Tuesday 14 May 2019

14th - 16th May 2019

Thursday, 16th May: Another fine and sunny morning, but with the breeze a little fresher and more northerly to start before again going south-easterly by late morning ......

Selsey Bill: After a very slow morning, it all changed at 1335hrs with the biggest flock of Pomarine Skuas of the spring - ten birds. Thereafter it turned into a Pom day with some nice flocks passing, giving a total of 37 birds.  Six Arctic Skuas, a Black Tern and a Velvet Scoter also went east, too. Full log below.....
0515-2015hrs: (PB/JF/OM/AH/JA/SH/C&ME et al)
Red-throated Diver - 1E
Black-throated Diver - 2E
Great Northern Diver - 1os
Manx Shearwater - 1E
Fulmar - 1W
Gannet - 207E, 15W
Shelduck - 5E
Common Scoter - 232E
Velvet Scoter - 2E
Eider - 1os
Grey Plover - 4E
Whimbrel - 6E
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1E
Dunlin - 24E
Sanderling - 50E
Arctic Skua - 6E (l/p)
Pomarine Skua - 37E (all l/p except 1 d/p) (10@1335, 3@1535, 5@1555, 8@1724, 1@ 1825, 5@ 1830, 1@ 1833, 3@ 1848 & 1@ 1933hrs)
Kittiwake - 8E
Sandwich Tern - 162E
Little Tern - 4E
Common Tern - 30E
'Commic' Tern - 37E
Black Tern - 1E
Razorbill - 2E, 1W
Guillemot - 1E
auk sp - 9E, 1W
Swift - 31N
Swallow - 29N
Chiffchaff  -1 gardens

A video (PB) of the some of the Pomarine Skuas passing Selsey Bill is here



Pomarine Skuas (AW, top) (above), Sandwich Tern & the afternoon watch (AH) at the Bill 



Ferry Pool: There were four Little Ringed Plovers and four Avocets on the pool this morning, along with four Tufted Ducks, but otherwise there was just the usual gathering of Shelducks, a couple of Redshank and c20 Black-tailed Godwits, which then flew into the harbour. (AH/AW)


Black-tailed Godwits at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were five summer-plumaged Knot, four Grey Plovers and 16 Bar-tailed Godwits on the mud as the tide rose this morning, joined latterly by four or five Sanderlings and Dunlin and a dozen Ringed Plovers, whilst two or thee Whimbrel and a Curlew were also about.
There were at least a dozen Common and 20+ Little Terns among at least 50 Sandwich Terns, many feeding towards the harbour mouth and offshore, where there were also two Gannets. 
Also, a female Marsh Harrier went east over the harbour and a Peregrine was sat near its island. (AH)



Little Terns (above), Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Marsh Harrier, Knot, Sanderling & Bar-tailed Godwits and Grey Plovers at Church Norton (AH)







Chichester Canal: Along the canal there were lots of young birds including at least two pairs of Little Grebes with young and a small brood of young Long-Tailed Tits nestled together. (AW)



Little Grebes (above), Reed Warbler & Long-tailed Tits at Chichester Canal (AW)



Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The banks were predictably quiet in the wind, though a Cuckoo and a pair of Jays were around the Poplars, the Stonechat family was near the first viewpoint and there was a scattering of Linnets, Skylarks and Whitethroats about.
Two Greenshank were calling out on the reserve, but were not seen, whilst the only waders on the Stilt Pool were the two pairs of Little Ringed Plovers (one of which were displaying and mating) and up to five pairs of brooding Avocets. Also, two Black Swans were on the  pool, along with two pairs of Shovelers and six Gadwall. (AH)


Jay (above), Little Ringed Plovers, Avocet & Black Swans at Medmerry (AH)




Sidlesham: There were two Lesser Black-backed Gulls in with the Herring Gulls in our chicken-pen at lunchtime today. (AH)


Lesser Black-backed Gull in a Sidlesham garden (AH)

Medmerry: Porthole Farm - This evening there were 20+ Swifts, 100+ Swallows and 200+ House Martins over the settling tanks, with a pair of Yellowhammers and half a dozen Linnets in the hedges. (AH)

Swift, House Martin (above) & Swallow at Medmerry (AH)







Wednesday, 15th May: Another fine and sunny morning, with the breeze swinging round to south-easterly by late morning ......

Selsey Bill: Two Pomarine Skuas went through east - at 10.10 and 13.40hrs, along with five Arctic Skuas, a Black-throated Diver and a trickle of waders, whilst a Reed Warbler was in the gardens and 100+ Swifts and two Hobbies came in off the sea. Full log below....
0600-1700hrs: (PB/JF/C&ME/OM/AH/IP/MJ et al)
Red-throated Diver - 2E
Black-throated Diver - 1E
Fulmar - 1E, 1W
Gannet - 144E, 11W
Eider - 1W
Shelduck - 11E
Common Scoter - 107E, 1W
Whimbrel - 1E
Grey Plover - 1E, 3W
Knot - 7E
Sanderling - 28E, 10W
Hobby - 2N
Arctic Skua - 5E (2 d/p, 3 l/p)
Pomarine Skua - 2E (1 d/p, 1 l/p)
Kittiwake - 3E
Common Tern - 35E
Sandwich Tern - 130E
Little Tern - 4E, 6os
auk sp - 1E, 2W
Swift - 112N
Swallow - 52N
House Martin - 6 p (local nesters)
Reed Warbler - 1 gardens
also 6 Bottle-nosed Dolphins and a Common Seal offshore


Rubbishy record shots of the (1340hrs) Pomarine Skua passing the Bill (sorry, best I could manage!) (OM)


Gannet (above) & JF having a few technical issues with his chair at the Bill (AH)


Ferry Pool: There were three Little Ringed Plovers and six Avocets present this morning, along with 20+ Shelducks and the youngsters, four Redshanks and 25 Black-tailed Godwits. (AH/IP)

Little Ringed Plover on the Ferry (AH)


Medmerry: Windmill to the Breach - There were 23 Sanderlings along the beach at West Sands early this morning together with a Whimbrel and 2 Ringed Plovers. Nearer the breach there were three Common Sandpipers, a Corn Bunting and two Meadow Pipits (one a juvenile), whilst out on the breach there were seven Grey Plovers - at last some waders here! (AW)


Sanderlings (above), Whimbrel, Grey Plovers, Corn Bunting  & Meadow Pipits at Medmerry (AW)





North Wall: The Breech Pool is as low as I have ever seen it. Today there were just 11 Black-tailed Godwits, two Redshank, four Teal, a handful of Mallard and a Grey Heron on it, though there was lots of activity along the Wall, including Reed, Sedge and Cetti's Warblers, Common and Lesser Whitethroat, Linnets and Reed Buntings. 
There was a lot of Little Egret passage in and out of Owl Copse so, hopefully, the first young have hatched and a Cuckoo was doing the rounds and could be heard most of the morning - it seems to be a good year for them in this area. Also, Skylarks were noted at four locations. (JDW)




Black-tailed Godwits, Teal, Mallard and Grey Heron (above) & the dried out main pool on the Breech Pool (JDW)




Also, there was lots of Swallow activity around the stables, whilst out in the harbour from the end of White's Creek there were c25 summer-plumaged Knot among similar numbers of Grey Plovers and c50 Dunlin, plus three Whimbrel, half a dozen Ringed Plovers and a pair of Gadwall, whilst a Holly Blue was along the adjacent hedges. (AH)






Swallows (above), Knot, Gadwall & Holly Blue around the north Wall (AH)








Pagham Spit/Lagoon: Half a dozen Little Terns and Sandwich Terns, plus a couple of Common Terns were feeding around the harbour mouth this morning, whilst five Sanderling dropped in before moving on and eight Dunlin and a couple of Ringed Plovers were in the harbour.
The spit itself was very quiet - just a few Linnet of note, whilst a Cetti's Warbler was calling from the edge of the Lagoon, but there were just a couple of Great Crested Grebes and Tufted Ducks on the water there. (AH)






Little Terns (above), Common Tern & Sanderlings from Pagham Spit (AH)










Tuesday, 14th May: More fine weather this morning, with the uninterrupted sun being somewhat offset by the brisk north-easterly breeze which moved round to south-east by late morning ......

Selsey Bill: A flock of seven very close Eider going east was nice, as was a summer-plumaged Black-throated Diver among two Red-throated Divers and an Arctic Skua chasing terns, whilst a couple of Bonxies went west, too. Full log below....... 
0545-1400hrs:  (PB/JF/OM/IP/C&ME/AH/AM et al)
Red-throated Diver - 2E
Black-throated Diver - 1E
Fulmar - 1E, 1W
Gannet - 91E, 12W
Eider - 7E
Common Scoter - 15E
Whimbrel - 6E
Bar-tailed Godwit - 6E
Grey Plover - 17E
Knot - 6E
Turnstone - 3E
Dunlin - 2E
Sanderling - 87E (some settled on shoreline briefly)
auk sp - 1E, 1W
Little Tern - 6E
Common Tern - 16E
'Commic' Tern - 20E
Sandwich Tern - 166E
Arctic Skua - 1E (l/p)
Great Skua - 2W
Kittiwake - 4E
Common Gull - 1E
Swift - 8N
House Martin - 7N, + 6p (nest-building Broadreeds estate)
Swallow - 35N
Whitethroat - 1 gardens

1700-1800hrs:  (SH)
Gannet - 20E, 5W
Common Tern - 4E, 6os
Sandwich Tern - 13E, 13os
Little Gull - 1E
auk sp - 2W


Eider (above), Common Scoter & Common Gull at the Bill (AH)




 Sanderlings at the Bill and (lower) Knot passing offshore (OM)


Ferry Pool: The pool held six Avocets, two Little Ringed Plovers, 35+ Shelducks (plus the nine youngsters) and at least 50 Black-tailed Godwits this morning.
All three Tawny Owlets could not be found this morning, so hopefully they have retreated into deeper cover, though a surprise consolation was a Barn Owl low over the trees, going east. Otherwise, it was just the usual mix of Blackcaps and Whitethroats, plus a couple of Lesser Whitethroats around the Discovery Area. (RP/AH)


Shelduck-ling (above), Blackcap & Whitethroat around the Ferry (AH)



Long Pool: There was plenty of Reed and Sedge Warbler song, plus the odd Whitethroat and Blackcap, but they were mostly keeping low in the wind. A handful of Linnets were about, too, a pair of Lapwings were over the uncultivated fields and a pair of Little Grebes were nest building, but Ferry Channel just held 12 Gadwall and a dozen Shelducks. (AH)


Little Grebe (above), Gadwall & Linnet around the Long Pool (AH)



Medmerry: Porthole Farm - A look along the Medmerry Trail produced plenty of Whitethroats, a couple of Lesser Whitethroats and Blackcaps, a Cetti's Warbler and a single Yellowhammer, whilst overhead there were 20+ Swifts and Swallows and 50+ House Martins, along with a Buzzard. (AH/IP)


Swift (above) & House Martin at Medmerry (AH)


Selsey: There was a Cream-spot Tiger in the trap this morning. (SH)


Cream-spot Tiger in a Selsey garden (SH)


Ivy Lake: At lunchtime an Egyptian Goose was flying about chasing a Shelduck, four Common Terns were roosting at the back and up to ten Pochard were on the water. (AH)
This evening the first-winter Little Gull was back feeding over the lake. (AB)

Pochard on Ivy lake (AH)



Church Norton: This evening there were seven smart summer-plumaged Knot in the harbour, along with nine Whimbrel and 22 Bar-tailed Godwits, with at least a dozen Little Terns and half a dozen Common Terns among the multitude around the island. (AH)



Knot (above) & Bar-tailed Godwit at Church Norton (AH)







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