7th - 9th February 2020

Sunday, 9th February: Storm Ciara! A day of severe south-westerly gales, rain and atrocious weather, with an intense Met office-named storm battering the whole of the country and amber weather warnings in place......

Selsey Bill: Well done to the few brave and hardy souls who visited the Bill today, although sadly the results hardly compensated them for the effort involved!.....
(0720-0930hrs):  (wind SSW-SW 9 gusting storm 10)  (SH/BI/AH/SR/IP)
Fulmar - 1W
Brent Goose - 1W
Red-breasted Merganser - 10W
Guillemot - 1os
Turnstone - 10W
Sandwich Tern - 2os
Common Gull - 1E
Mediterranean Gull - 2os

Red-breasted Merganser (above), Turnstone & SH returning from a check of the weather at the Bill (AH)

(1200-1300hrs): (SH)
Red-breasted Merganser - 3W
Turnstone - 5ob

Selsey, Park Farm: Just two Stonechats noted today in the awful conditions. (SH)

Hunston: There were 22 Cattle Egrets in a field near the electricity sub-station (behind the metal barn) together with a single Egyptian Goose. Also, nine Little Egrets were in a field further along. (BI) (Presumably - but not certainly - these were birds re-locating from Marsh Farm where they have until recently been present. Eds.)
Ferry Pool: There a total of 62 Shovelers on the pool this morning, along with the ten Gadwall, a dozen Shelducks and c50 Teal and Wigeon. (AH)

Shovelers on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: The two female Goldeneye were along the main channel this morning, along with nine Red-breasted Mergansers, a Great Crested Grebe and c30 Shelducks.
There were still at least 200 Knot on the mud, as the tide rose, along with 100+ Grey Plovers and 500+ Dunlin. whilst the regular Whimbrel was also present, along with a few Curlews. (AH/IP)

Goldeneye (above), Whimbrel, Dunlin and Curlew, Knot & Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plovers at Church Norton (AH)

Saturday, 8th February: A grey and overcast morning, though brightening later, with a light south-westerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: A drake Eider going west close inshore was the highlight, with 22 Pintail going east notable, too, though otherwise it was similar numbers and species to recent mornings. Full log below.... (SH/SR/BI/IP/MO-W/AH)
(0720-930hrs) (SW, F4)
Great Northern Diver - 4os
Red-throated Diver - 8E, 4W, 1os
Great Crested Grebe - 1E
Gannet - 3W
Shag - 2E
Brent Goose - 9W
Pintail - 22E
Eider - 1W
Common Scoter - 2W
Red-breasted Merganser - 20E, 5W, 2os
Sparrowhawk - 1
Turnstone - 1E
Common Gull - 1W
Mediterranean Gull - 2os
Sandwich Tern - 6os

Later a Slavonian Grebe was offshore. (AW)

Eider (above), Red-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Red-breasted Mergansers, Pintail & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were six Snipe at the front this morning, whilst there were still ten Gadwall on the pool, along with 12 Shelducks, 45 Shoveler and c75 Teal, with at least 100 Wigeon and 50 Lapwing on the field. (AH)

Snipe (above) & Gadwall at the Ferry (AH)

Medmerry: Ham Farm - Two Jack Snipe were present again today, along with a Stonechat, three Reed Buntings 50+ Skylarks and 100+ Meadow Pipits, with four Buzzards overhead. (SH)

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: No sign of the Cattle Egrets from the track today but there were eight Little Egrets feeding near the barns and a Marsh Harrier went over. (BI)

Fishbourne Creek: The Long-tailed Duck was still present today, out from the Lavant outfall, as were four Goldeneye, and the gull roost contained c.600 Common Gulls, c.40 Herring Gulls, three Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a Yellow-legged Gull. There were at least three Rock Pipits along the salt-marsh and there were up to two Coal Tits in the Apuldram Church car-park. (BI)

Chichester Marina: A drake Common Scoter was on the water opposite the Marina at high tide today. 
Also, among the roosting birds were 713 Common Gulls, 136 Oystercatchers, 93 Curlew and 77 Shelducks.(HB)

Park Farm, Selsey: A Grey Wagtail around the reservoir and two Stonechats were along the path this morning, and a sparrowhawk went through. (S&SaH)

Church Norton: Two female Goldeneye were in the harbour this morning, along with a drake Red-breasted Merganser, whilst offshore there were two Slavonian Grebes, two Great Crested Grebes and a Great Northern Diver on the sea, whilst two Red-throated Divers went west and another east, and most unusually, two Egyptian Geese flew west together.
There were at least 250 Knot, nine Bar-tailed Godwits and the regular Whimbrel among large numbers of Dunlin and Grey Plovers, and 16 Snipe were in the creek by the horse field.
A couple of hundred Brent Geese were behind the spit, though at least another 1500 came up over the North Wall, along with 300 Golden Plovers and 1000+ Lapwing, presumably all put up by the Peregrine when she departed her island. There were also three Buzzards about and a Red Admiral was on the wing, too. (AH/IP/RM/SM/IL)

Goldeneye (above), Knot and Grey Plover, Dunlin (AH), Red-breasted Merganser & Red Admiral (SH) at Church Norton

Friday, 7th February: A fairly cold, but bright, morning, with the wind shifting round to a brisk south-easterly....

Selsey Bill: A few Red-throated Divers were going both east and west, though the 100+ auks were all going east, along with three Shags, whilst a couple of Great Northern divers and six Sandwich Terns were offshore. Also, oddly, a Blackbird flew east, well offshore. Full log below.....
(0720-0935hrs) (wind ENE then SE F4) (BI/SR/IP/AH)
Red-throated Diver - 10E, 11W
Great Northern Diver - 1W, 2os
diver sp. - 2W
Great Crested Grebe - 1W
Gannet - 1E, 1W
Shag - 3E
Wigeon - 1E
Common Scoter - 3E
Red-breasted Merganser - 9E, 2W
Turnstone - 1
Common Gull - 3E, 1W, 1os
Mediterranean Gull - 3os
Sandwich Tern - 6os
Razorbill - 31E, 2W
auk sp. - 87E, 9W
Blackbird - 1E

Red-throated Divers (above), Shag, Mediterranean Gull & Common Gull at the Bill (AH)

The MV Brave Tern off the Bill - an offshore support vessel, used on wind-farms and oil-rigs - the pillars drop through to support the boat on the sea-floor (AH)

Ferry Pool: Ten Gadwall were on the pool, along with c30 Shoveler, c100 Teal and 12 Shelducks, with at least 300 Wigeon and 100 Lapwings on the field. (AH)

Gadwall on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A Peregrine was on its island this morning and quite a few Brent Geese were in the harbour, whilst two pairs of Teal were in the moat of the Mound. (RP)

Teal at Church Norton (RP)

North Wall: A pair of Green Woodpeckers, ten Redwings and three Song Thrushes were in the horse paddocks this morning, and perhaps 1500 Brent Geese were on the water in the harbour opposite Owl Copse. (IH)

Medmerry: Breach area - At least four Stonechats were present this morning, along with good numbers of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks, but the tidal areas held just a handful of Curlews. (BI)

Medmerry: Porthole Farm to Ham Farm - At least 60 Fieldfares and a few Redwings, plus at least 50 Linnets were on the cropped fields north of Ham, but the banks just held fair numbers of Skylarks, Linnets and Meadow Pipits, plus a Stonechat, whilst at least 50 Brent Geese were in the tidal area. (BI/AH)

Fieldfares (above), Redwing & Skylark at Medmerry (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane - Stilt Pools - A Dartford Warbler was in gorse at the edge of the cultivated field opposite Marsh Barn today along with 2 Stonechats, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 5 singing Skylarks and 3 Meadow Pipits. 
The Stilt Pools held c150 Brent Geese, c20 Canada Geese, 12 Gadwall, c150 Wigeon, 13 Teal and 4 Stonechats and more singing Skylarks but on the whole it was on the quiet side in the windy conditions. (SR)

Dartford Warbler near Marsh Barn, Medmerry (SR)

Fishbourne Creek: Mid-morning the Long-tail Duck was off the Lavant outfall along with eight Goldeneye (2 males) and about 150 Black-tailed Godwit on an exposed bank, whilst a Raven flew down the channel. 

Also, three Rock Pipits were in the small trees by the salt marsh below the Lavant outfall, along with a male Stonechat. Nearby, there were four Greenshank roosting off Dell Quay at mid-day, with singles further up the channel later. (RW)

Sidlesham: A Barn Owl was hunting over our garden on the west of the village at dusk tonight - the first I have seen here for several years. (AH)