Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 4th

Sunday, 6th August: A warm and sunny day, with a bit of white cloud moved on by the westerly breeze...

Selsey Bill: Not too much moving offshore beyond a few Gannets, Sandwich Terns and a Fulmar, but there were three Wheatears and a dozen Willow Warblers around the Bill House and a Sand Martin and a few House Martins over, plus a Fox enjoying the sun in one of the gardens. Full log below. (SH/IP/AH)

(0700-0815hrs)

Fulmar - 1W

Gannet - 4E, 21W

Common Scoter - 4W

Turnstone - 15p

Dunlin - 6E

Sandwich Tern - 14W, 2os

Green Woodpecker - 1p

Swift - 8p

Swallow - 11W

Sand Martin -6W

House Martin - 6p

Wheatear - 3p

Willow Warbler - 12p

Willow Warbler (above), Fulmar, Sandwich Terns & Fox at Selsey Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were four Green Sandpipers and five Little Ringed Plovers present this morning, along with eight Dunlin, four Redshank, eight Teal, c80 Black-tailed Godwits and c100 Lapwings, plus a pair of Stock Doves.

The Tramway was quiet, but at least ten Whitethroats, five Blackcaps and a couple of Willow Warblers were around the Discovery Area. (AH)

Green Sandpipers (above), Little Ringed Plover, Stock Dove, Blackcap & Whitethroat around the Ferry (AH)

North Wall/East Side: Unfortunately the Breech Pool was still in duck-pond mode with its high water level, and not a muddy edge or a wader in sight (bar three overflying Redshank trying to land!) A couple of Wheatears were along the Wall, a couple of Reed Warblers were active and a Cetti's Warbler gave bursts of song, whilst a handful of Sand Martins moved through, but overall it was very quiet.

The East side produced a little more, with three Greenshank, three Whimbrel and then a flock of 45 Grey Plover wheeling around with a few Dunlin..... the cause of their panic was soon apparent when three Peregrines came into view - an adult carrying prey, pursued by two noisy juveniles. A Hobby did a circuit over the Slipe Field before moving off and a couple of Whitethroats and Willow Warblers were along the hedgerows. (OM)

Hobby over the Slipe Field (OM)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - Highlight this morning was a female Marsh Harrier over the maize fields, then the reserve, whilst up to three Whinchats and eight Wheatears were also present along the banks and a Hobby was hawking over the fields. Also seen among the usual suspects were a Corn Bunting, c20 Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat, five Reed and two Sedge Warblers, two Kestrels and two Buzzards.
A Green Sandpiper and three Common Sandpipers were on the Stilt Pool, along with a few Gadwall and c100 Canada Geese (plus the Greylag), with three Avocets, up to six Little Ringed Plovers, a Greenshank and a Whimbrel out on the reserve, and a couple of Gannets, plus a few Common and Sandwich Terns, were offshore. Also two Painted Ladies were noted. (PB/AGB/A&YF) A Peregrine was also out in the reserve this morning. (P&BJ)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Marsh Farm - Fairly quiet in the windy conditions this afternoon, though there were still a Wheatear, two Green Sandpipers and a Willow warbler about, plus 20 Sand Martins. (S&SaH)

Wheatear (above) & Buzzard at Medmerry (SH)

Medmerry: Breach area - Along the seawall near Bunn Leisure there were 7 Wheatears this afternoon and 4 Little Terns out over the bay. Also 2 Whimbrel and 30 Grey Plovers were around the breach. (BO'D) A walk along the beach from the Stilt Pool to the breach this morning yielded three Wheatears, a solitary Meadow Pipit and the regular large flock of Linnets. The beachside pools still held four Ringed Plovers but nothing else. Offshore was a large mixed raft of Gulls amongst which were c.30 Mediterranean Gulls. There were four Painted Lady, a Brown Argus and plenty of rather worn Common Blues along the shingle nectaring on the Mayweed, Fleabane & Vetch. (BI)

Painted Lady & Wheatear at Medmerry (BI)

Chichester Harbour: There are a growing number of waders in the harbour, including c50 Grey Plover and c20 Dunlin by the horse pond this morning in a motley assortment of plumages. (GM)

Church Norton: There was no sign of any Little Stints this morning, though there were c300 Dunlin and c50 Turnstones and Ringed Plovers present, and there was a big increase in Sandwich Tern numbers, with 50 or so in the harbour, along with two Little and half a dozen Common Terns, and another twenty or so offshore, along with similar of Mediterranean Gulls. Also three Common Sandpipers flew along the beach and there were several Whimbrel in the harbour.

There were at least seven Wheatears on the beach/spit, and a Garden Warbler, 20+ Willow Warblers, a family of Chiffchaffs and a Whitethroats, Reed and Sedge Warblers along the front, particularly around the far edge of Bluebell Wood, and a few Swallows and Sand Martins went over. (AH/IP/S&SaH)

Wheatears (above), Reed Warbler, Sandwich Tern, Dunlin & Turnstones and Dunlin at Church Norton (AH)

This evening there were c80 Sandwich Terns and c40 Common Terns, including many juveniles, offshore and on the beach, and in the harbour there were a Common Sandpiper, c50 Ringed Plovers and c300 Dunlin. (AH)

Common Terns (above), Common and Sandwich Terns & Dunlin at Church Norton (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: A Garden Warbler and a Willow Warbler were along Park Lane, and there were good numbers of Sand Martins, House Martins and Swallows feeding over the fields, with a handful of Swifts over the edge of the town, and a Skylark, a Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk also seen. (AH/IP/S&SaH)
Sand Martins were moving south over Selsey all day, too, and an Orange Swift moth was in the trap. (S&SaH)

Swallow at Park Farm, Selsey (AH)

Orange Swift in a Selsey moth-trap (SH)

Chi GPs - Drayton Pits: Little to report beyond the usual wildfowl.... including 50+ Tufted Duck, 25 Gadwall and a few Pochard, though there was still one well-grown brood of the latter visible this morning. A family party of Green Woodpeckers was very obvious and a few Reed Warbler families were also active, plus several Willow Warblers in the hedgerows. (OM)

Female Pochard with two (of four) young at Drayton GPs (OM)

Ivy Lake: A Hobby went over at 4.30pm today, and a couple of Great Crested Grebes had a big bust-up after one strayed too near to the other's young. (AB)

Squabbling Great Crested Grebes on Ivy Lake (AB)

Saturday, 5th August: A very pleasant summer's morning, with plenty of warm sun and white cloud and a brisk westerly breeze....and the odd heavy shower by afternoon!

Ferry Pool: The two Green Sandpipers were in the concealed pool by the road again this morning, and also present were two Little Ringed Plovers, an Avocet, c70 Black-tailed Godwits, c150 Lapwings and six Teal on the pool.

In the channel opposite the Kingfisher stopped briefly with a fish and a Greenshank was among c100 Redshank, whilst in the adjacent hedges there were a few Sedge Warblers, Willow Warblers and Whitethroats. (AH/AW)

Lapwings (above) & Greenshank and Redshanks around the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: One (or possibly two) Little Stints were roosting on the metal work in the harbour, with 20+ Dunlin, 30 Turnstone and a Grey Plover. Nearby there were 10+ Sandwich Terns, 2 Common Terns and 3 Whimbrel, plus 4 Wheatears on the Spit. (SH)

Wheatear on Church Norton Spit (SH)

Warner Lane, Selsey: Around 30 Swifts went over, and c150 Swallows and a handful of Sand Martins were feeding low over the rife. (SH)

North Selsey & Park farm: There were 200+ Sand Martins, 100+ House Martins, 50+ Swallows and 30 swifts over the area. (SH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The first Wheatears and Whinchats of the autumn - five and two respectively - were along the banks this morning, though there weren't too many other indications of migration about, besides a handful of Sand Martins and Swallows over and 20+ Whitethroats and the odd Sedge, Reed and Willow Warbler in the hedges and ditches.

On the Stilt Pool there was an adult Little Ringed Plover and a well-grown chick, three Dunlin a juvenile Avocet and two Common Sandpipers, with two more of the latter, a Whimbrel and four Black-tailed Godwits near the Poplars.

Also seen were three Common Terns flying south, two more feeding over the reserve, two Sandwich Terns offshore, the Shelduck and Tufted Duck families still on the Stilt Pool and an increase to c400 Canada Geese. (AH/IP) The Whinchats and Wheatears were still present along the banks later in the day, as was a Corn Bunting, and there were two more Wheatears along the beach. On the beachside pools were four Ringed Plovers and two Little Egrets. (BI/SR)

Whinchat (above), Wheatears, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Little Ringed Plover - adult & chick, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern & Corn Bunting at Medmerry (AH/IP/BI)

Ham: Two juvenile Wheatears were on the top of the field near Ham point, with a Common Gull nearby on the water. (KJ)

Friday, 4th August: A reasonable day, fairly warm though still with a blustery westerly and plenty of fast-moving cloud....

Selsey Bill: Despite a good blow yesterday, disappointingly little on the move this morning beyond a few Gannets and the odd tern. Full log below....
0730-1000hrs: (OM/BI)

Gannet - 40E, 7W
Shelduck - 4E
Common Scoter - 2E, 1W
Sanderling - 1W
Oystercatcher - 4W
Turnstone - 6ob
Little Tern - 1W
Common Tern - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 5W
Mediterranean Gull - 1W
Sand Martin - 7 S

Ferry Pool: There were two Green Sandpipers in the concealed pool by the road this morning, whilst on the main pool there were two Little Ringed Plovers, five Avocets, two Redshank, 14 Shelduck, six Teal, c40 Black-tailed Godwits and c120 Lapwing.

Also, a Cetti's Warbler was calling by the EA yard, several Whitethroats were in the adjacent hedges and a Common Sandpiper and c80 Redshank were in the channel opposite. (AH)

Green Sandpiper (above) & Shelducks on the Ferry (AH)

Ivy Lake: A Common Sandpiper was on the edge of the lake this morning, and there were c200 Sand Martins, with just the odd Swallow and House Martin among them, feeding over the water. (JD/DS)
This afternoon the pair of Black Swans were present on the lake, and a pair of Lesser Whitethroats were in the hedges between Ivy and Triangle Lakes. (HR/DM)

Church Norton: Up to two Little Stints were in the harbour again, along with c30 Dunlin and a dozen Ringed Plovers. There were also two or three Whimbrel, c20 Curlews and up to a dozen Sandwich Terns present, and a few Swallows feeding overhead, but the bushes were very quiet save the odd skulking Whitethroat and Willow/Chiff. (AH/BI/JD/DS)

By late morning - on the high tide - the Little Stints became elusive and moved out of view, although a flock of a dozen Dunlin were still flying about, and also a party of 10 Common Terns (one juvenile) put in an appearance. (OM/JD/DS)
Also present were a Little Tern, a Sanderling and a Common Sandpiper. (ARK per SOS)

Little Stint, Dunlins and Ringed Plovers (above), Whimbrel, Curlew & Sandwich Terns at Church Norton (AH)

This evening at least one Little Stint was still present along with c30 Ringed Plovers and c40 Dunlin, three Whimbrel, a juvenile Mediterranean Gull and a dozen Sandwich Terns, plus a Sand Martin went over and a Painted Lady was near the hide. (AH/AW/RH/SiH)

Whimbrels (above), Sandwich Tern & Painted Lady at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: An Osprey was reported flying over at 8pm this evening. (per Birdguides)

There was no sign of the Cattle Egret again this morning but there were at least 20 Little Egrets sheltering form the brisk wind along the harbour bank and in Owl Copse. Out in the harbour, the three Eider were still present albeit at distance and there were 16 Greenshanks along one of the channels. Very little of note on the Breech Pool with the water very high again but there were six Canada Geese along the back and a good size charm of Goldfinches were feeding around the thistles at the water's edge. A Peregrine flew through near the cattle and put up a few Yellow Wagtails and juvenile Starlings and there was a Reed Warbler in the reeds near the Halsey's Farm sign. (BI/IB/ARK)

Best things today were about 30 pristine juvenile Mediterranean Gulls looking stunning as ever. A juvenile Little Egret was around Owl Copse and caused some confusion with it being smaller and shorter-billed than the adult it was associating with. Other stuff seen included 40+ Black-tailed Godwit, a Common Sandpiper, 9 Whimbrel, 37 (probably more) Little Egrets and a Sparrowhawk which stooped after circling over Breech Pool, landed in a bush 2m or so away, only just missed a Wren and went on it's way while I was still trying to get my head around what was going on! (J-PC)