14th - 16th July 2017

Sunday, 16th July: A dry but mainly cloudy day with a moderate W/SW breeze.....

Ferry Pool: Early this morning (0615hrs) there was a bit of variety present bird-wise, with an Egyptian Goose, three Teal, a Little Ringed Plover, three Common Sandpipers, a Spotted Redshank, three Redshank, three Avocets and 12 Black-tailed Godwits. (SH)

 Egyptian Goose and Spotted Redshank on the Ferry Pool early this morning (SH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Hobby over the poplar trees was an unexpected start to the morning, though mostly it was the regular birds in fair numbers today. Along the banks there were several families of Whitethroats,several juveniles among the Yellowhammers and good numbers of Skylarks, Reed Buntings, Meadow Pipits and Linnets, with a Green Sandpiper on one of the outlying pools.

On the Stilt Pool there were a pair of Little Ringed Plovers with chicks that could only have been a day or two old, and on the same pool a pair of Ringed Plovers had two chicks that were half-grown. Also about were five Common Sandpipers, three or four more Little Ringed Plovers, two Dunlin, a Lapwing and three well-grown Avocet familes, whilst just a few Swallows and Sand Martins went over.

A lone Tufted Duckling on the pool seemed to have moved in with a Mallard family, settling in among the ducklings on the bank to no obvious concern from their mother. 

There were also good numbers of Common Blues on the wing. (AH/IP)

Little Ringed Plovers (above), Green Sandpiper, Dunlins, Avocet, Whitethroat, Yellowhammer, Skylark, Tufted Duckling with adopted Mallard family & Common Blue at Medmerry (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Ham Viewpoint - A good selection this morning, including four Corn Buntings, two Reed Buntings, 10+ Yellowhammers, 40+ Whitethroats, 50+ Skylarks, three Pied Wagtails and six Swifts, 10+ House Martins and 50+ Swallows over. 
Also a Gannet was offshore, an adult and three juvenile Little Grebes were on the ponds and nine Avocets, four Mediterranean Gulls, a Buzzard and two Kestrels were on/over the reserve. (S& SaH/PB)

Saturday, 15th July: A cool and mostly grey morning, with a moderate south-westerly breeze......

Selsey Bill: (1245-1345hrs) (SH)
Gannet - 3E, 10W
Mediterranean Gull - 2W
Common Tern - 8os
Sandwich Tern - 4W
Little Tern - 2os

Park Farm, Selsey: There were two juvenile Reed Buntings in the ditch along the fields, a Jay went over and there were a fair few Swallows, House and Sand Martins overhead. (S&SaH)

Church Norton: There were 15 Little Terns offshore and similar in the harbour, including several juveniles, along with good numbers of Common Terns, Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gulls, and there were also a single Eider and a Gannet offshore. (S&SaH)

Ferry Pool: This morning there were two Common Sandpipers, two Little Ringed Plovers, three Avocets, 16 Black-tailed Godwits, six Redshanks and eight Lapwings, plus the four juvenile Shelduck, on the pool, but a look round the Tramway circuit was very unproductive, with just glimpses of the odd Chiffchaff and Blackcap. (AH)

Common Sandpiper (above), Redshank & Avocet on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: There was very little along the pool - just a male Reed Bunting and the odd Reed and Sedge Warbler deep in the reeds, though in Ferry Channel there was a Spotted Redshank, a Greenshank, c60 Redshank, c40 Lapwing and a Common Tern, plus a Whimbrel and a few Curlew out in the harbour. (AH)

Greenshank (above), Spotted Redshank and Redshanks & Reed Bunting from Long Pool (AH)

Ivy Lake: Over the water there were eight Common Terns and a dozen or so Swallows and House Martins, plus a couple of Sand Martins, whilst on it were a female Pochard, c40 Tufted Ducks and c30 Great Crested Grebes.
Along the hedges were 30+ Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Chiffchaffs and brief snippets of song from Blackcap and Reed Warbler. (AH)

Common Terns (above), Pochard, Chiffchaff & Long-tailed Tit at Ivy Lake (AH)

Medmerry, Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool: There were 11 Black-tailed Godwits and a Curlew out on Ruth's Marsh this morning with two Whitethroats, a Yellowhammer and a few Linnets around the nearby gorse. Further down over the Marsh Barn area pools were a number of Swallows & Sand Martins and a pair of Grey Partridges got up from the field opposite. On the Stilt Pool were two Common Sandpipers and four Little Ringed Plovers whilst feeding over the pools were at least 200 Sand Martins, 20 Swallows and a few House Martins. A look at the beachside pools finally produced with four Ringed Plovers and a Green Sandpiper present; hopefully the shape of things to come here. Along the beach itself was a large flock of Linnets and a surprise in a pair of Rooks going east along the shoreline. A few butterflies were out in the gloomy conditions including Gatekeepers & Meadow Browns but Common Blues were mainly at roost in the longer grass. (BI)

Ringed Plover on the beachside pools (BI)

North Wall: This evening there was little on the Breech Pool with the water still high and little mud exposed other than four Black-tailed Godwits and a fishing Common Tern. Out on the saltmarsh were an adult Yellow-legged Gull and a Lesser Black-backed Gull and there were plenty of Redshanks along White's Creek. (BI)

Friday, 14th July: A mixture of sunshine and cloud after a chilly and grey start, with a brisk westerly keeping it cool......

Ferry Pool: There were three Little Ringed Plovers, four Common Sandpipers, four juvenile and two adult Avocets, 28 Black-tailed Godwits, three juvenile Moorhens, four juvenile Shelduck, two Lapwings and a Black-headed Gull with a juvenile on the pool, two Swallows went over, and a handful of Mediterranean Gulls were in with c100 Black-headed Gulls in the stubble field next door. (AH/SR/J/DS)

Common Sandpiper (above) & Avocets on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool:  Around the sluice of Ferry Channel there were five Black-tailed Godwits, 20 Redshank, a pair of Coots with three juveniles, a Moorhen with a juvenile,  six Mallards with a duckling and 12 Swifts overhead. (SR)

Further along the channel there were two Spotted Redshanks among the Redshank flock, two juvenile Gadwall, two Common Terns and a Common Sandpiper. 

There was little along the pool itself, just a Little Grebe and a family of Mallards on the water, and a few Reed Buntings and Linnets along the hedges, with the reeds silent. (AH)

Spotted Redshanks and Redshanks (above), Redshanks, Gadwall & Little Grebe around Long Pool (AH)

Church Norton: There were still plenty of Little, Common and Sandwich Terns both in the harbour and offshore this morning. Out on the mud there were three Whimbrel, a couple of Dunlin and 20+ Curlews, along with 20+ Mediterranean Gulls, whilst on the exposed shingle at low tide there were another c250 Mediterranean Gulls, with a few Sandwich Terns among them, and also a Greenshank and a Common Sandpiper were out on the low-tide line.

There were very few small birds about, though a Chiffchaff sang briefly, a couple of Skylarks and a few Linnets were on the beach and the Swallow family in the hide looked ready to move out.

Also, one of the juvenile Peregrines was seen carrying prey which it dropped and managed to re-catch in mid-air. (AH/JD/DS)

Sandwich Terns (above), Little Terns, Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, juvenile Swallows & Gatekeeper at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: Disappointing again; the water level in the Breech Pool was too high for even a single wader early this morning and all that could be found was a couple of eclipse Teal amongst some equally tatty Mallards! Along White's Creek it was just a little better, with singles of Greenshank and Common Sandpiper, 24 Redshank, c.25 Curlew and a single Whimbrel. Closer inspection of the roosting gulls on the saltmarsh produced a Lesser Black-backed Gull and three Yellow-legged Gulls, consisting of an adult, a 4-cy and a juvenile (OM).

 (above) Lesser Black-backed Gull and (below) adult Yellow-legged Gull off White's Creek (OM)

Medmerry, Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool: Two or three Reed Warblers were calling from the ditches near the car park this morning, at the the Easton viewpoint were a few Linnets & Yellowhammers whilst out on the mud here was a Green Sandpiper. At Marsh Barn, a Sedge Warbler was in and out of the reeds and a Little Grebe was on the water nearby. The Stilt pool was fairly quiet with just a single Common Sandpiper and two Little Ringed Plovers in evidence although the Swan, Shelduck & Avocet families were all still present and a Reed Warbler remained at the far end. There were plenty of Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Essex Skippers and Common Blues along the banks and there was another Red-veined Darter, this time at the Marsh Barn pool. (BI)

Chi GPs - Drayton Pits: It appears that four pairs of Pochard have bred, with the sighting of what seems to be another brood. Otherwise little change from previous visits, highlights being 45 Gadwall, c.60 Tufted Ducks and a pair of Bullfinches. (OM)

Pochard with young, Drayton GPs (OM)