4th - 6th March 2020

Friday, 6th March: A marked improvement this morning, with a cold, but bright and sunny morning and just a light north-westerly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: It remains quiet, with just a couple of Great Northern Divers and a handful of Red-throated Divers about, plus a newly-arrived Chiffchaff which flicked up from the beach into the Bill House hedge. Full log below.... 
0715-1030hrs:  (wind NW3-4)   (OM/SR/IP/BI/MO-W/AH)
Red-throated Diver - 2E, 4W
Great Northern Diver - 1W, 1os
Shelduck - 4W
Common Scoter - 6W
Red-breasted Merganser - 14E, 1os
Sparrowhawk - 1
Mediterranean Gull - 1W
Common Gull - 2W
Pied Wagtail - 1N
Meadow Pipit - 1N
Chiffchaff - 1

Red-throated Diver (above) & Red-breasted Mergansers at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There was just the usual mix this morning, including a dozen Shelducks, c30 Shoveler and c40 Wigeon. (AH)

Church Norton: A Red-throated Diver went west offshore and c100 Brent Geese were in the harbour, along with the usual mix of Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plovers, whilst at least half a dozen Snipe were in the floods by the horse field and a few Long-tailed Tits were in the adjacent hedgerow and a Water Rail was calling from the fist Several.
Also, there were several hundred Black-headed Gulls and a few Mediterranean Gulls busy re-colonising Tern Island. (AH/IP)

Snipe (above), Long-tailed Tit & Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: The hedgerows along the Wall were a little more productive this morning with five Chiffchaffs, pairs of Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting and a relatively confiding Cetti's Warbler. A Kestrel and a Buzzard were also present around the Welbourne stable fields.
There was also a pair of Greenfinches towards Halsey's Farm and a pair of Goldcrests in the path back to the lane. The fields, more flooded again, contained modest numbers of Curlew, Wigeon and Teal and also a few Shoveler and Shelduck. (IH/TH/GHi)
Later a female Marsh Harrier was behind the Breech Pool and out in the Harbour there were 1600 Brent Geese and an impressive 1200+ Black-tailed Godwits, whilst the footpath across the Honer (1) field remains impassable. Also a female Blackcap and 2 Goldcrests were in gardens along Church Lane. (JDW)

Buzzard (above), Kestrel & Shelducks at the North Wall (GHi)

Spot the footpath! The flooded Honer (1) field at the North Wall (JDW)

Late this afternoon the Barn Owl showed briefly before disappearing off west and two Marsh Harriers were up at the same time over the reeds.

Also, the Spotted Redshank was in White's Creek, a couple of Chiffchaffs and Cetti's Warblers were along the wall, a Grey Wagtail was in the paddocks and there were still vast numbers of Brent Geese and Black-tailed Godwits in the flooded fields. (AH/TG/SB et al)

Marsh Harrier (above), Spotted Redshank, Grey Wagtail, Black-tailed Godwits & Cormorant at the North Wall (AH)

Pagham Spit and Lagoon: The Lagoon was only inhabited by a Great Crested Grebe and the Spit was also quiet other than a Stonechat, three Skylarks and seven Ringed Plovers, whilst in the harbour there were about 500 Brent Geese, two more Great Crested Grebes and a Red-breasted Merganser. (IH/TH)

Medmerry: Ham Farm - Two Corn Buntings were over towards the breach and there were also two or three Reed Buntings, a Chiffchaff, at least ten Stonechats and 20+ Meadow Pipits and Skylarks about, whilst several Yellowhammers were sat out along Ham Road.
Also, five Jack Snipe and at least 50 Snipe were in the flooded fields and other areas and c100 Brent Geese dropped into the breach area. (AH/HB/MW)

Corn Bunting (above), Stonechat & Reed Bunting at Medmerry (AH)

Medmerry: Stilt Pool - There were 15 Avocets on the Stilt Pool this afternoon, including a pair that were mating. also, another Jack Snipe and a Peacock butterfly were nearby. (HB/MW)

Thursday, 5th March: A truly awful day, with persistent heavy rain falling on waterlogged ground and a cold north-easterly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: Four Slavonian Grebes were offshore together, along with a Great Northern Diver, but again nothing was moving, save a Fulmar and four Common Scoters west. Full log below. (SR/AH)
(0720-0850hrs) (ENE, F5)
Great Northern Diver - 1os
Slavonian Grebe - 4os
Fulmar - 1W
Gannet - 1W
Common Scoter - 4W
Red-breasted Merganser - 1E, 2W, 1os
Turnstone - 1

Slavonian Grebes at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Two Buzzards were sat out on fence posts, whilst the pool held four Gadwall,14 Shelducks, 45 Shoveler and ten Teal, with c80 Wigeon on the field. (AH)

Buzzard (above), Gadwall & Shoveler at the Ferry Pool (AH)

West Itchenor: A look along the side of the harbour produced five Bar-tailed Godwits, eight Grey Plovers, c40 Dunlin, a couple of Curlews and a dozen Turnstones, whilst there were also c100 Brent Geese spread about and six Red-breasted Mergansers on the water. (AH)

Bar-tailed Godwit (above), Grey Plover, Brent Geese & Dunlin at West Itchenor (AH)

Wednesday, 4th March: A cold, grey and dank morning, with a moderate easterly breeze pushing through a succession of drizzly squalls....

Selsey Bill: Almost nothing was moving save two Pintail, three Common Scoter and a few Red-breasted Mergansers, though five Great Northern Divers on the sea was notable. Full log below. 

(0720-0900hrs) (ESE, F3) (AH/SR) 

Great Northern Diver - 5os

Great Crested Grebe - 1os

Pintail - 2E

Common Scoter - 3E

Red-breasted Merganser - 14E, 7W, 10os

Turnstone - 4

Red-breasted Mergansers at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were very few wildfowl this morning, with just ten Shelducks, c20 Shovelers and c40 Teal around the pool and c50 Wigeon on the field. (AH)

Shelducks and Shoveler at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: A Barn Owl was hunting early this morning and a walk along the Wall produced two Chiffchaffs (one singing), two Reed Buntings, calling Cetti's Warblers and - before they flew in the direction of Marsh Farm - 18 Cattle Egrets were in Owl Copse.  
Out in the harbour were about 500 Brent Geese  and at least 300 Black-tailed Godwits, while White's Creek contained the usual Redshank, Wigeon, Teal and a single Great Crested Grebe. (IH)

Fishbourne Creek: A redhead Goosander - looking like a first-winter male - was feeding busily in the channel north of Dell Quay this morning, with the Long-tailed Duck and a Goldeneye also in the vicinity, along with half a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers and Great Crested Grebes, with similar of the latter two on the south side, too. 

A Kingfisher and a Greenshank were at Dell Quay, too, whilst along the channel there were at least 300 Black-tailed Godwits, 500 Wigeon, a few Teal and at least 300 Brent Geese.

Also, about 40 Knot were around the Lavant outflow, along with plenty of Dunlin, Ringed Plovers and Redshanks, whilst a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and c80 Common Gulls were among the gull roost and four Greylag Geese flew over, heading east. (AH/SR/TH)

Goosander (above), Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Greenshank, Kingfisher, Greylag Geese & Lesser Black-backed and Common Gulls at Fishbourne Creek (AH)