10th - 12th October 2017

Thursday, 12th October: A thoroughly pleasant morning, with an unseasonably warm westerly breeze and lots of sunshine....

Selsey, East Beach: There was a juvenile Rose-coloured Starling on the fence in my garden near East Beach Pond this afternoon. (SR) Amazingly, it is just over four years from another one in the same garden! (Eds) It was later seen flying towards the fishermen's huts near the beach. (S&SaH)

Rose-coloured starling in a Selsey garden (SR)

East Beach Pond: There was a Wheatear on the beach this morning, and a few Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests around the pond. (GH)

Selsey Bill: There was a steady bit of visible migration this morning, and of a wider range of species than so far, including two Woodlarks over together, half a dozen Siskins and a few Skylarks among the more usual fare of Meadow Pipits, Swallows and Pied Wagtails.  Full log below. (AH/C&ME/GH/SR/PC)
(0730-1030hrs)
Gannet - 76W
Brent Goose - 5E, 4W
Red-breasted Merganser - 1W
Curlew - 1W
Mediterranean Gull - 4W
Common Gull - 5W
Sandwich Tern - 4os
auk sp - 2E
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 2p
Skylark - 11W
Woodlark - 2W
Swallow - 57W
House Martin - 4W
Meadow Pipit - 94W
Grey Wagtail - 1W
Pied Wagtail - 81W
Mistle Thrush - 1p (seen flying between gardens)
Goldcrest - 2p (in Bill House garden)
Siskin - 7W
Greenfinch - 30W
Linnet - 50W
Goldfinch - 135W

Sandwich Tern (above) & Pied Wagtail at the Bill (AH)

Medmerry: Toe End - There was still one Wheatear present today, plus a few Meadow Pipits over. (SH)

Ferry Pool: There were just 16 Lapwings and a Stock Dove along the side of the pool, plus a dozen Swallows over. (AH)

Lapwing on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: The Ring Ouzel was showing well earlier on (TR), but had not been seen for over an hour by 11am. Otherwise, a Mistle Thrush was near the hide, a Blackcap and a few Chiffchaffs were along the hedges, a pair of Stonechats were along the beach and at least 200 Linnets and half a dozen Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were along the spit.
There was a bit of visible migration, including four Skylarks, 30 Meadow Pipits, ten Pied Wagtails, c50 Swallows and four House Martins all going west, but there was little of note in the harbour beyond a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits and a few Grey Plovers and Curlews. (AH)

Linnets (above), Mistle Thrush, Stonechat, Bar-tailed Godwit & Curlew at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: A Short-eared Owl flew in from the sea early on and landed in the reeds behind the Breech Pool. (IH). 
White's Creek was full of birds, with the highlights being 52 Golden Plover and six Spotted Redshanks, whilst further out in the harbour there were a Yellow-legged Gull and a Spoonbill.  
Water levels on the Breech Pool are higher than ever and only Mallard and Cormorants could be seen, though along the Wall there were three Reed Buntings and two Linnets , and overhead just a lone Swallow. There were also three Chiffchaffs in the hedges along the east side. (JDW/MO-W)

Reed Bunting along North Wall (JDW)

Wednesday, 11th October: A very gloomy and windy day, with a strong westerly persisting and just the odd glimpse of sun between the heavy grey cloud.....

An interesting development from the bat seen recently at the Bill, and considered a possible, if ultimately unprovable, Nathusius's Pipistrelle - Ian Honeyman sent recordings of a bat in Pagham churchyard to Sally-Ann Hurry, a bat surveyor and expert, who considers that his recordings from Pagham churchyard dated 28.9.17 and 4.10.17 were indeed of this species, and this would be a first  confirmed occurrence on the peninsula. (Eds)

Selsey Bill: Another quiet morning, with almost no overhead migration and just a couple of Shags and a few Common Scoter east and a few Gannets west. Full log later. (C&ME/GH/AH)

(0745-1045hrs)

Gannet - 142W

Shag - 3E

Brent Goose - 1W

Common Scoter - 15E, 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 5W

Common Gull - 3W

Kittiwake - 2W

Sandwich Tern - 1os

auk sp - 2W

Meadow Pipit - 1W

Pied Wagtail - 2W

Linnet - 59W

Gannet past the Bill (AH)

Selsey: A splendid Swallow-tailed Moth was in the trap this morning. They are usually only seen on the wing in June and July. (SH)

Swallow-tailed Moth in a Selsey garden (SH)

Medmerry: Toe End - There were still two Wheatears showing around a wind-swept Toe End this morning. (SH)

Ferry Pool: There was just the Avocet, a Black-tailed Godwit and two Teal on the pool this morning. (AH)
Also, a Ring Ouzel was seen along the Tramway. (TG-P)

Black-tailed Godwit on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: It was very quiet in the blustery conditions, with just a lone Sandwich Tern, three Bar-tailed Godwits and a flock of a dozen Brent Geese that dropped in being of note.

The bushes were equally quiet, with a dozen Chiffchaffs, and a few Goldcrests and Long-tailed Tits along the sheltered hedges being the only small birds seen beyond a couple of dozen Swallows over. (AH)
This afternoon the Ring Ouzel was reported by visiting birders as present behind the hide again. (per IL)

Bar-tailed Godwits (above), Sandwich Tern, Brent Geese, Chiffchaff & Long-tailed Tits at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: A Cattle Egret was present with Little Egrets (info received later, per MO-W)

Tuesday, 10th October: A very grey and blustery morning, though dry and fairly mild......

Selsey Bill: A very quiet morning, with little offshore or overhead. Full log below. (C&ME/AH/DF/JD)

(0745-1015hrs)

Gannet - 121W

Brent Goose - 3W

Wigeon - 4W

Common Scoter - 13E, 4W

Turnstone - 6W

Curlew - 1E

Mediterranean Gull - 3W

Sandwich Tern - 4os

auk sp - 2W

Swallow - 5N

Meadow Pipit - 27W

Pied Wagtail - 10W

Linnet - 45W

Sandwich Tern (above), Mediterranean Gull & wind-turbines in the distant sunshine at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Just the Avocet with a damaged leg and a dozen Lapwing were on the pool, with a dozen Wigeon and 200 Teal in the channel opposite. (AH)

Avocet (above), Wigeon & Teal around the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: Yesterday's Ring Ouzel was still about, though very elusive, either sat deep in the bushes or flying to inaccessible areas. The bushes were generally quiet beyond a few Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests, a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers and half a dozen Jays, with c50 Swallows over, whilst in the harbour there was a very late adult Common Tern, a Sandwich Tern, a Spoonbill feeding over towards the North Wall, a Bar-tailed Godwit and a few Grey Plovers. (AH/BFF/DM/DF/JD)

Common Tern (above), Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover and Great Spotted Woodpeckers at Church Norton (AH)

DM, ME, CE & BFF settled in the hide awaiting the Ring Ouzel's re-appearance (AH)

We spent some time in the churchyard and then viewing from the hide, but it was relatively quiet with only 6 Chiffchaff, 20 Goldfinch and a couple of Blackcap and just a glimpse of the Ring Ouzel from the back of the hide first thing before it disappeared for a couple of hours. Eventually, though, it showed itself for a long period on the fence posts and in the paddock at the northern end of the sheep field behind the hide. 

In the harbour 5 Sandwich and single adult Common Tern were active with 3 Bar-tailed Godwit feeding. A Spoonbill was showing briefly as it fed in one of the creeks at the North Wall, whilst in amongst  the Dunlin  flock a Little Stint  was busy feeding up and there was a steady movement of Swallows feeding around the harbour. (BFF/DM)

This evening a Merlin sped across the saltmarsh, but otherwise it was quiet, with just a lone Sandwich Tern in the harbour and a few Chiffchafs in the bushes. (S&SaH)

Ring Ouzel (above) & Little Egrets at Church Norton (DM)

Medmerry: Toe End - There were still two Wheatears and two Stonechats on the rough ground this morning, and 14 Ringed Plovers were in the pools near the breach. (SH)

North Wall: The Breach Pool was very windy and with high water levels meaning little was about, though a Kingfisher flew across the pools, four Swallows flew over, a Kestrel was out hunting, two Stonechats were in the reeds and a Little Grebe was in with the Mallards.  

In White's Creek there were 100 or so of Wigeon and Teal, 17 Pintail, c50 Golden Plover, c25 Grey Plover, c75 Lapwing, a Spotted Redshank, a Greenshank and a Common Sandpiper.  (SR)

Pagham Lagoon: The lagoon looks green with algae and white spume had gathered at the water's edge, but there were still two Kingfishers, three Chiffchaffs and a Green Woodpecker about, though there was very little on the water - just nine Little Grebes, a Great Crested Grebe, 15 Tufted Ducks and a family of Mute Swans with a few Swallows over. (SR)