Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 25th

Thursday, 27th June: A very bright and sunny morning, but with the brisk north-easterly just keeping it cool....

Ferry Pool: Ten Avocets flew in from the harbour early this morning, but otherwise it was the usual fare of two Little Ringed Plovers, two juvenile Lapwings, ten Redshank and the Shelduck family, with the Sedge Warbler still singing from the Small Pool.. (AH)

Avocets (above), Little Ringed Plover, Sedge Warbler & Goat's-beard around the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: There wasn't much showing along the pool in the brisk breeze, though Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Reed and Sedge Warblers, plus Reed Buntings,were all heard.

Ferry Channel was quite busy on the rising tide, including a dozen Curlew, c30 Lapwing and c40 Redshank, plus a couple of Black-tailed Godwits. (AH)

Redshanks in Ferry Channel (AH)

Church Norton: The first fledged Sandwich Tern, along with a few young Black-headed Gulls, was sat out on the island this morning and a couple pairs of Little Terns - presumably failed breeders and possibly from elsewhere - were displaying and fish-passing at the end of the spit.

Otherwise there was still a huge amount of activity around the tern colony, with a constant supply of fish being brought in, half a dozen Swifts went over, a couple of pairs of Ringed Plovers were along the spit and a handful of Curlews were in the harbour. (AH)

Little Terns (above), Sandwich Terns, Common Tern, Swift & Ringed Plover at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry: Porthole Farm - There were only a couple of Swifts, Swallows and House Martins about this evening, with a few Yellowhammers, Whitethroats and a Lesser Whitethroat in the hedges, along with a Common Darter, a Gatekeeper and at least three Painted Ladies.
There were also a dozen Mediterranean Gulls and four Stock Doves among the Black-headed Gulls and Wood Pigeons on the cultivated fields. (AH)

Stock Dove (above), Mediterranean Gulls, Whitethroat & Common Darter at Medmerry (AH)

North Wall: The Breach Pool was full of water and thus devoid of birds, whilst the lone Brent Goose, along with a few Black-tailed Godwits were among the few birds in the harbour

Also, two feisty Purple Hairstreaks were chasing each other around the tops of the trees down the bottom of the path near the stables and there were a Small Tortoiseshell and a tatty Holly Blue about, too. (AB)

Black-tailed Godwit (above), Great Black-backed Gull & Purple Hairstreak around the North Wall (AB)

Wednesday, 26th June: A grey, cloudy and fairly cool morning with a fresh NE wind and even a couple of spots of drizzle, before finally becoming much warmer and giving way to bright sunshine around noon....though still with a brisk wind.

North Wall: Water levels on the Breech Pool are back to overflowing and this morning the only waders were some 40 Black-tailed Godwits and 2 Lapwing that were behind the reeds in the western corner. Ducks however were low in number and included just 6 Teal, 2 Shelduck, 2 Tufted and several Mallard.
A Cuckoo was calling at Honer but otherwise bird life was very scarce, whilst the Coot family at Owl Water have lost 2 chicks and are now down to one. Orchids are quite rare along the Wall so it was a pleasant surprise to see 3 Pyramidal Orchids along the lower path and there is a profusion of dog roses in the area. (JDW)

Young Coot at Owl water, and Pyramidal Orchid and wild Dog Roses at the North wall (JDW)

East side: There was little to report this morning, the only bird of note being a lonely Brent Goose way out on the mudflats, where at least 12 Curlews and 10 Oystercatchers were also present. At least 40 Black-headed and 10 Mediterranean Gulls were out on the saltings, whilst a single Common Tern was fishing in White's creek. (OM)

Phone-scoped image of the distant Brent Goose from the east side. (OM)

Ferry Pool: There were just lone Little Ringed Plover, Lapwing and Redshank, plus the Shelduck family on the pool this morning, whilst six Curlews, c30 Redshank and Lapwing and a female Wigeon were in the channel opposite, a Stock Dove was in the EA yard and the Sedge Warbler was still singing from the Small Pool. (AH)

Little Ringed Plover (above), Sedge Warbler, Wigeon & Stock Dove around the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: The mother Gadwall appeared to have at least eight ducklings still, on the pool, but there wasn't much else beyond a Great Crested Grebe and two Tufted Ducks.

There were still two singing Lesser Whitethroats, a Whitethroat and several Linnets and Reed Buntings singing along the hedges, with a number of Reed Warblers singing from the reed-beds. (AH)

Lesser Whitethroat (above), Linnet, Reed Bunting & Roe Deer along the Long Pool (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The Quail was still intermittently calling from the field to the west of the sluice, however it was then heard about half hour later in the field near the poplars but it was not seen moving location!!! Also the Spoonbill was still on the Stilt Pools. (IL)

Runcton: In a Runcton garden moth trap this morning were examples of Light Emerald, Dun-bar and Barred Yellow. (CRJ)

Light Emerald (above), Dun-bar (centre) and Barred Yellow (lower) at Runcton. (CRJ)

Tuesday, 25th June: After a very wet night and a murky start, an increasingly warm and sunny day, with just a light south-westerly breeze.

Ferry Pool: Still nothing much to report, with just the Shelduck family and half a dozen Redshanks on the pool and the Sedge Warbler again in the adjacent Small Pool. (AH/IP)

Shelducks on the Ferry (AH)

Halsey's Farm and North Wall: There were still Cuckoos calling at both Halsey's Farm and behind the Breech Pool this morning and a Barn Owl was seen carrying prey near Owl Copse.

A Lesser Whitethroat and a Chiffchaff were singing at Halsey's Farm, with another of the latter in Owl Copse and plenty of Reed and the odd Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting still singing along the Breech Pool, whilst at least three Sand Martins and up to a dozen Swallows went over, along with a couple of Common Terns.

The Breech Pool was quiet, with just a few Black-tailed Godwits, Redshank and Lapwing on the mud, with about 15 Teal and a Wigeon about, too and a Grey Heron was seen dispatching an eel, whilst out in the harbour there were 30+ Redshanks and similar of Mediterranean Gulls.

Also, the strikingly pale - apparently leucistic - Starling was among a flock towards Owl Point and a female Common Blue was at Halsey's Farm, along with lots of Meadow Browns. (AH/IP/AM)

Reed Warbler (above), Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaff, Wigeon, Teal, Grey Heron, leucistic Starling and Common Blue around the North Wall (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the stilt Pool - The Quail was still calling today, in the uncropped field north-west of the first sluice by the Poplars, and the Spoonbill was still on the stilt Pool. (BFF/GW et al)

Spoonbill at Medmerry (GW)

This evening, the Quail was still calling from the same place, a Green Sandpiper flew up from a small pool, and the Spoonbill, two Little Ringed Plovers and a Cuckoo were at the stilt pool. A Painted Lady was also in the area.(SH)

Spoonbill (above) & Painted Lady at Medmerry (SH)

Later still, both Barn Owls were out hunting the banks and were twice seen to take sizeable rodent prey. Also, on the Stilt Pool a juvenile Little Ringed Plover (the first sighted this summer) was with two adults, who were getting very upset with a Ringed Plover. The Spoonbill was still present, as were several juvenile Lapwings and what looked like a mother sat on young, whilst a Peregrine went over. (AH)

Juvenile Little Ringed Plover (above) & Barn Owls at Medmerry (AH)

Church Norton: A quick late morning look produced plenty of Little, Common and Sandwich Terns still actively bringing in fish, whilst at least ten Curlews and a handful of Dunlin and Ringed Plover were on the mud. (AH)

Earlier, a Whimbrel was seen among the Curlews and the first Gatekeeper of the year was spotted, along with a Common Lizard near the hide. (GW et al)
Late afternoon, a Grey Plover was also present. (AW)