22nd - 24th April 2020

Friday, 24th April: Another lovely, sunny morning, with just a light north-easterly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: Fairly slow again this morning, though two Hobbies and a Yellow Wagtail came in and, 52 Bar-tailed Godwits, six Whimbrel, 49 Common Scoters and an Arctic Skua went east, with another of the latter and a few terns offshore and a Common Sandpiper was off Warner Road.
(0530-0815hrs) (NE, F2)
Great Crested Grebe – 2os
Gannet – 20E
Brent Goose – 10E
Shelduck – 2N
Mallard – 2E
Common Scoter – 49E
Sparrowhawk - 2
Hobby – 2N (0555 & 0658)
Oystercatcher – 11E, 1W
Grey Plover – 1E
Bar-tailed Godwit – 52E
Whimbrel – 6E
Common Sandpiper - 1
Arctic Skua – 1E (d/p), 1os (l/p)
Lesser Black-backed Gull – 3E
Common Gull – 26E
Black-headed Gull – 66E
Mediterranean Gull – 9E
Kittiwake – 1W
Sandwich Tern – 35E, 15os
Common Tern – 49E, 14os
Little Tern – 6os
Swallow – 5N
House Martin – 2
Yellow Wagtail – 1N

(1545-1815hrs)
Red-throated Diver – 1E
Great Crested Grebe – 1E
Fulmar – 3W
Gannet – 7E, 7W
Brent Goose – 21E
Common Scoter – 29E

Sparrowhawk - 1
Oystercatcher – 6E
Dunlin – 2E
Sanderling – 25E
Bar-tailed Godwit – 65
Whimbrel – 9E
Curlew – 2E
Arctic Skua – 7E
Pomarine Skua – 3E
Great Skua – 3E
Sandwich Tern – 18E, 5os
Common Tern – 4E, 4os
Commic Tern – 37E
Little Tern – 6os

Bar-tailed Godwits (AH) (above), Common Sandpiper & Sparrowhawk (AW)  at the Bill

An afternoon watch produced the first three Pomarine Skuas of the year, along with three Bonxies, seven Arctic Skuas, 25 Sanderlings and 65 Bar-tailed Godwits.

Ferry Pool: The two Little Ringed Plovers were back on the concealed pool this morning, but other waders comprised just a single Avocet, three Black-tailed Godwits and eight Redshank, plus half a dozen Whimbrel in the channel opposite, whilst no Teal or Shoveler were in evidence, though 12 Gadwall, two Tufted Ducks and c40 Shelduck were still present.
A Cuckoo was calling around the Visitor Centre area, but the bushes just held the usual mix of Whitethroats, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, plus a couple of Lesser Whitethroats, and a Sedge Warbler was singing in Red Barn Ditch.

Little Ringed Plovers (above), Sedge Warbler & Whitethroat around the Ferry (AH)

East Beach: Another Sparrowhawk was about, a pair of Wheatears were along the sea wall and the Coot family has been reduced by three in 24 hours - they now have just four chicks.

Medmerry: Windmill area - There was a Whitethroat in the Warner Lane paddocks along with four Song Thrushes, whilst three Wheatears were on the beach in front of the Windmill and there were two Great Northern Divers offshore.

Wheatear (above) & Whitethroat at Medmerry (AH)

Church Norton: A flock of 25 Bar-tailed Godwits flew out of the harbour and back again, whilst other waders included 11 Grey Plovers, three Dunlin, two Whimbrel, two Black-tailed Godwits and six Ringed Plovers,
A Wheatear was on the spit, but there were only c40 Sandwich Terns and three Common Terns sat out on the mud with c50 Mediterranean Gulls and c150 Black-headed Gulls.

Later on, a Turtle Dove was seen.

Turtle Dove at Church Norton (Coastal JJ)

North Wall: A Cuckoo was calling at Halsey's Farm, with another pair seen and heard from the North Wall this morning, and two Cattle Egrets flew into Owl Copse.
There were Reed, Sedge  and Cett's Warblers, Whitethroats and Reed Buntings singing all along the wall, but there were no indications of anything newly arrived.
An odd-looking, very short-billed Greenshank was in White's Creek with a Whimbrel, whilst at least a couple more of both species were out in the harbour, but few other waders were about, though a Shoveler was on the Breech Pool and a few Mediterranean Gulls went over.

Cuckoo (above), Cattle Egret, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Whimbrel & Greenshank from the North Wall (AH)

Thursday, 23rd April: A very warm and sunny morning, with the north-easterly breeze having abated considerably.....

Selsey Bill: Undoubted highlight this morning was the summer-plumaged White-winged Black Tern heading east, that was seen from Warner Road, but frustratingly not at the Bill-tip. 

Otherwise it was fairly quiet, though an Arctic Skua went close east and 48 Bar-tailed Godwits, five Whimbrel, two Eider and 102 Brent Geese also went east and five Little Terns and up to 40 Common Terns were feeding offshore.
(06105-0900hrs) (NE, F4)
Great Northern Diver – 2os
Red-throated Diver – 3E, 1W
Fulmar – 3W
Gannet – 22E, 11W
Brent Goose – 102E
Shelduck – 2E
Common Scoter – 36E, 25os
Eider – 2E
Red-breasted Merganser – 3E, 1W
Oystercatcher – 1E, 6W
Bar-tailed Godwit – 48E
Whimbrel – 5E
Curlew – 1E
Turnstone – 1W
Arctic Skua – 1E (l/p)
Common Gull – 3E
Sandwich Tern – 67E, 11W, c25os
Common Tern – 32E, 11W, c40os
Little Tern – 5os
White-winged Black Tern – 1E (summer-plumage 0815hrs seen from Warner Road)
Yellow Wagtail – 1N
Swallow – 1N
House Martin - 2
Wheatear - 4
Linnet – 2N

White-winged Black Tern (AW) (above), Arctic Skua, Great Northern Diver, Red-throated Diver, Bar-tailed Godwits, Brent Geese (AH) & Common Terns (AH& SR) at the Bill

Ferry Pool: The Cattle Egret was still near the concealed pool, a Greenshank dropped in briefly and five Avocets were also present, along with two Lapwings, a few Redshank, four Shovelers, eight Gadwall, 16 Teal and c50 Shelducks.

Greenshank (above) & Cattle Egret at the Ferry (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: A Lesser Whitethroat was singing in Park Lane, whilst a Sand Martin was among a group of ten House Martins that went over and four displaying Lapwings and two Pied Wagtails were around the fields.

Medmerry: Windmill area - There were four or five Wheatears on the beach this morning, with another in nearby Warner Lane paddocks.

Wheatear at Warner Lane paddocks (AW)

Church Norton: Two Little and four Common Terns were among c80 Sandwich Terns in the harbour, whilst waders included four Whimbrel, two Bar-tailed Godwits, a Knot, six Ringed Plovers and ten Black-tailed Godwits.
Two Wheatears on the concrete blocks were the only other birds of note.

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The banks were quiet, with a Cattle Egret near Marsh Farm the only thing out of the ordinary, though there were plenty of Skylarks and Linnets, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Reed Warbler, half a dozen Whitethroats and similar of Yellowhammers about. 
(There do seem to be a lot less of the latter species about this year - possibly due to the awful wet winter and/or because the RSPB did not maintain the feeding stations that they have operated for the last few years.)
There were still only four pairs of Avocets on the Stilt Pool, and no other waders, whilst a handful of Whimbrel and a couple of Curlews, plus a few Gadwall and Shelduck  were near the Poplars.

Avocet (above), Cattle Egret, Yellowhammer, Whitethroat & Skylark at Medmerry (AH)

North Wall: A Cuckoo was still along Pagham Rife and a pair of Little Ringed Plovers were on the flooded field to the west of the Rife, near the pumping station. The fields along Pagham Roads are being ploughed and there were hundreds of gulls there including at least 50 Mediterranean Gulls. 

Just a Greenshank, a Redshank and 2 Mallards were in White's Creek, whilst on the Breech Pool were 12 Tufted, 3 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, 2 Mute Swans and 2 Great Crested Grebes (one very pale). Long-tailed Tits were nesting in brambles near Owl Point and 18 Whimbrel were at the back of Honer 3 field. There was still plenty of activity in Owl Copse between the Grey Herons and their noisy Little Egret neighbours.

 Greenshank in White's Creek and Little Egret in Owl Copse (JDW)

Fishbourne Creek: A quick visit late this morning to the upper reaches of the Fishbourne Creek found 12 Greenshank and six Whimbrel, whilst overhead a mixed flock of Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls appeared to be hawking insects. Also, a Reed Warbler and a Reed Bunting were present in the reedbeds and two Cetti's Warbler were calling at the Meadows.

Runcton: This evening I found a pair of Grey Wagtails on the mill-stream feeding fledged young - I was staggered as I only usually find them here in winter.

Grey Wagtails at Runcton (CRJ)

Wednesday, 22nd April: Another warm and sunny morning, despite the persistent north-easterly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: A Redstart and three Wheatears were along the front and a Swift came in this morning, but eastward passage offshore remains minimal, though included a Bonxie, 12 Brent Geese, three Little Terns, 19 Common Terns and 102 Sandwich Terns.
(0605-0810hrs) (NE, F4)
Fulmar – 2W
Gannet – 45E, 28W
Brent Goose – 12E
Shelduck – 7E, 2os
Mallard – 2
Common Scoter – 1W
Red-breasted Merganser – 2W
Oystercatcher – 8E, 2W
Bar-tailed Godwit – 1E
Whimbrel – 1E
Turnstone – 2W
Great Skua – 1E
Common Gull – 10E, 1W
Sandwich Tern – 102E, 11W
Common Tern – 19E, 1W
Little Tern – 3E
auk sp – 1E
Swift – 1N
Wheatear – 3
Redstart – 1
Linnet – 4
Common Seal – 1os

Wheatear (SR) ( above), Little Tern, Brent Geese & Shelducks (AH) at the Bill 

Ferry Pool: The Cattle Egret was still present, along with a single Avocet, four Black-tailed Godwits, eight Gadwall, a dozen Teal and c50 Shelducks, whilst at least eight Whimbrel were out in the adjacent harbour.

The hedges held at least two Lesser Whitethroats and half a dozen noisy Whitethroats and Blackcaps, but there were no Chiffchaffs singing this morning.

Cattle Egret (above), Whitethroat & Whimbrel around the Ferry (AH)

Medmerry: Windmill to the Breach - Three fine male Whinchats were around the Go-kart track this morning, along with a handful of Meadow Pipits, whilst five Wheatears were moving along the beach and five Swallows were seen coming ashore
There were three Great Northern Divers well offshore, one of them in near summer plumage, while two Red-breasted Mergansers went east along with a few Gannets and a large flock of Common Scoters.

The tidal areas were very quiet, though, with the only waders present being a Ringed Plover and two Whimbrel, with a few Skylarks and Meadow Pipits around the rough ground.

Whinchats (above) (topAW), Wheatears, Great Northern Diver & Gannet at Medmerry (AH)

North Wall: The Cuckoo was seen and heard near the horse paddocks this morning, and a Pied Wagtail was also about, whilst White's Creek held a Greenshank, a Whimbrel and a few Redshanks and the Breech Pool held a pair of Shovelers and plenty of Sedge, Reed and Cetti's Warblers.

Also, the Marsh Harrier was out over the salt-marsh, at least one Cattle Egret and several Little Egrets were in Owl Copse, a Little Grebe was calling from the nearby reeds, and at least two Chiffchaffs, three Whitethroats, a Blackcap, a few Reed Buntings and three Swallows were around, whilst a Skylark was near Bremere Rife.

Church Norton: A Little Tern and three Common Terns were among the c80 Sandwich Terns in the harbour, along with two Whimbrel, 17 Bar-tailed and 12 Black-tailed Godwits, whilst at least four Wheatears were along the spit and a Swift went over Greenlease Farm.

East Beach Pond: This morning, a Swallow and a House Martin flew over, there were two singing Chiffchaffs and a Willow Warbler, a pair of Coots were feeding their seven young and a Mallard had five ducklings, whilst two other Coots were sitting on eggs.

Coot family at East Beach Pond (SR)

Runcton: The first Broad-bodied Chaser of the year was in the garden today. 

Broad-bodied Chaser in a Runcton garden (CRJ)

West Wittering: Lots of Common Whitethroats were around this morning, along with a fair number of other common migrants, like Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, and there was also a Yellowhammer and a few Linnets about.

Yellowhammer (above), Whitethroat & Linnet at West Wittering (GM)

Medmerry: Porthole Farm -  This evening at least two Lesser Whitethroats and five Whitethroats were around the hedges, along with a Reed Bunting, a Yellowhammer and just a handful of Swallows, plus a Buzzard over and a Fox lurking in the undergrowth..

Lesser Whitethroat (above), Swallows, Buzzard & Fox at Medmerry (AH)