Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 25th

Friday, 27th November: A colder morning than of late, though still grey and with a moderate north-easterly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: The highlight of an interesting morning was a female Goldeneye - a vrey scarce bird at the Bill - on the sea before flying off east, whilst there were also two drake Eiders east, two Bonxies lingering offshore and a few Red-throated Divers going both east and west. Full log below. (BI/AH/RP/IP/MO-W/JA)

(0730-0930hrs) (ENE, F4)

Red-throated Diver - 9E, 7W

Slavonian Grebe - 1os

Gannet - 1E, 2W, 20+os

Brent Goose - 25E, 35W

Wigeon - 9E, 17W

Teal - 6W

Pintail - 20W

Goldeneye - 1os, then E

Eider - 2E

Common Scoter - 4E, 19W, 20os

Red-breasted Merganser - 13E, 17W, 4os

Dunlin - 1E

Turnstone - 8

Bonxie - 2os

Mediterranean Gull - 6E, 4W

Common Gull - 1E, 1W

Kittiwake - 10E, 8W

Guillemot - 1E

Razorbill - 2os

auk sp - 2E, 6W

Pied Wagtail - 1E, 1W

Goldeneye, Eiders, Red-throated Diver and Red-breasted Merganser (AH)

Ferry Pool: At least 200 Lapwings were on the pool this morning, along a Little Egret, two Buzzards, with six Gadwall, two Shelducks, 45 Teal and 68 Shovelers. (AH/JE)

Teal on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: The female Common Scoter was again in the harbour, along with the Whimbrel, 45+ Knot, 60+ Grey Plovers, five Curlews, 17 Turnstones, four Great Crested Grebes, 45+ Teal, 220+ Wigeon, 35+ Brent Geese and a good count of 110+ Shelducks.(JE/LGRE)

North Wall: A pair of Marsh Harriers were showing well behind the wall this morning. (PC)

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: The Glossy Ibis was still with the Cattle Egrets by the farm this morning. (AT/JE) It was still there late morning until disturbed by a tractor, together with 54 Cattle Egrets. (LGRE)

East Head: There was no sign of the two Snow Buntings this morning, though 38 Sanderlings were along the shore, two Eider were offshore, two Stonechats were on the beach and two Greenshank were in Snowhill Creek. (RF/LGRE)

Fishbourne Creek: There were three Spotted Redshanks, four Greenshank, 20+ Dunlin and Grey Plovers, a Golden Plover, 183 Lapwing, 20 Curlews, c200 Redshank and c50 Black-tailed Godwits spread among the various roosting sites, whilst wildfowl included five Pintail, a Gadwall, 20 Teal and 454 Wigeon, along with four Red-breasted Mergansers and eight Great Crested Grebes.

A Kingfisher and at least half a dozen Rock Pipits were also about, along with 11 Yellowhammers and a couple of Reed Buntings. (JE/AH/RW et al)

Later, near Dell Quay, there were seven Spotted Redshanks, a Greenshank and a Kingfisher present. (LGRE)

Kingfisher (above), Rock Pipits & Wigeon and Black-headed Gulls at Fishbourne Creek (AH)

Ivy Lake: Among birds seen today were a single Pochard, two Gadwall, 14 Shovelers, 16 Tufted Ducks, two Great Crested Grebes and an impressive 436 Coots. (JE)

Later, a Black Swan was present, too. (AW)

Black Swan at Ivy Lake (AW)

Thursday, 26th November: Another cool and murky morning, with a moderate north-easterly breeze bringing spells of light drizzly rain....

Selsey Bill: It was fairly quiet again, though a Great Northern Diver and a couple of Red-throated Divers went east and a Slavonian Grebe and a dozen Common Scoters were on the sea. (AH/RP/IP)

(0730-0845) (NE, F4-5)

Great Northern Diver - 1E

Red-throated Diver - 2E

Slavonian Grebe - 1os

Gannet - 3W

Brent Goose - 16W

Common Scoter - 2W, 12os

Red-breasted Merganser - 3E, 4os

Turnstone - 10

Mediterranean Gull - 4W

Kittiwake - 1E, 15W

Razorbill - 5E

auk sp 5E

Pied Wagtail - 2W

Red-throated Diver (above) & Pied Wagtail at the Bill (AH)

Later, a Goosander went east with three Red-breasted Mergansers and a Great Northern Diver was on the sea. (AW)

Goosander and Red-breasted Mergansers (above) & Great Northern Diver at the Bill (AW)

Ferry Pool: There wasn't much on the pool, despite the high tide, just a couple of Snipe, c50 Lapwings, c30 Teal and c80 Shovelers. (AH)

Snipe and Teal (above) & Lapwing at the Ferry (AH)

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: The Glossy Ibis was still present this morning - having gone missing yesterday afternoon - and was back in its favoured cattle field along with 20 Cattle Egrets. It was still there at 1134hrs.

Later it was again present, along with 53 Cattle Egrets and a partially albino Rook. (RJS/BFF/DM/PB/AB et al)

Glossy Ibis and Cattle Egret (above), Cattle Egrets & partially-albino Rook at Marsh Farm, Sidlesham (AB)

East Head: The two Snow Buntings were still present this morning, initially along the western side and then back in their favoured haunt at the very northern end.

There was also a Dartford Warbler in the dunes nearby, a pair of Stonechats on the beach and a few Skylarks in the dunes, whilst an impressive 48 Sanderlings were along the strand-line in a loose flock and a Sandwich Tern, a Great Northern Diver and a handful of Red-breasted Mergansers were offshore.

Snowhill Creek held c40 Golden Plover, c200 Lapwings, c50 Black-tailed Godwits and lots of Wigeon and Teal, with a few Meadow Pipits and Linnets also present, whilst at least 500 Brent Geese were out on the grass.

There was also a Redwing in the churchyard and a Firecrest along the lane to Snowhill Creek. (BFF/DM/AH/BI/SR/KJ)

Snow Buntings (above), Sanderlings, Stonechat, Linnet & Golden Plovers at East Head (AH)

North Wall: An hour after high water, Whites Creek was populated by some 400 Wigeon, 35 Shelduck, about 300 Lapwing and similar numbers of Golden Plover and Brent Geese.

Two Snipe flew across the Wall and a Kingfisher briefly showed at the sluice gates, but the hedgerows were quiet with only a couple of Reed Buntings visible. (IH)

West Itchenor: A Great Northern Diver was present drifting in the channel this morning. (PH)

Chi GPs - Drayton pits: A Great White Egret was reported from the pits late this morning. (per BI)

Wednesday, 25th November: A cool, grey morning, still with a fresh southerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: Despite quite promising looking conditions, it was very quiet this morning. (AH/MO-W/RRP/IP)

(0715-0845hrs) (S, F4-5)

Great Crested Grebe - 1W

Gannet - 3W

Brent Goose - 4E

Common Scoter - 2W

Red-breasted Merganser - 2E, 1W

Turnstone - 2W

Mediterranean Gull - 3W

Common Gull - 1W

Guillemot - 1W

Razorbill - 2W

auk sp - 2W

This afternoon there were 57 Mediterranean Gulls on the exposed shingle bar, plus 3 Red-breasted Mergansers and 15 Kittiwakes offshore. (LGRE)

Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were two Black-tailed Godwits and c50 Lapwing on the pool, along with six Gadwall, six Shelducks, c30 Teal and 74 Shovelers. (AH/RP/LGRE)

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

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: The Glossy Ibis was showing on and off again this morning, showing reasonably well then flying off some distance for long periods before returning to the field by the farm where 40 or so Cattle Egrets remained.

There was also a late Swallow and a Raven over, whilst the flock of c100 Fieldfares were still in the vicinity, along with a Chiffchaff, four Goldcrests, a Meadow Pipit, five Pied Wagtails, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, seven Long-tailed Tits, nine Curlews, c25 Shelducks and a Buzzard., (A&YF/SR/OM/AW)

Glossy Ibis (with Cattle Egrets) at Marsh Farm (OM to two & AW)

East Head: Two Snow Buntings were along the dunes this afternoon (per Birdguides)

West Wittering: A Merlin was along our lane this afternoon. (GM)

Chichester Marina: A Bittern was in the reed-beds this afternoon. (per PH)

Mill Pond Marsh: a Water Rail and a Cetti's Warbler were heard today. (AT)

Church Norton: The Common Scoter was still present in the harbour, as was the Whimbrel and lots of Brent Geese and a few Wigeon and Teal, whilst Dunlin and Grey Plovers started to appear on the mud as the tide dropped and a Snipe was in the creek by the horse field.

A Dartford Warbler popped up briefly along the west side, where there were also a few Linnets and Meadow Pipits, whilst the pair of Stonechats were at the start of the spit and one or two Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings were around the horse field.

Also, the Merlin was again on Peregrine Island at two Red-breasted Mergansers were about. (AH/IP/MO-W)

This afternoon there were nine Grey Plovers, a Bar-tailed Godwit, an Avocet and 28 Knot present. (LGRE)