7th - 9th December 2019

Monday, 9th December: Another bright, but very windy, morning, with a near gale-force north-westerly blowing.....

Selsey Bill: A Slavonian Grebe went east and there were two or three Great Northern Divers about. Full log below....
(0740-0930 hrs)  (wind NW F6)  
Red-throated Diver - 4E
Great Northern Diver - 3W
Slavonian Grebe - 1E, 1 os
Great Crested Grebe - 6W
Gannet - 2E
Shag - 3E
Brent Goose - 4W
Common Scoter - 1E
Red-breasted Merganser - 3E, 7W, 8os
Mediterranean Gull - 1E,1W, 3os
Kittiwake - 4E
auk sp - 16E, 2W
Razorbill - 2E
Chiffchaff - 1

Great Northern Diver (above), Shag, Mediterranean Gull & Chiffchaff at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were three Avocets on the pool this morning, along with six Shelducks, c30 Shovelers and c80 Teal, with c100 Wigeon and c300 Lapwing in the fields. (AH)

Avocets and Shovelers on the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: There 500 Brent Geese in the harbour and another 500 between Marsh and Honer Farms- latter briefly disturbed by a Marsh Harrier .Also, there were about 100 Curlew feeding in various fields and a Peregrine flew north over the harbour. (IH)
Later, a few Redwing were around the sluice gates and along the Wall, which was otherwise very quiet, apart from 56 Curlew in Honer 3 field. 
A total of 960 Brent Geese were in the large grazing field between Honer Cottages and Marsh Farm, keeping company with 117 Curlew. There was a large mixed flock of thrushes at Honer reservoir, including 46 Fieldfare and 27 Redwing, whilst a pair of Stonechats were along Pagham Rife. (JDW)

Church Norton: The Whimbrel was in its usual spot, along with a few Grey Plovers, Dunlin, Curlews and Redshanks, but overall  there were few waders on show on the high tide. 
About a dozen Skylarks were flying about, but beyond a few Wigeon and Teal, plus a couple of Great Crested Grebes, the harbour was quiet, whilst offshore there were up to a dozen Common and Mediterranean Gulls.
Also, a look around Greenlease Farm produced three Chiffchaffs together, a Mistle Thrush and a Green Woodpecker. (AH/IP) 
Three Little Gulls were on the beach before flying west this afternoon, and thee were also three Slavonian Grebes, a sandwich Tern and a few Gannets offshore. (C Holter).

Whimbrel (above), Grey Plovers and Dunlin, Chiffchaff & Mistle Thrush at Church Norton (AH)

Chi Marina pool reedbed: Early this morning there was no sign of the Bittern, but a Kingfisher flew past and a Little Grebe and Cormorant were on the pool. (AM)
However, late this afternoon the Bittern showed well, viewed from the hide. (AW)

Bittern at the Chi Marina Pool (AW)

Dell Quay: A Merlin flew over early this morning and there were also four Goldeneye south of the pub. (AM) There were also three Spotted Redshank and two Greenshank present. (C Holter)

Sunday, 8th December: A bright, but very blowy morning, with a brisk south-westerly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: A Woodcock in off the sea (the third this autumn!) a Slavonian Grebe and a couple of Great Northern Divers were the highlights this morning. Full log later. (SH/SR/IP/BI/AH/MO-W)
(0730-0930hrs) (WSW, F4)
Great Northern Diver - 2W, 1os
Red-throated Diver - 1os
diver sp - 1W
Slavonian Grebe - 1os
Great Crested Grebe - 4W
Gannet - 3E
Shag - 4E
Brent Goose - 6E, 4W
Common Scoter - 10E, 1W, 2os
Red-breasted Merganser - 7E, 9W, 6os
Woodcock - 1N (in off sea at 7.40am)
Common Gull - 1W
Kittiwake - 1W
Razorbill - 1E
auk sp - 10E

Great Northern Diver at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were four Avocets on the pool this morning, along with c50 Teal, c25 Shovelers and six Shelduck, whilst at least 50 Golden Plovers were among c300 very flighty Lapwing on the fields. (AH)

Golden Plovers and Lapwings (above) & Lapwings at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: A flock of c50 Barnacle Geese were in the harbour this morning, viewable from the sluice, for about an hour, then they flew off east. (IH)
Later, two Cattle Egrets, three Redwings and a Fieldfare were in the Church Farm area. (SR)

Park Farm, Selsey: There were three Stonechats and two Green Woodpeckers around the farm this morning. (S&SaH/IP/RM)

Fishbourne Creek: The Water Pipit was still present this morning, whilst later the Long-tailed Duck and two drake Goldeneyes were to the south of Dell Quay. (P&JW/IP/RM)

Church Norton: A Dartford Warbler was in the gorse opposite the first Several this morning, and a Chiffchaff was in the orchard at Greenlease Farm.
About 150 Knot were out on the mud, along with plenty of Grey Plovers and Dunlin, whilst the Whimbrel was in its regular haunt; 12 Avocets were along the main channel, a Peregrine was on its island and c100 Common Gulls were among the many gulls present. (AH/IP/RM/S&SaH/RJS e al)

Whimbrel (above), Knot, Grey Plover and Dunlin, Common Gull, Teal & Wigeon at Church Norton (AH)

Saturday, 7th December: A very pleasant morning, quite mild beneath light cloud and a light westerly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: A total of ten Slavonian Grebes east was the highlight this morning. Full log below. (JA/SH/BI/SR/MO-W/MI/IP)

(0730-0900hrs) (W, F2)

Red-throated Diver - 4E, 1W

diver sp - 1E

Great Crested Grebe - 2E, 4W

Slavonian Grebe - 10E

Gannet - 2E, 1W

Shag - 2E

Brent Goose - 4E, 1W

Common Scoter - 1E, 2W

Red-breasted Merganser - 6E, 9W, 6os

Mediterranean Gull - 1W

Guillemot - 1E

auk sp - 3E, 2W, 2os

Chiffchaff - 1

Ferry Pool: There were two Avocets on the pool, along with c30 Shoveler and c40 Teal, whilst at least 150 Wigeon were on the flooded field at the back and c400 Lapwing kept taking to the air from the pool and field.

Also, a Kingfisher was in Red Barn Ditch, but the Tramway held little beyond a few Long-tailed Tits. (AH)

Kingfisher (above), Avocet and Shoveler & Wigeon around the Ferry (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: The Long-tailed Duck and five Goldeneye were off Dell Quay, along with a handful of Red-breasted Mergansers, Little and Great Crested Grebes.

The Water Pipit and one or two Rock Pipits were showing occasionally, whilst there were also a Fieldfare, a couple of Yellowhammers and a Stonechat also seen, along with several sightings of Kingfisher.

At least three Spotted Redshanks and seven Greenshank were again along the creek, together with a Black-tailed Godwit, c30 Turnstones, a few Ringed Plovers and large numbers of the commoner waders, whilst four Gadwall and five Pintail were among the many Brent Geese and Wigeon, and a Lesser Black-backed Gull and 100+ Common Gulls were among the gull roost. (AH/IP/MO-W/MI/BI et al)

Long-tailed Duck (above), Goldeneye, Kingfisher, Spotted Redshanks, Greenshank & Spotted Redshank and Greenshank at Fishbourne Creek (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: A single Stonechat was the only bird of note this afternoon. (S&SaH)

Sidlesham: Two Tawny Owls were calling repeatedly to the west of the village at dusk. (AH)

Church Norton: A Stonechat along the Severals and an Avocet and the two Peregrines in the harbour were the highlights this afternoon. (S&SaH)

Chichester Marina reed-bed: The Bittern showed itself briefly this afternoon at 1429hrs. (GM)

Donnington: This afternoon there were 16 Redwings, 5 Fieldfares, 3 Bullfinches (one bright male) and a Cetti's Warbler along the canal west of Donnington. (AW)

 Cetti's Warbler (above), Fieldfare and Redwing along the canal near Donnington.