Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 28th

Tuesday, 30th June: A fairly dismal day for the time of year, with a cool and blustery westerly pushing through belts of drizzly rain.........

Selsey Bill: A very ragged Fulmar went through west close by twice in thirty minutes, but otherwise it was just the usual species. Full log below. (AH/SR/IP)
(0645-0800hrs) (W, F5-6)
Fulmar - 1W (twice!)
Gannet - 2E
Sandwich Tern - c30os
Common Tern - 2os
Swift - 2os
House Martin - 2

Fulmar (above), Sandwich tern & Black-headed Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The juvenile Cattle Egret (though no apparent adult) was in the field with the cows again, but the pool just held four Black-tailed Godwits, five Teal and 23 Shelducks.
Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Whitethroats and a Lesser Whitethroat were heard/glimpsed around the Tramway, whilst eight Black-tailed Godwits flew over and a few Redshanks and Curlews were in the harbour. (AH/BFF/DM)

Teal (above) & Black-tailed Godwits at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: A brief walk this morning showed the Spotted Redshank and seven Black-tailed Godwits to be back in the Breech Pool, this time accompanied by four Common Redshanks and an aggressive Moorhen.
The Common Tern was also again present but in the harbour at near high water there was little to see other than a couple of Curlews. Also, a Cetti's Warbler called along the Wall and there was the usual Egret activity in Owl Copse. (IH)

Church Norton: There were lots of Sandwich Terns, plus a few Little and Common Terns coming and going in the harbour, with quite a few sitting out the hide tide, too, though the only waders noted were a handful of Ringed Plovers, Curlews and Turnstones and c30 roosting Oystercatchers.
The Swallows were busy around the hide, but few other small birds were seen beyond half a dozen Skylarks and a dozen Linnets along the spit/beach. (AH)

Skylark (above), Swallow, Linnets, Ringed Plover, Sandwich Tern & Little, Tern, Sandwich Tern, Turnstones and Black-headed Gulls at Church Norton (AH)

Itchenor Quay: Nesting House Martins have always faced problems here as the harbour mud is the wrong consistency for nest-building, so when summer storms arrive the sad result is ruined nests at the height of the breeding season, it's been the same this this year with just two natural nests remaining.
Thankfully this is mitigated by the 11 artificial nests placed around the Harbour Office buildings and currently four of them are occupied by birds with young and one natural nest has young also, so all is not lost. It just goes to show the importance of giving them a helping hand. (SR)

House Martins chicks at West Itchenor (SR)

Monday, 29th June: A mostly grey and decidedly blowy morning, with the near gale-force westerlies persisting.....

Selsey Bill: Another quiet morning! (MO-W/AH/IP/SR/BI)
(0645-0915hrs) (W, F6-7)
Gannet - 19E, 4W
Mediterranean Gull - 1E
Kittiwake - 1W
Sandwich Tern - c30os
Common Tern - 3os
Little Tern - 2os

(1700-1800hrs) (SW7) (SH)

Gannet - 1E

Little Tern - 3os

Common Term - 8os

Sandwich Tern - 20os

Sandwich Terns (above) & Little Terns at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The first fledged Cattle Egret chick for the county was with one of its parents on Ferry Field this morning, looking a little hesitant as it got used to a life around the cows.
Meanwhile, the pool itself had two Little Ringed Plovers, two Avocets, five Black-tailed Godwits, eight Teal and 22 Shelducks on it, whilst a handful of Swifts went over west. (AH/SR/MO-W)

Cattle Egrets (top one, SR), Avocet & Swift (AH) at the Ferry

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: There was little about in the blustery conditions and I only caught sight of one adult Cattle Egret.

Two Skylarks battled the wind and still managed to sing, three Whitethroats called from the hedges as did a couple of Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap, c25 Swallows flew low over the fields along with four House Martins and there were plenty of juvenile Rooks and Jackdaws being fed by their parents. (SR)

North Wall: There are still no muddy margins at the Breech Pool but the water level has dropped sufficiently to encourage a summer-plumaged Spotted Redshank and seven Black-tailed Godwits to feed in the centre of the pool, while a Common Tern and single Swift flew above.

Out in the harbour just after high water there were three Curlews, three Lapwing and two Great Crested Grebes. (IH)

Spotted Redshank at the North Wall (IH)

Later on, the Spotted Redshank had departed the Breech Pool, but eight Teal were present, a Little Tern twice caught fish and departed back into the harbour and c20 Swifts went over.
Also, a Common Sandpiper was struggling to find somewhere to settle at Owl Water and half a dozen juvenile Little Egrets were sat out in Owl Copse, but passerine activity was limited to a few singing Reed Warblers. (AH)

Common Sandpiper (above), Little Tern, Black-tailed Godwit and Teal, Lapwing, Swift & juvenile Little Egrets from the North Wall (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane - A Common Sandpiper was near the poplars, along with a handful of Redshanks and Shelducks, whilst a dozen Swifts were showing well, feeding low over the water. (AH)

Common Sandpiper (above) & Swifts at Medmerry (AH)

Sunday, 28th June: Another very windy day, with the blustery westerly close to gale force, though mostly dry and sunny....

Selsey Bill: Gannets and a few Fulmars west was the most notable movement this morning. Full log below. (SH/PB/BI/AH/KF/IP/MO-W/SR)

(0515-0815hrs) (WSW, F5-6)

Fulmar - 1E, 4W

Gannet - 21E, 77W

Common Scoter - 3E

Turnstone - 8W

Mediterranean Gull - 1E, 3w, 1os

Sandwich Tern - 42os

Common Tern - 4os

Little Tern - 3os

Swift - 2W

(1445-1545hrs) (WSW7) (SH)
Gannet - 2E, 1W
Sandwich Tern - 11 os
Kittiwake - 2W

Fulmar (above), Common Tern, Gannet & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: This morning there were five Avocets, a Little Ringed Plover, 12 Black-tailed Godwits, eight Teal and 17 Shelducks on the pool, whilst a few Gatekeepers were in the adjacent hedges.. (AH)

Black-tailed Godwit (above) & Gatekeeper at the Ferry (AH)

Also, at the Visitor Centre three young Kestrels eventually showed well in their box, whilst other than that there was a Green Woodpecker, six Swallows, two House Martins getting mud from the harbour, two Swifts, a calling Cetti's Warbler, a Sedge Warbler, singing Skylarks and a few Whitethroats about. A Silver-Y moth was also seen along with a single Southern Marsh Orchid. (SR)

Also, one Tawny Owlet is known to have fledged. (IL)

Kestrels at the Visitor Centre (SR)

Late news for 25th June of a Marsh Dagger (moth) in the trap - only the seventh national record in recent times, and the second for the reserve, after one in 2010 (the second national record.) (IL)

Marsh Dagger at the Visitor Centre (IL)

North Selsey: Swift numbers were well down on yesterday, with just a few present, along with a few Swallows and House Martins, plus a calling Lesser Whitethroat. (S&SaH)

Church Norton: At least 12 Little Terns flew up from Peregrine Island before going straight back down, at least three were bringing food in and others were fishing and at rest on the mud flats.

There were also plenty of Sandwich Terns and a few Common Terns in the harbour, along with half a dozen Turnstones, Ringed Plovers, Curlews and one Dunlin.

A Pied Wagtail and a Sand Martin were at Greenlease Farm, a Green Woodpecker was by the Mound and a few Linnets were along the beach, as were a few Swallows, whilst there was no sign of any Tufted ducklings on the second Several, though there were three Little Grebe chicks. There were also a number of Gatekeepers on the wing.(AH/S&SaH)

The first fledged Black-headed Gull chick was in the harbour, with the first Sandwich Tern chicks nearly ready, too. Also, there were only two pairs of Mediterranean Gulls this year, whilst sadly ten Little Tern nests on Tern Island were lost to high tides, though two pairs are trying again and the pairs at the end of the spit and on Peregrine Island (see above) are still going. (IL)