14th - 16th July 2019

Tuesday, 16th July: A warm and increasingly sunny morning, with just a light sea-breeze.....

Ferry Pool: There is a bit more water in the pool again, though there still weren't too many birds present, though those that were included a Little Ringed Plover, a Common Sandpiper, two juvenile Lapwings, 32 Black-tailed Godwits and two Teal.

The channel opposite was more interesting, with a brief Kingfisher, a Spotted Redshank, a Greenshank, five Whimbrel, a dozen Black-tailed Godwits and Redshank and eight Teal present. 

Also, a Hobby went over the Tramway, and around the circuit there were several families of Whitethroats and Blackcaps, plus a few Linnets and a big family of Long-tailed Tits. (AH)

Kingfisher (above), Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Little Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Hobby, Whitethroat & Blackcap around the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: An update on the tern colony - at the last count there were 119 fledged young Sandwich Terns, 13 Little Terns and 17 Common Terns, with up to 20 more chicks of the former and one or two of the latter two still to fledge. (IL)

This morning there were still around 20 Little Terns in the harbour, along with dozens of Sandwich Terns and just a few Common Terns, whilst waders included a couple of Whimbrel and Grey Plovers and a dozen Turnstones. Small birds were thin on the ground, but a few Skylarks and Linnets were along the spit, one or two Whitethroats were about and a sand Martin and a couple of Swallows went over. (AH/IL)

Sandwich Tern (above), Little Tern, Turnstones & Childling Pink at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: Fairly quiet again on the Breech Pool, with 29 Black-tailed Godwits, two Teal and a dozen Mallard, plus a few Reed and Sedge Warblers active and giving occasional bits of song. A Spotted Redshank was along White's Creek with c.50 Common Redshank and a few Black-tailed Godwits but little else of note. (OM/IH) 

Later a Cattle Egret put in a brief and unexpected appearance on the Pool. (IB).

East side: Quieter than yesterday, with just singles of Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, Whimbrel and Grey Plover, plus 15 Dunlin and an eclipse drake Wigeon. A mixed flock of c.30 Swallows and Sand Martins also passed through heading generally south, the majority of 20+ being the latter species. (OM/IH)

Park Farm, Selsey: This evening there were 50+ Sand Martins, 40+ Swallows, 40+ House Martins, 10+ Swifts, two Buzzards and a Jay. (SH)

Medmerry: Ham Farm - There were at least six Corn Buntings present this evening, including two in the big wheat field by the farm, whilst there were also a couple of Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers and up to a dozen (mostly juvenile) Whitethroats around the hedges.

About 20 Sand Martins and similar of Swallows were also present, plus a handful of Linnets, whilst a couple of Sandwich Terns were offshore from the breach and two Whimbrels were flying around the reserve, calling. (AH)

Corn Bunting (above), Linnet & Sand Martin at Medmerry (AH)

Monday, 15th July: A fairly cool and grey morning, with lots of cloud and a moderate to fresh north-easterly breeze.....but becoming brighter later.

Ferry Pool: There were 44 Black-tailed Godwits on the pool this morning, along with a couple of Shelducks, whilst a Common Sandpiper was present later on. Also, a Greenshank, two Whimbrels and a few Black-tailed Godwits and Redshanks were along the channel opposite. (AH)

This afternoon there was a very confiding Greenshank in the channel as well as two more distant Spotted Redshanks. On the Ferry there was a Common Sandpiper along with a dozen Black-tailed Godwits. (AW)

Common Sandpiper (above), Whimbrel, Black-tailed Godwit & juvenile Redshank around the Ferry (AH)

 Greenshank (with interesting old Jeyes bottle in the mud!) and Spotted Redshank in Ferry channel (AW)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The Spoonbill was absent early on, before re-appearing later on the Stilt Pool, where there were also four Greenshanks, four Common Sandpipers, a Little Ringed Plover, a couple of Black-tailed Godwits and a handful of Lapwings.
There were also at least two Yellow Wagtails, two Meadow Pipits, a Sedge Warbler and a dozen or so Swallows and Sand Martins around the pool, with a Pintail, several Gadwall and a Common Tern also present, whilst a Whimbrel was in the channel opposite and a tight flock of six Little Terns went west offshore.
At least three juvenile Stonechats were near the first viewpoint, a Greenshank was near the Poplars and there were lots of Whitethroats, Yellowhammers, Linnets and Skylarks, plus a few Reed Warblers and Reed Buntings along the banks. (AH/IP)

Spoonbill (above), Greenshank, Greenshank and Common Sandpiper, Yellow Wagtail, Sand Martin, Stonechat, Pintail, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer & Whitethroat at Medmerry (AH)

Snowhill Creek: There were seven Black-tailed Godwits in the creek this morning. (MR)

Black-tailed Godwits in Snowhill Creek (MR)

North Wall: On the Breech Pool a little mud was showing, although bird-wise not a great deal was on show; 20 Black-tailed Godwits were joined by another 25 which flew in, whilst 10 Teal and a dozen Mallard were making up the numbers. In White’s creek a Common Sandpiper showed well early on, as did a couple of Whimbrel, and 70 Redshank were spread along the channel. An adult-type Yellow-legged Gull initially showed on the mudflats, before abruptly disappearing, then later re-locating to the saltmarsh where it spent much of its time dozing. (OM)

Common Sandpiper (above) and Whimbrel in White's creek (OM)

Phone-scoped record shots of the distant adult-type Yellow-legged Gull (with Grey Plovers) on the North Wall saltings (OM)

East side: A few waders were present on the rising tide, including 6 Grey Plover, a Greenshank and 8 Dunlin, with another flock of c.50 of the later zooming about before disappearing to the other side of the harbour. A couple of Little Terns also put in an appearance, fishing in the channel. (OM)

Sunday, 14th July: A day that started bright and sunny before a bank of heavy cloud, with attendant light drizzle, pushed through from the north-east mid-morning, clearing later....

Selsey Bill: (0630-0830) (SH/BI)

Great Crested Grebe - 1W

Gannet - 13E, 5W

Common Scoter - 3E

Mediterranean Gull - 1W

Sandwich Tern - 33os (inc 2 juvs)

Little Tern - 1os

Common Ten - 1os

Swift - 31p

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1p

Swallow - 16p

House Martin - 6p

Pied Wagtail - 4p

Pied Wagtail at the Bill (SH)

Ferry Pool: There were just 25 Black-tailed Godwits and three Shelduck on the pool early on, though a Common Sandpiper and two juvenile Lapwings were also present later, at high tide, along with a couple of Reed Warblers at the front, whilst a Greenshank and two Whimbrel, plus a few Black-tailed Godwits were in the channel opposite. (AH/IP)

Greenshank (above), Common Sandpiper and Lapwing, Reed Warbler & Shelduck around the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: There were at least eight juvenile Gadwall, plus the mother, on the pool this morning, whilst several Reed and Sedge Warblers were about, though only a couple of the former were still singing, along with a family of Blackcaps and a few Whitethroats, Linnets and Reed Buntings. Two Wigeon were in Ferry Channel, along with c30 Redshank and a few Curlews. (AH/IP) Later a Sptted Redshank & a Greenshank were in the channel. (ESt)

Gadwall (above), Sedge Warbler, Blackcap & Linnets along Long Pool (AH)

Church Norton: There were 36 Little Terns, including at least two juveniles, a dozen Common Terns and 100+ Sandwich Terns, including many juveniles, around the islands this morning, along with a dozen Mediterranean Gulls among the hordes of Black-headed Gulls.

There were at least two Whimbrel in the harbour, along with ten Turnstones, a dozen Ringed Plovers and a few Black-tailed Godwits and Curlews, plus at least 50 Redshank, whilst a couple of swallows and a Swift went over. (AH/IP) 
A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was in the gull roost this morning and a juvenile Cuckoo flew through whilst there were 279 Gatekeeper butterflies along the path. (ESt)

Sandwich Tern (above), Whimbrel & Sandwich Terns, Little Terns and Turnstone at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The Spoonbill was still on the Stilt Pool this morning, along with three Greenshank, four Common Sandpipers, a Little Ringed Plover, a sandwich Tern and a Common Tern. 

A Great Crested Grebe was in another of the pools and the Greenshank was near the Poplars, whilst along the banks there were two Stonechats and four Reed Warblers, with a couple of Sand Martins and 20+ Swallows over. Butterflies included a fresh Brown Argus, Small Skippers and Essex Skippers.

(BI/SH)

Spoonbill (above), Greenshank & Skylark at Medmerry (SH), Brown Argus & Essex Skipper (BI)

Runcton: In the moth trap this morning there were five new ones for us, Dusky Sallow, Pebble Hook-tip, Ruby Tiger, Herald, and Least Carpet. (C&MJ)

Dusky Sallow, Pebble Hook-tip, Ruby Tiger, Herald & Least Carpet in a Runcton garden (CRJ)

 

Sidlesham Village: A Coal Tit was present this morning. (ESt)

North Wall: A Grey Plover was in the harbour early on along with c.50 Black-tailed Godwits and a Kingfisher and two Cetti's Warblers were nearby. (ESt)