to six Great Crested Grebes, a couple of mobile Common Scoter and several small flocks of Wigeon and Brent Geese.

Despite the lack of movement at the Bill, in excess of 100 Brent Geese appeared in small groups from the east during the morning, with some going into the harbour and some carrying on.

There was also Rock Pipit, a couple of Meadow Pipits and half a dozen Skylarks along the spit, a Peregrine and several Bar-tailed Godwits in the harbour, and a Blackcap and a couple of Chiffchaffs were in the churchyard first thing. (AH/BI/SR/JD). The Whimbrel was also present, around the hide area. (MP)

Long-tailed Duck (above), Goosanders, Rock Pipit, Peregrine, Grey Plover & Brent Geese at Church Norton (AH) Whimbrel, bottom, (MP)

Ferry Pool: This morning there were a Green Sandpiper, a Redshank and four Black-tailed Godwits on the pool, along with c150 Lapwings and about 20 each of Wigeon and Teal. (AH)

Black-tailed Godwit on the Ferry (AH)

 Pagham Lagoon: There were two Pintail and a Goldeneye present here this morning. (MP)

Goldeneye, above, & Pintail, below, on Pagham Lagoon. (MP)

Thursday, 10th November: A better day, with a modest west-north-westerly breeze and a bit of intermittent sunshine after a cloudy start....

Selsey Bill: It was quieter than yesterday, but there were still a few auks and Gannets on the move, plus a Slavonian Grebe offshore and a Sandwich Tern, a couple of Great Northern Divers and a few Red-throated Divers and Kittiwakes. Full log below....
0740-1240hrs: (Obs: OM/AH/SR/IL et al)
Red-throated Diver - 2E, 7W
Great Northern Diver - 1E, 2os
Diver sp - 2E
Slavonian Grebe - 1os
Great Crested Grebe - 3E, 7W
Gannet - 14W
Brent Goose - 3E, 15W
Common Scoter - 1E, 12W
Red-breasted Merganser - 4E, 3W
Guillemot - 1os
Razorbill - 3E, 1W
Auk sp - 119E, 6W
Skua sp - 1W (probably Arctic but distant)
Sandwich Tern - 1W
Kittiwake - 21E, 6W
Mediterranean Gull - 3W, 1os
Common Gull - 12W
Skylark - 1W
Meadow Pipit - 10W
Pied Wagtail - 3W, 2p
Linnet - 6W
Goldfinch - 20W
Also Clouded Yellow and Red Admiral butterflies

Great Northern Diver (above), Common Scoters, Brent Geese & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Clouded Yellow at the Bill (SR)

Church Norton: There were three Slavonian Grebes, two Red-throated Divers and two Great Crested Grebes offshore this morning, and half a dozen Skylarks, a couple of Meadow Pipits and a pair of Stonechats along the start of the spit.

In the harbour there were half a dozen Bar-tailed Godwits and several hundred Brent Geese, and a Sparrowhawk went over the car-park. (AH)

Later on, at the eastern end of Church Norton spit there was a Red-necked Grebe lurking close inshore, just off the harbour mouth. Taking the long trek out on the spit we failed to relocate the Red-necked Grebe but were compensated by a late Sandwich Tern and three Red-breasted Mergansers that were feeding inside the harbour. (BFF/DM)

Red-throated Diver (above), Slavonian Grebes, Skylark & Brent Goose and Bar-tailed Godwit at Church Norton (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were six Black-tailed Godwits, c120 Lapwing, a Shelduck, c40 Teal and c60 Wigeon on the pool this morning. (AH)

Shelduck on the Ferry (AH)

East Head: There were still no large gatherings of Brent Geese around the usual feeding areas and generally a lack of birds all around the Head - we only found a single Red-throated Diver, two Red-breasted Mergansers and three Eiders out in the channels. (BFF/DM)