Monday, 30th September: A morning that started still and overcast, with the breeze freshening from the south-west and brightening a little, though with the forecast of heavy rain later..........
Selsey Bill: A Merlin in off the sea late in the morning was the highlight, but there were also 80+ Sandwich Terns and an Arctic Skua, plus a selection of migrants, including 1000+ Meadow Pipits and 1700+ Swallows moving west, 30 Chiffchaffs and five Wheatears. Full log below...... (0700-1230hrs) (NW2-SW5) (C&ME/IP/OM/PD/AH)
Red-throated Diver - 1W
Great Crested Grebe - 1os
Gannet - 5E, 78W
Shag - 4E, 1W
Brent Goose - 1E, 23W
Common Scoter - 16E, 35W
Turnstone - 12W
Merlin - 1 in NW
Commic Tern - 18W
Sandwich Tern - 84W
Mediterranean Gull - 62W
Arctic Skua - 1W (d/p)
Green Woodpecker - 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Meadow Pipit - 1026W
alba Wagtail - 28W
House Martin - 205W
Swallow - 1755W
Wheatear - 5 ob
Stonechat - 1 Oval field
Skylark - 2W
Lesser Whitethroat - 1 Oval field
Chiffchaff - 30
Goldcrest - 1
Goldfinch - 70W
Swallow (above) & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)
Stonechat and Wheatear at the Bill (OM)
(1445-1600hrs) (SSW5) (CRJ)
Great Crested Grebe - 1os
Gannet - 5W
Shag - 1W
Red-breasted Merganser - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 2E, 2W, 1os
(1640-1800hrs) (SH)
Great Crested Grebe - 1os
Gannet - 1W
Shag - 3W
Common Scoter - 2E
Mediterranean Gull - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 3W
Swallow - 1W
Pied Wagtail - 1W
Goldcrest - 1
Ferry Pool: Two Snipe on the concealed pool were the only birds of note early on, with otherwise just c30 Black-tailed Godwits and c100 Lapwing, plus three Shelduck and a dozen Teal present.
At least a dozen Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were around the bushes, plus a few Goldcrests, whilst c100 House Martins and a few Swallows went over. (AH)
Snipe (above), Blackcap & Song Thrush around the Ferry (AH)
Long Pool: The Osprey was viewable, sat out in the harbour from the far end, whilst the adjacent fields held 26 Golden Plover, several Wheatears and 100s of Meadow Pipits, with two Whinchats and lots of Blackcaps along the hedges. (AB)
Northcommon Farm: Three Swifts went over among a steady movement of Swallows and House Martins this morning. (SH)
Church Norton: An Osprey was over the harbour early on, before being seen off by a Peregrine, whist at least three Wheatears and lots of Meadow Pipits were along the spit.
Northcommon Farm: Three Swifts went over among a steady movement of Swallows and House Martins this morning. (SH)
Church Norton: An Osprey was over the harbour early on, before being seen off by a Peregrine, whist at least three Wheatears and lots of Meadow Pipits were along the spit.
Also, a Firecrest and a dozen or so Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs were around the churchyard hide area and hundreds of Swallows and House Martins were overhead. (AW/AH et al)
The very high tide precluded walking to the beach, but from the footpath, 60 Grey Plover and 3 Knot were on the concrete blocks and around the churchyard, a large tit flock included eight Chiffchaffs and a Firecrest. (CRJ)
The very high tide precluded walking to the beach, but from the footpath, 60 Grey Plover and 3 Knot were on the concrete blocks and around the churchyard, a large tit flock included eight Chiffchaffs and a Firecrest. (CRJ)
Osprey (above), Osprey & Peregrine, Kingfisher, Firecrest, Goldcrest, Wheatear, Sparrowhawk, Shelduck sp (AW) & Chiffchaff (AH) at Church Norton
Pagham Lagoon/Spit: A look around the spit produced the first Rock Pipit of the autumn, along with two Wheatears, 60+ Meadow Pipits, a Swift and 100+ Swallows and House Martins.
A Shelduck sp was seen distantly in the harbour - either a Ruddy or a Cape, whilst the Osprey, a Peregrine eating prey, three Bar-tailed Godwits, a dozen Grey Plovers and a few Pintail, Wigeon and Teal were also seen. Also, a Common Sandpiper was on the Lagoon and three Gannets were offshore. (PB/BI)
North Wall: A Spotted Redshank was close to the sluice gates, with a Greenshank and six Pintail in White's Creek, whilst a flock of about 50 Canada Gees flew over containing the two Bar-headed Geese.
Two Wheatears were patrolling the rocks along the wall, whilst plenty of Chiffchaffs and Reed Buntings were present in the bushes and many Swallows and House Martins passed overhead during the two hour walk. (IH)
Also, a Merlin was seen in the horse field at Welbourne, it flushed some small birds from the reedbed and was last seen chasing these heading north. A lot of migrants along the Wall. At least 12 Chiffchaffs, five Blackcaps, two Wheatears, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Whinchat. Along Bremere Rife, close to the harbour sluice were three Cattle Egret, with at least 5 Chiffchaffs in Owl Copse.
In the copse at Bremere Bridge were nine Blackcap and six Chiffchaffs, with a further four of the latter in the western hedge boundary of Honer 1 field.(JDW)
Halsey's Farm: A Whinchat was among at least six Stonechats this morning, with up to ten Chiffchaffs in the bushes and up to 400 Meadow Pipits on the fields, with similar of Swallows and House Martins going over.
Also, two Cattle Egrets and three Little Egrets were among the cattle nearby. (AH)
Also, two Cattle Egrets and three Little Egrets were among the cattle nearby. (AH)
Whinchat (above), Chiffchaff, Meadow Pipit & Cattle Egret around Halsey's Farm (AH)
East Head: A group of 17 Brent Geese arrived this morning. (MR)
Brent Geese at East Head (MR)
Sunday, 29th September: Gales and heavy rain overnight, continuing into the morning, with leaden skies, a gale-force SW wind and frequent heavy showers or longer periods of rain......
Selsey Bill: Very quiet offshore this morning, initially with almost nothing moving early on. As the day progressed a few Gannets and Terns did eventually show as did a small flock of Golden Plover. Full log below.....
0645-1115hrs: (WSW F6-7 gusting F8) (SH/PB/BI/IP/CMu)
Gannet - 19E, 23W
Great Crested Grebe - 2W, 1os
Common Scoter - 2E, 2W
Curlew - 2W
Golden Plover - 4W
Common Tern - 14W
Arctic Tern - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 9W
Mediterranean Gull - 2W
Kittiwake - 1W
Wheatear - 1
Swallow - 5E
Common Terns passing the Bill (SH), above, & Turnstone and Gannet (BI)
Gannet - 2W
Sandwich Terns - 3W
Kittiwake - 1W
Swallow - 2W, 10 area (resting on wires)
Ferry Pool: Three Spotted Redshanks were here mid-morning but otherwise it was just Black-tailed Godwits and Shelducks present. (BI/HR)
A walk around the area behind the Visitor centre this afternoon in the wind and rain produced very little; just 6 Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps and a Reed Warbler, but no sign of any Starlings. (CRJ) This afternoon at the Ferry Pool were singles of both Snipe & Black-tailed Godwits and three Sandwich Terns flew by the Tramway. (AW)
Snipe at the Ferry Pool (AW)
Pagham Beach: A look at the new lagoons along Pagham beachfront produced a Wheatear, c.20 Turnstones and many of the commoner Gulls. Two Sandwich Terns went west offshore and a Cormorant successfully caught an Eel. (BI/DB)
Cormorant with Eel at Pagham (BI)
Church Norton: In the orchard at Greenlease Farm late afternoon were seven Chiffchaffs whilst five Sandwich Terns flew over and another three Sandwich Terns were noted going west along the beach. At Church Norton there were 20 Grey Plovers roosting on the mud along with eight Sandwich Terns, a Wheatear was on the concrete spit and at least 30 Swallows passed overhead. (SH)
Late this afternoon a probable arctic Tern was flying around the harbour. (AW)
West Itchenor/Chichester Marina: An Osprey was off West Itchenor at lunchtime today, whilst later on there were nine Greenshanks roosting on the very high tide nearby at the Marina. (HB)
Fishbourne Creek: An Osprey was over the channel at 10.45am, and the Ruff was again along the east side. (PH)
Late this afternoon a probable arctic Tern was flying around the harbour. (AW)
West Itchenor/Chichester Marina: An Osprey was off West Itchenor at lunchtime today, whilst later on there were nine Greenshanks roosting on the very high tide nearby at the Marina. (HB)
Fishbourne Creek: An Osprey was over the channel at 10.45am, and the Ruff was again along the east side. (PH)
North Wall: Whites Creek contained two Spotted Redshanks this morning and there was a Wheatear among the rocks. Three Cattle Egrets and two Yellow Wagtails were amongst the cattle at the end of the wall and some 30 Swallows with one or two House Martins were above, whilst aSparrowhawk also flew over. (IH)
Sidlesham: A Hobby flew over the observers' garden at 1615hrs (A&YF)
Saturday, 28th September: Remaining very unsettled but a bit better today, though still very blustery......a welcome sunny start with some blue sky but also plenty of cloud, with the risk of heavy showers through the day and a strong and persistent WSW wind force 6-7....
Selsey Bill: An Arctic Skua went west, as did 20 Sandwich Terns and 70+ Meadow Pipits, but there was less movement than the last few days. Full log below......
0645-0900hrs: (WSW6) (SH/BI/IP)
Gannet - 15E, 3W
Shag - 2E
Common Scoter - 2E, 4W
Common Tern - 6W
Sandwich Tern - 20W
Arctic Skua - 1W (l/p)
Mediterranean Gull - 2W
Meadow Pipit - 74N
Pied Wagtail - 7W
Grey Wagtail - 1W
Swallow - 11W
Goldcrest - 1 Bill House garden
Linnet - 11N
1300-1400hrs: (WSW6) (SH)
Gannet - 1W
Great Crested Grebe - 1 os
Sandwich Tern - 1W
Meadow Pipit at the Bill (BI)
North Wall & Halsey's Farm: A Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail were around the sluice area early on, whilst 30 Wigeon and a Greenshank were at White's Creek. Along the Wall were a Wheatear, a couple of Cetti's Warblers and several Chiffchaffs, plus several Swallows overhead and 25 Black-tailed Godwits in the fields, then an Osprey moved slowly north through the harbour.
At Halsey's Farm at least 15 Yellow Wagtails were in with the cattle and three Cattle Egrets showed well. (OM/BFF/IH) Later, the Cattle Egret count had increased to five. (IL)
Osprey (above), Black-tailed Godwits and Grey Wagtail at the North Wall. (BFF)
Cattle Egrets at Halsey's Farm (BFF)
Ferry Pool & Tramway: There was no sign of the juv Rose-coloured Starling in the blustery conditions all morning; however, with the tide dropping, it was re-located in the same area of the Tramway as previously, at around 1530hrs. (AW)
The Osprey perched on a distant signpost near Sidlesham village was viewable from the Tramway late morning, and a juvenile Hobby flew over the harbour, causing an unseen Spotted Redshank to call, whilst four Pintail, a Whimbrel and 20+ Meadow Pipits were also logged. The Ferry Pool held the usual suspects this morning: c.30 Black-tailed Godwits, a few Teal, six Shelduck and 40 Black-headed Gulls and this afternoon produced a single Greenshank. (OM/BFF/BI/AW et al)
Church Norton: A very high tide hampered viewing somewhat, but four Sandwich Terns and a Whimbrel were in the harbour and a Peregrine was sat on its island for some while. (OM/BFF)
Greenlease
Farm orchard held at least ten Chiffchaffs feeding continuously, whilst a female
Stonechat was in the bushes in front of the first Several and two Cetti’s
Warblers were calling from the reedbed.
The Osprey
caught a fish in the harbour and then flew towards the Visitor Centre with a fish
firmly in its talons, whilst being harried by two Great Black-backed Gulls.
The harbour
was very full of water, but held at least thirty Pintail and a dozen Wigeon, whilst nine Sandwich Terns were
feeding offshore. On the wader
front there was a flock of fifty Lapwings, at least a dozen Grey Plovers roosting along the spit and thirty flying in the harbour, plus five
Black-tailed Godwits and two Bar-tailed Godwits roosting with a large number of Redshank.
Finally, three Wheatears were feeding on the shingle below the concrete spit, five Chiffchaffs were along the beach and a single Sand Martin was present. (IP/SH)
This afternoon among the usual waders were still two Bar-tailed Godwits, three Grey Plovers and a Whimbrel whilst an Arctic Tern was fishing offshore. (AW)
Arctic Tern at Church Norton (AW)
Selsey, Park Farm: There were 50 Curlews in the field awaiting housing development and a Sparrowhawk flew across the same field, whilst the first line of Poplars held two Grey Wagtails, a Stonechat and a Pied Wagtail. Three Chiffchaffs and a Jay were also present and a Hobby also flew low and fast over the horse paddocks. (IP/SH)
Medmerry: Easton Lane to Stilt pool - Two Greenshank were in the channel near the poplars, whilst along the banks and hedgerows were 30+ Skylarks, 20+ Meadow Pipits, 20+ Swallows, 4 Yellowhammers, 5 Stonechats, a Whinchat, a Wheatear, two Sand Martins and a Buzzard.
The only bird of note on the pool was a single Greenshank. (SH)
Stonechat at Medmerry (SH)
Fishbourne Creek: The Ruff was still in the creek today and an Osprey flew over. (PH)
They may fly on sunny days into November. Also there were three ancient Common Blue, a Peacock and a Painted Lady. (CRJ)
Long-tailed Blues at Pagham (CRJ)
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