14th - 16th July 2021

Friday, 16th July: A very warm and sunny morning in a light north-easterly breeze....

Selsey Bill: The first returning Sanderling was the highlight of an unsurprisingly quiet morning. (AH/SR/IP)

(0700-0800hrs) (NE, F2-3)

Gannet - 3W, 2os

Sanderling - 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 5os

Sandwich Tern - 30os

Little Tern - 4os

Sanderling (above) & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were two Spotted Redshanks, a Little Ringed Plover, a Common Sandpiper, three Avocets and c60 Lapwings and Black-tailed Godwits on the pool this morning, with a Greenshank and a Whimbrel in the channel opposite, whilst at least four Cattle Egrets were among the cows in the field. (AH/P&LH)

Little Ringed Plover (above), Spotted Redshank & Cattle Egret at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A Kentish Plover was reported from the harbour, between the concrete slabs and the old harbour mouth at 1430hrs, but there was no further sign (C Holter per Twitter), whilst later at least six Purple Hairstreaks were around the entrance of Bluebell Wood. (SR)

Selsey: A Southern Hawker (a rare dragonfly on the peninsula) was in the garden, to the north of the village, this afternoon, along with a Common Darter. (JA)

North Wall: Early this morning there were 10 Little Egrets feeding at the base of the wall, along with three Lapwing and two Curlews, whilst in the bushes on top of the wall Reed Buntings were quite active. 

At Owl Copse two juvenile Cattle Egrets were showing well along with an adult bird and a Juvenile Grey Heron was showing well, whilst a Sedge Warbler was sat high in the bushes nearby singing well in the morning sun and two Little Grebes were feeding along with the pair of Mute Swans with their four Cygnets, and the Coots were feeding their young.

Out in the harbour opposite Owl Copse there were c15 Little Egrets, two Black-tailed Godwits fed briefly, also an Oystercatcher along with a lone Redshank, whilst the Swallows were in and out of the stable, (GHi)

Little Egret (above), Grey Heron, Black-tailed Godwits & Reed Bunting at the North Wall (GHi)

Also, a Greenshank was in White's Creek, with a Whimbrel nearby, a Common Tern was fishing over the creek at Halsey's Farm, a Sparrowhawk and two Sand Martins went over. and a female Common Darter was at Halsey's Farm. (AW)

Cattle Egret (above), Greenshank, Common Tern, Sparrowhawk & Common Darter at the North Wall (AW)

Later on, both Marsh Harriers put in an appearance, though c50 Redshanks and a few Curlew were it for the harbour, whilst at least ten Cattle egrets, including three juveniles were in Owl Copse. 

Also a few Gatekeepers and Marbled Whites were on the wing.(AH/IP/LP et al)

Cattle Egrets (above), Marsh Harrier, Whimbrel & Gatekeeper at the North Wall (AH)

Thursday, 15th July: Another fairly warm and sunny morning, with scattered cloud and a moderate north-westerly breeze, though slowly clouding up as the day progressed.....

Keener followers of this blog will have noticed that the daily postings yesterday were much later than normal and that the blog editors were notable by their absence. Whilst we don't usually feature 'off-Peninsula events' here, we thought it might be of interest on this occasion to give a short explanation.....basically we were at Bempton RSPB, Yorkshire, watching the Black-browed Albatross, for having waited so many years for it to appear at the Bill, the temptation just proved too great! Normal service will be resumed today..........(Eds)

Regulars IP (our statistician), PB (sea-watch regular) and AH (co-editor) celebrate their Albatross success at Bempton RSPB! (OM)

Selsey Bill: There were just a few of the regular species this morning. (AH/IP)

(0700-0800hrs) (NW, F3-4)

Mediterranean Gull - 5os

Sandwich Tern - 20os

Little Tern - 4os

Swallow - 2

House Martin - 1

Little Tern (above0, Sandwich Tern & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Birdham: A flock of up to 13 Crossbills flew over here this morning. (PH)

Ferry Pool: Two Spotted Redshanks were in the channel opposite this morning, whilst the pool held 12 Avocets, c25 Black-tailed Godwits, c50 Lapwings and ten Teal. (AH)

The two Spotted Redshanks were on the pool this evening. (AH)

Spotted Redshank (above) & Lapwings and Black-tailed Godwits at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A Purple Hairstreak was in the big Ash tree along the path to the beach this morning. (A&YF)

This evening two Mistle Thrushes were in Rectory Lane for the first time in a while, whilst the harbour was fairly quiet on the full tide, beyond he usual mass of young Sandwich Terns and Black-headed Gulls, along with two or three young Common Terns and a young Mediterranean Gull, whilst a pair of Swallows were still around the hide. (AH)

Mistle Thrush (above), Mediterranean Gull, Sandwich Tern and Black-headed Gull & Sandwich Terns at Church Norton (AH)

Sidlesham: A Cattle Egret flew around the paddocks in Cow Lane for about two minutes before it finally headed off east this afternoon. (AH)

Cattle Egret in Sidlesham (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The banks were fairly quiet beyond a few families of Whitethroats and Linnets, a couple of Reed Buntings, half a dozen Yellowhammers and lots of Skylarks, plus a couple of Swallows over.

A Greenshank, a Whimbrel and a handful of Redshanks were by the poplars, whilst the Stilt Pool just held two Common Sandpipers, an adult Little Ringed Plover, 16 Lapwings, c30 Mediterranean Gulls, a dozen Gadwall and c30 Canada Geese. (AH)

Little Ringed Plover (above), Common Sandpiper, Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls, Yellowhammer & Linnet at Medmerry (AH)

Wednesday, 14th July: A mostly warm and sunny morning in a moderate north-westerly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: Three Curlews west were the only exception to the regular species this morning, though a juvenile Little Tern was a bonus. (SR)

(0810-0910hrs) (NW, F4)

Gannet - 2os

Curlew - 3W

Mediterranean Gull - 6os

Sandwich Tern - 28os

Common Tern - 1os

Little Tern - 8os

Swift - 2

House Martin - 5

Little Terns at the Bill (SR)

Ferry Pool: Mid morning there were 13 Avocets, 56 Lapwing, 102 Black-tailed Godwits, two Shelducks, and a Moorhen with two small chicks on the pool.

A Kestrel was hunting over Ferry Field where there were also three Cattle Egrets, whilst the channel opposite was fast filling up with water, a Spotted Redshank was seen distantly and c10 Teal were along the bank. (SR)

Cattle Egrets at the Ferry (SR)

Selsey: Swift numbers have begun building up over the north of the village in the last couple of days. (S&SaH)

North Wall: A juvenile was among the six Cattle Egrets in Owl Copse tonight, whilst both Marsh Harriers were out hunting, along with a Buzzard, a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel, whilst a Common Tern and 25 swallows were over the Beech Pool. (S&SaH)

Church Norton: A Roseate Tern was on the old harbour mouth metalwork this afternoon (IL/TG-P), but was not present later, though there were three pairs of Common Terns with fledged young and 100+ juvenile Sandwich Terns, plus attendant parents, c40 Mediterranean Gulls, 16 Turnstones, five Curlews and a Whimbrel seen. (AH)

Sandwich Terns (above), Common Tern, Mediterranean Gulls & Curlew at Church Norton (AH)