Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 1st

Wednesday, 3rd February: A very soggy morning of persistent drizzly rain falling on waterlogged ground, with almost no breeze........

Selsey Bill: There was little to report this morning, with four Red-throated Divers east and two Red-breasted Mergansers west the only movement, whilst two Great Northern Divers and six Common Scoters were sat on the sea. Full log below.

(0745-0845hrs) (N, F2)
Great Northern Diver – 2os
Red-throated Diver – 4E
Common Scoter – 6os
Red-breasted Merganser – 2W
Oystercatcher – 1W
Mediterranean Gull – 2os

Common Scoters at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: At least 15 Snipe were in the roadside reeds and 500 Lapwings came up off the field, where there were also c100 Wigeon, but the pool just held eight Shelducks, 25 Teal and 40 Shovelers.

Snipe (above), Wigeon & Lapwings at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There was very little here beyond the regular waders, including the Whimbrel, a handful of Ringed Plovers, c300 Knot, 100 Grey Plovers and 500 Dunlin, with just a few Wigeon, Teal and Shelducks scattered about.

Whimbrel (above), Ringed Plover, Dunlin & Dunlin and Knot at Church Norton (AH)

Chi GP's: An afternoon visit found things all rather quiet; on New Lake there were 26 Shoveler, 19 Tufted Ducks and a Little Grebe, whilst on Copse lake were just five more Tufted Ducks and six Coot.

Tuesday, 2nd February: Another very grey and murky morning, with drizzly rain never far away in a freshening south-westerly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: There was bit of interest on a quiet morning, including a drake Eider and three Great Northern Divers on the sea, seven Slavonian Grebes and a Guillemot west and 22 Red-throated Divers east. Full log below.

(0745-0900hrs) (SW, F6)
Great Northern Diver – 3os
Red-throated Diver – 22E, 2W, 3os
Slavonian Grebe – 7W
Gannet – 8W
Eider - 1os
Red-breasted Merganser – 6E, 3os
Oystercatcher – 1W
Turnstone – 3W
Mediterranean Gull – 3os
Kittiwake – 1W
Sandwich Tern – 2os
Guillemot – 1W

Slavonian Grebes (above), Eider & Guillemot at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Half a dozen Snipe were in the reeds, but numbers of wildfowl had dropped again, with just 30 Shovelers, 30 Wigeon, 20 Teal and five Shelducks present.

Shoveler at the Ferry (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: A Raven flew south other the farm, whilst otherwise there were a Grey Wagtail, a Pied Wagtail, two Green Woodpeckers, c50 Meadow Pipits, c50 Curlews and two Brent Geese on the fields and a Sparrowhawk was at the far end of Park Lane.

Church Norton: Along with the regular waders there were nine Avocets, two Bar-tailed Godwits and a Knot seen, whilst wildfowl included a large flock of Pintail towards the North Wall and a Red-breasted Merganser near the harbour mouth.

Elsewhere, two Snipe were in the creek by the horse field, with a Stonechat nearby and a Goldcrest and a Cetti's Warbler were at the Severals.

An afternoon circuit via Park lane - Greenlease Farm - Grange Lane produced 81 Curlew and c.120 Brent Geese in the fields, plus six Long-tailed Tits, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Buzzard.

This afternoon, a walk from Park Lane across to Greenlease Farm and back along Grange Lane produced 81 Curlew and c120 Brent in the field behind the coastal properties, whilst in Grange Lane there were a family of six Long-tailed Tits, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Buzzard.

East Head: The Snow Bunting was still present this morning in its usual haunts.

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: There were still a minimum of 32 Cattle Egrets present - 14 near the dairy buildings and 18 towards Bramber Farm, along with at least six Little Egrets and a pair of Shelducks.

Otherwise it was fairly quiet, though the elusive Brambling briefly appeared in a mixed flock of Chaffinches and Goldfinches north of Chalder Farm, a pair of Stonechats and a few Meadow Pipits were along Church Farm Lane and a couple of Goldcrests were in the churchyard

Cattle Egrets (above), Goldcrest & Stonechat at Marsh Farm, Sidlesham (AH)

Brambling (just about! - the top bird with a white rump) with Chaffinches at Marsh Farm, Sidlesham (AH)

Monday, 1st February: A cool and heavily overcast morning, with just a light to moderate northerly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: There were six Great Northern Divers on the sea this morning, whilst 44 Red-throated Divers went west, with another 18 going east, though beyond a Shag east and couple of Sandwich Terns and 11 Red-breasted Mergansers well offshore, it was quiet. Full log below.

(0745-0915hrs) (N, F4)
Great Northern Diver – 6os
Red-throated Diver – 18E, 44W, 2os
Great Crested Grebe – 1E
Gannet – 12E, 22W
Shag – 1E
Common Scoter – 1W
Red-breasted Merganser – 4E, 11os
Turnstone – 6W
Mediterranean Gull – 3E
Common Gull – 1E
Sandwich Tern – 2os
auk sp – 45E

Red-throated Divers (above), Common Scoter & Red-breasted Merganser at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: At least ten Snipe were in the reeds, with eight Shelducks, c60 Shovelers, c40 Teal and similar of Wigeon on the pool, whilst the Kingfisher was again in the channel opposite.

Kingfisher (above) & Snipe at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: The flooded fields to the west of Church Barton reservoir were full of birds this morning - 1700 Lapwing, 160 Golden Plover, nine Redshank, 11 Curlew, 42 Wigeon, 12 Pintail, 120 Black-headed Gulls and eight Mute Swans.

A Kingfisher was around the sluice gates at Welbourne and a male Marsh Harrier was over the reeds behind the Breech Pool, which is over-spilling and only contained ten Tufted Ducks, two Gadwall and a few Mallard.

Behind the Breech Pool there were 120 Teal, 60 Wigeon, 80 Brent Geese, six Canada Geese and 21 Curlew, whilst in Honer 3 field there were 700 Brent Geese, along with a lone Barnacle Goose, and a Cetti's Warbler was calling close by.

All of the North Wall fields are flooded, with the western end of the North Wall very muddy and slippery, Honer 1 is impassable, as is the footpath along Pagham Rife to Summer Lane. and both Pagham and Bremere Rifes have burst their banks in recent days.

Brent Geese (above) & the flooded landscape at the North Wall (JDW)

East Head: The Snow Bunting was again present at the northern end this morning, but was flighty and difficult to pin down. Also, in that area there were a Stonechat, a Rock Pipit and a dozen Skylarks, whilst in the harbour there were a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers and four Great Crested Grebes.

There wasn't much else to report, though at least 1000 Brent Geese were on the fields.