7th - 9th June 2017

Friday, 9th June: A bright and blustery day, with a shift round to the west for the wind, but plenty of sunshine after a showery start......

Selsey Bill: There was no repeat of yesterday's excitement, with a return to just a steady movement of Gannets, mostly east, and a few Common and Sandwich Terns, mostly west, though three Curlews, five Sanderling and four Turnstones also went west. Full log later. (SH/C&ME/AH/HR/DM et al)
(0540-1345hrs)
Balearic Shearwater - 2W (1234 & 1310hrs)
Storm-petrel - 2W (1137 & 1204hrs)
Fulmar - 1W
Gannet - 79E, 36W
Common Scoter - 2os
Eider - 1os
Dunlin - 6W
Sanderling - 5W
Curlew - 3W
Turnstone - 4W
Kittiwake - 2W
Common Tern - 18W, 15os
Little Tern - 9W, 5os
Sandwich Tern - 18W, 9os
Guillemot - 1W
auk sp - 2W
Swift - 1p
House Martin - 4p
(1545-1645hrs) (SH)

Kittiwake - 1W
Common Tern - 6os
Sandwich Tern - 8os
Guillemot - 3W 

Gannets (above) & Common Tern past the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were still four Avocets on the pool, along with the ever-alert Lapwing and Redshank parents, the Shelduck family and 34 Black-tailed Godwits. (AH)

Lapwing (above), Redshank & Black-tailed Godwit at the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: The first Mute Swan nest along the pool held four cygnets at lunchtime today. (AW)

Mute Swan family along Long Pool (AW)

Church Norton: There were plenty of Little, Common and Sandwich Terns about, with up to twenty Mediterranean Gulls among them, a pair of Redshanks near the concrete blocks were behaving as though a youngster was nearby, and a couple of Whitethroats, Linnets and Skylarks also popped there heads up in the wind. (AH)

Sandwich Terns (above), Mediterranean Gulls, Black-headed Gulls and Sandwich Terns, Redshank & Linnet at Church Norton (AH)

Thursday, 8th June: Another mainly cool and grey day, with a strong and blustery wind from the south making conditions unfavourable for everything but sea-watching......

The new Guidebook is priced at £10 and represents great value with 150 information-packed pages, including maps and directions and numerous colour illustrations. It is available from the Pagham Harbour Visitor Centre, or for the personal touch you can always waylay Andy or Owen out in the field on the Peninsula!

It is now also available online or by post (from the Friends of Pagham Harbour)  - with an additional charge of £2 to cover postage and packing. Click the link on the Title Bar page for full details, and there is also a direct link to the Friend's website on our Relevant Birding Links sidebar.

Selsey Bill: The Bill was the place to be this morning, with five Storm-petrels and three Balearic Shearwaters seen passing west at reasonable range, and over 80 Manx Shearwaters were counted, split roughly half east and half west, most in flocks of between four and ten. There were a few Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes and Common Scoter moving, too, but relatively few terns. Full log below......

0530-1300hrs: (SH/C&ME/DF/AH/OM/CRJ et al)
Fulmar - 19W
Manx Shearwater - 36E, 53W
Balearic Shearwater - 3W (singles)
Storm-petrel - 5W
Gannet - 42E, 44W
Mallard - 1E
Eider - 1os
Common Scoter - 48E
Kittiwake - 17W
Mediterranean Gull - 1W
Little Tern - 4os
Common Tern - 20os
Sandwich Tern - 12os
Guillemot - 1W

All observers concentrating on scanning the horizon for petrels...... (OM)

Distant (!) Manx Shearwaters (above), Gannets & Common Scoters at the Bill (AH)

(1400-1800hrs) (BI/SR/SH et al)

Manx Shearwater - 1E, 3W

Balearic Shearwater - 1W (16.45)

Fulmar - 5W

Storm-petrel - 2W

Gannet - 23E, 18W

Eider - 1os

Curlew - 1W

Little Tern - 1E, 6W, 4os

Common Tern - 2E, 8W, 12os

Commic Tern - 8W

Sandwich Tern - 4E, 9W, 10os

Kittiwake - 1W

Razorbill - 1W

auk sp - 1E, 15W

House Martin - 3p

Ferry Pool: There were two Lapwing chicks on the pool, along with three adults, two noisy pairs of Redshank, two pairs of Avocets (with one pair displaying) and 24 Black-tailed Godwits. (AH)

Lapwing chick (above), with adult, displaying Avocets and Black-tailed Godwits at the Ferry (AH)

At 1pm, one of the Redshank chicks was out and showing by the road. (AW)

Redshank chick on the Ferry (AW)

Church Norton: There was a bit of a surprise this morning in the form of a pair of Brent Geese in the harbour, but otherwise it was more usual fare, including the Cuckoo calling from Priory Wood, a few Linnets moving about and the usual Little, Common and Sandwich Tern activity around the island. (AH)

Common Tern (above) & Brent Goose at Church Norton (AH)

Sidlesham: There were at least 50 Swifts over our garden this evening. (AH)

Wednesday, 7th June: Another very windy day, with near-gale-force gusts from the west, but with plenty of sunshine....

Selsey Bill: No sign of any scarcer seabirds very early this morning, with just the local terns and Gannets on the move,  but later both Manx Shearwater (4) and Storm-petrel were logged (JD/C&ME et al). Full Log below......
0530-1145hrs: (SH/C&ME/SR/BI et al)
Manx Shearwater - 4E
Fulmar - 1W
Storm-petrel - 1W (0835hrs)
Gannet - 37E, 7W
Eider - 1os
Common Scoter - 94E
Dunlin - 2W
Oystercatcher - 4W
Little Tern - 14os
Common Tern - 33os
Commic Tern - 25os
Sandwich Tern - 32os
Kittiwake - 9W 
Auk sp - 2E   

Also 1515-1720hrs (SR/SH))
Manx Shearwater - 1E
Fulmar - 2W
Gannet - 1E, 1W
Common Scoter - 16E
Oystercatcher - 1E
Little Tern - 4 os
Common Tern - 5E, 3W, 5os
Commic Tern - 1E, 2W
Sandwich Tern - 3W, 7os
Kittiwake - 1W
Razorbill - 1W      

Ferry Pool: There were just two Redshanks and the Shelduck family on a windy pool this morning, plus the 20 or so Black-tailed Godwits that dropped in. (AH)

Black-tailed Godwits over the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: One or two Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers and Reed Buntings were singing sporadically, a couple of Little Grebes, Tufted Ducks and the Gadwall family were on the pool and half a dozen Redshank were in Ferry Channel. (AH)

Sedge Warbler (above), Little Grebe & Blue Tit feeding youngster along Long Pool (AH)

Church Norton: There was still plenty of Little, Common and Sandwich Tern activity around the island this evening, but not too much else beyond a couple of Redshank, a couple of Skylarks and a couple of Linnets. (AH)

Little Tern (above), Sandwich Tern & Redshank at Church Norton (AH)