23rd - 25th August 2021

Wednesday, 25th August: Another quite warm and sunny morning, despite the blustery north-easterly persisting.......

Selsey Bill: A Hobby and three Yellow Wagtails went east this morning, along with over 200 Swallows and a few Sand and House Martins, a Pintail and nine Wigeon, whilst at least 100 Sandwich Terns were on the rocks by the Mile Basket. Full log below. (SR/AH/IP/P&LH)

(0705-0845hrs) (NE, F4)

Gannet - 12E, 5W, 12os

Shelduck - 2E. 

Wigeon - 9E

Pintail - 1E

Hobby - 1E

Turnstone - 10

Mediterranean Gull - 2E, 5W

Sandwich Tern - 10E, 3W, c100os

Common Tern - 2E

Swift -1

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 2

Swallow - 205E

Sand Martin - 31E

House Martin - 27E

Yellow Wagtail - 3E

Pied Wagtail - 1E

Wheatear - 1

Willow Warbler - 1

Hobby (above), Common Tern & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Two Spotted Redshanks and a Common Sandpiper were in the channel opposite, but the pool just held the regular mix of c60 Dunlin, c60 Lapwing, c100 Black-tailed Godwits, c70 Teal and 15 Shelducks, whilst a look round the Tramway early on just produced a couple of Lesser Whitethroats and a handful of Whitethroats. (AH)

Later on, nine Yellow Wagtails went over the pool and a Greenshank was in Red Barn Ditch. (P&LH)

Spotted Redshank (above) & Lapwings at the Ferry (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: The first Wheatear of the autumn on the fields was seen this evening, with seven Yellow Wagtails, 10+ Swallows, 20+ House Martins, a Sparrowhawk and a Buzzard going over. (S&SaH)

Wheatear at Park Farm, Selsey (SH)

Church Norton: A Little Stint was in the harbour again this morning, whilst six Yellow Wagtails were along the beach and 50+ Mediterranean Gulls were in the stubble fields behind the Severals. (P&LH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A juvenile Ruff and a Knot were on the Stilt Pool this morning, along with a Wigeon and a Whinchat, whilst 15 Pintail flew into the reserve but didn't land, before heading off east again. 

Also, an Osprey was perched out in the middle of the reserve and a Red Kite was chasing a Marsh Harrier! 

There were also ten Yellow Wagtails, a pair of Stonechats and a few Whitethroats along the banks, with two Common Sandpipers, a Dunlin, the Pochard and c300 Canada Geese on the Stilt Pool. (AB/SR/IP et al)

Honer Reservoir: This morning there were a pair of Mute Swans, two Little Grebes, ten Coots and two Tufted Duck on the reservoir, with 28 Swallows on the nearby telegraph wires, a Buzzard sitting on a haystack and four Cattle Egrets feeding near Honer Farm House. (CRJ)

North Wall: Most small birds were keeping low, but a Spotted Flycatcher was at Halsey's Farm, along with a couple of Wheatears, whilst two more of the latter along were the Wall. At least 12 Whitethroats were also logged and a couple of Lesser Whitethroats popped up intermittently, with several Reed Warblers noted flitting to and fro the reed-beds.

A Hobby was briefly at Halsey's, then a female Marsh Harrier went over, as did c30 Swallows, whilst a flighty Kingfisher was at either end of the Wall and there were still several very young Cattle Egrets in Owl Copse.

The short-billed Greenshank was in White's Creek, along with a few Black-tailed Godwits, but the harbour was quiet. (AH/OM/JDW et al)

Spotted Flycatcher (top OM, above AH), Lesser Whitethroat, Swallow, Cattle Egret, Greenshank & Black-tailed Godwit around the North Wall (AH)

East side: The most notable thing this morning was the number of returning wildfowl, with at least ten Pintail, 25 Wigeon, five Gadwall and 80 Teal present. Waders included five Greenshank, four Grey Plover, two Knot, a Whimbrel, 30 Ringed Plovers and 50 Dunlin, plus the regular Curlews, Oystercatchers and Redshanks, though nothing more unusual could be located amongst them. (OM)

Pintails on the East side (OM)

Tuesday, 24th August: A bright and sunny morning, but with a brisk north-easterly keeping it cool.......

Selsey Bill: There wasn't much going on, with a few Sand Martins going both east and west about the only sign of migration, whilst a peregrine chased (unsuccessfully!) a pigeon right across the horizon. Full log below. (SR/IP/AH)

(0655-0810hrs) (NE, F4-5)

Gannet - 13E, 3W

Little Egret - 1E

Peregrine - 1W

Turnstone - 1

Mediterranean Gull - 6E, 1W

Sandwich Tern - 10E, 8W

Sand Martin - 30E, 42W

Swallow - 13E

House Martin - 4

Pied Wagtail - 2W

Willow Warbler - 1

Mediterranean Gull (above) & Painted Lady at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There was a big increase in Teal numbers, with at least 75 present, along with 22 juvenile Shelducks and three Shovelers.

There were at least 60 Dunlin present, too, along with c100 Lapwing and c80 Black-tailed Godwits, whilst the channel opposite held four Spotted Redshanks, including the juvenile, and a Common Sandpiper. (AH)

Spotted Redshanks (above), Common Sandpiper, Dunlin & Teal around the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There was very little to report here, with the brisk wind keeping birds low. A Chiffchaff half-heartedly singing and a Garden Warbler in the churchyard, a Whitethroat along the Severals and c20 Swallows over east were the only migrants seen, whilst Greenlease Farm held just two Jays and two Sparrowhawks.

The harbour was equally quiet, with c50 Dunlin and Ringed Plovers, plus a few Curlews and 50+ Mediterranean Gulls being about it. (AH/AW)

Garden Warbler (AW) (above), Chiffchaff & Jay (AH) at Church Norton

This evening, a Redstart was in the churchyard. (AW)

Redstart at Church Norton (AW)

North Wall: This morning in the north-east corner of the harbour, ducks included some 120 Teal, five Pintail, a Shoveler and five Wigeon, whilst; waders included an Avocet, six Knot, two Greenshank and four Grey Plover; gulls included a single adult Yellow-legged Gull and c150 Mediterranean Gulls, while there were up to 150 Sandwich Terns and five Common Terns. (ARK per SOS).

Sidlesham: There was a nice gathering of c40 Sand Martins and c20 Swallows along the wires in Chalk Lane this morning. (AH)

Sand Martins (above) & Swallows in Sidlesham (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - Two Ospreys were fishing over the reserve this evening, one of which flew off with a large fish, whilst the Spoonbill was back on the Stilt Pool, along with two Snipe, a Green Sandpiper, a Common Sandpiper, an Avocet, six Black-tailed Godwits and c300 Canada Geese, with another Common Sandpiper by the poplars.

At least 40 Yellow Wagtails were around the fields opposite, whilst 20+ Sand Martins and Swallows went over, but the banks were quiet beyond a couple of juvenile Yellowhammers and a single Skylark. (S&SaH/AH)

Ospreys (above), Spoonbill (SH), Spoonbill and Canada Geese, Common Sandpiper, Snipe & Yellowhammer (AH) at Medmerry (AH)

Monday, 23rd August: A decidedly cool and grey morning in a fresh north-easterly breeze and under heavy cloud cover...but clearing to become sunny by afternoon.

Selsey Bill: Three Yellow Wagtails went over and two Willow Warblers and a Whitethroat were in Bill House garden, but it was slow offshore, with two Fulmars west together the only thing beyond the usual. There were also at least eight Emperor dragonflies around Bill House garden, including a mating pair. Full log below. (SR/AH/IP)

(0700-0800hrs) (NE, F4-5)

Fulmar - 2W

Gannet - 43E, 3W, 10os

Oystercatcher - 1W

Turnstone - 20

Mediterranean Gull - 1os

Sandwich Tern - 2E, 6W

House Martin - 8

Yellow Wagtail - 3W

Willow Warbler - 3

Whitethroat - 1

Sandwich Tern (above) & Emperor dragonflies at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There was no sign of the Temminck's Stint this morning, though there were still a Greenshank, the juvenile Spotted Redshank, a Common Sandpiper, c60 Dunlin, c80 Lapwing and c150 Black-tailed Godwits on the pool, along with five Shovelers, eight Shelducks and c25 Teal.

There were also another four Spotted Redshank and a Common Sandpiper in the channel opposite, and a Hobby flew over west. (AH/BI et al)

Spotted Redshanks (above), Greenshank and Dunlin, Common Sandpiper & Black-tailed Godwits around the Ferry (AH)

Warner Lane paddocks: A female Redstart was seen distantly along with a family of Whitethroats, a few Linnets, a Swallow and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. (SR)

Northcommon Farm: A Spotted Flycatcher was in a corner of the caravan park playing field, trying to keep out of the wind, and there was also a Great Spotted Woodpecker close by. (SR)

North Wall: On a rising tide, White's Creek hosted Redshank, Black-tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers, Lapwing and a lone Greenshank. but the Breech Pool is a very poor neighbour to the Ferry and Stilt Pools, with not a wader to be seen - such potential, such a waste!

Along the Wall were Whitethroats, Reed Buntings, Goldfinches, two Whinchats, two Sedge Warblers and a Wheatear. (JDW)

Later on, two Spotted Flycatchers were at Little Welbourne, whilst a Redstart, two Whinchats and two Lesser Whitethroats were in the bushes behind the wall. (LP)

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: Whitethroats were feeding with Yellowhammers along the concrete road south of Marsh Farm, whilst at Bramber Farm there were at least 20 Cattle Egrets amongst the cows and another family party of Whitethroats.

Swallows and Sand Martins were briefly over Honer reservoir where there were also two Green Sandpipers, two Tufted Ducks, two Mute Swans, eight Coots and a Little Grebe. (JDW)

Church Norton: It was a good morning for raptors, with a Merlin on a fence post along the spit this morning, before flying off, a Hobby west over the harbour and two Peregrines back on their island.

A juvenile Little Stint was in the harbour, too, along with 50+ Dunlin and Ringed Plovers, whilst a Greenshank was heard, but not seen, and oddly, a flock of ten Knot went west over the churchyard. Also, at least half a dozen Sandwich Terns were offshore, along with 400 Mediterranean Gulls that later dropped into the harbour.

At least four Spotted Flycatchers were around the churchyard/hide area, along with two Garden Warblers and half a dozen Willow Warblers, whilst two Wheatears were on the concrete blocks and two more, plus a couple of Whitethroats, were along the beach, whilst the Swallows were still around the hide and c20 more and a few Sand Martins went over. (A&YF/AW/PD/AH/BI et al)

Spotted Flycatcher (above), Garden Warbler, Little Stint,  (AW), Willow Warbler, Wheatear, Knot, Sandwich Tern & Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls (AH) at Church Norton

This afternoon, a Redstart and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth were in the churchyard, whilst, later on, there were still three or four Spotted Flycatchers showing well. (AW/AH)

Redstart (above), Hummingbird Hawk-moth (AW) & Spotted flycatchers (AH) at Church Norton

Chi GPs - Drayton Pits: A Pied Flycatcher at the North pit was almost the first bird seen early this morning, before it moved into deeper cover, whilst several Willow Warblers were in the hedges, but wildfowl numbers were much reduced, the lowly highlights being 40 Pochard, 20 Gadwall and six Shoveler.  (OM)

North Mundham: A Spotted Flycatcher was on a dead tree in the field behind the Church. (MJ)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Spoonbill was reported from the Stilt Pool early on (per RBA/Birdguides), but neither it, nor the Little Stint were present later. (BI)

This evening an Osprey was out over the reserve for around an hour, whilst other highlights included 40+ Yellow Wagtails and three Wheatears.

Four Whitethroats and two Stonechats were also along the banks, with 20+ Swallows and Sand Martins, a Sparrowhawk and three Kestrels over.

A juvenile Little Ringed Plover was still on the Stilt Pool, where there were also a Common Sandpiper, a Whimbrel, seven Avocets and five Black-tailed Godwits. (S&SaH)

Osprey (above) & Yellow Wagtail at Medmerry (SH)