23rd - 25th February 2018

Sunday, 25th February: A colder and windier day than yesterday, with the easterly breeze making it very chilly despite the uninterrupted sunshine.....

Selsey Bill: A flock of 15 Pintail east was unusual, and the five Velvet Scoters put in an appearance, as did six Sandwich Terns. Full log below....
0700-1000hrs:  (JA/SH/IP/AH/OM)
Red-throated Diver - 1E, 1W
Great Northern Diver - 2os
Diver sp - 2E
Great Crested Grebe - 1E, 1os
Gannet - 24E, 10W, 15os
Brent Goose - 35W
Common Scoter - 24E, 75+ os
Velvet Scoter - 5E
Red-breasted Merganser - 10E, 3W, 3os
Pintail - 15E
auk sp - 1E, 4W, 2os
Sandwich Tern - 6os
Kittiwake - 4E
Pied Wagtail - 1N

Pintail (above) & Sandwich Tern past the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: At least a dozen Shovelers were with 150 Wigeon and 40 Teal on the unfrozen bit of the pool, whilst a couple of hundred Lapwings were spread about and a Snipe was in the reeds by the road. (AH)

Lapwings (above), Snipe & Shoveler and Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: There was a Spotted Redshank along the channel at 9am this morning. (MO-W)

North Wall: There was what was presumably a different Spotted Redshank in White's Creek a little later - 10.20am - this morning. (MO-W)

Park Farm, Selsey: There was a Grey Wagtail, a Pied Wagtail, a few Oystercatchers, half a dozen Rooks and two Common Gulls on the fields this morning, plus a Buzzard over. (AH/IP)

Common Gull (above), Oystercatcher & Rooks at Park Farm, Selsey (AH)

Church Norton: There wasn't too much about this morning, though there were six Goldeneye in the harbour, including two drakes, the female Peregrine was on its island, a handful of Bar-tailed Godwits were with the Dunlin and Grey Plover and a pair of Stonechats were by the concrete slabs on the spit.

Also four Canada Geese were flying about the harbour, half a dozen Mediterranean Gulls were along the beach and two Gannets were offshore. (AH/IP)

Stonechats (above), Bar-tailed Godwit and Dunlin, Peregrine & Canada Geese at Church Norton (AH)

Mapsons Lane, Sidlesham: There were a single Fieldfare with a single Redwing in the paddocks this evening. (AH)

Redwing (above), Fieldfare & together in Sidlesham (AH)

Medmerry, Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool: A Green Sandpiper flushed from the first sluice this morning and a Dartford Warbler was in the gorse opposite whilst along the banks were four Stonechats and plenty of Skylarks. A Marsh Harrier was hunting over the fields near Marsh Farm being mobbed by a Sparrowhawk as it did so. A Raven was near the Stilt Pool and four Ringed Plovers flew onto one of the beachside pools & six Pintails also did a few circuits over the pools. (BI)

Saturday, 24th February: Another very bright but very cold day, with the  persistent easterly breeze keeping the temperature down.....

Ferry Pool: Around the pool his morning there were 16 Shovelers, four Shelduck, c250 Wigeon and c60 Teal, with at least 300 Lapwing in the fields at the back and a Snipe briefly in the reeds at the front. (AH)

Shoveler and Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: There were just a pair of Little Grebes and a handful of Tufted Ducks on the pool, with a dozen Lapwing and a few Curlews on the adjacent fields.

There were 17 Black-tailed Godwits, 14 Avocet, 20+ Grey Plover and Redshank and lots of Wigeon and Teal, plus a couple of pairs of Pintail, along the further end of Ferry Channel. (AH)

Avocet (above), Black-tailed Godwits, Grey Plover & Wigeon from Long Pool (AH)

Church Norton: The rife up the west side is frozen, as is parts of the harbour, and there wasn't much to report aside from a few of the regular waders and wildfowl, though there were 32 Black-tailed Godwits just up from the hide and a couple of Jays were in the churchyard. (AW)

Black-tailed Godwits (above) Jay and the frozen conditions at Church Norton (AW)

Fishbourne Creek: There were a lot of birds in the creek this morning, including two Greenshank, c250 Black-tailed Godwits, four Goldeneye, three Red-breasted Mergansers, 20+ Pintail, six Gadwall, a few Little and Great Crested Grebes and plenty of the commoner wildfowl and wader species.

There were just a couple of Common and Lesser Black-backed Gulls among the many Black-headed and Herring Gulls and a Buzzard went over, whilst a Reed Bunting was along the path.

At least 30 Yellowhammers were around the riding school, with another five by the gate to the 'Salterns Way,' a pair of Mistle Thrushes were in the nearby horse fields and c50 Curlews were feeding on the stubble field. (AH)

Greenshank (above), Red-breasted Mergansers, Yellowhammers, Mistle Thrush & Gadwall, Wigeon and Coots at Fishbourne Creek (AH)

Porthole Farm: A late afternoon look produced two Green Sandpipers on a puddle in the Sewage Works compound, 100+ Pied Wagtails on the tanks, at least ten Chiffchaffs along the hedges and two pairs of Red-legged Partridges, ten Stock Doves and c200 Lapwings, with 20+ Golden Plovers among them, on the ploughed fields. (AH)

Golden Plovers and Lapwing at Porthole Farm (AH)

Sidlesham: At 6.30pm a Barn Owl was hunting along the roadside ditches on Sidlesham Lane leading towards the Birdham Strait. (AH)

East Head: There were c.1000 Brent Geese present on the swards mid-morning, with more in the harbour, but a search through them did not alas find anything rarer lurking within!

A Marsh Harrier was over the saltmarsh putting up 22 Lapwings as it flew over  and a few Redshanks were feeding along the muddy edges. In the dunes were three Stonechats and 10 Skylarks and offshore were two Red-breasted Mergansers and half a dozen Great Crested Grebes. (BI/ESt)

Brent Geese at East Head (ESt)

Friday, 23rd February: The easterly breeze picked up this morning, leaving conditions very bright but very cold, and likely to remain so for some time....

Selsey Bill: (0715-0900hrs) (JA/AH/SR)

Great Northern Diver - 2os

Red-throated Diver - 1os

diver sp - 2E

Great Crested Grebe - 1os

Gannet - 3E, 2W

Brent Goose - 17W

Common Scoter - 40os

Red-breasted Merganser - 3E

Curlew - 1E

Common Gull - 3E

Razorbill - 1E

auk sp - 2E, 1W

Red-throated Diver (above) & Brent Geese at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were seven Shovelers, 35 Teal and a Shelduck around the pool, whilst on the fields at the back there were at least 100 Wigeon and 500 Lapwing. (AH)

Shovelers on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: As little about as might be expected in the conditions, with hardly any waders beyond a few Redshank, Curlew and Dunlin present, along with c200 Brent Geese and a few Wigeon Teal and Shelduck.

There were about a dozen Golden Plover and c200 Lapwing on the lettuce fields along Rectory Lane, and a Jay went over. (AH)

Golden Plover and Lapwing (above), Brent Geese, Dunlin, Shelduck & Redshank at Church Norton (AH)

Honer Reservoir: The Long-tailed Duck was still present and a Stock Dove and a few Long-tailed Tits were along the hedge. (CG)

Long-tailed Duck (above), Stock Dove & Long-tailed Tit at Honer Reservoir. (CG)