Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 4th

Thursday, 6th December: Another very mild, but grey and blustery, morning, with a freshening south-westerly and a bit of drizzle in the air....

Selsey Bill: A few bits and pieces again, with three Slavonian Grebes and one (or probably more) Great Northern Divers this morning.... Full log below....
0800-1030hrs: (C&ME)
Red-throated Diver - 4E
Great Northern Diver - 1E, 1W, 1os
Slavonian Grebe - 3os
Great Crested Grebe - 3W
Gannet - 5W
Shag - 1E
Brent Goose - 1E, 2W
Common Scoter - 1E
Red-breasted Merganser - 6E, 2W, 14os
Dunlin - 25W
Turnstone - 41W
Razorbill - 1W
Mediterranean Gull - 4W, 2os
Common Gull - 2W
also a Grey Seal os

Ferry Pool: There were c80 Black-tailed Godwits and a few Redshank roosting on the pool and c400 Lapwings on the field this morning, whilst wildfowl consisted of six Gadwall, 20 Shovelers and c50 Wigeon and Teal, plus four Shelducks. (AH)

Black-tailed Godwits (above) & Wigeon and Shoveler on the Ferry (AH)

Sidlesham: Marsh Farm, Chalder Farm and Bramber Farm - There were a minimum of 16 Cattle Egrets near Marsh Farm this morning (though there were possibly several more), plus four Little Egrets, with two more Cattle Egrets near Bramber Farm.
There were also a surprisingly large number of winter thrushes for the time of year, with conservative estimates of 250 Fieldfares and 100 Redwings spread along the hedges between Chalder and Bramber Farms, along with 50+ Chaffinches, a couple of Reed Buntings, a few Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails and several hundred Starlings. There werre also a few Goldcrests and Long-tailed Tits, plus a few more Meadow Pipits along Church Farm Lane. (AH)
Later on, 14 of the Cattle Egrets were at Bramber Farm. (RJS)

Cattle Egrets (above) & Fieldfares and Redwings between Marsh and Bramber Farms (AH)

Wednesday, 5th December: A blustery south-westerly was blowing all morning, though it brightened up temporarily after a grey start breeze....

Selsey Bill: (0740-0840hrs) (AH)
Great Northern Diver - 1W, 1os
Great Crested Grebe - 3W
Eider - 2W
Common Scoter - 1E, 14W
Red-breasted Merganser - 6E
Common Gull - 2E
Mediterranean Gull - 1E, 2os

Ferry Pool: There were ten Gadwall, 32 Shovelers, four Shelduck and c50 Teal and Wigeon on the pool this morning. (AH)

Gadwall on the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: There were plenty of waders high-tide roosting at the far end this morning, including ten Avocets, c150 Black-tailed Godwits, at least 500 Lapwings and plenty of Redshanks and Curlews, and there were also at least 300 Brent Geese and similar of Wigeon and Teal present, too. (AH)

Avocets (above), Lapwings, Black-tailed Godwits & Redshanks along Ferry Channel (AH)

Church Norton: Again there was nothing unusual in the harbour, but there were at least 80 Knot among the many Dunlin and Grey Plovers, along with 500+ Brent Geese and lots of Wigeon and Teal, whilst along the sheltered hedges there were a dozen or more Goldcrests and Long-tailed Tits, plus a couple of Jays. (AH)

Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plovers (above), Teal, Wigeon, Goldcrest & Long-tailed Tit at Church Norton (AH)

This afternoon the Whimbrel and three Bar-tailed Godwits were about, with one of the latter in full summer plumage, one in parrial summer plumage and one in normal winter plumage. Also, a drake Goldeneye was in themain channel and a Firecrest was along the path to the harbour. (AB)

Bar-tailed Godwit at Church Norton (AB)

Sidlesham: There were two Fieldfares in the hedges at the end of our garden this morning. (AH)

Fieldfares in a Sidlesham garden (AH)

Chichester GPs: New Lake - A quick look at New Lake produced a good count of c150 Pochard, of which two thirds appeared to be drakes, along with similar numbers of Shovelers, half a dozen Gadwall and Teal and c50 Tufted Ducks. whilst a Cetti's Warbler was calling nearby. (AH)

Pochards on New Lake (AH)

Tuesday, 4th December: A glorious morning of uninterrupted warm sun after a frosty start, with just a very light westerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: (0800-0900hrs) (DF/DS)

Red-throated Diver - 1E, 2W

Brent Goose - 4E, 21W

Red-breasted Merganser - 10os

Mediterranean Gull - 5os

Ferry Pool: A Green Sandpiper was roosting at the back, 200 Lapwings were on the field and six Gadwall, 25 Shoveler and 50 or so Wigeon and Teal were on the water. (AH)

Chalder Farm/Bramber Farm: There were at least 18 Cattle Egrets in the big field between Chalder and Bramber Farms this morning, before six flew off south and the others went towards the cattle field just north of Bramber Farm.

There were also at least 100 Fieldfares and a dozen Redwings in the nearby hedges and a Stonechat and a couple of Yellowhammers were along nearby Church Farm Lane. (AH)

Cattle Egrets (above), Fieldfare & Stonechat around Chalder Farm (AH)

Marsh Farm & North Wall: This afternoon ten of the Cattle Egrets were around Marsh Farm, Sidlesham, along with two Green Sandpipers, two pairs of Stonechats and at least three Chiffchaffs, with a pair of Ravens and more Fieldfares and Redwings about, too.

Towards dusk, three individual Cattle Egrets and then a group of 18 went east over Owl Copse but were lost to view, whilst a Peregrine and a Water Rail were nearby at Halsey's Farm. (AB)

Cattle Egrets (above), Chiffchaff & Stonechat around Marsh Farm, Sidlesham (AB)

Medmerry: Toe End and Breach area - The Hooded Crow was again out on the shingle on the far side of the breach, and there were still at least two Black Redstarts around the caravans at Toe End.

Also, a Great Northern Diver was offshore, four Red-breasted Mergansers were in the tidal pools, two Peregrines were on the derelict building and a Marsh Harrier was out hunting near Ham, whilst there were plenty of Meadow Pipits and Linnets, plus a couple of Pied Wagtails around the rough ground and 25 or so Ringed Plovers roosting on the shingle. (AH/DF/DS)

Black Redstarts (above), Hooded Crow & Marsh Harrier at Medmerry (AH)

Church Norton: There was nothing unusual about this morning on the full tide, with the only birds offshore being three Red-breasted Mergansers, with another seven in the harbour, but there were vast numbers of commoner waders looking for somewhere to roost, including 100+ Knot, 200+ Grey Plovers and at least 1000 Dunlin.

Also, there were at least 50 Linnets, 50 Skylarks, 20 Meadow Pippits and 20 Greenfinches along the spit, whilst a pair of Mistle Thrushes were along Rectory Lane.. (AH)