Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 16th

Friday, 18th February: Potentially, a day of dramatic weather, with the gales of early on reaching storm force by late morning, though mostly dry and quite mild.....

Selsey Bill: The first Gannet of the week was probably the highlight of a very slow morning! Full log below. (SR/AH)

(0740-0840hrs) (SW, F7-8)

Great Northern Diver - 2os

Red-throated Diver - 1W

Fulmar - 2W

Gannet - 1E

Red-breasted Merganser - 2E, 4W, 5os

Common Gull - 1E

Razorbill - 1os

Ferry Pool: There were 16 Avocets tucked in at the back, with otherwise just c80 Shovelers and c40 Teal on the pool and c50 Wigeon and a handful of Curlews on the fields. (AH)

Avocets (above) & Shovelers at the Ferry (AH)

East Beach: A Sparrowhawk was in the garden this morning. (SR)

Sparrowhawk in a Selsey garden (SR)

Church Norton: There were plenty of waders in the harbour, including the Whimbrel, c20 Curlews, c100 Grey Plovers, c250 Knot and c800 Dunlin, whilst at least 500 Brent Geese were present, mostly flying up from the North Wall area.

Other wildfowl included four Red-breasted Mergansers, four Pintail, c20 Wigeon and c50 Teal, whilst a couple of Common and Mediterranean Gulls were about, too, but the only landbirds of note were a Jay and a Green Woodpecker. (AH)

Whimbrel (above), Red-breasted Merganser, Brent Geese, Jay & Knot and Grey Plovers at Church Norton (AH)

The tide was falling, but still quite high this, afternoon, when 13 Red-breasted Mergansers were sheltering from the storm, along with 18 Mediterranean and 12 Common Gulls. Also there was 40 Brent Geese, three Pintail, 20 Teal, eight Wigeon, two Little Grebes, c50 Dunlin and c40 Grey Plover present. (SR)

Later on, two Sandwich Terns flew into the gull roost. (AH)

Red-breasted Merganser at Church Norton (SR)

Thursday, 17th February: Another bright and very breezy morning in a freshening westerly.....

Selsey Bill: At least 11 Sandwich Terns were offshore again and a Shag dropped in on the sea, but it was otherwise very quiet. Full log below. (AH/SR/MO-W)

(0730-0900hrs) (WSW, F5-6)

Great Northern Diver - 1W

Red-throated Diver - 1E

Shag - 1os

Turnstone - 3

Mediterranean Gull - 2os

Common Gull - 1E

Kittiwake - 2W

Sandwich Tern - 11os

Razorbill - 1W

auk sp - 4E, 1W

Razorbill (above), Shag & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were just c75 Shoveler and Teal on the pool, with c200 Wigeon on the fields, whilst the Kingfisher was again in the channel opposite. (AH)

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

Selsey: The Coal Tit was coming to the garden feeders again today. (AW)

Coal Tit in a Selsey garden (AW)

Fishbourne Creek: On the high tide this morning at there were two Meadow Pipits and a Stonechat along the sea wall, whilst in the harbour the large flock of commoner gulls contained three Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a Mediterranean Gull.

Also, a male Goldeneye was off the Lavant outfall, with 13 Great Crested Grebes spread out along the creek, whilst the salt marsh south of the Lavant contained five Rock Pipits. (RW)

Church Norton: There were lots of waders trying to roost on the rising tide, including the Whimbrel, 11 Bar-tailed Godwits, 200+ Knot, 100+ Grey Plovers and 500+ Dunlin, but wildfowl numbers were low, with just a single Red-breasted Merganser, a handful of Pintail, c20 Shelduck and c30 Teal and Wigeon seen, along with perhaps 200 widely spread Brent Geese.

There were also a handful of Common and Mediterranean Gulls about. (AH/MP/DP)

Bar-tailed Godwits (above), Whimbrel, Common Gull, Wigeon, Teal & Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plovers at Church Norton (AH)

Chi GPs: Drayton House pits - Wildfowl numbers were on the low side in the mild conditions, the best being combined totals of 80 Pochard, 70 Tufted Duck and 35 Shoveler, whilst the few highlights were a cream-capped Marsh Harrier, a pair of noisy Buzzards, three Bullfinches, three Cetti's Warblers and two Chiffchaffs. (OM)

Wednesday, 16th February: Initially a quite mild, bright and breezy morning in a brisk south-westerly, but with heavy cloud slowly building and the promise of gales and rain later.....

Selsey Bill: Early this morning at least 500 Golden Plovers went out to sea, heading west towards the Mile Basket, in several loose flocks - presumably these were the greater part of the wintering flock from the harbour.

There were still at least 14 Sandwich Terns lingering offshore, but there was little on the move beyond three Pale-bellied Brent Geese among 35 Brent Geese going east and two Fulmars heading west. Full log below. (CRJ/AH/SR/AW)

(0715-0900hrs) (SW, F6)

Great Northern Diver - 1os

Great Crested Grebe - 1E, 1os

Fulmar - 2W

Brent Goose - 35E, 2W

Pale-bellied Brent Geese - 3E

Red-breasted Merganser - 2W

Oystercatcher - 1W

Golden Plover - 500W

Mediterranean Gull - 2os

Sandwich Tern - 14os

auk sp - 1E

Golden Plovers (above), Pale-bellied and Dark Bellied Brent Geese (AW), Fulmar, Red-breasted Mergansers, Sandwich Terns (AH) & Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gulls (CRJ) at the Bill

Ferry Pool: A group of nine Black-tailed Godwits at the back were the only things of note beyond a couple of Shelducks and the regular Shovelers and Teal. (AH)

Hunston: A Bullfinch flew across the road near Hunter's Lodge stables this morning. (CRJ)

North Wall: There was little along the wall itself, but White's Creek and the adjacent harbour were full of roosting wildfowl and waders, including at least 500 Brent Geese, 100 Wigeon, 50 Teal, a dozen Pintail, 30 Shelducks, ten Bar-tailed Godwits, 1000+ Lapwings and Dunlin, 300 Knot, 150 Grey Plovers and 40 Golden Plovers.

There were also two Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a handful of Mediterranean and Common Gulls present. (AH/JDW et al)