11th - 13th May 2019

Monday, 13th May: Another pleasantly sunny morning, after a chill start, with the moderate breeze either side of easterly...

Selsey Bill: Highlights were two Hobbies in off the sea and three Velvet Scoters east, but beyond a few terns and a trickle of waders, it was pretty slow for much of the time. Full log below......

0520-1800hrs: (JA/PB/JF/BI/IP/C&ME/AH/OM/SHo et al)
Red-throated Diver - 2E
Great Northern Diver - 1os
Gannet - 110E, 41W
Shelduck - 4E
Velvet Scoter - 3E
Common Scoter - 110E
Wigeon - 2E
Shoveler - 3E
Whimbrel - 5E
Bar-tailed Godwit - 43E
Grey Plover - 29E
Ringed Plover - 1E
Knot - 15E
Dunlin - 33E
Sanderling - 41E, 1W
Hobby - 2N
Guillemot - 2E
auk sp - 4E, 8W
Little Tern - 12E, 5os
Common Tern - 16E, 20os
'Commic' Tern - 87E
Sandwich Tern - 146E, 9os
Great Skua - 1E
Arctic Skua - 1E (l/p)
Swift - 9N
House Martin - 5N
Swallow - 80N
Chiffchaff - 2 gardens
Whitethroat - 1 gardens

Velvet Scoters (above), Sanderlings, Little Tern, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern & Gannet at the Bill (AH)

Long-serving Bill veteran CRJ turned up a little late this morning with his dogs; he joined the gallery of observers but seemed somewhat confused today as to where the sea was..... (OM)

Out in the Channel, south-west of the Bill this morning, there were several dozen Fulmars and we saw our first Storm-petrel of the year.
Later another three were close by, with a total of six seen by 2pm, but no more thereafter. Also three groups of about twenty terns quickly passed north-east, two along with two Swifts and during the afternoon probably up to a hundred Fulmars were about - by far the most we’ve seen since last year, along with several Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a few Gannets too. (CW)

Gulls following a Selsey fishing boat (CW)

Ferry Pool: It was quiet on the pool again, with a distinct lack of migrant waders so far this spring. This morning there were just four Avocets, two Redshank, two Lapwing and c60 Black-tailed Godwits, along with three Gadwall, eight adult and nine baby Shelducks.
Later, a Bullfinch flew over the Discovery Area, and the two Tawny Owlets were sat out together not far from their nest, whilst there were also a couple of Whitethroats and Blackcaps singing in the vicinity. (AW/RN/RL/AH/IP et al)
A later check of the Ferry produced a Greenshank, 3 Avocets, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 44 Black-tailed Godwits, 6 Gadwall, 26 Shelducks + 8 ducklings. nearby a Lesser Whitethroat was singing in bushes near the Ferry channel. (S.Chastell)

Tawny Owlets (above), Whitethroat & Avocets around the Ferry (AH)

Medmerry: Porthole Farm and Ham Farm - At least 100 Swifts were over the settling tanks this morning, along with similar numbers of Swallows and House Martins, whilst there were four singing male Corn Buntings along the banks at Ham. (R Ladd)

Church Norton: There were two Whimbrel, two Knot, half a dozen Dunlin and 15 Bar-tailed Godwits out on the mud this morning, with plenty of activity around Tern Island still, but nothing beyond a singing Blackcap in the bushes in a fairly brief look. (AH/IP)

Later in the harbour there were 5 Whimbrel, 5 Knot, 14 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Grey Plover, 2 Curlew, 50+ Dunlin, 3 Ringed Plovers, 7 Little Terns, 6 Sandwich and 4 Common Terns.

A single Wheatear was also present but there was very little visible movement – just 5 Swifts, 6 Swallows and a single Sand Martin. (A single Small Copper the only butterfly I saw). (SC)

Sunday, 12th May: A warm and fairly sunny morning, with the wind slowly shifting round from north-easterly to south-easterly....

Selsey Bill: A lone Brent Goose  was sat on the sea early on, on another quiet morning, though a Pomarine Skua east just after 11am offered a bit of hope for later on, and though another Pomarine Skua, a Bonxie and five Arctic Skuas, plus nine Little Gulls, went through, it remained fairly slow during a full 13 and a 1/2 hours of watching. Full log below. (JA/SH/PB/JF/IP/BI/AH)
(0500-1830hrs)
Great Northern Diver - 3os
Red-throated diver - 3E
Great Crested Grebe - 2E
Fulmar - 5E, 5W
Gannet - 82E, 30W
Shag - 1E
Brent Goose - 1E
Shelduck - 1os
Common Scoter - 99E
Eider - 2E (pair)
Red-breasted Merganser - 2E
Dunlin - 1E
Sanderling - 3E
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1E
Pomarine Skua - 2E (1105 and 1254hrs)
Arctic Skua - 5E, 1W (all d/p)
Bonxie - 1E
Mediterranean Gull - 1E
Little Gull - 9E
Kittiwake - 8E, 6W
Sandwich Tern - 85E
Little Tern - 7E
Common Tern - 10E
'Commic' Tern - 6E,10os
Razorbill - 1W
Guillemot - 1os
auk sp - 6E, 2W
Swift - 
Swallow - 73N
House Martin - 4N, 5p

Fulmar (above) & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: It was quiet early, with no Avocets present at all, though there were still two Little Ringed Plovers, four Redshank, c50 Black-tailed Godwits and a dozen Shelducks, plus the family group. (AH)
Later, a single Avocet was on the little island at the back. (IP)

Little Ringed Plover and Redshank (above) & Shelduck-lings at the Ferry (AH)

Also, two of the Tawny Owlets have left their box in the Discovery area and were sat out on nearby branches, whilst the third remained in the box. (RP et al)

Tawny Owlet in the Discovery Area (RP)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A pair of Stonechats were in the field opposite the first viewpoint, though generally the banks just held the regular mix of Whitethroats, Linnets and Skylarks, plus one or two Stock Doves, Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings.
There appear to be only five sitting Avocets on the Stilt Pool, whilst there were still four Little Ringed Plovers about, along with five Dunlin and a couple of pairs of Tufted Ducks and Shelducks, with a handful of Swallows over. (AH/IP/SH)

Whitethroat (above), Linnet, Skylark, Dunlin & Shelducks at Medmerry (AH)

Ivy Lake: The Egyptian Geese seem to have reared seven young to fledging and a Canada Goose family was also about, as was a Sparrowhawk. (AB)

Egyptian Geese (above), Sparrowhawk & Canada Geese at Ivy Lake (AB)

Saturday, 11th May: After a cool and grey start, a day of sunshine and cloud, with a moderate north-westerly breeze......

Selsey Bill: A Hobby in off the sea was the highlight, with little offshore again. Full log below...... 

(0500-0845hrs)  (SH/JA/IP/AH)

Great Northern Diver - 2os

Fulmar - 1E, 1W

Gannet - 39E, 21W

Common Scoter - 29E

Hobby - 1N

Whimbrel - 2W

Kittiwake - 1E

Sandwich Tern - 20E, 10os

Little Tern - 4os

Common Tern - 1E, 1os

auk sp - 1E

Willow/Chiff - 1N

(0900-1130hrs)   (OM et al)
Great Northern Diver - 2os
Gannet - 4E
Little Egret - 1N
Eider - 2W (pair)
Shelduck - 1E
Common Scoter - 36E
Dunlin - 35W
Little Tern - 4os
Common Tern - 12os
Sandwich Tern - 2E, 12os
House Martin - 4p (collecting mud)
Swallow - 3N
Pied Wagtail - 1N
Whitethroat - 1 gardens
also Small Copper butterfly

Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Small Copper on flowering Sea Kale at the Bill (OM) 

(1400-1530hrs) (SH/JA)
Great Northern Diver - 1os
Fulmar - 1E
Gannet - 9E, 5W
Kestrel - 1N
Bar-tailed Godwit - 3W
Whimbrel - 15W
Little Tern - 3os
Common Tern - 2E, 2os
Black Tern - 1os
auk sp - 1E, 1W
Swift - 9N
Swallow - 11N

(1630-1830hrs) (SH/JA/AH)
Great Crested Grebe - 1E
Gannet - 12E, 3W
Sandwich Tern - 12E, 5os
auk sp - 1W
Swift - 11N
Swallow - 9N

Gannet at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: A Knot was on the pool again, along with the three Little Ringed Plovers, eight Avocets, six Redshank and c60 Black-tailed Godwits, with a pair of Gadwall and  a dozen Shelducks.

A Whimbrel was in the channel opposite, along with a dozen Black-tailed Godwits, a pair of Wigeon and two Gadwall, whilst the Tramway held the usual selection of Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Whitethroats. (AH/IP)

Knot (above), Whimbrel, Little Ringed Plover & Whitethroat around the Ferry (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: a Lesser Whitethroat and a Whitethroat were along the lane and half a dozen House Martins and Swallows were over the fields. (AH/IP/RM/SM/S&SaH).
Also a Pied and a White Wagtail were present later, and nearby, several Swifts over a north Selsey garden. (SH)

Northcommon Farm: A distant Cuckoo was heard briefly, but otherwise it was fairly dire, with just two Swallows and a couple of Blackcaps and Whitethroats being the only sign of any migrants. (OM) 

Church Norton: A Cuckoo was showing well along the first Several, and there were also a few Reed and Sedge Warblers, Whitethroats and Linnets, plus a couple of Reed Buntings about, whilst four Tufted Ducks and a Gadwall were on the second Several.

There were nine Whimbrel, 17 Dunlin, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Curlew and c20 Bar-tailed Godwits in the harbour, along with a Peregrine, a couple of Common and Little Terns and c40 Sandwich Terns. (AH/IP/RM/SM/S&SaH)

Cuckoo (above), Reed Bunting, Linnet & Dunlin at Church Norton (AH)