1st - 3rd November 2016

Thursday, 3rd November: After the sharpest frost of the autumn another beautiful, still and warm day.....

Selsey Bill: A couple of Great Northern Divers were present and there was a steady but moderate passage of Brent Geese west this morning, along with a few  auks. Full log below.....
0930-1215hrs:  (Obs: SR/C&ME)
Great Northern Diver - 1os, 1W
Great Crested Grebe - 2E
Brent Goose - 7E, 118W
Common Scoter - 2E, 7W
Red-breasted Merganser - 2W
Razorbill - 2W, 2os
auk sp - 6E, 9W
Dunlin - 6W
Pied Wagtail - 1E, 2W
Linnet - 2E

Medmerry: Breach area - It was very quiet here, with just a pair of Stonechats and a handful of Meadow Pipits, Linnets and Goldfinches to be found, and just a few Curlews and Grey Plovers on the mud, plus about 40 Cormorants in a feeding flock, 20 Brent Geese and c50 Teal and Wigeon, and also a lone Razorbill went east offshore. (AH)

Stonechat (above) & Cormorants at Medmerry (AH)

Ferry Pool: Just one Green Sandpiper, 14 Teal and c40 Wigeon on the pool this morning. (AH)

Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There was evidence of Brent Goose migration this morning, with a flock of c50 birds sat far offshore, a similar number moving west and there were up to 500 in the harbour, with some moving off again west with others dropping in.
Also offshore were three Red-breasted Mergansers and eight Great Crested Grebes, but the harbour was quiet, with the Whimbrel and  eight Bar-tailed Godwits being the only waders of note, and the hedges and bushes even more so, with just the odd Goldcrest and Long-tailed Tit to be found. Also there were c100 Lapwings on the ploughed fields along Rectory Lane. (AH)

Red-breasted Merhgansers (above), Whimbrel, Lapwings & Brent Geese at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: There was very little happening on the Breech Pool first thing, with just 6 Common Snipe, 50 plus Teal and 5 Mute Swan cygnets that had appeared overnight. The Swans moved on and were later replaced by 3 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank and 7 Black-tailed Godwits. 
Elsewhere bird numbers were well down on yesterday, though a Grey Heron and a Little Egret were sat amongst the branches at Owl Copse, and close to Marsh Farm there was a flock of 21 Long-tailed Tits, whilst nearer to Bramber Farm there was a pair of Little Owls sunning themselves. On Honer reservoir there were 27 Coot, 15 Tufted Ducks, 2 Pochard and 9 Little Grebes, and a Roe Deer was feeding in, an as yet unharvested, barley field nearby. (JDW)

Pochard (above), Grey Heron, Roe Deer & Mute Swans around North Wall (JDW)

Wednesday, 2nd November: Another beautiful, if brisker, morning with plenty of sun and a modest north-westerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: Over 150 Brent Geese moved west, and there was a trickle of other bits and pieces, including a Swallow, three Chiffchaffs and two Clouded Yellow butterflies. Three Razorbills were feeding close in to the shore, though constantly harassed by gulls, and one of them had the temporary indignity of being called a diver - until OM had the chance to correct his hasty call by using his bins! Four distant but interesting small birds offshore (possibly small auks or grebes) took flight but landed again and frustratingly disappeared, thus escaping ID, whilst a delightful pod of at least seven Bottle-nosed Dolphins - first spotted by ME - certainly were visible, passing slowly eastwards in front of the Mile basket. Overall, a pleasant watch for the observers on the Wall, basking in the sunshine and sheltered from the wind.....
Full log below.......
0720-1300hrs: (Obs: OM/SR/C&ME)
Great Northern Diver - 2W, 1os
Gannet - 5E, 3W
Grey Heron - 1W along beach/gardens (mobbed by gulls)
Brent Goose - 6E, 169W
Common Scoter - 19E
Red-breasted Merganser - 2W
Wigeon - 3E, 4W
Pintail - 11E
Teal - 5W
Turnstone - 20 ob
Sparrowhawk - 1 gardens
Woodpigeon - 80 SW
Skylark - 1W
Swallow - 1E
Meadow Pipit - 5N
Razorbill - 3 os (close in - harassed by gulls)
auk sp - 3E, 3W
Jay - 1 gardens
Chiffchaff - 3 gardens
Greenfinch - 2W, 8p
Goldfinch - 30W, 15p
also; Clouded Yellow - 2
Bottle-nosed Dolphin - at least 7E

 Razorbills feeding off the Bill this morning (OM)

Brent Geese passing the Bill, tame Turnstone that came up the Wall close to the observers, and Clouded Yellow (OM)

 

Ferry Pool/Long Pool: There was a Green Sandpiper, a Shoveler, c75 Lapwing, 16 Teal and a Shelduck on the pool this morning.

There was not much along the Long Pool, just a couple of Snipe and a few Wigeon and Teal on the pool and in the channel, whilst along the hedges there were a pair of Stonechat and half a dozen Reed Buntings. (AH)

Shoveler (above) & Green Sandpiper on Ferry (AH)

Hunston: A Tawny Owl flew out from the electricity sub station (by the roundabout just north of the village) and over the road at dusk this evening. (SH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Stilt Pool - There were not too many birds, despite the glorious weather this morning. Highlight was a covey of eight Grey Partridges near the car-park, with c20 Yellowhammers, five Reed Buntings, c200 Goldfinches, c50 Skylarks and c50 Meadow Pipits, along with a couple of Chiffchaffs, four pairs of Stonechats spread along the banks and ditches and a Green Woodpecker sat on the roof of Marsh Barn.

There were 12 Shoveler, eight Gadwall, 15 Tufted Duck and four Shelduck across the various pools, along with plenty of Wigeon and Teal, and there were c80 Canada Geese on the reserve, but the only waders seen were two Black-tailed Godwits and a Curlew. (AH)

Grey Partridges (above), Yellowhammer, Stonechat, Gadwall, Black-tailed Godwit, Green Woodpecker, Goldfinch & Canada Geese at Medmerry (AH)

North Wall: The unseasonal weather continues but, nevertheless, I was surprised to find a Clouded Yellow butterfly at Honer reservoir; also there were 14 Tufted Ducks, 2 Wigeon, 4 Little Grebes and 40 Black-headed Gulls, and nearby 2 Stonechats and a Southern Hawker dragonfly.
On the Breech Pool were 50+ Black-tailed Godwits, 22 Common Snipe, 4 Spotted Redshanks and 2 Greenshank, along with 46 Teal, 37 Brent Geese and a Water Rail. A Chiffchaff was travelling with 14 Long-tailed Tits along the Wall and there were up to 30 Reed Buntings in the same area. Three Little Grebes were on Owl Water and in the field to the west of the copse were 3 Stonechat, whilst 438 Brent Geese were counted in the field west of Bremere bridge. (JDW)

 Spotted Redshanks, Stonechat and Clouded Yellow at the North Wall (JDW)

It was very busy on the North Wall this afternoon, with numbers of Brent Geese and Wigeon numbers increasing, and there was also a Stonechat along the wall, a Kingfisher by the sluice, and two  Greenshanks and plenty of Snipe on the Breech Pool (MRo)

Snipe (above), Wigeon, Pintail & Brent Geese from North Wall (MRo)

Tuesday, 1st November: A glorious warm, still and bright start gave way to a northerly breeze and increasing cloud cover....but it was hard going today trying to find anything of interest bird-wise on our patch.

Selsey Bill: A very quiet feel to the morning in pleasantly sunny conditions with a flat calm sea. There was nothing moving offshore, so my 2-hour watch concentrated on the beach and garden areas, though this was little better, with just a handful of Skylarks and a couple of Chiffchaffs being the highlights! Full log below.....

0745-0945hrs: (OM)

Skylark - 8W
Pied Wagtail - 4E
Chiffchaff - 2 gardens
Greenfinch - 4W, 7p
Goldfinch - 25p
Linnet - 7W

Selsey: East beach pond held only singles of Chiffchaff and Goldcrest this morning! (OM)

Ferry Pool: There were just two Green Sandpipers and three Teal on the pool this morning. (AH)

Green Sandpipers and Teal on the Ferry (AH)

East Head: There was no sign of the Shorelark this morning, and it was generally quiet in the pleasant conditions, though there were up to 500 Brent Geese, including plenty of juveniles, spread around the harbour and fields, and along the dunes and harbour edge there were 200+ Meadow Pipits, 50+ Skylarks, 200+ Linnets, 10+ Reed Buntings and at least four pairs of Stonechats, but there were just eight Great Crested Grebes and nothing else on the water.

Snowhill Creek was very low on both water and birds, though there were a couple of Greenshank present, along with 50 Redshank and similar of Teal and Wigeon, and there were a few Lapwings on the field and a couple of Black-tailed Godwits and Grey Plovers in the harbour. (AH)
Later on, as the tide rose, there were four Eider, 30 Red breasted Mergansers and 12 Great Crested Grebes offshore, plus a single Sandwich Tern, and around Snowhill Marsh there were three Greenshank, two Stonechats, four Redpoll, a Water Rail and a large covey of 16  Grey Partridge, plus a single Jack Snipe. (BFF/DM)

Greenshanks and Black-headed Gull (above), adult and juvenile Brent Geese, Lapwing, Redshank, Skylark, Linnet & Stonechat at East Head (AH)

Medmerry: Ham Farm - Quiet around here, too, though a Sparrowhawk disturbed 50+ Skylarks and similar of Meadow Pipits from the fields, a couple of Chiffchaffs were among a roaming Long-tailed Tit flock and around the ponds there were two pairs of Stonechats and half a dozen Reed Buntings, plus five Tufted Duck and four Wigeon on the water, and a couple of Curlews were down on the breach. (AH)

Sparrowhawk (above), Chiffchaff & Meadow Pipit at Medmerry (AH)