Sunday, 12th June: The prolonged spell of fresh westerly winds continues, with another warm and mostly sunny, if blustery, morning............
Selsey Bill: There was very little to report this morning! (Full log below) (SR/AH)
(0645-080-0hrs) (WNW, F4)
Gannet - 8W
Mediterranean Gull - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 70os
Common Tern - 1os
Swift - 3
House Martin - 6
Gannet (above) & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: It remains very quiet on the pool, with just 22 Black-tailed Godwits, five Lapwings, ten Redshanks, a Gadwall and five Shelducks present, plus a Reed Warbler singing at the front. (AH)
Lapwings at the Ferry (AH)
Church Norton: There were plenty of Sandwich Terns bringing in fish this morning, with a few Little and Common Terns about, too, but the only waders seen were a handful of Turnstones on the metalwork and similar of Curlews out in the harbour.
There were also a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff still singing and a Mistle Thrush was along Rectory Lane. (AH/JA)
Sandwich Tern (above), Common Tern & Chiffchaff at Church Norton (AH)
Selsey: A Peach Blossom moth was in the trap this morning. (SH)
Peach Blossom moth in a Selsey garden (SH)
Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: A Barn Owl was in one of their regular roosting sites this afternoon, and there were also five Cattle Egrets in the fields and two Buzzards and a Kestrel over.
There was a good count of seven Yellowhammers seen, too, along with five Whitethroats, a Jay and six Swallows. (S&SaH)
North Wall: Both Marsh Harriers were out hunting this morning, and there were also a Red Kite, three Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel on the wing.
Three Cuckoos were heard, but the wall was quiet beyond the odd Whitethroat and Reed Warbler, plus a family of Shelducks on the Beech Pool. (S&SaH)
Red Kite (above), Whitethroat & Shelduck family at the North Wall (SH)
Pagham Spit: There were large numbers of Little Terns around there new island, with at least 50 taking to the air a couple of times, with others sitting out or bringing in fish, and there were also a dozen or so Dunlin roosting on the shingle there.
There wasn't much else to report though, beyond a steady stream of Sandwich Terns coming and going, with a few Common Terns and Mediterranean Gulls among them, with two Linnets the only passerines seen.
There was also a single Childling Pink on the last bit of the bank of the little lagoon and Viper's Bugloss was in flower everywhere. (AH)
Little Terns (above), Mediterranean Gull, Dunlin, Childling Pink, Viper's Bugloss and the apparent beginnings of a new lagoon at Pagham Spit (AH)
Chi GPs: Drayton House pits - A visit mainly to check up on the breeding situation at the lakes. I was pleased to see that the three Grey Herons on the North pit had successfully fledged, whilst the nest on South pit was still occupied at times by one standing Heron; I’m not so optimistic with this one but time will tell if it succeeds.
On South pit there were at least two broods of Canada Geese plus one brood of five Tufted Ducks, with a couple of female Pochard perhaps giving hope of a brood later. The pair of Mute Swans is also nesting at last.
On North pit there were 11 drake Pochard and a female, but I was also delighted to find additional females with the first broods of young this year….five and ten respectively, the latter the most ever I can recall for the species....but it wasn't long before marauding Herring Gulls began to take an interest! Other species of note included an Egyptian Goose, the Mute Swans with young and two Common Terns. (OM)
Grey Heron on nest, creche of two Canada Goose broods and (below) Tufted Duck brood at Drayton House South pit (OM)
Drake Pochards (above) and below female Pochard with ten small young, where the light was too appalling for any hope of a decent photo, but I had to have a go to record this brood! (OM)
Saturday, 11th June: Another bright and breezy morning, quite warm despite the brisk westerly.......
Selsey Bill: A few Fulmars and Kittiwakes moving both ways were the only birds out of the usual this morning. Full log below. (SH/SR/AH/JA)
(0545-0800hrs) (W, F4)
Great Crested Grebe - 1W
Fulmar - 2E, 3W
Gannet - 17E, 8W, 6os
Mediterranean Gull - 11os
Kittiwake - 1E, 6W
Sandwich Tern - 78os
Common Tern - 4os
Little Tern - 20os
auk sp - 1E
Swift - 14
House Martin - 5
(1600-1700hrs) (SH)
Gannet - 2E
Kittiwake - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 78os
Little Tern - 2os
Fulmar (above) & House Martin at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: There was not much to report again, though ten Avocets were still present, along with 32 Black-tailed Godwits, eight Redshanks, four Lapwings, a Gadwall and six Shelducks. (AH)
Avocets (above) & Black-tailed Godwits on the Ferry (AH)
Long Pool: There wasn't much to report here, either, with just a couple of singing Reed Warblers and Whitethroats keeping low, a couple of Lapwings and Mediterranean Gulls on/over the fields and a Common Tern, four Tufted Ducks and half a dozen Redshanks along Ferry Channel. (AH)
Common Tern (above), Mediterranean Gull & Tufted Ducks from the Long Pool (AH)
Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - Most of the interest was on the Stilt Pool this morning, where a pair of Little Ringed Plovers had four newly hatched chicks, with another pair also present, and a Ringed Plover was sitting on two eggs, with three more adults present, too. Also, the two Oystercatcher chicks are now well grown, as is the Egyptian Goose gosling, still with its parents, but only three Avocet chicks were seen, along with just 11 adults.
The banks were quite busy, too, despite the brisk breeze, with seven Yellowhammers, a Reed Bunting, a Stonechat, three Warblers, c15 Whitethroats and a Green Woodpecker seen, with a Cattle Egret on the reserve and six Swallows and a Buzzard over. (S&SaH/PB)
Little Ringed Plover chick (above), young Oystercatchers & Yellowhammer at Medmerry (SH)
Chichester GPs: A look along the Ivy Lake complex this morning produced half a dozen Common Terns, including a pair fish-passing, so presumably not yet nesting, four Egyptian Geese, c40 Greylag Geese, including a pair and six goslings, c120 Canada Geese, 14 Great Crested Grebes, c30 Tufted Ducks and 100+ Coots.
Two or three Reed Warblers were still singing, as was a Reed Bunting and a couple of Chiffchaffs, but that was about it. (AH)
Common Terns (above), Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Greylag Goose gosling & Egyptian Goose at Chichester GPs (AH)
Honer Reservoir: There were two male and a female Tufted Ducks on the reservoir today, along with a pair of Shelducks with five ducklings, and a Cuckoo was calling nearby. (CRJ)
Chalder Farm: A flock of 20 Cattle Egrets were around the farm today, with a Cuckoo, a Common Buzzard and one or two singing Cetti's and Reed Warblers, with a few Hairy Dragonflies and Four-spotted Chasers along the rifes. (CRJ)
North Wall: A Wood Pigeon was sat just outside the Green Woodpecker nest this morning, getting some curious looks from the juvenile woodpecker, whilst a Sandwich Tern was fishing in White's Creek and the Mute Swan family with the single cygnet were on the water, along with a pair of Great Crested Grebes and a pair of Gadwall, whilst further out on the mud there were three Black-tailed Godwits, 17 Shelduck and a drake Wigeon.
Two Lapwing were on the rocks by the wall and in the Breech Pool there was a lone Black-tailed Godwit and a pair of Shelduck with seven newly hatched ducklings, whilst there were eight Grey Herons out on their island along with 15 Little and Cattle Egrets including a number of juveniles.
A pair of Stonechats were on the fence at Halsey’s Farm and a Buzzard and a few Swifts were overhead, whilst a Whitethroat and the usual Sedge, Reed and Cetti’s Warblers were along the wall, together with a few Reed Buntings and down the East Side there were a Blackcap and a Lesser Whitethroat.
Also, of note, the Kestrels in the tower of Pagham Church have five well-grown youngsters. (LP/TG/SP)
Later on, both Marsh Harriers were seen - they tried to do a food pass of what looked like a young Coot, but dropped it, though the female was able to retrieve it and take it to the nest. (S&SaH)
juvenile Green Woodpecker and Wood Pigeon (above), Lapwing, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Herons and Little Egrets, Mute Swan family (LP) & young Kestrels (SP) at the North Wall
Church Norton: The summer-plumaged Knot was on the mud near Tern Island this afternoon. (S&SaH)
There was no sign this evening, though 11 Bar-tailed Godwits, four Ringed Plovers and a flock of c90 Dunlin were in the harbour, with at least 30 Little Terns and a handful of Common Terns sat on the mud and the usual procession of Sandwich Terns bringing in fish from the large mixed gull and tern feeding flock offshore. (AH)
Sandwich Tern (above), Little Tern & Bar-tailed Godwit at Church Norton (AH)
Friday, 10th June: A pleasant morning of warm sunshine and white cloud, pushed through on the continuing brisk westerly breeze....
Selsey Bill: An Arctic Skua was chasing terns early on, but there wasn't too much else about. Full log below. (SR/AH)
(0630-0800hrs) (W, F4)
Great Crested Grebe - 2W
Gannet - 8E, 18W, 7os
Common Scoter - 8E
Arctic Skua - 1os
Sandwich Tern - 42os
Guillemot - 1W
Swallow - 1
House Martin - 6
(1635-1750hrs) (SH)
Manx Shearwater - 1E
Gannet - 2E, 14W, 10os
Kittiwake - 5W
Sandwich Tern - 96os
Little Tern - 3os
auk sp - 1W
Swallow - 2
House Martin (above) & Great Crested Grebe at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: It was very quiet here this morning, with just ten Avocets, eight Black-tailed Godwits, eight Redshanks, a Gadwall and a Shelduck present. (AH)
Avocets (above) & Gadwall on the Ferry (AH)
Church Norton: Unusually, there were two Kittiwakes on the mud in front of Tern Island, with at least half a dozen Common Terns among the many Sandwich Terns sitting out, whilst many more of the latter were bringing fish in to the colony.
Also, a few Little Terns were feeding in the harbour, with one pair fish-passing and displaying, whilst a mix of waders included 13 Black-tailed Godwits, c30 Dunlin, three Grey Plovers, two Turnstones and half a dozen Ringed Plovers.
There wasn't much to report from the land-side, beyond a singing Whitethroat, a Mistle Thrush and the Swallows around the hide, plus a Skylark and a few Linnets on the beach. (AH)
Kittiwakes (above), Little Terns, Sandwich Tern, Bar-tailed Godwits, Ringed Plover & Mistle Thrush at Church Norton (AH)
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North Wall: A young Green Woodpecker was peeking out of the nest in the garden at Little Welbourne this morning and the Swallows were still busy around the stables.
A Black-tailed Godwit and a pair of Gadwall were in the Breech Pool, and along the wall there were a few Reed and Sedge Warblers, a couple of Common Whitethroats, a few Goldfinches, a pair of Linnets and a Cetti’s Warbler, whilst there were a dozen Cattle Egrets in the Honer 3 field.
There were at least ten Grey Herons and a similar number of Little and Cattle Egrets spread between Owl Copse and the adjacent island, whilst at Halsey’s Farm there was a Black-tailed Godwit and a pair of Shelduck in the Rife, a Cuckoo was still calling from the trees behind, a Buzzard was sat in one of the dead trees and four Swifts were overhead. (LP/CT)
juvenile Green Woodpecker (above), Whitethroat, juvenile egrets & Black-tailed Godwit and shelduck at the North Wall (LP)
Chichester Canal: Two newly hatched Norfolk - or Green-eyed - Hawkers were at the western end of the canal, opposite the turning to the Marina, this afternoon. Hopefully, after last year's surprise discovery of this rare species, we now have a self-sustaining population. (PH/JA)
Norfolk Hawker at Chichester Canal (PH)
Chichester Marina: From the hide overlooking the marsh a Cuckoo and four Cetti's Warblers could be heard, and three Reed Buntings, a Reed Warbler, a pair of Tufted Ducks, three Swallows, a Common Tern, three Cattle Egrets and two families of Coots were seen.
Also, a dozen Southern Marsh Orchids were seen along the adjacent stretch of canal.(SR).
Birdham Pool: A family of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were in an oak, with calling Whitethroat and Chiffchaffs, plus a Buzzard, nearby, whilst on the water half a dozen Black-headed Gulls were around the raft, there were three families of Coots and one of Mallards, and the Mute Swans still had their eight cygnets. Sedge Warblers were singing and six Tufted Ducks, three Little Grebes and a Little Egret were seen, too. (SR)
juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker at Birdham Pool (SR)
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