13th - 15th November 2017

Wednesday, 15th November: Another very grey day, but fairly mild and with only the lightest westerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: There wasn't too much moving this morning, though an Arctic Skua lingering by the Mile Basket before drifting off east was notable. Full log below. (AH)
(0725-0825hrs)
Great Northern Diver - 2os
Gannet - 4E, 15W
Shag - 1E
Common Scoter - 8E
Arctic Skua - 1os, then E (d/p)
Mediterranean Gull - 2W, 4os
Common Gull - 3W
Kitiwake - 2E, 7W
Razorbill - 1E, 2W, 1os
auk sp - 4E, 2W

Medmerry: Toe End - A big surprise this morning when a Glossy Ibis dropped in on the busy building site, where they are laying (yet!) more caravan bases, feeding unconcernedly around the puddles near the heaps of rubble and tyres. One of the workmen said that it first appeared yesterday. 
Also, there was a smart male Black Redstart and four Stonechats around the viewpoint, along with a few Pied Wagtails and 30+ Meadow Pipits, but the breach area was quiet, with just a couple of Curlew, a dozen Dunlin, c50 Lapwings, two Pintail and ten Shelduck spread around the pools. (AH/BI/SR)
The Glossy Ibis and Black Redstart were still present this afternoon and there was a Spoonbill feeding in the pools near the breach. (AB)

Glossy Ibis (above) & Black Redstart at Medmerry (AH)

Medmerry: A Merlin was near Easton Lane this morning. (BO'D)
Ferry Pool: There were three Green Sandpipers and a Redshank at the back of the pool this morning, and eight Snipe on the concealed pool, with 40+ Teal and 200+ Wigeon also present. (AH)

Green Sandpipers (above), Snipe & Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A fairly quick look failed to find the Velvet Scoter in the harbour, though there were still 500+ Brent Geese about, whilst offshore there were three Slavonian Grebes and three Eider.
There were a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits among large numbers of roosting Dunlin and Grey Plover in the harbour, whilst the pair of Bullfinches were again near the Mound, though they quickly melted away and didn't reappear. (AH)

Slavonian Grebes (above), Eider, Dunlin and Grey Plovers & IL acting as ferryman as the volunteers start work on Tern Island (AH)

The Velvet Scoter was present again early afternoon in the harbour, as was the Pale-bellied Brent in the field behind the hide. (AB)
Later this afternoon there was a red-head Goosander and six Red-breasted Mergansers offshore, along with the three Eider, and the Velvet Scoter was still in the harbour.  (AW)
Also, visiting birders reported the Dartford Warbler still present along the west side. (Eds)

Goosander (above) & Velvet Scoter and Brent Geese at Church Norton (AW)

Honer Reservoir: The Long-tailed Duck was still present at lunchtime, along with two Shoveler, ten Shelducks and the Cape Shelduck. (AH)

Long-tailed Duck (above), with Cape Shelduck & Shovelers at Honer Reservoir. (AH)

Tuesday, 14th November: A very grey, overcast day, with a moderate westerly breeze.....and just a few spots of rain.

Selsey Bill: There was quite a bit of activity and a range of species again, including a Slavonian Grebe and five Shags east, a smart male Eider and a few Red-breasted Mergansers and Brent Geese west and Gannets and auks (mostly Razorbills) going both ways. Full log below......
0715-1215hrs: (C&ME/OM/AH/BFF/DM/DF et al)
Red-throated Diver - 4E, 1W
Black-throated Diver - 1W
Great Northern Diver - 2 os
Slavonian Grebe - 1E
Great Crested Grebe - 4W
Gannet - 10E, 153W
Shag - 5E, 1os
Brent Goose - 5E, 29W
Shelduck - 4W
Eider - 1W
Common Scoter - 32E, 17W
Red-breasted Merganser - 1E, 13W
Wigeon - 4W
Teal - 5W
Curlew - 2W
Dunlin - 30W
Sanderling - 3W
Common Gull - 5W
Mediterranean Gull - 2W
Kittiwake - 5W
Guillemot - 3W, 1os
Razorbill - 18E, 15W, 2os
auk sp - 357E, 24W
Stock Dove - 5W
Starling - 53N
Linnet - 5W
Chiffchaff - 3 gardens

Eider (above), Red-breasted Mergansers & Common Gull past the Bill (AH)

Looking left, right and centre.....a bit of a gathering of the Tuesday club! (OM)

Honer Reservoir: The Long-tailed Duck was still present this morning, along with eight Shelducks, and six Yellowhammers were in the adjacent hedgerows. There were also two Black Swans with 20 Mute Swans in the rape crop nearby and several Stonechats in the hedges to the west of the reservoir as well as plenty of Canada Geese in the adjacent fields. (BI/B.Dolton/AH)

Long-tailed Duck (above), Yellowhammers & Black Swans with Mute Swans at Honer Reservoir (AH/BI)

Ferry Pool: There were five Shoveler on the pool this morning, along with two Shelduck, c40 Teal and,c30 Lapwing, with c150 Wigeon on the nearby cropped field. (AH)

Shovelers (above) & Shelduck on the Ferry (AH)

 

Church Norton: The Velvet Scoter was in the harbour for its fifth day, still along the main channel, and there were still 1000+ Brent Geese - including the Pale-bellied Brent Goose - coming and going. It has to be noted that there are very few juveniles again this year. There wasn't too much else about the harbour, though two Peregrines were present in their usual area and the Whimbrel was also in its usual place, a few Pintail were with the Wigeon and Teal, and there were plenty of the commoner waders.
Offshore there were just three Eider, three Slavonian and 10 Great Crested Grebes and a single Red-breasted Merganser. Two Firecrests were in the hedgerow north of the steps, but otherwise the hedges were quiet beyond a few noisy Jays and a Green Woodpecker.
Further along the west side there was a large gathering of 80 Avocets in the harbour channel.  (AH/BFF/DM/CRJ)

Velvet Scoter (above), Green Woodpecker, Pale-bellied and dark-bellied Brent Geese & Brent Geese at Church Norton (AH)

Monday, 13th November: After a very cold, bright start with a brisk northerly, a pleasant, if brief, period of light winds and sun before the wind shifted west and the cloud built up.....

Ferry Pool: There were four Snipe, two Shelduck, 25 Teal and c175 Wigeon on the pool, two Reed Buntings flew out from the reeds and c200 Lapwings dropped in from the arable fields. (AH)

Snipe (above), Lapwing & Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)

Medmerry: Toe End - There were two Black Redstarts near the breach this afternoon. (TG-P)

Church Norton: The Velvet Scoter and a red-head Goosander were both in the harbour first thing, but not later on, as were a Greenshank and an Avocet. There were around a peak of 1500 Brent Geese in the harbour, with many coming and going from the arable fields (depending on the bird-scarers), but with others arriving from offshore and the North Wall area. Also there were large numbers of Dunlin and Grey Plovers, a couple of Bar-tailed Godwit and the Whimbrel, plus at least eight Little and ten Great Crested Grebes.

Offshore there was just a lone Slavonian Grebe and three Eider, along with a handful of Great Crested Grebes, with a Red-breasted Merganser flying west, whilst along the spit there were one or two Skylarks and Meadow Pipits and many Linnets and Greenfinches. The hedges were quiet, though, beyond a couple of Jays and Goldcrests. (AH/AW/SR)

Slavonian Grebe (AW top pic), Velvet Scoter, Whimbrel & Brent Geese at Church Norton (AH)

Metal-ringed Turnstone yesterday at Church Norton (AW) Any information gratefully received! (Eds)

This afternoon the Velvet Scoter was showing well again, whilst there was also a pair of Bullfinches along the west side, in blackthorn just before the reeds, and a Firecrest was also present with a couple of Goldcrests. (AW)

Velvet Scoter (above) & Bullfinches at Church Norton (AW)

North Wall:  On the Breech  Pool there were 80 Wigeon, 48 Teal, 32 Mallard and two Cormorants, whilst in Honer 2 field were 120 Wigeon, 45 Black Tailed Godwits, 30 Curlew and seven Brent Geese and along Pagham Rife were four Mute Swans, though the two cygnets were hard to see hidden in the thick pennywort. 

In the field behind and east of Honer reservoir there were 29 Mute Swans and two Black Swans, with two Stonechats in this same locality. In the recently harvested maize field immediately south of the reservoir were a mixed flock of some 300 Herring and Black-headed Gulls, Corvids, 11 Shelduck and two Egyptian Geese. For the first time ever, I was unable to record a single bird on Honer reservoir, though there were two more Stonechats and two Roe Deer along Honer Lane.

Also, two Coal Tits were on my garden feeders -  they have been regulars this last week, and two Kestrels were in the Churchyard. (JDW)
Later, on Honer reservoir, things improved considerably and there was an immature Long-tailed Duck present with 2 Shovelers. In the field nearby was an Egyptian Goose and a pair of Cape Shelduck (KP)

Egyptian Goose (above), Mute Swan, Black Swans & Roe Deer around North Wall (JDW)

Fishbourne Creek: Plenty of birds present at low water, lots of Wigeon & Brent Geese (including at least six juveniles) and a dozen Pintail milling about in the creek and plenty of Dunlin, Grey Plover & Redshanks out on the mud. The hedgerows were fairly quiet although there were two Reed Buntings and a small flock of Long-tailed Tits moving through as well as a Stonechat and a Jay whilst at Fishbourne Meadows a smart Grey Wagtail put in an appearance. On the way back to Dell Quay two Rock Pipits were feeding around the shoreline. (BI)

Rock Pipit at Fishbourne Creek (BI)