26th - 28th December 2018

Friday, 28th December: Another nice day for the time of year, with just a gentle breeze and slowly brightening after a murky start.....

Selsey Bill: Three SandwichTerns went east and a few Red-throated Divers and a Slavonian Grebe were about, but otherwise unsurprisingly quiet, given the conditions. (BI/AH)
(0830-0945hrs)

Great Northern Diver - 2os
Red-throated Diver - 8E, 6W, 20s
Slavonian Grebe - 1os
Mute Swan - 2E
Brent Goose - 3W
Wigeon - 10E
Red-breasted Merganser - 10os
Mediterranean Gull - 3os
Sandwich Tern - 3E
Razorbill - 1E

Red-throated Diver (above), Wigeon & Mute Swans at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were about 20 Shoveler and 60 Teal on the pool, with c300 Lapwing and c100 Wigeon on the field this morning. (AH)

Lapwings on the Ferry (AH)

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: There were 24 Cattle Egrets in the fields near the farm this morning, a new Peninsula and County high, with nearly all of them sitting in the trees after being disturbed by gunfire. 
There was not much else around, though a Stonechat, a Chiffchaff and a dozen Meadow Pipits were along Church Farm Lane, with the shooting party at Bramber Farm keeping that end devoid of birds. (AH)

Cattle Egrets (above), Stonechat, Chiffchaff & Meadow Pipit at Marsh Farm, Sidlesham (AH)

Ivy Lake: A drake Goosander was on the east end of the lake this morning but was very elusive and the Greylag Geese from Runcton dropped onto Copse lake. (BI)

Goosander at Ivy Lake (BI)

Medmerry: Toe End - Early this afternoon the Hooded Crow was showing very well near the breach, whilst other birds of note included four Sandwich Terns, a female-type Black Redstart, pair of Stonechats, two Corn Buntings and out on the reserve an adult Peregrine was perched on the roof of a derelict building. (B&MC per SOS)

Runcton: The eight Egyptian Geese, along with a Bar-headed Goose and 87 Greylag Geese were on the fields at Runcton Farm this morning. (BI)

Greylag & Bar-headed Geese, above, and Egyptian Geese at Runcton (BI)

Church Norton: The only birds on a flat sea at high tide this afternoon were a flock of 500 Brent Geese, after the very loud bird-scarer went off on Greenlease Farm.
The harbour held lots of the commoner waders, plus a couple of Goldeneye, 50+ Pintail and plenty of Wigeon and Teal, as well as half a dozen Mediterranean Gulls and a half dozen Little and Great Crested Grebes. (AH)

Turnstone (above), Dunlin & Brent Geese at Church Norton (AH)

Thursday, 27th December: A fairly pleasant and calm day overall; dry, cloudy and chilly at first, with just a light NE breeze, becoming brighter with some sunshine by early afternoon.....

Selsey Bill: There were six Eiders offshore by the Mile Basket this morning, five of which eventually moved off east and there were at least seven Sandwich Terns present also; bar those, fairly quiet with just a few Red-throated and Great Northern Divers about. Full log below. (JA/BI)
(0745-0900hrs)
Great Northern Diver - 1os
Red-throated Diver - 7E, 2os
diver sp - 3E, 2os
Gannet - 4E, 1W
Brent Goose - 13E
Eider - 5E, 2os
Red-breasted Merganser - 1E, 7os
Sandwich Tern - 8os

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: There were 21 Cattle Egrets present this morning. (BI)

Cattle Egrets at Sidlesham (BI)

Ferry Pool: Late this morning there were 2 Green Sandpipers on the Ferry, with a Buzzard, 2 Stonechats and a Snipe nearby. (AW)

Green Sandpipers on the Ferry Pool (AW)

Park Farm, Selsey: Late this afternoon three Ringed Plover were back and there was also a Black-tailed Godwit in with 50 Curlew. A Chiffchaff, 10+ Pied Wagtails, 20 + Skylarks and two Goldcrests were also logged. (SH)

Church Norton: Seven Slavonian Grebes were offshore from the Spit, as well as a distant Velvet Scoter and three Red-breasted Mergansers, plus another Merganser in the harbour with unusual black eye markings. The two Peregrines were around. with the male feeding on a kill, whilst along the spit there were a few Skylarks and Meadow Pipits. (AW)

 Red-breasted Mergansers at Church Norton (AW)

 Peregrines in the harbour at Church Norton (AW)

Slavonian Grebes (above) and distant Velvet Scoter offshore, and Meadow Pipit on Norton Spit (AW)

Apuldram/Fishbourne Creek: A Firecrest was in the car park near the church, with a small flock of Long-tailed Tits, whilst a Song Thrush was singing stridently nearby. There were plenty of birds out in the channel, including several hundred Wigeon and similar of commoner waders, plus four Greenshank and a Spotted Redshank. Two Grey Wagtails were along the edge of the strandline and ditches, but trying to check out the six or so Rock Pipits present in the saltmarsh proved to be a somewhat frustrating business, with all of them very flighty today, giving just brief views before diving into cover! At least 15 Yellowhammers and a couple of Reed Buntings were also nearby along the hedgeline. (OM) 

Ivy Lake: The highlight today was a smart male Bullfinch along the path but otherwise it was the usual fare of Coots, Great Crested Grebes and Tufted Ducks. (BI)

Sidlesham SF: A quick look around the sewage farm produced six Pied Wagtails, ten Meadow Pipits and a large flock of Starlings this morning. (BI)


Boxing Day, Wednesday, 26th December: A cool and grey, but fairly still, morning, with just a light southerly breeze picking up as the day progressed....

Selsey Bill: Another morning with a bit of variety, including seven Sandwich Terns offshore. Full log below. (SH/JA/CN/IP)
(0745-0930hrs)
Great Northern Diver - 3os
Red-throated Diver - 14E, 2W, 2os
diver sp - 1E
Great Crested Grebe - 2W, 3os
Gannet - 26E, 14W
Brent Goose - 12W
Wigeon - 2E
Eider - 4E, 2os
Common Scoter - 3E, 6os
Red-breasted Merganser - 15os
Mediterranean Gull - 1E
Kittiwake - 1E, 1W
Sandwich Tern - 7os
auk sp - 4E, 6W

Ferry Pool: There were just a dozen Shovelers and c50 Teal on the pool, with c50 Lapwing on the field this morning. (AH)

Teal on Ferry Pool (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: There were two Mistle Thrushes about again this morning and there were still 50+ Curlews and c20 Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks, plus a couple of Linnets, on the fields. (S&SaH/AH/IP/CN)

Church Norton: There were two Firecrests with four Goldcrests in the car park, and seven Siskins in the trees at the bottom of the path towards the harbour. (A&YF)

Later there were five Slavonian Grebes offshore, along with a couple of Great Crested Grebes, whilst in the harbour there were two Goldeneye, three Red-breasted Mergansers, a few Pintail and plenty of Wigeon and Teal.

Also, one of the Peregrines was sat near their island, five Avocets were in the main channel and several Bar-tailed Godwits were among the large numbers of Knot, Grey Plover and Dunlin present, with a couple of hundred Golden Plover again appearing west of Priory Wood.

A couple of hundred Brent Geese were commuting between the sea and Greenlease Farm, where a Merlin was seen to shoot through, the two Stonechats and c30 Meadow Pipits were around the horse field and a few Skylarks were along the spit. (S&SaH/AH/IP/CN)

Slavonian Grebes (above), Meadow Pipit, Stonechats (all AW), Goldeneye, Common Gull & mixed waders (AH) at Church Norton

Medmerry: The Hooded Crow was still present today and four Red-breasted Mergansers and c.40 Common Scoter were offshore. (A.Huttly)

Runcton: There were 79 Greylag Geese and one Bar-headed Goose on the fields today along with five Mute Swans and two Canada Geese. (BI)

Greylag Geese at Runcton (BI)

Ivy Lake: A quick look this morning found c.100 Pochards, nine Gadwall and c.20 Tufted Ducks on the water and a large mixed Tit flock along the path. (BI)