Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 23rd

Thursday, 25th May: Another very warm and sunny day, with the temperature being kept pleasant by a modest south-south-easterly breeze....

Selsey Bill: A bit more was moving this morning, including four Whimbrel and 100+ Common Scoter, there was still a Great Northern Diver, plus the young male Eider offshore, and at least a dozen House Martins were visiting the puddles.. Full log below.(C&ME/SR/AH)
Great Northern Diver - 1os
Great Crested Grebe - 2os
Fulmar - 2E, 3W
Gannet - 56E, 8W
Common Scoter - 134E
Eider - 1os
Red-breasted Merganser - 7E (all males)
Oystercatcher - 7E
Sanderling - 1E
Whimbrel - 4E
Kittiwake - 8E
Common Tern - 1E, 15os
Sandwich Tern - 39os
Razorbill - 2E
auk sp - 2E
Swift - 2p
House Martin - 12p

Whimbrel (above), Common Scoters, Swifts & House Martins at the Bill (AH)

Medmerry: Stilt Pool - A first-summer Little Gull was on the Stilt Pool at 8.30am, with presumably the same bird seen offshore, flying towards Selsey two hours later. (IL)

Birdham Pool: This evening a drake Mandarin dropped in for about 15 minutes before flying off northwards. (MR)

Mandarin on Birdham Pool (MR)

Ferry Pool: There was nothing on the pool early on, but later there were 40 Black-tailed Godwits, two Redshanks and four Shelduck, plus a Lapwing in the field. (AH

Black-tailed Godwits on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were two female Eider offshore this morning, plus a Common Seal, whilst in the harbour there were two Whimbrel and a dozen or so Dunlin and Turnstones, plus all the usual activity from the Common, Little and Sandwich Terns, but, beyond the Chiffchaff in the car-park and a couple of Skylarks on the beach, passerines were few and far between. Also, a Lapwing was on the newly cultivated field in Rectory Lane. (AH)

Eiders (above), Chiffchaff, Common Tern, Common, Little and Sandwich Terns & Lapwing at Church Norton (AH)

Selsey: A Cream-spot Tiger was in the trap this morning. (SH)

Cream-spot Tiger in a Selsey garden (SH)

Medmerry: Porthole Farm - This evening there were c200 House Martins, c100 Swallows and c25 Sifts over the fields, and there were still Lapwings in two of the bare fields. (AH)

Swift (above) & House Martins at Porthole Farm (AH)

Wednesday, 24th May: A very warm and sunny day, with just a light westerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: It was very slim pickings this morning! Full log below. (C&ME/SR)
(0615-0915hrs)
Gannet - 23E,8W
Common Scoter - 2E
Oystercatcher - 1E
Sandwich Tern - 17W
Common Tern - 21os

Selsey Town: Four Red Kites went north over the town at around 1.30pm today. (R Smith)

Sidlesham: About twenty minutes later the four Red Kites were seen over the B2145 by the garage in Sidlesham. (A&YF)

West Itchenor: A Red Kite was seen going over at around midday. (PH)

West Wittering: A strange sight this morning, of a Turtle Dove feeding with chickens on our camper site at Nunnington Farm. (BO'D)

Ferry Pool: The only birds on the pool were two Shelduck, but the two Tawny Owlets were showing well in their box, and nearby a Reed Warbler, a Chiffchaff, a Whitethroat and a Blackcap were all in song. (AH)

Tawny Owlets (above), Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff & Whitethroat around the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There was little of note on the high tide, but there was a spectacular sight as all the birds came up off Tern Island, when the RSPB landed their boat to move the fences (as, inevitably, the Little Terns decided to settle outside the fortified areas!)
Otherwise there were still around a dozen Dunlin and Turnstones, a lone Gadwall and two Great Crested Grebes in the harbour, and several Mediterranean Gulls and Common Terns among a big flock of Black-headed Gulls high in the sky, presumably catching flying ants. (AH)

Little Terns (above), Sandwich Tern and Turnstones, gulls and terns over the island & the RSPB in action at Church Norton (AH)

The survey of Tern Island produced -
67 Sandwich Tern nests
13 Common Tern nests
16 Little Tern nests and
294 Black headed Gull nests (with 11 chicks hatched) (IL)

Sandwich Terns and Black-headed Gulls on Tern Island (IL)

This evening there were five Sanderling wit the dozen or so Dunlin in the harbour, three sub-adult Mediterranean Gulls flew over west and the first-summer drake Eider was offshore.

Also, the low sun and flat calm sea produced a very bizarre mirage/reflection of the coastline to the east, only visible from the low-tide line. (AH)

Sanderlings and Dunlin (above), Mediterranean Gull & strange mirage/reflection at Church Norton (AH)

Selsey: Another interesting moth - a Buff-tip - was in the trap this morning. (SH)

Buff-tip in a Selsey garden (SH)

Ivy Lake: Eight Common Terns were around the buoys this morning and a few Pochard and Tufted Ducks were out on the water. Along the paths, three Cetti's Warblers, two Chiffchaffs and a Jay were about it. Two Reed Warblers and a Sedge Warbler were singing from the reeds at Nunnery Lake and in the brambles here two Holly Blue and six Speckled Wood butterflies. (BI)

Tuesday, 23rd May: A warm, cloudy and humid day after a bright and cold start, with a moderate westerly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: A quieter day than yesterday but still over 100 Common Scoters moving eastwards. Full log below. (C&ME/DM)
(0615-0945hrs):
Fulmar - 1E
Gannet - 22E, 6W
Common Scoter - 117E
Sanderling - 20W
Oystercatcher - 3W
Common Tern - 3W
Commic Tern - 30os
Sandwich Tern - 15E
Razorbill - 1E

Ferry Pool: There were 40 Black-tailed Godwits on the pool, along with two Redshank and six Shelduck. (AH)

Long Pool: A pair of Gadwall with nine ducklings were on the water, along with another two drakes and a duck, and there were plenty of Sedge and Reed Warblers singing, along with Whitethroats and a Reed Bunting, but Ferry Channel just held a single Black-tailed Godwit and half a dozen noisy Redshank. (AH)

Gadwalls (above), Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Black-tailed Godwit & Roe Deer from Long Pool (AH)

Church Norton/West side: There was a good flock of Common and Sandwich Terns, plus a couple of Little Terns feeding offshore, with more in the harbour, but the only waders noted were a flock of a dozen Dunlin. All the breeding birds were singing well, including Reed Buntings, Linnets and Whitethroats, but there were no migrants in evidence. (AH)

Also, a Cream-spot Tiger was along the banks beyond the concrete wall. (JD/DS)