Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 4th

Monday, 6th July: The wind abated somewhat overnight, shifting just north of west, leaving a mostly bright and blustery morning....

Selsey Bill: A lot more terns and Gannets were back feeding offshore this morning, whilst three Black-tailed Godwits and two Curlews went west. Full log below. (IP/AH/SR/M-OW)
(0645-0830hrs) (WSW, F5-6)
Gannet - 6E, 30W, c50os
Black-tailed Godwit - 3W
Curlew - 2W
Mediterranean Gull - 7W
Sandwich Tern - c75os
Common Tern - 6os
Little Tern - 8os
auk sp - 1W
House Martin - 4
Linnet - 2

Mediterranean Gull (above) & Common and Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were eight Lapwing and two Teal on the pool, with a Reed Warbler and a Sedge Warbler at the front. (AH)

Teal (above) & Lapwings at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There was a steady stream of Sandwich Terns bringing in fish this morning, though most of the fledglings had retreated back to the island, whilst there were a few Common Terns about and at one stage 40 Little Terns were sat out together on the mud.
There were just a few Curlews, Ringed Plovers and Oystercatchers in the harbour, whilst along the front there were a couple of Whitethroat families and 20+ Linnets. Also of note, at least 20 Purple Hairstreaks were on the oaks in Bluebell Wood. (AH)

Little Tern (above), Sandwich Tern, Little and Sandwich Terns, Whitethroat, Linnets & Purple Hairstreaks at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: Only the usual suspects were about this morning. Out in the harbour there were about ten Curlew, at least 30 Redshank, a few scattered Oystercatchers, a Common Tern, five Black-tailed Godwit, a Great Crested Grebe and slowly increasing numbers of Lapwing.

Along the Wall there was a mixed party of Blue Tits and Long-tailed Tits, Reed and Sedge Warblers were vocal while the Breech Pool contained Mallard and one Cormorant.
In the footpath behind the stables there was a new hatching of Red Admirals together with one Comma butterfly. (IH)
This evening the Little Owl was by the stables again. (SP)

Chi GPs - Drayton pits: The three Pochard families of one, three and five young, were all to be found on the North pit this morning, but apart from these some good numbers of non-breeding Pochard (60+) and Gadwall (36) were spread between the three pits. The most obvious species on the South pit was Swift, with a gathering of at least 150, together with c.20 House Martins.
A couple of pairs of Great Crested Grebes now have young, as do half a dozen pairs of Little Grebe and the reedbeds of all three pits are busy with the comings and goings of Reed Warbler families, with some birds still singing.
The Marsh Harrier family is still present, though less conspicuous today; I saw the adults with one juvenile for sure and it begins to look as if it may be the only one, but time will tell. (OM)

(above) Pochard with young on the North pit, (centre) Swifts over the South pit and (lower two) young Reed Warblers (OM)

Fishbourne - Dell Quay: A blustery walk this morning was fairly quiet, with two singing Reed Buntings, three Yellowhammers (one carrying food) and several Swallows low over the marshes at Fishbourne.
In the harbour there were at least ten Curlew, seven Redshank and four Oystercatchers, whilst off Dell Quay there was a group of 13 Little Egrets on the far bank, with at least four more further up the channel. On the water there were four Great Crested Grebes and 108 Mute Swans, whilst a Common Tern flew down the channel carrying a small fish. (RW)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The Knot and 24 Black-tailed Godwits were around the poplars again, with two Stonechats nearby, whilst the banks held the usual mix of Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings, Reed Warblers and Whitethroats, with 15 Sand Martins, a Buzzard and a Kestrel overhead.
The Stilt Pool was very quiet, though, with just six Black-tailed Godwits of note, whilst a female Common Darter was seen along the paths. (S&SaH)

Common Darter at Medmerry (SH)

Sunday, 5th July: A morning of two halves - early on it was drizzly and very grey, before finally some blues skies and white cloud, though the wind remained strong and from the west....

Selsey Bill: Given the conditions, a very dull morning! (SH/PB/BI/IP/AH/SR)
(0545-0900hrs) (SW, F7)
Gannet - 12E, 36W
Sandwich Tern - 45os
Common Tern - 3os
Swift - 2W

Ferry Pool: There were 14 Shelducks on the pool early this morning, whilst later on it was birdless.. (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: Two Sparrowhawks were around the farm this morning. (SH)

Church Norton: There were still plenty of Little, Common and Sandwich Tern activity in the harbour, along with at least 500 Black-headed and 20 Mediterranean Gulls, but waders comprised of just four Dunlin, two Turnstones and a few Curlews.
The two Tufted Ducklings reappeared on the second Severals and at least one young Little Grebe was present, whilst their were also two and possibly three Sparrowhawk chicks in their nest. (S&SaH/AH)

Sandwich Terns (above), juvenile Black-headed Gulls, Sparrowhawk chicks, Purple Hairstreak (SH), Little Tern, Common Tern & Sandwich Tern (AH) at Church Norton

Ivy Lake: Encouragingly, all ten Pochard ducklings seen last week were much grown and still going strong with their three mothers, whilst another mother had two much younger ducklings nearby.
There were also a couple of Tufted Duck families, at least 100 Coots, including many juveniles, 140 Canada Geese and eight Great Crested Grebes, whilst half a dozen Common Terns were feeding over the water and at least five very young-looking Black-headed Gulls were with their respective parents.
A couple of Chiffchaffs and Reed Warblers were still singing sporadically, but only one Swift, one House Martin and a handful of Swallows were seen. (AH)

Pochard families (above), Tufted Duck family & Common Tern at Ivy Lake (AH)

This afternoon there were 50+ Swifts, 20+ House Martins and swallows and a lone Sand Martin, plus six Common terns feeding over the lake. Also seen this afternoon were a Kingfisher, an adult and three juvenile Egyptian Geese and a Great Crested Grebe carrying two youngsters on its back. (S&SaH)

Kingfisher (above), Tufted Duck family, Great Crested Grebes & juvenile Egyptian Geese at Ivy Lake (SH)

Drayton Pits: A Marsh Harrier was present again this afternoon, and there were two young families - a three and a five - of Pochards. (S&SaH)

Marsh Harrier at Drayton Pit (SH)

North Wall: Five Black-tailed Godwits, a Great Crested Grebe and the usual Mallards were on the Breech Pool this morning while along the Wall there were two Linnets, a flock of Goldfinches and an occasional Gatekeeper butterfly.

Nineteen Egrets (all Little, I think) were hunkered down out of the wind on Heron Island, six more sheltered in Owl Copse and a further two were elsewhere in the harbour. A Common Whitethroat, a Skylark, two Peacock butterflies and numerous Meadow Browns were present past Owl Copse. (IH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Marsh Barn - Around the poplars this afternoon there were three Common Sandpipers, a Knot, 44 Black-tailed Godwits, eight Lapwings, 12 Redshanks, c20 Mediterranean Gulls and c50 Shelducks.
There were also c40 Swifts putting on quite a display of aeronautics, along with a few Swallows. (AH)

Swifts (above), Swallow, Common Sandpipers & Knot and Black-tailed Godwits at Medmerry (AH)

Saturday, 4th July: Another pretty dismal day for the time of year, with a near gale-force westerly blowing through belts of drizzly rain under leaden skies....

Selsey Bill: A Balearic Shearwater west along the Mile Basket line just before 9am, was the clear highlight of a slow morning, with a Kittiwake west and a few Common Scoters the only other birds of note. Full log below. (SH/JA/BI/AH/SR)
(0530-0930hrs) (SW, F7)
Balearic Shearwater - 1W (0859hrs)
Gannet - 5E, 5W
Common Scoter - 13E, 20W
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1 (on Oval Field)
Mediterranean Gull - 1W
Kittiwake - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 30os
Common Tern - 3os

Kittiwake (above), Common Scoters, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Terns & Grey Seal at the Bill (AH)

(1400-1530hrs) (SH/JA)
Fulmar - 1W
Gannet - 25W
Common Scoter - 24E (in one flock)
Sandwich Tern - 23os

Ferry Pool: There were just a lone Teal and ten Shelducks on the pool this morning. (AH)

Long Pool: A Shoveler was on the pool this afternoon. (S&SaH)

Church Norton: There were still lots of Sandwich Terns and Black-headed Gulls, including many fledglings, in the harbour, along with a few Little Terns, Common Terns and Mediterranean Gulls.

Waders included a single Black-tailed Godwit, c20 Dunlin, c30 Turnstones and half a dozen Redshanks, Curlews and Ringed Plovers, but passerines were restricted to the Swallows around the hide, the odd Linnet and Skylark, a singing Blackcap, a couple of Song Thrushes and a Jay. (AH)

Also, later, a Common Sandpiper was on the concrete spit and a Sparrowhawk and c20 Swifts were over the Severals.
This afternoon there were 20+ juvenile Sandwich Terns sat out on the mud, several Little Terns were seen taking food to New Island and there were also six Common Terns, two Black-tailed Godwits in the harbour. (S&SaH)