26th - 28th December 2016

Wednesday, 28th December: Another bright, cool and crisp morning, though with a stiff onshore breeze along the coast .....

Selsey Bill: A fair selection again this morning, including seven Velvet Scoters and several hundred auks going west. Full log below.
(0740-0940hrs) SE4 sun/cloud (JA)
Great Northern Diver - 2os
Red-throated Diver - 8E, 21W
diver sp - 4W
Great Crested Grebe - 1W
Gannet - 87E, 41W
Brent Goose - 7E
Common Scoter - 1W
Velvet Scoter - 7W
Red-breasted Merganser - 4E, 9W, 12os
Mediterranean Gull - 1E
Common Gull - 7W
Kittiwake - 34E, 3W
Sandwich Tern - 2E
Razorbill - 14W
Guillemot - 1E, 3W
auk sp - 8E, 352W

Church Norton: There was not as much on the sea in the choppy conditions, but there were still a Red-throated Diver, five Slavonian Grebes, a Razorbill, four Red-breasted Mergansers and four Great Crested Grebes to be seen, plus a dozen distant Gannets and 20 Common Gulls and four Mediterranean Gulls along the beach.

The four Goldeneye were still in the harbour, along with plenty of Wigeon and Pintail, but most of the waders were roosting.

Also, there were at least 1000 Brent Geese in the fields along Rectory Lane again. (AH) Later on a Long-tailed Duck dropped in offshore from the west and the Brent Geese moved en masse into the harbour. (BI)

Red-throated Diver (above), Slavonian Grebes & Goldeneye at Church Norton (AH)

Brent Geese, below (BI)

Ferry Pool: There were just two Black-tailed Godwits on the pool, but at least 100 Lapwing were on Ferry Field and 250 Wigeon were on the adjacent arable field. (AH)

Long Pool: Just two Reed Buntings were along the pool, whist at the far end of Ferry Channel there were 28 Avocets, two Bar-tailed Godwits, 50+ Grey Plovers and Redshanks and hundreds of Wigeon and Teal. (AH)

Avocets (above) & Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Wigeon and Teal in Ferry Channel (AH)

Ivy Lake: The Long-tailed Duck was by the Water-ski jetties this morning and the Scaup was in the middle of the lake. A few Shoveler and Pochard, plus the four Black Swans and six Common Gulls were also on Ivy Lake, whilst at least 14 Gadwall were on the small lakes, and several Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs were among the roaming Long-tailed Tits. (AH)

Long-tailed duck (above), Scaup, Gadwall & Common Gull on Ivy Lake (AH)

West Itchenor & Pond: Not a great deal on offer this morning bird-wise, but on the saltmarsh were at least five Snipe and six Rock Pipits, whilst in the channel were several hundred Dunlin flying to and fro, plus c.400 Brent Geese and several Red-breasted Mergansers. The woods around the pond were quiet today, producing just half a dozen Goldcrests and a few Long-tailed Tits, a Buzzard, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a single Fieldfare. The highlight at the latter site was probably a Roe Deer casually prancing around the woods and gardens. (OM)

Roe Deer at Itchenor (OM)

Chichester Marina: In the channel were eight Goldeneye, three Red-breasted Mergansers, 100 Wigeon and 45 Little Grebes, plus 40 Oystercatchers, a Kingfisher and c.250 Brent Geese. Small birds were few; a Chiffchaff was calling from Saltern's Copse and around the marsh were a couple of Snipe, another Kingfisher, two Buzzards and a Cetti's Warbler. (OM)

Bank Holiday Tuesday, 27th December: A beautiful, crisp morning after a frosty start and not a breath of wind all day...

Selsey Bill: There were plenty of divers on the move this morning, and offshore, though less Gannets than yesterday. Full log below. (JA/SH/AH/CN/C&ME)
(0730-0930hrs)
Great Northern Diver - 4os
Red-throated Diver - 7E, 43W, 10os
diver sp - 4E, 5W
Great Crested Grebe - 2E, 1W
Gannet - 9E, 46W, 20os
Brent Goose - 6E, 34W
Common Scoter - 1E, 25W, 12os
Red-breasted Merganser - 3E, 5W, 4os
Merlin - 1W
Mediterranean Gull - 1os
Kittiwake - 6E
Razorbill - 3E, 3W
Guillemot - 1os
auk sp - 3E, 11W
Stonechat - 1p

Great Northern Diver (above), Common Scoters & a dramatic sunrise at the Bill (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: The Dartford Warbler was showing again this morning, along with two Stonechats. (S&SaH)

Coastguard Station: The flock of c100 Common Scoter were again offshore, though fairly distant, plus a few Gannets well out to sea. (AH)

Church Norton: A good selection was on the sea again, though often distant in the flat calm conditions, including three Velvet Scoters, a Long-tailed Duck, 12 Slavonian Grebes, 10 Great Crested Grebes, seven Red-breasted Mergansers and three Red-throated Divers, with three more of the latter, and three Common Scoters flying west far offshore, where there were also a few Gannets among the big gull flock.
In the harbour the other Long-tailed Duck was showing well with four Goldeneye, eight Red-breasted Mergansers and at least a dozen Little Grebes, along with 30 Pintail and large numbers of the commoner waders and wildfowl.
A huge flock - c1000 - Brent Geese were in the fields along Rectory Lane before decamping, half into the harbour and half  offshore. Again it was quiet for passerines, though the Dartford Warbler briefly showed itself along the beach and there were a few Skylarks on the spit. (AH/A&YF)

Long-tailed Duck (above), Velvet Scoters, Red-throated Diver, Slavonian Grebes, Brent Geese & Knot and Dunlin at Church Norton (AH)

Ferry Pool: Just a single Black-tailed Godwit on the pool, though there were a couple of hundred Lapwing and Wigeon on the fields. (AH)

Black-tailed Godwit on the Ferry (AH)

Ivy Lake: Both the Long-tailed Duck and Scaup were reported as present by visiting birders this morning. (Eds)

Fishbourne Creek: A Water Pipit was present today. (M Silk)

Water Pipit at Fishbourne Creek (M Silk)

Boxing Day, Monday 26th December: A fairly brisk day, with some sunshine but a moderate north-north-westerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: Quite a bit of activity this morning, including a Long-tailed Duck west and a lot of Gannets feeding offshore. Full log below. (SH/AH/SR/CN)

Great Northern Diver - 4os

Red-throated Diver - 14E, 1os

Slavonian Grebe - 4os

Great Crested Grebe - 1W

Gannet - 5E, 177W, 50os

Shag - 1os

Common Scoter - 5E, 32W

Long-tailed Duck - 1W

Red-breasted Merganser - 5E, 14W

Mediterranean Gull - 1W

Kittiwake - 2E, 13W

Sandwich Tern - 1os

Guillemot - 4E

Razorbill - 2W

auk sp - 12E, 15W

Pied Wagtail - 1p

Long-tailed Duck (above), Red-throated Divers & Great Northern Diver off the Bill (centre) (AH) and (below) Pied Wagtail on the beach (SR)

Coastguard Station: The Common Scoter flock was still present, now divided into two, along with a Great Northern Diver. (SR)

Park Farm, Selsey: A Grey Wagtail and a Stonechat were present this morning. (S&SaH)

Church Norton: There was quite a lot present offshore this morning, including a Long-tailed Duck, two (and probably up to six) Velvet Scoters, four Eider, 35 Common Scoters, 12 Red-breasted Mergansers, four Red-throated Divers, a Great Northern Diver east, four Slavonian Grebes and two Great Crested Grebes. 

There were also c30 Gannets and c20 Razorbills among a couple of big feeding flocks of gulls fairly close inshore, with another flock of 500+ birds out on the distant horizon.

The other Long-tailed Diuck was present again in the harbour, along with four Goldeneye (one drake, three ducks), four Red-breasted Mergansers and at least a dozen Little Grebes, whilst a Raven flew in from the Severals direction and settled briefly at the back of the churchyard, and another (possibly different) two were feeding on Tern Island before drifting off east.

The Whimbrel was in its usual area, but small birds were few, though there were a couple of Stonechats in the horse field, a couple of Meadow Pipits along the spit and a few Long-tailed Tits around the car-park. (AH/S&SaH)

Slavonian Grebe (above), Velvet and Common Scoters, Common Scoters, Raven, Stonechat & Redshanks at Church Norton (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were c300 Lapwing on the field, along with a dozen Curlews and 50 Wigeon, with just ten Teal on the pool this morning. (AH)

Lapwings on Ferry Field (AH)

This afternoon there were 500+ Brent Geese on the fields by the Trident Business Park, between the Ferry and Church Norton. (S&SaH)

Ivy Lake: The Long-tailed Duck was still present this morning (J-PC), making it possibly four different individuals on the peninsula today. (Eds)

Long-tailed Duck on Ivy Lake (J-PC)

Medmerry: Easton Lane area - There were around 15 Redwings and the same of Fieldfares around the poplars, a Dartford Warbler was by the first viewpoint, and also seen were three Stonechats, ten Yellowhammers and a couple of Buzzards. (S&SaH)