Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 7th

Friday, 9th August: Another mild but grey morning, with the freshening breeze drifting round from south to south-west....becoming strong later but with sunny periods and far less rain than forecast!

(American) Royal Tern and Pallid Swift, Church Norton, 2018: We are pleased to note that both of these species - which are new to Sussex and of course the Peninsula - have now been accepted by BBRC, after their full consideration. The latter species seems to have been the subject of some debate elsewhere in the county, but we are delighted that BBRC, who have actually seen the full details, have decided this is the correct decision. (Eds)

Selsey Bill: A Balearic Shearwater went east at 6.32am (BI), but otherwise there were plenty of the regular species about, including a handful of Fulmars and Kittiwakes, a few Common Scoter, Common and Sandwich Terns and lots of Gannets, plus 100 or so Sand Martins going west. Full log below. (BI/AH/IP/JA)

(0615-0930hrs) Great Crested Grebe - 1os
Fulmar - 4W
Balearic Shearwater - 1E (0632hrs)
Gannet - 173E, 189W
Shoveler - 9W
Common Scoter - 13E, 11W
Grey Plover - 1W
Turnstone - 1ob
Mediterranean Gull - 1E, 6W
Kittiwake - 2E, 5W
Sandwich Tern - 55E, 42W
Common Tern - 2E, 13W
Swift- 5W
Sand Martin - 3E. 104W

Fulmar (above) & Gannet at the Bill (AH)

(1630-1800hrs) (SH/JA)
Gannet - 13E, 21W
Mediterranean Gull - 3W
Kittiwake - 2W
Sandwich Tern - 50W
Little Tern - 1W
Common Tern - 41W
Swift - 58S

Selsey, Northcommon Farm: There were two Redstarts at 'Flycatcher Corner' this morning, along with a couple of Willow Warblers and up to 50 each of Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins. (SH/AH/IP/AW)

Redstart (above) & Willow Warbler at Northcommon Farm (AH)

Ferry Pool: The Wood Sandpiper was once again at the back this morning, along with two Common Sandpipers, and there were also c80 Lapwing, c20 Black-tailed Godwits and c40 Teal present. (AH)

Common Sandpiper (above) & Black-tailed Godwit at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were four Wheatears on the spit, with 40 or so Sand Martins and Swallows, plus the odd House Martin, moving through, but the bushes were still very quiet.
In the harbour there were still at least 150 Sandwich Terns, along with a dozen Common Terns, whilst waders included a Greenshank, two Knot, five Whimbrel, c40 Ringed Plovers and c200 Dunlin. (AH/IP)

Wheatears (above), Sandwich Tern, Knot, Whimbrel & Dunlin and Ringed Plovers at Church Norton (AH)

Late this afternoon a Black Tern was on the mud among c20 Common Terns and c150 Sandwich Terns, with a Common Gull and a few Mediterranean Gulls present, too.
There were also up to six Wheatears along the spit, with four Knot and a few Whimbrel in the harbour, along with c40 Ringed Plovers and 250+ Dunlin. (AW/RP/AH/AB)

Black Tern (above), Black, Common and Sandwich Terns & Sandwich Terns at Church Norton (AH)

Black Tern at Church Norton (AW)

Medmerry: Windmill to the Coastguards Station - A Wheatear was along the cliff this afternoon. (AW)

Wheatear at Medmerry (AW)

Thursday, 8th August: A fairly grey and muggy morning, quite still early on before the breeze freshened from the west....

Selsey Bill: (0700-0915hrs) (C&ME/PC)

Gannet - 30E, 20W

Common Scoter - 1W

Turnstone - 12p

Mediterranean Gull - 1W

Sandwich Tern - 24E, 3W, 80os

Green Woodpecker - 1p (on Oval Field)

Swallow - 4W

Pied Wagtail - 2W

Selsey: There were two or three Willow Warblers and a Great Spotted Woodpecker in our garden to the north of the village this morning. (SH)

Ferry Pool: The Wood Sandpiper was at the back again this morning, and there were also a Sandwich Tern - very unusual here, two Dunlin, a dozen Black-tailed Godwits and c30 Teal present, along with a Common Sandpiper, with another in the channel opposite.

The Tramway circuit held plenty of Whitethroats plus a handful of Lesser Whitethroats, Blackcaps and Willow Warblers. (AH)

Wood Sandpiper (above), Sandwich Tern, Dunlin and Teal, Common Sandpiper, Blackcap, Willow Warbler & Whitethroat around the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were still 60+ Sandwich Terns in the harbour, along with at least four Whimbrel, a Knot and 50 or so Ringed Plovers and Dunlin.

The bushes were quiet again, though a Sedge Warbler by the hide was clearly a migrant and there were a few Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats and Blackcaps nearby, plus a couple of Painted Ladies. (AH/AW)

Knot (AW) (above), Sandwich Tern, Sedge Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and Painted Lady (AH) at Church Norton

This afternoon a Sanderling was among c250 Dunlin. (AW)

Sanderling at Church Norton (AW)

Later there was a huge gathering of terns, with at least 20 Common Terns and 200 Sandwich Terns in the harbour, including many juveniles of both species, with at least as many again of Sandwich Terns among a huge feeding gull flock offshore, of which at least 300 were Mediterranean Gulls.
There were also three Wheatears and a Willow Warbler, plus a handful of Skylarks, along the spit. (AH)

Sandwich Terns (above), Common Tern & Wheatear at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry: Two Spoonbills were out in an inaccessible area of the reserve this afternoon, and there were also a Cuckoo, a Kingfisher and two Sparrowhawks seen. (HB)

North Wall: The Squacco Heron was in the 'usual' field this morning along with 4 Little Egrets, whilst 7 Common Buzzards were thermalling just north of Halsey's Farm.

Along White's Creek were 12 Black-tailed Godwits, 9 Redshank, a Common Sandpiper, a very smart Grey Plover and 2 Greenshanks that dropped in but barely stayed a minute before flying south into the harbour. On the Breech Pool were another 10 Black-tailed Godwits but no other waders, though a small number of Sand Martins were passing through. There were 3 Wheatears along the Wall and in Honer fields there was a leucistic Starling amongst the cattle. On Honer reservoir there were 2 pairs of Tufted Ducks with 7 ducklings between them, with a Common Sandpiper also here.
This year there has been an explosion of common Field Grasshoppers and in the field behind Owl Copse three Kestrels were busily feeding on an easily acquired meal. Also worth a mention were the huge swathes of Yellow Fleabane along Pagham rife. (JDW).

Leucistic Starling at the North Wall and a profusion of Yellow Fleabane (JDW)

Sidlesham: A Jersey Tiger-moth was in our garden this afternoon. (AH)

Jersey Tiger-moth in a Sidlesham garden (AH)

Wednesday, 7th August: A mostly bright and blustery morning with a brisk south-westerly and the odd heavy squall, though warm when the sun was out.....

Selsey Bill: There wasn't too much this morning, though a Little Tern and a Fulmar went west, along with 80+ Sandwich Terns and 100+ Gannets. Full log below......
(0610-1010hrs)(BI/AH/OM/C&ME)
Fulmar - 1W
Gannet - 10E, 125W
Common Scoter - 1E
Dunlin - 2W
Turnstone - 5 ob
Little Tern - 1W
Common Tern - 16W
Sandwich Tern - 28E, 83W
Mediterranean Gull - 8W
Pied Wagtail - 1W
Swallow - 1W
Sand Martin - 3W

(1120-1220hrs) (OM et al)
Gannet - 2E
Common Scoter - 2E
Dunlin - 7W
Common Tern - 2W
Sandwich Tern - 3W

(1645-1800hrs) (SH)
Fulmar - 1W
Gannet - 6E, 17W
Common Scoter - 8E
Sanderling - 2E, 4W
Turnstone - 2p
Sandwich Tern - 78W
Common Terrn - 2W
Little Tern - 1W

Sandwich Tern (above), Mediterranean Gull, Gannet & Sand Martins at the Bill (AH)

Selsey, Northcommon Farm: A smart Pied Flycatcher was in the hedges at 'Flycatcher Corner' this morning, along with a Reed Warbler and a Willow Warbler, with 20+ House Martins feeding over the fields. (SH/AH/BI/OM/AW/SR/AB et al)

Pied Flycatcher (above) & Reed Warbler at Northcommon Farm (AH)

Pied Flycatcher (above) & Willow Warbler at Northcommon Farm (AB)

Selsey: At least twenty Sand Martins went south over the village early on. (SH)

Ferry Pool: The Wood Sandpiper continued its stay, along with a Common Sandpiper, c30 Teal, c40 Lapwings and a few Black-tailed Godwits, whilst a Whimbrel was the only bird of note in the channel opposite.

The Tramway circuit was pretty quiet, with just half a dozen widely scattered Whitethroats present, though there was a family of Lesser Whitethroats in the Discovery Area. (AH)

Lesser Whitethroat (above), Whitethroat & Whimbrel around the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: The Squacco Heron was showing in the fields at Halsey's Farm again this morning. (G Hi/AB et al)

Squacco Heron (GHi above, & AB bottom three) at Halsey's Farm

Church Norton: There were still 60+ Sandwich Terns in the harbour, plus a few Mediterranean Gulls, whilst waders included two Whimbrel and the Bar-tailed Godwit, along with c40 Ringed Plovers and similar of Dunlin and Redshank.

The bushes, though, remained very quiet, with nothing of note except the Swallows and a House Martin around the hide. (AH)