1st - 3rd November 2021

Wednesday, 3rd November: A cold, frosty and splendidly sunny morning with just a light north-westerly breeze, before becoming duller with increasing cloud by afternoon.....

Selsey Bill: A glorious morning with a calm sea, but fairly quiet today. A Great Northern Diver, an Eider and a few Brent Geese went west and a Peregrine flew in off the sea, carrying prey. Full log below. (SR/AH/AW)

(0705-0835hrs) (NW, F2-3)

Great Northern Diver - 1W

Gannet - 6os

Brent Goose - 1E, 37W

Eider - 1W

Common Scoter - 2W

Red-breasted Merganser - 1E

Sparrowhawk - 1

Peregrine - 1

Oystercatcher - 1W, 2 present

Sanderling - 2

Turnstone - 3

Mediterranean Gull - 5os

Razorbill - 1W

Swallow - 1W

Meadow Pipit - 2W

Pied Wagtail - 3W

Jackdaw - 70W

Linnet - 3W

Goldfinch - 5E

Eider (above), Swallow, Sanderlings, (AW), Peregrine & Brent Geese (AH) at the Bill

Ferry Pool: At least a dozen Cattle Egrets were among the cows on a frosty Ferry Field this morning, whilst the pool held three Snipe, c40 Lapwings and 50+ Teal, Wigeon and Shovelers. (AH)

Cattle Egrets at the Ferry (AH)

Pagham Spit: Three Goosanders were in the harbour mouth this afternoon. (TG)

Church Norton: A Great White Egret was in the middle of the harbour early on (0828hrs) but less than ten minutes later it flew off south.

There wasn't much else to report, though there were 50+ Brent Geese and 30+ Pintail in the harbour, along with plenty of Wigeon and Teal, whilst c40 Grey Plovers and c100 Dunlin were on the mud before the tide pushed them off. (AH)

Later, two Swallows were present (MPr)

Great White Egret (above), Grey Plover & Pintails at Church Norton (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: The two Goosanders were at the Fishbourne end of the creek, spending a lot of the time with their heads underwater searching for food. The only other notable birds were a Firecrest in the Apuldram car park and a Stonechat along the harbourside. (SR)

Goosanders (above), Stonechat & Little Egret at Fishbourne Creek (SR)

East Head: The Snow Bunting was back up at its more usual northern tip this morning. (MR)

Snow Bunting at East Head (MR)

North Wall: The Great White Egret dropped into the harbour opposite Owl Copse at 08.50, for a couple of minutes, before heading east behind the Wall; also on the rocks were a Rock Pipit, two Stonechats and a single Wren. 

A Marsh Harrier showed briefly before dropping down into the reeds, a Buzzard was in the distant trees and a Kestrel was hunting close to the sluice gates, where also there was a Kingfisher. (GHi)

Great White Egret (above), Marsh Harrier & Rock Pipit at the North Wall (GHi)

Tuesday, 2nd November: At last the winds have eased, leaving a fine and sunny morning, after the first frost of the autumn, in just a light north-westerly........

Selsey Bill: Two Great Northern Divers, heading east together, was the highlight of a quiet morning. (SR/AH/IP)

(0705-0835hrs) (NW, F2-3)

Great Northern Diver - 2E

Gannet - 1E, 2W

Brent Goose - 2E, 2W

Sparrowhawk - 1

Turnstone - 10

Mediterranean Gull - 20os

Common Gull - 1os

Wood Pigeon - 74W

Pied Wagtail - 2E, 1W

Magpie - 13W

Linnet - 8E

Goldfinch - 40

Great Northern Diver at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Two Cattle Egrets were among the cows in the field, before flying off east, but the pool was devoid of birds, with a digger at work on the adjacent rife. (AH)

Cattle Egret at the Ferry (AH)

East Head: The Snow Bunting was still present this morning, actually feeding around the car-park.
There were also around 3-400 Brent Geese, 100 Teal, 30 Grey Plover, 75 Lapwing, 20 Dunlin, two Greenshanks and two calling Cetti's Warblers present. (MP/GM/SR et al)

Also, two Velvet Scoters were offshore this afternoon, (BL) and a Wheatear was also seen (KT)

Snow Bunting (above) (upper, GM, lower SR), Wheatear (KT) & Brent Geese (SR) at East Head

Fishbourne Creek: This afternoon there were two Goosanders in the upper reaches of the creek on the low tide. Also, a Black Swan was with the Mute Swans, and two Greenshank were active in the channel. (RW)

Later on, there were four Greenshank present, along with a Bar-tailed Godwit, a Stonechat and Chiffchaff. (CRJ)

Goosander in Fishbourne Creek (RW)

Long Pool: There were two Spotted Redshanks along Ferry Channel at high tide, along with c20 Redshanks and Curlews and plenty of Shovelers, Wigeon and Teal.

A pair of Stonechats were along the hedges, along with a Song Thrush and half a dozen Blackbirds, but that was about it. (AH)

Spotted Redshank (above), Spotted Redshank and Redshanks, Teal and Shovelers from the Long Pool (AH)

Chi GPs – Drayton House pits: On the North pit were 76 Pochard, 24 Mallard and 18 Gadwall, whilst three different Water Rails were calling, whilst three Chiffchaffs, two Goldcrests and a dozen Long-tailed Tits were the best of it in the bushes. 

The South pit was quieter for wildfowl, but highlights were a Kingfisher, a couple of Chiffchaffs and c10 Redwings. (OM)

Runcton: A nice selection of common birds along the Nursery footpath at lunchtime today, including two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Chiffchaff, four Blue Tits, two Great Tits , several Long-tailed Tits, one, possibly two, Tree-creepers. (CRJ)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pools - There were surprisingly few birds along the banks, give the conditions, but three Dartford Warblers and half a dozen Stonechats were among them, along with a couple of Reed Buntings and just a scattering of Yellowhammers, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks, whilst a pair of Ravens were on the reserve before heading off north..

Three Snipe, four Dunlin and 20 Lapwings were the only waders on the Stilt Pools, dominated by 100 Canada Geese and a selection of wildfowl, including a few Shovelers, Teal, Wigeon and Gadwall, whilst at least eight Egyptian Geese were roosting on the new reservoirs.. (AH et al)

Dartford Warblers (above), Raven, Reed Bunting, Stonechat & Snipe at Medmerry (AH)

Monday, 1st November: A shift round to west in the fresh breeze, leaving a bright, if blustery and slightly cooler morning.....

Selsey Bill: A Black Redstart was around the houses this morning, but it was quiet offshore, though a Great Northern Diver, a couple of Red-throated Divers and three Red-breasted Mergansers went west. Full log below. (SR/IP/AH/AW)

(0705-0835hrs) (WSW, F5)

Great Northern Diver - 1W

Red-throated Diver - 2W

Brent Goose - 11W

Red-breasted Merganser - 3W

Oystercatcher - 1W

Dunlin - 65W

Turnstone - 5

Mediterranean Gull - 2E, 6W

Razorbill - 8E

auk sp - 1E

Pied Wagtail - 1W

Black Redstart - 1

Goldfinch - 20

Linnet - 6W

Greenfinch - 1

Black Redstart (AW) (above) & Mediterranean Gull (AH) at the Bill

This afternoon, there were two Black Redstarts around the Bill. (AW)

Black Redstarts at the Bill (AW)

Ferry Pool: A Barn Owl was hunting Ferry Field early this morning, whilst two Cattle Egrets flew off from the field early on and three were again present later.

At least three Snipe were on the pool, along with c30 Lapwings, with the same again on the field, whilst wildfowl comprised a Shelduck, c30 Wigeon, c50 Shovelers and c100 Teal, Also, 15 Avocets were roosting in Ferry Channel. (AH/SH/TG-P)

Barn Owl (above) & Snipe, Wigeon and Teal at Ferry (AH)

Also, this afternoon, there were two Water Rails in Red Barn Ditch. (C Piper/ S Elliott)

Water Rail in Red Barn Ditch (S Elliott)

East Head: A Snow Bunting was reported as showing well in the dunes today. (RBA/Birdguides)

Church Norton: It was very quiet on the full tide, with few waders to be seen, though a Greenshank was present with 56 Brent Geese, a few Wigeon and Teal, plus half a dozen Great Crested Grebes in the central channel and the regular Whimbrel also still in its area by the bench.

A couple of Chiffchaffs and Jays, plus a fly-over Mistle Thrush and a few Goldfinches were  noted on the land-side, whilst three Stonechats and a juv/fem Dartford Warbler were along the beach.

Also, work has now started with the digging out of the extension to the spit to create a new entrance to the harbour, and currently piling up shingle between the two islands, presumably to create a new one. (AH/CRJ)

Wigeon (above) & piles of shingle at Church Norton (AH)

Stonechats at Church Norton (CRJ)

Fishbourne Creek: There were good numbers of waders and ducks present, with highlights including good views of a Spoonbill and several Greenshank, Turnstone, Redshank, Curlew, Wigeon and Teal. We also noted Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Pintail, Black Swan and Stonechats. (K&LS per SOS)