Tuesday, 9th February: The very cold snap continues, with the north-easterly breeze freshening as the morning progressed, but no more snow after yesterday's light covering .........
Selsey Bill: It was fairly quiet this morning, though two Great Northern Divers and four Red-throated Divers were on the sea, with another 11 of the latter going east, along with a Bar-tailed Godwit, whilst three Sandwich Terns were offshore and a few more Brent Geese and Wigeon went west. Full log below.
(0745-0900hrs) (NE, F4-5) Great Northern Diver – 2os
Red-throated Diver – 11E, 4os
Gannet – 45E, 25W
Brent Goose – 26W
Wigeon – 9E, 33W
Red-breasted Merganser – 6E, 5os
Bar-tailed Godwit – 1E
Turnstone – 7E
Common Gull – 25E
Sandwich Tern – 3os
Razorbill – 8E, 6W
auk sp – 20E, 50W
Red-throated Diver (above), Bar-tailed Godwit, Sandwich Tern, Red-breasted Mergansers & Common Gull at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: There at least 80 Shovelers on the unfrozen bits of the pool, along with c40 Wigeon, c20 Teal and five Shelducks, whilst a party of eight Dunlin flew in, settled briefly on the ice and retreated back to the harbour.
Dunlin and Shelduck (above) & Shovelers on the Ferry (AH)
Fishbourne Creek: There were eight Goldeneye, including three drakes, a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, four Great Crested Grebes and c200 Wigeon on the water at high tide, whilst two different Kingfishers were about, too.
There were relatively few waders about, though a Snipe and a Jack Snipe flew out, c200 Black-tailed Godwits were roosting on the far side and a few Lapwings, Turnstones, Dunlin and Grey Plover were also present.
A Raven went over south-west, but passerines were few beyond a Grey Wagtail and at least ten Rock Pipits.
Kingfishers (above), Raven, Rock Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Goldeneyes, Snipe, Black-tailed Godwits & Wigeon at Fishbourne Creek (AH)
Also, three Yellowhammers were in Fishbourne Meadows, nearby.
Yellowhammers in Fishbourne Meadows (MR)
Church Norton: Two Snipe were flushed from the path along the west sidelate this afternoon.
North Wall: The fields to the west of Church Barton were largely frozen and only held 48 Lapwing, 22 Dunlin, 26 Shelduck and two Grey Herons, whilst very little was happening along the Wall and the only birds in the fields were 33 Coot in Honer 1.
Surprisingly there were no ducks at all on Honer reservoir, only 25 Coots.
Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: There were at least 11 Cattle Egrets and a Little Egret between Marsh and Bramber Farms.
Cattle Egrets at Marsh Farm, Sidlesham (JDW)
Monday, 8th February: Another very cold morning, with a light, but settling, cover of snow and the breeze remaining fresh and from the north-east .........
Selsey Bill: A total of 18 Red-throated Divers went east, with four on the sea, and there were also two Slavonian Grebes and eight Sandwich Terns offshore, whilst there was a bit of westward (presumably cold-weather) movement, including 54 Brent Geese, 34 Wigeon, two Gadwall and 27 Teal. Full log below.
(0800-0900hrs) (NNE, F5) Red-throated Diver – 18E, 4os
Slavonian Grebe – 2os
Gannet – 10E, 6W
Brent Goose - 54W
Wigeon – 34W
Gadwall – 2W
Teal – 27W
Common Scoter – 4W
Red-breasted Merganser – 4E, 2os
Dunlin – 1W
Turnstone – 12E, 2W
Mediterranean Gull – 3os
Common Gull – 33E, 12os
Kittiwake – 3E, 1W
Sandwich Tern – 8os
auk sp – 1W
Red-throated Diver (above), Sandwich Tern, Wigeon and Gadwall & Brent Geese at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: There were 220 Wigeon and 92 Shovelers on the pool, but otherwise there were just 22 Teal and six Shelducks present, with around 60 Lapwings on/over the field.
Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)
Marsh Harrier at the Ferry (AW)
East Head: The Snow Bunting was still present today.
Snow Bunting at East Head (BI)
Runcton: There were up to five Stock Doves in the garden this morning.
Church Norton: Between 1000 and 1500 Brent Geese flew into the harbour from the fields on the west side this afternoon, where there were also seven Roe Deer together, and there were also 200 Knot roosting beside the main channel.
North Wall: It was quite busy this morning, with a conveyor belt of at least 800 Brent Geese, plus the Barnacle Goose, dropping in on White's Creek before heading away inland, and there were also 20+ Pintails and 100+ Wigeon present.
A Spotted Redshank and a Rock Pipit were both in the White's Creek area, too, and at least 300 Black-tailed Godwits and 500 Lapwings were roosting at high tide.
A Marsh Harrier was over the back of the reed-beds, whilst a very flooded and frozen Honer 1 field held at least 80 Brent Geese and 60 Curlews, whilst a Snipe went over.
Later on, on the harbour there were four Bar-tailed Godwits, 30 Avocets, 70 Golden Plovers and 160 Knot also seen among the waders in the harbour.
Barnacle Goose and Brent Geese (above), Spotted Redshank, Marsh Harrier, Rock Pipit, Wigeon & Black-tailed Godwits from the North Wall (AH)
The flooded fields west of Church Barton reservoir were largely frozen over and contained few birds - just 42 Lapwing, 39 Shelduck, three Grey Herons and two Dunlin, whilst at Owl Water there were 120 Dunlin - an unusual occurrence - here plus a few Redshank and Grey Plover.
At Honer reservoir there were 17 Shoveler, two Gadwall and 34 Coots, whilst in the flooded field south-east of the reservoir there were five Fieldfares, 11 Shelduck and a Jack Snipe which was inadvertently flushed.
Shovelers (above) & Dunlin around the North Wall (JDW)
Pagham Lagoon: Very little was on here again, with just two drake Pochards, a dozen Tufted Ducks, two Great Crested Grebes and six Little Grebes present, plus 100 assorted gulls, including a handful of Mediterranean and Common Gulls.
Pochard (above) & Little Grebe on Pagham Lagoon (AH)
Sunday, 7th February: A bitingly cold morning in the strong northerly breeze, though with some sun amid the dark clouds .........
Selsey Bill: It was fairly quiet this morning, though two Great Northern Divers and five Red-throated Divers were on the sea, with just three east and six west of the latter on the move. There were also nine Sandwich Terns offshore, all together at one point, and there were a few auks (mainly Razorbills) heading west. Full log below.
(0740-0910hrs) (N, F6) Great Northern Diver – 2os
Red-throated Diver – 3E, 6W, 5os
Great Crested Grebe – 1os
Gannet – 6E, 20W, c20os
Teal – 2E
Common Scoter – 3E, 2W
Red-breasted Merganser – 8E, 4os
Oystercatcher – 2W
Curlew – 1E
Mediterranean Gull – 3os
Common Gull – 11E
Kittiwake – 5E, 2W, 10os
Sandwich Tern – 9os (together)
Razorbill – 8E, 65W, 12os
auk – c50E, c400W
Great Northern Diver (above), Red-throated Diver, Razorbills, Kittiwake, Sandwich Tern & Red-breasted Merganser at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: Just four Snipe were at the front, whilst c200 Lapwings were on the field, though there were good numbers of wildfowl again, including three Gadwall, six Shelducks, c50 Teal, c70 Shovelers and c150 Wigeon.
Gadwall (above) Shovelers & Teal on the Ferry (AH)
The highlight of a brief walk late this afternoon around the Tramway was a hunting Kingfisher watched for some time in Red Barn Ditch, alongside a Little Egret with a Kestrel close by.
In the channel opposite was another confiding bird, also intent on feeding - a single Avocet. Other birds in the channel were Grey Plover, Redshank, Curlew, Shelduck, Teal and Wigeon.
Avocet & Kingfisher from the Tramway (SR)
North Wall: It was fairly quiet here, though the Barnacle Goose was among large numbers of Brent Geese in White's Creek before they all flew off inland, and two Marsh Harriers and a Buzzard were hunting over the reeds behind the wall.
A Short-eared Owl was behind the Breech pool this morning where after a brief hunt it appeared to sucessfully drop on to prey.
Later, a Green Woodpecker and Stonechat were at the horse paddocks while the large flock of Brent Geese (plus one Barnacle Goose) grazed in the field behind the Breech Pool.
East Side: Forty-five Avocets were grouped together in Whites Creek before being spooked by walkers and also to be seen were at least a dozen Shoveler, 300 Black-tailed Godwits, one Ringed Plover, two Pintail, a few scattered Dunlin, widespread Lapwing and the usual Wigeon, Teal, Redshank and Shelduck. Earlier a minimum of 66 Avocets were present.
Park Farm: A Kestrel, a Grey Wagtail, c.50 Meadow Pipits, over 50 Curlew and 19 Brent Geese were present late this morning.
Later a Kestrel was keeping low as it hunted in nearby Manor Lane.
Kestrel near Park Farm, Selsey (SH)
Church Norton: At least 500 Brent Geese were in the harbour, along with large numbers of Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plovers, plus 20 Ringed Plovers, whilst one of the Peregrines was on its island and there were a handful of Common and Mediterranean Gulls about.
A few Wigeon and Teal were in the flooded creek, but a Goldcrest in the car-park was about the only passerine seen.
Later a flock of 20 Common Scoter flew east close inshore, though only four Pintail were seen in the harbour, with just one Mediterranean Gull seen off the second Several.
Also, a total of 25 Snipe flew over the Severals, in groups of ten, ten and five, whilst another was flushed from Bluebell Wood.
Goldcrest (above), Wigeon & Brent Geese and Grey Plovers at Church Norton (AH)
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