29th - 31st December 2017

Sunday, 31st December: The very unsettled conditions continue, with another wet night followed by another very grey and windy morning with more rain.....

Selsey Bill: A bit more movement this morning, with other highlights being a Purple Sandpiper on the beach with the Turnstones, a Rock Pipit also on the beach and a flock of ten Slavonian Grebes offshore, plus the Bonxie again. Full log below......
0750-1000hrs:  (JA/SH/SR/AH/IP)
Red-throated Diver - 19W, 1os
Great Northern Diver - 4os
Slavonian Grebe - 2W, 10os
Great Crested Grebe - 1W, 1os
Shag - 1os
Gannet - 2E, 1W
Brent Goose - 9E, 16W
Common Scoter - 10W
Red-breasted Merganser - 8W, 2os
Dunlin - 5W
Purple Sandpiper - 1ob
Razorbill - 1E, 2W, 1os
Guillemot - 1W
auk sp - 3W
Great Skua - 1os
Kittiwake - 1E, 10W
Mediterranean Gull - 1os
Rock Pipit - 1ob

(1440-1540hrs)

Great Northern Diver - 1os

Red-throated Diver - 2os

Slavonian Grebe - 1os

Gannet - 4E, 10W

Red-breasted Merganser - 7os

Kittiwake - 2W

Razorbill - 1os

Purple Sandpiper and Turnstones (above), Kittiwake, Red-throated Divers, Gannet & Red-breasted Mergansers at the Bill (AH)

Selsey, Park Farm: There were 2 Stonechats and a Grey Wagtail this morning. (SH)

Selsey East beach:  A Chiffchaff was in local gardens this afternoon. (SR)

Ferry Pool: There were 125 Golden Plover among up to 1000 Lapwings on the field this morning, with a Redshank and c60 Teal on the pool. (AH)

Golden Plovers and Lapwing at the Ferry (AH)

Birdham Pool: At least one Mandarin (a drake) was on the pool this morning. (IP)

Fishbourne Creek: Six Goldeneye and 300+ Wigeon were in the harbour and there were at least four Rock Pipits around the saltmarsh over high water this morning. (BI)

Church Norton: The Red-necked Grebe flew west offshore this morning, along with a dozen Red-throated Divers and a few Gannets and Kittiwakes. Two Razorbills & a Guillemot were on the sea, as were two Great Crested Grebes and six Red-breasted Mergansers, whilst a Goosander flew into the harbour from offshore. Also, what  was presumably the same Purple Sandpiper seen at the Bill appeared among the Turnstones on the beach later on. The Ringed Plover flock was at the end of the spit, and the Greenfinches & Linnets were still on the fenceline, and six Mediterranean Gulls and 30+ Great Black-backed Gulls were along the surf/shore line. (BI/S&SaH)

There wasn't too much inside the harbour, though at least 500 Brent Geese were on the water, with as many again dropping in at the back, one or two Red-breasted Mergansers, Little and Great Crested Grebes were present, as were a few Wigeon and Teal, but there were very few waders on the big tide. (AH/IP)

Whimbrel (above), Little Grebes & Wigeon and Teal at Church Norton (AH)

Saturday, 30th December: Yet another windy day after a stormy night, with the wind round to the west a little more and a bit milder in the intermittent sunshine.....

Selsey Bill: Much less activity than yesterday, with few auks or Gannets about, though there were still a couple of Slavonian Grebes and Great Northern Divers on the sea and a few Red-throated Divers and Red-breasted Mergansers moving about. Full log below...
0745-0930hrs:  (JA/SH/PB/SR/AH)
Red-throated Diver - 4W, 2os
Great Northern Diver - 3os
Slavonian Grebe - 2os
Great Crested Grebe - 4E, 1W
Fulmar - 1W
Gannet - 2E, 21W
Brent Goose - 1E, 2W
Common Scoter - 14W
Red-breasted Merganser - 9E, 5W, 11os
Teal - 2W
Dunlin - 31W
Razorbill - 4E, 1os
Guillemot - 1W, 1os
auk sp - 4E, 1W
Kittiwake - 3E, 9W
Mediterranean Gull - 2os
Also, a Redwing was feeding alongside 17 Blackbirds this morning on the Broadreeds estate.

Mediterranean Gull (above) & strange sun at the Bill (AH)

Redwing in Broadreeds Estate (SR)

Park Farm, Selsey: Just a Grey Wagtail and a Buzzard were noted today. (SH)

Ferry Pool: There were at least 800 Lapwings on and over the field this morning, repeatedly taking flight, though none of the nine Shoveler, eight Shelduck, 150 Teal or 200 Wigeon seemed at all unsettled! (AH)

Lapwing (above) & Shoveler and Teal at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: The tide was very high in the harbour, and not too many birds were about, but there was still a roosting Spoonbill, the pair of Peregrines, a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, a few Little and Great Crested Grebes and the regular Whimbrel to be seen, along with a few of the commoner species, plus a Stonechat on the concrete spit. (AH/SH)
Offshore there were 10+ Gannets, 11 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Slavonian Grebe and at least 20 Mediterranean Gulls. (SH)
Found a group of 20 Ringed Plovers on Church Norton beach at high-tide. and also the two Goosanders were near the harbour mouth, and I was surprised to see a Guillemot on the wrong side of the Spit, in the harbour! (AW)

Red-breasted Merganser (above), Whimbrel and Curlew, Knot and Dunlin, Brent Geese & Cormorants at Church Norton (AH)

Guillemot (above) & Ringed Plovers at Church Norton (AW)

A pair of Kittiwakes were just off-shore this afternoon, as were 4 or 5 Mediterranean Gulls, and the two Goosanders were still in the harbour mouth. (AW)

Goosanders (above), Kittiwakes & Mediterranean Gulls at Church Norton (AW)

Chi GPs: Ivy Lake - The Common Gull was still present today and there were two Chiffchaffs along the path, including a noticeably pale bird, but there wasn't much else of note other than 25 Herring Gulls and 6 Shovelers. Next door on Nunnery Lake were another ten Tufted Ducks & four Gadwall. (BI)

Friday, 29th December: Another very windy day, initially accompanied by heavy rain, before slowly brightening up.....

Selsey Bill: A morning with good variety, including a Red-necked Grebe, a Bonxie and a Fulmar, and large numbers of Gannets, Kittiwakes and auks going west. Full log below. (JA/SH/AH)

(0745-1030hrs)

Great Northern Diver - 1W, 1os

Red-throated Diver - 8W, 1os

diver sp - 1E, 1W

Red-necked Grebe - 1E

Slavonian Grebe - 3os

Great Crested Grebe - 5W, 1os

Fulmar - 1W

Gannet - 1E, 521W

Brent Goose - 6W

Common Scoter - 1E, 7W

Red-breasted Merganser - 5E, 13W, 3os

Bonxie - 1os

Common Gull - 1E

Mediterranean Gull - 1W

Kittiwake - 122W

Razorbill - 83W, 13os

Guillemot - 12W

auk sp - 3E, 157W

(1310-1500hrs) (SH)
Red-throated Diver - 1E
Great Crested Grebe - 2W
Gannet - 9E, 25W
Red-breasted Merganser - 8W, 6os

Mediterranean Gull - 1W

Kittiwake - 10E, 65W

Razorbill - 1os

auk sp - 1E, 7W

Bonxie (above), Fulmar, Kittiwake, Gannet, Guillemot, Razorbills, Common Scoters & Red-breasted Merganser past the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: A surprise this morning, in the form of a Spoonbill feeding on the flooded pools of the arable field beside the Ferry, along with c100 Lapwing. There were another c500 Lapwing on the field, along with c30 Golden Plover and c200 Wigeon, whilst on the pool there were six Shelduck and c150 Teal. (AH)

Spoonbill (above), Spoonbill and Lapwings & Golden Plovers, Lapwings and wigeon at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There wasn't too much about, with just a couple of distant Gannets and Red-breasted Mergansers offshore and a few Common Gulls among the Herring Gulls on the beach. There were at least 100 Knot and 500 Dunlin and Brent Geese in the harbour, plus a few Little and Great Crested Grebes and the Whimbrel was in its usual spot. There wasn't much in the sheltered hedges beyond a lurking Buzzard, a couple of Goldcrests, a small flock of Long-tailed Tits and c25 Greenfinches. (AH)

Knot (above), Common Gull & mixed waders at Church Norton (AH)

Honer: Most of the fields were flooded to some extent but there were still a few birds around. On the fields near the farm were 400 Lapwings and 40 Golden Plovers whilst in the hedgerows here were at least ten Reed Buntings and a few Yellowhammers. Three Snipe were flushed from the path near the reservoir and the reservoir itself held 12 Shelducks and six Coots; nearby were still 42 Mute Swans and two Black Swans. On the southern reservoir edge were 100 Great Black-backed Gulls, a few Common Gulls and plenty of Black-headed Gulls. (BI)