4th - 6th January 2020

Monday, 6th January: A fairly chilly morning, with a mix of heavy cloud and odd glimpses of the sun, with the breeze fresh and from  a south-south-westerly direction........

Selsey Bill: Over 800 auks went west, of which nearly half were identified as Razorbills, with a few of the other regular species about, including three Fulmars west and three Slavonian Grebes east. Full log below. (IP/AH/MO-W)

(0745-1005hrs) (SSW, F5)

Great Northern Diver - 1os

Red-throated Diver - 1E, 3W

Slavonian Grebe - 3E, 
Great Crested Grebe - 1W, 1os

Fulmar - 3W

Gannet - 3E, 37W

Brent Goose - 17W

Red-breasted Merganser - 4E, 2W, 2os

Curlew - 1W

Turnstone - 1E

Common Gull - 5W

Meditterranean Gull - 3os

Kittiwake - 5W

Sandwich Tern - 7os

Razorbill - 1E, 404W

Guillemot - 9W

auk sp - 140E, 417W

Fulmar (above), Red-throated Diver, Sandwich Tern, Razorbills, Gannets, Mediterranean Gulls & Brent Geese at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Two Snipe dropped into the reeds and a dozen Curlew were among c200 Lapwing and c120 Wigeon on the field, with another 20 of the latter, plus c30 Shoveler and c180 Teal on the pool. (AH) Later on the Spotted Redshank was in Ferry Channel and there were c.15 Avocets at the far end but there was no sign of the Marsh Tit on the hide feeders. (BI)

Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: It was quiet this morning apart from impressive flocks of Golden Plover, Redshank and Lapwing  and 60 feeding Curlew in the field at the end of the Wall.  The area around Marsh and Honer Farms was devoid of Brent Geese until in excess of 1,000 arrived from the harbour.  Two Grey Wagtails were on the lettuce fields this morning and there were half a dozen Chiffchaffs at the sewage works. (IH/PC/BI)

Church Norton: Around 80 Knot were out on the mud, along with similar of Grey Plovers and at least 500 Dunlin, whilst 30 Curlews were on the maize stubble fields along the west side.

Seven Skylarks flew out from Tern Island, but there was little else beyond a few Teal, Wigeon and Shelducks and the regular waders, though c200 Golden Plovers and 500 Lapwing were out on the mud towards the Tramway and at least 800 Brent Geese dropped in over the North Wall. (AH)

Knot and Grey Plovers, Grey Plovers & Teal at Church Norton (AH)

Almodington: At least 30 Redwings along with a Mistle Thrush were in the horse paddocks at the end of Mapsons Lane mid-morning. (BI)

Fishbourne Creek: The Water Pipit showed briefly this morning to wash near the Lavant outflow before flying back to its usual place in the grass. Also present along the creek were 3 Greenshank, 3 Goldeneye, a Kingfisher and a good number of waders including Knot. (AW/BI)

Water Pipit (above), Goldeneye, Greenshank and Knot at Fishbourne Creek (AW)

Sunday, 5th January: Rather similar weather to yesterday; dull and cloudy with a fairly light WSW wind, but with irritating and fairly frequent periods of drizzly rain plus a few brief sunny interludes....

Selsey Bill: A couple of Great Northern Divers were offshore, as were several Slavonian Grebes, whilst over 250 auks (about half of which were Razorbills) and Red-throated Divers were moving through, mostly westwards. Full log below....

(0740-1100hrs):  (wind WSW3)  SH/PB/SR/CN/MO-W/IP/OM et al

Red-throated Diver - 4E, 13W

Great Northern Diver - 1W, 3os

diver sp - 1W

Slavonian Grebe - 4E, 3os

Great Crested Grebe - 2os

Gannet - 3E, 1W, 5os

Brent Goose - 1W

Shelduck - 4W

Common Scoter - 2E, 2W, 2os

Red-breasted Merganser - 5E, 8W, 6os

Razorbill - 6E, 102W

Guillemot - 4W

auk sp - 39E, 124W

Sandwich Tern - 2E

Common Gull - 1W

Selsey, Northcommon Farm: The Little Owl was again present at dawn (PB) but not thereafter.

Selsey, Park Farm: A Tufted Duck and two Shoveler were on the small reservoir this morning. (S&SaH)


Chi GPs - Drayton House pits: The Bittern again appeared briefly in flight, viewed from the metal gate, and headed towards the South pit (at 0926hrs). Also present in the general area was a Mistle Thrush, the pair of Coal Tits, a Snipe and a surprise Barn Owl. (BI) Later, a Firecrest was present nearby (RJS).

Church Norton: A Water Rail and a Cetti's Warbler were calling from the Severals and a Stonechat was in the horse field.

In the harbour three Avocets were on the concrete spit, and the same or another three were down along the west side just visible from the bank, whilst a Kingfisher was settled on the metal work. Also a flock of 100+ Golden Plover were with 500+ Lapwings - the whole lot taking flight when disturbed by a presumed predator, though nothing could be traced.

Offshore a single Slavonian Grebe and a Red-breasted Merganser were present, plus six Gannets amongst a flock of feeding gulls. (OM/S&SaH)

Marsh Farm: Nine Cattle Egrets were by the dairy this morning. (MRE/JG)

Cattle Egrets at Marsh Farm (JG)

Dell Quay/Fishbourne Creek: A Long-tailed Duck was present at Dell Quay around midday as were six Goldeneye, two Pintail and two Red-breasted Mergansers. At Fishbourne Creek, a Spotted Redshank was found along with 20 Curlews, six Dunlin, 15 Redshanks and two Turnstones. In the gull roost were 200 Common Gulls, 50 Black-headed Gulls and 20 Herring Gulls of various ages. There was no sign of the Water Pipit but a Rock Pipit was along the saltmarsh. (CMu) Later in the day there were two Water Pipits present at the Creek. (MRE)

Redshank at Fishbourne Creek (CMu)

Saturday, 4th January: Another dull and cool morning, with a light to moderate westerly breeze..............

The Review of the Year for 2019 is now up and ready and can be accessed from the bar above, as can the newly updated Stats page. (Eds)

Selsey Bill: a fairly quiet morning, though a few Razorbills, Sandwich Terns and a Slavonian Grebe were offshore. Full log below... 
(0740-0930hrs) (W, F3)  (SH/BI/IP/SR/MO-W/PM)
Great Northern diver - 3os
Red-throated Diver - 4E, 1W, 1os
Slavonian Grebe - 1W
Gannet - 12E, 1W
Brent Goose - 1W
Wigeon - 20W
Common Scoter - 5W
Red-breasted Merganser - 3E, 4W, 4os
Curlew - 1E, 1W
Common Gull - 5W
Mediterranean Gull - 2os
Sandwich Tern - 7os
Razorbill - 1E, 8W, 9os
auk sp - 22E, 6W

Ferry Pool and Long Pool: There were three Gadwall, c40 Shoveler, c80 Teal, c150 Wigeon and c300 Lapwings around the pool and field this morning.

A Spotted Redshank was at the far end of Ferry Channel, which also held c30 Redshank, five Grey Plovers and c50 Teal, but there was nothing along the Long Pool. (AH)

Later a Raven was mobbing two Buzzards over Ferry Field. (RP)

Spotted Redshank Grey Plover (above) & Teal in Ferry Channel (AH)

Northcommon Farm: A Little Owl was on the stables by the farm early this morning (SH), and it was seen again on the stables roof around dusk. (SR) 

Park Farm, Selsey: A Grey Wagtail was at the farm and four Tufted Ducks and a Shoveler were on the reservoir. (S&SaH)

Fishbourne Creek: There were two Long-tailed Ducks south of Dell Quay this morning, with up to nine Goldeneye, whilst the frequently elusive Water Pipit was again near the Lavant outflow, along with two Redwings, two Knot, a Pintail and three Spotted Redshanks. (IP/RW/PM/OM/et al) 

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: All 24 Cattle Egrets were present near the buildings for a while this morning before flying off again. Also, a Grey Wagtail and a couple of Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits were nearby, the pair of Stonechats and three Skylarks were along the concrete road and at least 1000 Brent Geese dropped into the fields to the south. (AH)

Cattle Egrets (above), Grey Wagtail, Stonechat & Brent Geese at Marsh Farm, Sidlesham (AH)

Drayton Pits: The Bittern was seen in flight again on the North Pit early this afternoon, briefly showing along the east side until gulls mobbed it and forced it back into the reeds, whilst there was also a Marsh Harrier about and a pair of Coal Tits were displaying near the metal gates. (OM)
Later, the Bittern was seen flying south from the above location at around 1500hrs, viewed from the metal gates. (CRJ)

Bittern (above) at Drayton House North pit...after some recent superb photos of this bird taken by others, back to reality today...a hastily-grabbed record shot just before gulls drove it back into reeds! (OM)

Coal Tits at the Drayton North pit (OM)

Wilf's Copse, Hunston: A Tree-creeper and two Nuthatches were in the copse, whilst 25 Fieldfare and a couple of Redwings were on the adjacent fields. (IP)

Medmerry: Stilt Pool - A female Dartford Warbler was in the gorse near the Stilt Pool this morning (BI) whilst the same or another was in gorse along the track early afternoon, opposite where it joins the footpath from Earnley car park. (IP)

Church Norton: The harbour was quite quiet this morning, though up to ten Avocets, plus lots of Dunlin and Grey Plover were about and the Peregrine flew into its island, whilst a Water Rail was at the back of the Severals.

At least 500 Brent Geese flew out west from the far side and c50 Wigeon flew in over the harbour mouth, whilst offshore there were a few Common Gulls, six Red-breasted Mergansers on the sea and up to ten Gannets amongst a large and distant feeding flock of gulls. (AH/S&SaH)

Wigeon (above) & Common Gull at Church Norton (AH)

Later on, two Great Northern Divers and a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers were on the sea, towards the harbour mouth. (AW)

Great Northern Divers at Church Norton (AW)