22nd - 24th November 2019

Sunday, 24th November: A surprisingly pleasant morning, quite mild, with just a light westerly breeze and the odd sunny interlude.....

Selsey Bill: Another fairly slow morning, though five different Great Northern Divers offshore and at least three Slavonian Grebes were present. Full log below. (SH/PB/IP/BI/SR/MO-W/AH)
(0715-1015hrs) (W, F2)

Great Northern Diver - 1E, 5os

Red-throated Diver 2E, 1W

Slavonian Grebe - 1E, 3W

Great Crested Grebe - 5E, 4W, 2os

Gannet - 7E, 5W

Shag - 1E

Brent Goose - 23W

Teal - 1W

Common Scoter - 11E, 5os

Red-breasted Merganser - 36E, 17W, 9os

Mediterranean Gull - 4W, 4os

Razorbill - 1os

auk sp - 7W

Common Scoters at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were two Avocets on the pool this morning, along with 50 Lapwings, c30 Shoveler, c60 Teal and ten Shelduck. 

A Yellowhammer among a dozen Reed Buntings was a surprise around the Tramway circuit, whilst there were also five Redwings that dropped in briefly, half a dozen Linnets, a couple of Goldcrests and a calling Cetti's Warbler of note. (AH)

Avocet (above), Yellowhammer, Redwings, Linnet & Reed Bunting around the Ferry (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: There were two Long-tailed Ducks south of Dell Quay this morning, along with a number of Red-breasted Mergansers. (M & L Hunt)

North Wall: Thirteen Pied Wagtails and two Meadow Pipits were in the horse paddock mid morning while the harbour contained perhaps 400 Brent Geese spread over a large area. Also, a Raven flew over, a Snipe was flushed from the rocks along the wall and 31 Curlew were feeding in the fields. (IH)

Church Norton: Along with plenty of Dunlin, Turnstones and Grey Plover were three Knot, whilst the Whimbrel was in its usual haunts this morning, four Avocets flew around the harbour and a great many Brent Geese and Lapwing were flying around at the far end.

Three Snipe and a Stonechat were around the creek by the horse field, a Peregrine was on its island, the Eider was distantly viewable on the Pagham side and half a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers were inside the harbour and/or offshore. 
Also, a few Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were along the spit and a Common Seal cruised along the adjacent channel and was seen eating a good-sized flatfish. (AH & the SOS)

Snipe (above), Whimbrel, Red-breasted Merganser, Knot, Dunlin, Turnstones and Grey Plovers & Common Seal at Church Norton (AH)

Chi GPs - Drayton House Pits: The Great White Egret was present again this morning on the south pit and viewable from the usual gate - but seemed to be particularly flighty today, before roosting in trees with a Heron; later it also went for a fly around the pits before disappearing. Also present were three Little Egrets, 30 Shoveler, 40 Teal, six squealing Water Rails, three Snipe, six Chiffchaffs and five Cetti's Warblers. (OM/CRJ)

The Great White Egret in flight at Drayton House GPs (OM)

Saturday, 23rd November: A fairly miserable day, with leaden grey skies, rain and showers on and off and a moderate but cool E/NE wind.....

Selsey Bill: A slow morning, with three Slavonian Grebes and three Great Northern Divers about the best on offer....
(0715-0900hrs)  (wind E4)  (SH/BI/IP)

Red-throated Diver - 1E

Great Northern Diver - 3 os

Slavonian Grebe - 3E

Great Crested Grebe - 1 os

Cormorant - 77E

Gannet - 1W

Common Scoter - 2E

Red-breasted Merganser - 18E, 1W, 24 os

Razorbill - 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 7E, 2 os

Common Gull - 1E

Chiffchaff - 2

Ferry Pool: There was just the usual mix of c100 Lapwings, c30 Shoveler and Teal, plus a handful of Shelduck on the pool, whilst a Kingfisher was in the channel opposite. (AH)

Long Pool: Half a dozen Reed Buntings, a Chiffchaff and a couple of Goldcrests were along the hedges, whilst five Snipe and c40 Golden Plovers flew over and half a dozen Pintail were among the many Wigeon and teal in the channel. (AH)

Reed Bunting (above) & Snipe along the Long Pool (AH)

Medmerry (west): A Dartford Warbler was showing well in the gorse by the Stilt pool this morning but there was little on the pool itself other than a few Canada Geese and Mallards. A good look around at Ham in search of the Richard's Pipit unsurprisingly failed to find it but there were plenty of Meadow Pipits and a few Skylarks & Yellowhammers about. (BI)

Dartford Warbler at Medmerry (BI)

Medmerry (east): Coastguards to the Breach - There was a Black Redstart around the Coastguard Station and 7 Pied Wagtails with 5 Meadow Pipits on the beach but it was a lot quieter than of late, with not a single Stonechat seen. 
The birds at Toe End had moved on, leaving a couple of Pied Wagtails, 3 Meadow Pipits and a flock of Goldfinch. At the viewpoint the pools held 2 female Goldeneye, 5 Great Crested Grebes, a Little Grebe, c150 Brent Geese, 50 Ringed Plover, 27 Grey Plover, 8 Dunlin, 6 Curlew and the usual Teal and Wigeon. Two Peregrines and a Kestrel were also present. (SR)

North Wall: Whites Creek contained 150 Brent Geese and a similar number of Black-tailed Godwits at about 10.30hrs. 

Along the Wall there was a Green Woodpecker and a Sparrowhawk, whilst 6 Little Egrets and 4 Cattle Egrets formed a group south of Marsh Farm and 750+ Brent Geese occupied a field next to their previous favourite at Honer, with a Kestrel nearby. (IH)

Park Farm, Selsey: Two Stonechats and six Pied Wagtails were in the fields, along with eight Chaffinches – the most we have seen here for a long time. (S&SaH)

Church Norton: There was very little to report today, with a Water Rail in the Severals and five Red-breasted Mergansers in the harbour the best of it. (S&SaH)

Fishbourne Creek: The Long-tailed Duck was still present, but a little further out, to the south of the pub early afternoon, whilst a drake Goldeneye was further up the creek, where there were also a handful of Red-breasted Mergansers..
A Kingfisher was showing well, whilst passerines included a Grey Wagtail, a Yellowhammer, a Stonechat and a couple of Reed Buntings, though only one Rock Pipit.
Among the many waders present were two Greenshank, two Black-tailed Godwits, c40 Turnstones, c50 Grey Plovers and 500 Dunlin, whilst there were at least 500 Brent Geese and Wigeon about, too.

There was also an interesting diversion, as a Cormorant caught a fish too large to eat, which was then stolen by a Grey Heron, which then had the same problem. Eventually it took it up onto the mud, with a Great Black-backed Gull in attendance, but still couldn't decide whether to eat it or not, before giving up and retreating to the water. The gull promptly moved in, but the heron couldn't bear to give up its prize and came back to reclaim it (with the gull readily giving way). This happened at least three times before we gave up watching!

(AH)

Long-tailed Duck (above), Goldeneye, Greenshank, Kingfisher, Stonechat, Buzzard, Dunlin and Turnstones & Grey Heron at Fishbourne Creek (AH)

Friday, 22nd November: Another cool, grey and blustery morning, with a stiff breeze from just the east side of south....

Selsey Bill: A little feeding flock of Gannets built up well offshore this morning, but otherwise activity was restricted to local movement. Full log below. 

(0730-0930) (S F5)  (BI/AH/IP/SR)

Red-throated Diver – 4E, 1W

Great Crested Grebe – 4E, 1os

Gannet – 17E, 15W, c.40 os

Brent Goose – 2E

Common Scoter – 4E, 2W, 7os

Red-breasted Merganser – 10E, 12W, 6os

Common Gull – 3E

Mediterranean Gull – 4E

Kittiwake – 2E

auk sp. – 4E, 1W

Razorbill – 1E

Meadow Pipit – 1E

Chiffchaff – 1 

Red-throated Divers (above) & Gannets at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Around 100 Lapwing were on the pool, along with 40 Teal, 30 Shoveler and eight Shelducks, whilst the channel opposite held another 100 Teal and similar of Wigeon, plus a few Redshank and a Grey Plover. (AH)

Grey Plover (above), Teal & Lapwings and Shovelers around the Ferry (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: The Long-tailed Duck was again just north of Dell Quay this morning. but was later flushed down-stream by bait diggers. (BI/SR/MO-W/CMc)

Long-tailed Duck (above SR, below BI) & with Brent Goose at Dell Quay (SR)

North Wall: Not much to report in a quick look this morning, but 300+ Brent Geese flew out from White's Creek heading north-west, returning a quarter of an hour later. (IH)

Medmerry: Breach area - There was little to see this morning, with a Stonechat, a Meadow Pipit and six Starlings being the only passerines seen, and the breach area only holding a dozen Shelducks, four Great Crested Grebes, two Curlew and eight Dunlin. (AH)

Shelduck at Medmerry (AH)

Pagham Spit and East side:  A count of birds from the east side over the high tide period included - 

14 Red-breasted Merganser

6 Avocet (one flock on the western side of the harbour)

231 Grey Plover

900 Lapwing

36 Turnstone

420 Black-tailed Godwit (one flock off the North Wall)

560 Knot

90 Golden Plover

1W drake Eider still off the site of the old hide on Pagham spit

14 Little Grebe

104 Pintail

40 Linnet in one flock on Pagham spit

2 leucistic Brent Geese, both with fully white head and necks, though one bird was pure white and the other some black intermixed

1 adult Peregrine

14 Rock Pipit along the east side of the harbour, from Pagham spit to the North Wall

44 Stock Dove in one flock in a field behind Little Welbourne (IMcK)

Eider (above), leucistic Brent Goose & Stock Doves around the east side of Pagham Harbour (IMcK)