1st - 3rd November 2018

Saturday, 3rd November: A bright and breezy morning, with plenty of blue skies and a fresh southerly breeze........

Selsey Bill: There wasn't too much on the move, but a Purple Sandpiper dropped in briefly, whilst a Red-throated Diver went east, a few Kittiwakes and Gannets went east and another 50 or so Gannets were feeding well offshore. Full log below. (PB/AH/IP/BI/RHa/SHa)
(0715-0930hrs)
Red-throated Diver - 1E
Gannet - 59E, 3W, 50os
Brent Goose - 1E
Common Scoter - 2E, 3W
Kestrel - 1p
Purple Sandpiper - 1p
Mediterranean Gull - 2E, 3W
Kittiwake - 19W
Guillemot - 1E
Razorbill - 16W
auk sp - 21W
Skylark - 6W
Meadow Pipit - 1N
Pied Wagtail - 1p
Linnet - 28W

Ferry Pool: There was just the usual selection of wildfowl, including 50+ Wigeon and a few Shelduck and Teal, plus a dozen Lapwing, on the pool, and 100+ Teal and 50+Wigeon, plus a couple of Black-tailed Godwits in the channel opposite and a Peregrine went over. (AH/IP)

Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: A Green Sandpiper was on the balancing pool in Manor Lane and 61 Curlews and 20+ Meadow Pipits were on the adjacent field, whilst a Grey Wagtail and a couple of Pied Wagtails were around the spoils heaps, and a Goldcrest was in the lane. (AH/IP)

Green Sandpiper (above), Grey Wagtail, Meadow Pipit & Curlews at Park Farm, Selsey (AH)

Pagham Spit: The two redhead Goosanders were near the harbour mouth on the Pagham side at 9.30am. (TG)

Sidlesham Churchyard: Two Coal Tits were on the feeders in our garden near the church yard this morning. (SA)

Church Norton: A Dartford Warbler and a couple of Stonechats were along the front and 20+Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Linnets were along the spit, whilst in the harbour there was a roosting Spoonbill, the two Peregrines together, a Black-tailed and a Bar-tailed Godwit, a Knot and plenty of the commoner waders.
Also, around 150 Brent Geese were near the harbour mouth, of which maybe 15 or 20 were juveniles, three Shoveler were on the second Several, a couple of Goldcrests were in Bluebell Wood and a Common Gull and a few Mediterranean Gulls were offshore. (AH/IP/BI)
This afternoon, a Merlin flew along the beach, a Sandwich Tern was offshore, two Stonechats were present and a Swallow was around Tern Island. (S&SaH) 

Peregrines (above), Skylark & Brent Geese at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: A brisk southerly wind early on kept waders away from White's Creek and on a dropping tide there were just 70 Wigeon, 12 Pintail and 28 Brent Geese. Water levels are low on the Breech Pool but there were few waders, just seven Black-tailed Godwits, a Common Snipe and, unusually, a Grey Plover, whilst ducks were represented by 130 Teal. The most numerous birds today were Wood Pigeons; there were small flocks in the fields north of the Wall, hundreds in Owl Copse and a flock of some 700 birds just west of Honer reservoir - probably well over a 1000 birds in total. Corvids were also well represented this morning with a mixed flock of around 350 north of Honer cottages. There was slightly more water in Honer reservoir but it contained just singles of Tufted Duck and Little Grebe, two Buzzards and a Kestrel, plus two Roe Deer in this area. (JDW)

Wood Pigeons around the North Wall (JDW)

Friday, 2nd November: A beautiful, crisp and bright autumn's morning after a sharp frost, and with just a gentle south-westerly breeze........

Selsey Bill: The first Slavonian Grebe of the autumn was offshore and two drake Eiders went west, but otherwise it was dead slow..... a late Painted Lady butterfly on the beach being the only other highlight. Full log below..... 
0730-1000hrs:  (OM)
Slavonian Grebe - 1 os
Eider - 2W (drakes)
Red-breasted Merganser - 1E
Pied Wagtail - 5W
Skylark - 4NW
Meadow Pipit - 2N
Goldfinch - 30W

 Slavonian Grebe and Painted Lady at the Bill (OM)

Warner Lane paddocks/Northcommon farm: Very quiet once again: two Stonechats were in the paddock fields, whilst at Northcommon there were just two Goldcrests, half a dozen Long-tailed Tits and a Green and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers. (OM)

Church Norton: First thing on the falling tide there were 3 Knot among the regular waders in the harbour, along with a Little Grebe near the old pier. The flock of Brent were near the harbour mouth where there seems to be some reconstruction going on. Along the spit there were small flocks of Linnets, Green and Goldfinches, Skylarks and a few Meadow Pipits. (AW)

Juvenile Brent Goose and Meadow Pipit at Church Norton, and (below) sea-defence works in the harbour mouth. (AW)

Ferry Pool: Around 100 Wigeon were on the pool early on, along with 50 Teal and a handful of Shelducks, whilst at least 200 Teal, plus a few Wigeon and Redshank were in the channel opposite. a look round the Tramway circuit failed to produce anything beyond the regular resident species. (AH)

Wigeon and Teal on the Ferry (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool and to the Breach - The ever-elusive Hooded Crow showed quite well near the breach this morning, though it was always much warier than its Carrion Crow cousins. 
Also along the beach were a Peregrine, two Rock Pipits and 100+ Linnets and Meadow Pipits, whilst the Stilt Pool held at least 200 Teal (of a total of at least 500 around the reserve as a whole), a dozen Shoveler, four Gadwall and 100+ Wigeon, but no waders at all.

The banks were busy this morning, with a minimum of eight Corn Buntings around the 'Yellowhammer bush' and another (presumably different) six near Marsh Barn, and there were also 20+ Yellowhammers, 10+ Reed Buntings, three pairs of Stonechats, 100+ Skylarks, 200+ Meadow Pipits and 400+ Linnets spread around the area. 

Also, a Merlin shot through near Marsh Barn early on, four or five Grey Partridges were along the path nearby, but melted away into the banks, and. 30 or so Golden Plovers came up with 100+ Lapwings out on the reserve.(AH)

Hooded Crow (above), Corn Buntings, Rock Pipit, Reed Bunting, Stonechat, Shoveler & Linnets at Medmerry (AH)

Medmerry: Ham Farm area - This afternoon the Hooded Crow was at nearby Wilson's Farm. (AW)

Hooded Crow at Medmerry (AW)

Chi Marina & Birdham pools: At the Marina pool there was a Kingfisher, a Cetti's Warbler and a Water Rail, plus a single Little Grebe, whilst at the adjacent canal the regular Black Swan has now returned. Birdham pool was remarkably quiet; just 15+ Little Grebes were the only birds of note. (OM)

Thursday, 1st November: A fairly dreary morning after overnight rain, with a mix of grey cloud and drizzly rain, plus some prolonged showers, but just a light south-westerly breeze....

Park Farm, Selsey: A Little Owl was heard, then seen, on the old chicken battery roof this afternoon....a pair used to breed here and this is the first I've seen here since 1998! (SH)

Ferry Pool: After a drop of rain, the pool was full of birds again, including two Green Sandpipers, a Redshank, c80 Lapwings, c50 Teal and c120 Wigeon, whilst a Spotted Redshank, half a dozen Black-tailed Godwits and Redshanks, c25 Wigeon and c100 Teal were in the channel opposite. (AH)

Spotted Redshank and Teal (above), Green Sandpipers & Wigeon and Teal around the Ferry (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: A Jack Snipe was seen this morning and a Water Rail showed well in the River Lavant (see title page!). In the creek were 500 Wigeon, 250 Brent Geese and 3 Snipe, and in the area were a Mistle Thrush, 6 Yellowhammers, 2 Cetti's Warblers and 25 Goldfinch.(BFF/DM)

Church Norton: It was very quiet here, with the wintering Whimbrel and c50 Brent Geese in the harbour among the commoner waders, and another 50 of the latter in the harbour mouth.

The bushes were very quiet, with just a handful of Goldcrests heard and a Great Spotted Woodpecker and three Mistle Thrushes around the churchyard, whilst along the spit and beach there were 50 Linnets and 20 or so Meadow Pipits and Skylarks. (AH/AW)
Late morning there were 2 Goosanders in the harbour swimming west up-channel, plus a single Knot, a Bar-tailed Godwit, and 2 Chiffchaffs around the Hide. (BFF/DM)

This afternoon the 2 Goosanders (spotted earlier by BFF) were near the harbour entrance among a flock of 150+ Brent Geese, which included at least 3 juveniles. Apart from a Bar-tailed Godwit, and a few Turnstones along the beach, there was little else to report. (AW)

Whimbrel (above), Brent Geese, Meadow Pipit & Great Spotted Woodpecker at Church Norton (AH)

 (above) Goosanders (centre) amongst Brent Geese and (below) juvenile Brent Geese & Turnstone (AW)

Pagham churchyard: A Chiffchaff and a couple of Goldcrests were the only birds of note this morning. (OM)

North Wall: Increasing numbers of Wigeon are now apparent in White's Creek, plus a few Pintail, but other than the regular waders there was little of note early on. The Breech Pool held a Water Rail, a dozen Black-tailed Godwits, six Snipe, a single Grey Plover, a pair of Gadwall and 50 Teal, with the usual couple of Cetti's Warblers calling and 10 Reed Buntings. In the fields there was a large gathering of corvids which frequently took to the air in noisy flocks....say 300 Jackdaws and 200 Rooks. Along the path beside Owl copse were 2 Bullfinches, two Goldcrests and some tit flocks, but despite my best efforts I could find nothing else of interest. (OM)

Pagham Lagoon: I worked the bushes along the Lagoon edge and the adjoining footpath, in between dodging showers, finding only a couple of Goldcrests, an active tit flock and two Chiffchaffs - one of the latter frequently giving bursts of song. On the Lagoon itself there was nothing out of the ordinary, with just the usual small number of Little Grebes and Tufted Ducks. (OM)

Ivy Lake: Around 20 Siskins were feeding in waterside trees on Copse Lake this afternoon, and there were also a Kingfisher and 17 Little Egrets about. (AB)

Sidlesham: A Mistle Thrush - the first for about ten years - was in our garden today. (AH)

Mistle Thrush in a Sidlesham garden (AH)