Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 27th

Monday, 28th February: A fairly mild morning, bright early on in a moderate southerly breeze, though clouding up as the wind shifted south-west..........

Note from the Editors: At 7.30pm on Wednesday, 2nd March, there is a talk by SOS Conservation Officer Richard Cowser, who has done some excellent work locally on various planning issues. It promises to be very interesting and will hopefully be well-supported.

There is a link on the SOS site.

Selsey Bill: Seven Common Scoters, seven Red-throated Divers and four Brent Geese east were about the only hints of possible migration this morning. Full log below. (SR/IP/MO-W/AH)

(0715-0900hrs) (S, F4)

Great Norhern Diver - 1E, 2os

Red-throated Diver - 7E, 1W

Great Crested Grebe - 1E

Shag - 2E

Brent Goose - 4E, 13W

Common Scoter - 7E

Red-breasted Merganser - 15E, 7W, 3os

Sparrowhawk - 1

Turnstone - 7

Mediterranean Gull - 2os

Razorbill - 1E

auk sp - 2E

Great Northern Diver (above), Red-throated Diver, Turnstone & Sparrowhawk at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The pool just held c80 Shovelers and c60 Teal, whilst the field held c50 Lapwing and c150 Wigeon. (AH)

Lapwings (above) & Shoveler at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were at least 500 Brent Geese in the harbour, along with four Pintail and c50 Wigeon and Teal, though waders were few, with just a few dozen Dunlin and a few Grey and ringed Plovers about.

A few Common and Mediterranean Gulls in the harbour, a single Chiffchaff along the west side and two Mistle Thrushes in Rectory Lane were the only other birds of note. (AH)

Mistle Thrush (above), Pintail, Common Gull, Dunlin and Grey Plovers & Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls at Church Norton (AH)

North Mundham: A Merlin shot through at speed this morning. (MJ)

Medmerry: Toe End - At least three Purple Sandpipers were around the rocks near the breach this morning. (AW)

Purple Sandpipers at Medmerry (AW)

Medmerry: Easton Lane - A flock of c40 Fieldfares were in the field south of the car-park this afternoon. (TG-P)

North Wall: This evening the Short-eared Owl was out hunting again, whilst four Glossy Ibises flew in to roost in Owl Copse.

Also, a very odd hybrid Pintail was in the harbour. (AW) This bird was seen briefly at around this time last year and is presumably passing through with other Pintail. (Eds)

Short-eared Owl (above), Glossy Ibises & Pintail hybrid at the North Wall (AW)

Sunday, 27th February: Another sunny morning, though again in a fresh south-easterly - warm in the sun, much cooler in the breeze......

Selsey Bill: There was a bit of selection of species, including a Bonxie, four Slavonian Grebes, four Great Northern Divers and 11 Common Scoters, with over 50 Red-breasted Mergansers being the highest count. Full log below. (SH/JA/PB/CRJ/SR/IP/CN/AH/P&LH/RJS et al)

(0630-0900hrs) (SE, F5)

Great Northern Diver - 4os

Red-throated Diver - 5E, 2W, 1os

diver sp - 6W

Slavonian Grebe - 1E, 3os

Great Crested Grebe - 1E, 2os

Fulmar - 2W

Gannet - 4E, 1W

Teal - 9E

Common Scoter - 11E

Red-breasted Merganser - 37E, 5W, 11os

Turnstone - 12

Great Skua - 1E

Mediterranean Gull - 11os

Common Gull - 4E, 4W

Kittiwake - 1W

Sandwich Tern - 5os

Razorbill - 1E

auk sp - 7E, 4W

Meadow Pipit - E

Later at 1430hrs, nine Brent Geese went east and three Sandwich Terns were offshore. (BI)

Red-throated Diver (above) & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The pool just held ducks this morning - c100 Shovelers, c50 Teal and c250 Wigeon, plus six Shelducks, whilst a dozen Black-tailed Godwits and a few Curlews were on the field, a Grey Wagtail went over and the Spotted Redshank was in the channel opposite. (AH/P&LH)

Wigeon (above) & Shovelers and Teal at the Ferry (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: Just a Linnet and a Pied Wagtail of note this morning. (IP)

Church Norton: The Merlin was on Tern Island this morning. (P&LH) Otherwise, it was very quiet, with few waders or wildfowl about, and just a Sparrowhawk, a Kestrel, a pair of Little Grebes and a handful of Mediterranean Gulls to report. (IP)

Hunston Copse: Two Tree-creepers and two Chiffchaffs were in the copse today. (S&SaH)

North Wall and east side: There was a massive flock of Brent Geese commuting between White's Creek and the field behind the Breech Pool - perhaps 2500 in total, with at least 300 Wigeon with them, whilst there were also c30 Black-tailed Godwits on the fields, too.

A Spotted Redshank was in White's Creek, along with c30 Redshanks and c40 Black-tailed Godwits, whilst out on the mud along the main channel there were two or three Bar-tailed Godwits, c300 Knot, c40 Turnstones, c100 Grey Plovers, c50 Ringed Plovers and masses of Dunlin.

There were also c75 Pintail spread along the main channel, with similar numbers of Teal and Wigeon, along with two Little Grebes, five Great Crested Grebes and 25 Shelducks. (AH)

Spotted Redshank (above), Spotted Redshank and Redshank, Knot, Little Grebe, Pintail & Brent Geese at the North Wall (AH)

This evening four Glossy Ibises flew into the rife and then up to Owl Copse to roost, whilst a Barn Owl was at Halsey's Farm and three Marsh Harriers - a male and two females were over the Breech Pool, where there were also a Spotted Redshank, five Snipe and five Chiffchaffs. (S&SaH/BI et al)