11th - 13th January 2019

Sunday, 13th January: Cloudy and dry, but less grey today, with a fresh W/NW wind, though surprisingly mild for the time of year....

Selsey Bill: A morning dominated by a very large auk movement (2500+) and a fair number of Gannets....although most of the birds were distant.
0740-0930hrs: (JA/SH/PB/BI/AH/IP)
Red-throated Diver - 2W
diver sp - 1E
Slavonian Grebe - 1E, 1os
Gannet - 35E, 202W, 30os
Red-breasted Merganser - 8E, 7W, 4os 
Razorbill - 23E, 27W
auk sp - 424E, 2142W, 47os
Kittiwake - 47W

Selsey, Park Farm: A Green Sandpiper was on the balancing pool in Manor Lane this morning, whilst a Chiffchaff was in the hedges and a Stonechat was out on the fields. (S&SaH/PB)

Ferry Pool: Six Gadwall were with the usual 30+ Shoveler and Teal and 300+ Wigeon on the pool, whilst at least 500 flighty Lapwings were about, too. (AH)

Gadwall and Teal on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A flock of c.60 Barnacle Geese flew into the harbour from offshore this morning (perhaps wild birds displaced by the recent bad continental weather) though they were very restless, flying off, dropping in again and flying out once more, returning briefly, but not settling.
Otherwise it was quiet, with a couple of Goldeneye and Red-breasted Mergansers on the far side, a Peregrine on its island, two Stonechats in the horse field, a Jay and a Green Woodpecker being the highlights, with relatively low numbers of the regular waders and wildfowl about. (RJS/AH/BI/DC/ESt/AD/IP/RM/SM/S&SaH/PB)

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

Late this afternoon a Goosander was with five Red-breasted Mergansers in the harbour mouth. (AW)

Goosander (above) & Red-breasted Mergansers at Church Norton (AW)

Pagham & North Wall: A three goose morning! Initially, there were 2400 Brent Geese on the Pagham Road fields at 1000hrs.....the trend this week has been for numbers to gradually increase during the morning and we have twice had counts of over 3000. Later at Honer reservoir a flock of 36 Canada Geese circled the reservoir, but then flew off in a NW direction, then shortly afterwards a flock of 60 Barnacle Geese flew overhead heading generally northwards. (JDW)

Chi GPs: Drayton pits - No excitements here this morning in the mild conditions, with the best on offer being 90 Pochard, 120 Shoveler, 2 Snipe, 2 Bullfinch and 3 Chiffchaffs. (OM)

Later on, the Great White Egret flew in onto the southern pit. (IP)

Great White Egret at Drayton Pit (IP)

Fishbourne Creek: There were three Greenshanks and six Spotted Redshanks viewable from Dell Quay this morning. (BI)

Medmerry: Toe End - A female type Black Redstart was still around the caravans today and offshore were at least 50 Common Scoter. (ESt/DC/AD)

Black Redstart at Toe End (ESt)

Saturday, 12th January: Another cold and grey morning, with a blustery north-westerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: There was a large feeding flock of Gannets well offshore, with more auks and a few Kittiwakes on the move, too. Full log below. (JA/IP/BI/AH)
(0740-0910hrs)
Great Northern Diver - 2os
Red-throated Diver - 4E, 3W
diver sp - 2E, 1W
Gannet - 294E, many becoming part of 340os
Brent Goose - 2E
Common Scoter - 2E
Red-breasted Merganser - 8E, 3W, 7os
Mediterranean Gull - 2W
Kittiwake - 41E
Sandwich Tern - 1E
Guillemot - 2W
Razorbill - 6E
auk sp - 389E, 29W, 179os

Red-breasted Mergansers (above) & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Two Green Sandpipers were in the concealed pool this morning and around 80 Golden Plover and a couple of Snipe were with up to 1000 flighty Lapwings, split between Ferry Field and the adjacent arable fields. Also, on the pool thee were at least 300 Wigeon, 75 Teal and 20 Shoveler. (AH)

Green Sandpipers (above), Wigeon & Golden Plovers and Lapwings at the Ferry (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: Just one Greenshank was present this morning, along with 20+ Pintail and lots of Wigeon and commoner waders. Also, a couple of Rock Pipits and a Reed Bunting were along the edge of the harbour and three Goldcrests were in the hedges. (IP/BI)
On a walk from Fishbourne to Dell Quay this morning there were good views of a fishing Kingfisher off the Lavant outfall where there were also 143 Coot. Off Dell Quay there were 7 Spotted Redshank (5 together), 5 Golden Plovers and at least 2 Greenshank further up the channel, whilst below Dell Quay there were a 1000+ Brent Geese, 8 Goldeneye (4 males) and 2 Red-breasted Mergansers. (RW) 

Church Norton: It was very quiet in the harbour on the low tide, though a Peregrine was on its island, a few Skylarks were along the spit and a few Brent Geese Wigeon and Teal were present, whilst a couple of hundred Dunlin flew in from the beach. There were also two or three Goldcrests along the path to the harbour (AH/BI/IP)

Goldcrest (above) & Brent Geese at Church Norton (AH)

Drayton Pits: The Great White Egret was again present on the island, viewable from the gate near the railway crossing side this morning. (CM/BI)

Great White Egret at Drayton Pit (BI)

Friday, 11th January: A fairly cool and grey morning, but with just a light north-westerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: There were a lot of auks and a few Gannets moving east, all beyond the 'Mile Basket line,' whilst there was also a Sandwich Tern east and an Eider west. (AH/IP/BI)

(0750-0850hrs)

Red-throated Diver - 2E, 1W

Gannet - 55E

Eider - 1W

Red-breasted Merganser - 12os

Sandwich Tern - 1E

Razorbill - 1E

auk sp - 510E

Ferry Pool: At least 300 Wigeon were still around the pool, with 20 or so Teal and Shoveler, whilst at least 500 Lapwing were on the field. (AH)

Wigeon, Shovelers and Lapwings on the Ferry (AH)

North Wall area - A flock of 70 Stock Doves was in the fields by Pagham sewage works. (GH)

East Head: It was generally quiet, though three Sanderling were on the beach and at least 20 Red-breasted Mergansers and half a dozen Great Crested Grebes were on the water, with a Common Seal hauled up low tide.

A pair of Stonechats were on the edge of the dunes and c30 Skylarks, c50 Linnets and a few Meadow Ppiits were around the edges of the salt-marsh, whilst at Snowhill Creek there were three Greenshanks, half a dozen Black-tailed Godwits and a few Redshank, Teal and Wigeon. Also 50+ Golden Plover and 300+ Lapwing, along with a few flocks of Brent Geese, were about. (AH/IP/BI)

Greenshank (above), Sanderling, Lapwing, Stonechat, Skylark & Common Seal around East Head (AH)

Medmerry: West side - The two Barn Owls were both out and hunting at dusk this afternoon, whilst two Snipe came out of one of the small pools and c40 Yellowhammers went into roost near their favoured bushes. (AH) 

Barn Owls (above), Snipe & Yellowhammer at Medmerry (AH)