19th - 21st November 2016

Monday, 21st November: A fairly dire day again, with a strong south-southeasterly wind bringing bands of rain with it, though fairly mild in sheltered spots....

Selsey Bill: Very quiet, with barely anything to be seen beyond a couple of Great Northern Divers, Gannets and Red-breasted Mergansers moving about offshore.  Full log below....
0745-0945hrs: (OM/AH/SR)
Great Northern Diver - 1W, 2os
Great Crested Grebe - 2W, 1os
Gannet - 2E, 2W
Red-breasted Merganser - 2W, 5os
Razorbill - 1W
Kittiwake - 1W


Ferry Pool: This morning there were three Black-tailed Godwits, nine Shelduck, c60 Teal, c100 Wigeon and c150 Lapwing on the Pool. (AH)

Black-tailed Godwit (above), Lapwings, Black-tailed Godwit and Shelduck & Shelduck and Teal on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: Just a couple of Reed Buntings and two overflying Snipe and a Meadow Pipit along the pool, whilst in Ferry Channel there were six Black-tailed Godwits, a dozen Grey Plover, 30 Dunlin and the usual Curlews and Redshank. At the far end there were c500 roosting Lapwing, and at least twice that many plus c60 Golden Plover came up from across the harbour. (AH)

Reed Bunting (above), Dunlin & Grey Plover from Long Pool (AH)

Ivy Lake Complex: Most of the time was spent using the car as a hide in the diabolical rain! Copse Lake had the Black Swan family of two adults and their two cygnets, two Great Crested Grebes, four Canada Geese, nine Mute Swans including one sadly lame cygnet, 18 Tufted Ducks, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, two Chiffchaffs, three Goldcrests and a flock of Long-tailed Tits. 

Ivy Lake had 21 Great Crested Grebes, 14 Pochard, more Long-tailed Tits, a Water Rail and a great many Tufted Ducks but no sign of the Scaup. Nunnery Lake just had its usual four Gadwall on it. (SR)

Birdham Pool: A Kingfisher flew across the pool but there was little else of note bar c.20 Little Grebes and 4 Gadwall. (OM)

Chichester Marina: A Coal Tit showed briefly in the same location as last week, in the bushes/gardens at Salterns Lock (west end of the canal where it enters the channel). A Greenshank and a Sandwich Tern were in the channel, plus about 500 Brent Geese, but any hopes of a more detailed count were abandoned as heavy rain set in! (OM)

 

Greenshank and juvenile Brent Goose at Chichester Marina (OM)

 

 

Sunday, 20th November: Storm Angus duly arrived  to give a wild, wet and windy period overnight - though surely not as bad as predicted - and the morning was a good deal calmer and drier than might have been anticipated, with cloud and a strong westerly wind.....

Selsey Bill: A bit of variety this morning, with a Little Auk offshore being the highlight.

Full log below.....

0700-1100hrs:  (SH/JA/CRJ/CF/JL et al)

Black-throated Diver - 1W

Great Northern Diver - 1E, 1W, 2os

Diver sp - 1E

Slavonian Grebe - 2os

Great Crested Grebe - 7W, 1os

Gannet - 2E

Common Scoter - 1E, 5W, 3os

Goosander - 1W

Red-breasted Merganser - 3E, 4W, 2os

Curlew - 1W

Grey Plover - 1W

Sanderling - 3W

Little Auk - 1os (0715)

auk sp - 2E

Razorbill - 1E, 1os

Sandwich Tern - 1W

Common Gull - 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 2E

Note: There was also a distant raptor sp well offshore flying east/south, seen first at 1040 and again at 1050, very broad wings, perhaps a Buzzard or Short-eared Owl, too far off, who knows unless somebody had a raptor leaving south from Church Norton? (CRJ)

Great Northern Diver (above) & confiding Dunnock at the Bill (AH)

Chichester GPs: Ivy Lake complex - There was a Great Northern Diver present this morning on Ivy Lake, initially viewable from near the road it later drifted off towards the far bank. Also present was the first-winter female Scaup with its Tufted Duck companions, a few Pochard and the usual Cormorants & Great Crested Grebes. Nunnery Lake had a few Gadwall on it, Copse was very quiet bar a flyover Kingfisher and both East & West Trout Lakes held Coots, Tufted Ducks and more Grebes including a few Little Grebes. New Lake only had a few Tufted Ducks present. (BI) (Judging by the amount of greyish vermiculation apparent, could this actually be a 1st-w male? Eds)

 Great Northern Diver, above, Scaup, below & with Tufted Duck, bottom (BI)

Later on the first-winter Scaup was still present, but the diver appeared to have departed, presumably back to the coast. Also of note was what appeared to be a family of Black Swans - two adults and two well-grown juveniles - where did they spring from? (AH/IP)

Black Swans on Ivy Lake (AH)

Church Norton: This morning there were two Long-tailed Ducks, a Slavonian Grebe and four Great Crested Grebes, and in the harbour there were a drake Goldeneye, at least eight Red-breasted Mergansers, six Little Grebes and ten Great Crested Grebes, along with a Kingfisher.

A Rock Pipit and a few Skylarks were along the spit and three Stonechats and a couple of Cetti's Warblers were along the Severals, whilst along the beach were four Common Gulls, at least ten Mediterranean Gulls and at least 50 Dunlin, 30 Grey Plover, 40 Turnstone and a few Knot, with half a dozen Bar-tailed Godwits in the harbour. (S&SaH/AH/IP)

Slavonian and Great Crested Grebes (above), Red-breasted Merganser, Common Gull, Mediterranean Gull & Grey Plovers, Dunlins and Turnstones at Church Norton (AH)

Ferry Pool: Just one Shelduck, 20 Teal and 80 Wigeon present this morning. (AH)

Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: Not much of note this morning - just a Stonechat and the leucistic Black-headed Gull, back for its third winter, and also two Sparrowhawks were over the north of the village. (S&SaH)

Leucistic Black-headed Gull at Park Farm, Selsey (SH)

Pagham Lagoon: A quick look this afternoon produced a female Goldeneye, a drake Red-breasted Merganser, two female Pochard and the usual Little Grebes and Tufted Ducks, plus half a dozen Linnets at the spit end. There were ten Common Gulls and 30 or so Mediterranean Gulls on the lagoon, and at least another 60 of the latter amongst the gull flock on the island at the end of the spit. (AH) 

Goldeneye (above), Red-breasted Merganser, Little Grebe & Linnet at Pagham Spit (AH)

Saturday, 19th November: A day that started bright and cold before the clouds gathered and showers started, as we brace ourselves for tonight's storm....

We start on a lighter note with the below photo, which shows your two editors in action....... whatever could they be up to?  No, it's not an audition for 'Brokeback Mountain' or any other of the dubious suggestions put forward by some of the regulars! In fact, OM is shown giving a piggy-back to AH at Church Norton a few days ago, to avoid the latter getting wet feet when a high-tide cut them off. It was going well and dignity and privacy was maintained....until DM managed to capture the deed for posterity! (OM)

It was a piggy-back, honest.....(DM)

Selsey Bill: (PB/AB/IP)

(0715-0830hrs)

Great Northern Diver - 4E
Red-throated Diver - 4E
Gannet - 6W
Shag - 1E
Common Scoter - 3E
Long-tailed Duck - 1W
Red-breasted Merganser - 9E
Mediterranean Gull - 10W
Common Gull - 1W
Kittiwake - 6E
auk sp - 1E
Meadow Pipit - 2W
Linnet - 1N

Also 1430-1600:  (SH/JA)
Slavonian Grebe - 2os
Grey Plover - 2W
Red-breasted Merganser - 1E

Mediterranean Gull - 2E

Park Farm, Selsey: The Dartford Warbler and a Stonechat were again present and there were also eight Grey Partridges in the area. (S&SaH)

Church Norton: This morning a Long-tailed Duck was again offshore from the harbour mouth, and there were also at least two Slavonian Grebes, a Great Northern Diver and two Red-breasted Mergansers on the sea. A Peregrine and a Kingfisher were both in the harbour, and at least six Bar-tailed Godwits and an Avocet in flight were seen among the commoner waders. (IP/PB/AB)

Also seen later on were a Short-eared Owl over the spit, a Stonechat, six Slavonian Grebes, a Long-tailed Duck, six Common Scoter and six Red-breasted Merganser offshore, a Razorbill and two Red-throated Divers going west, a Goldeneye in the harbour and a notable influx of Blackbirds since last weekend. (S&SaH)

Also a redhead Goosander was in the harbour this afternoon. (IP/BI)

Goosander in Pagham Harbour (BI) and Short-eared Owl over the Spit (SH)

Ferry Pool: There were two Green Sandpipers, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Shelduck (with another eight over), 25 Teal and c200 Lapwing and Wigeon were all on the pool and field. (AH)
A Great White Egret was reported flying over north at 12.15pm. (per IL)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Stilt Pool - There was nothing out of the ordinary this morning, but large numbers of wintering birds were seen, including the Common Sandpiper on the Stilt Pool, at least 200 Skylarks and similar of Linnet, Meadow Pipit and Goldfinch, a dozen Reed Buntings, at least four pairs of Stonechats and large numbers of Wigeon and Teal. 

The two Bar-headed Geese were still with 50 or so Canada Geese and at least 1000 Brent Geese were seen moving around during the morning. (AH)

Common Sandpiper (above), Stonechat, Skylark, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Bar-headed and Canada Geese, Brent Geese and the remains of the old outflow jetty at Medmerry (AH)

Sidlesham Churchyard: There were six Fieldfare and a Redwing in the churchyard this morning. (S&SaH)

Chichester GPs - Drayton pits: Not a great deal to report, with heavy showers bringing a hasty end to my visit. The most notable birds were at least 75 Gadwall, with similar of Tufted Duck, and also present were 20+ Pochard, a dozen Shoveler and a few Wigeon. Six Snipe were along the pool edges, four Chiffchaffs were in the hedgerows and nearby a couple of Cetti's Warblers were calling, whilst four Green Woodpeckers, a Buzzard and a Kestrel were about the best of the rest before the rain set in. (OM)

Tufted Ducks and Pochard at Drayton GPs (OM)