16th - 18th June 2022

Saturday, 18th June: A warm, but heavily overcast and muggy morning, with a moderate northerly breeze......

Selsey Bill: A Lesser Black-backed Gull on the shingle bar was the only bird out of the usual this morning. Full log below. (SR/AH/IP)

(0630-0745hrs) (NW, F2)

Gannet - 2E

Oystercatcher - 1W

Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1os

Mediterranean Gull - 1os

Sandwich Tern - 18os

Common Tern - 1os

Little Tern - 4os

Swift - 6

Swallow - 1

House Martin - 12

(1415-1515hrs) (ENE, F4) (SH)

Mallard - 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 1W

Sandwich Tern - 34os

Common Tern - 1os

Swift - 28

Swallow - 2

House Martin - 3

Little Tern  (SR top, AH lower) (above) & Common Tern (AH) at the Bill 

Ferry Pool: There wasn't much to report this morning beyond six Black-tailed Godwits, eight Lapwings, 22 Redshank and the Shelduck family. (AH)

Black-tailed Godwit at the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: There were several Reed and Sedge Warblers singing and showing themselves this morning in the reeds, with at least three singing Reed Buntings, a couple of Whitethroats, half a dozen Linnets, a big, roving flock of Long-tailed Tits and an adult and a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker in the bushes. (AH)

Sedge Warbler (above), Reed Bunting, Great Spotted Woodpeckers & Long-tailed Tit along the Long Pool (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: The Kestrel family was still around the farm this morning, ands a juvenile Green Woodpecker was nearby, in the lane. (IP)

Church Norton: The harbour was again full of terns and gulls, but waders were thin on the ground, with a single Bar-tailed Godwit the highlight, with, apart from that, just few Oystercatchers, Ringed Plovers and Curlew.

The Severals had a lot of vocal breeding species, including Reed, Sedge and Cetti's Warblers, plus a Reed Bunting, and the stunted oaks held young Blue and Long-tailed Tits. (IP)

Hunston Church to Fisher Corner: It was quiet, as expected for the time of year, with just a few birds logged, including a Swallow, five Whitethroats, three Yellowhammers,four Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap, two Green Woodpeckers, two Shelducks, and one or two singing Sedge Warblers.

There was also a Black-tailed Skimmer and a Cinnabar Moth about. (SR)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The most interesting sighting this morning was of a male Dartford Warbler with what appeared to be a newly fledged juvenile, which would be the first ever breeding attempt by the species on the Peninsula.

Otherwise, the banks were busy, with three Stonechats, six Yellowhammers, a Blackcap, a couple of Chiffchaffs, thre or four Reed and Sedge Warblers, two Reed Buntings and up to 40 Whitethroats present, whilst eight Swallows went over and three Cattle Egrets were on the reserve.

There were a good selection of young birds again on the Stilt Pool, including three Little Ringed Plover chicks with four adults, three Avocet chicks with six adults, the two Oystercatchers and their two well-grown youngsters, a pair of Lapwings with a chick, a Gadwall with seven ducklings and the pair of Egyptian Geese and their well-grown juvenile.

There were also a Greenshank, a Redshank and four Ringed Plovers on the pool. (S&SaH)

Little Ringed Plovers (above) & Oystercatchers at Medmerry (SH)

Chichester Canal: A walk from Hunston to the Birdham Road produced 11 Norfolk Hawkers and a Red-eyed Damselfly, along with a Cuckoo, a few Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps and lots of Reed Warblers. (S&SAH)

North Wall: The female Marsh Harrier was sat out and flying around this morning, though the male wasn't seen, whilst a Little Owl was seen again, a pair of Little Ringed Plovers and three young were found on the edge of an adjacent vegetable field and a Cuckoo was calling from the back.

Otherwise, the Swallows were busy around the stables, a juvenile Pied Wagtail was by the sluice, with two more flying over, and there were were lots of Reed and Sedge Warblers around the Breech Pool, where ten Lapwings were the only waders present, though the pair of Shelducks and seven young were still going strong.

There was lots of activity in owl Copse, with at least two nearly-fledged young Cattle Egrets among at least a dozen young Little Egrets and two Grey Herons. (AH/SP/MT)

Marsh Harrier (above), juvenile Cattle Egrets, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Pied Wagtail, Shelduck-lings (AH), Reed Warbler & Reed Bunting (MT) at the North Wall 

Chi GPs: Drayton Pits - A WeBS count this morning of all three pits produced the expected species with little out of the ordinary except eight Common Terns feeding on the lakes and a total of over 30 Gadwall presumably summering. The pair of Tufted Ducks on South pit still have their five young, whilst one of the Pochard broods has now reduced from 10 to nine, still a good return!

Three pairs of nesting Mute Swans are present, although only two have young and possibly the third pair may have failed, whilst five of the six pairs of Great Crested Grebes have broods. Many Reed Warblers are active, back and forth with food and occasionally singing and Cetti's Warblers are still very vocal, with occasional song from Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and two Song Thrushes, but worryingly, just three Swifts were feeding overhead. A couple of Marbled White butterflies and some Pyramidal Orchids were also noted. (OM)

Marbled White butterfly and Common Tern at Drayton Gravel Pits (OM)

Friday, 17th June: Another very warm and sunny morning, with the light easterly, and then southerly breeze offering a little respite from the heat....

Update from RSPB: A little later than originally planned, but car parking charges for non-members will be introduced at our car parks in July. This will affect our RSPB Pagham Harbour Visitor centre and Church Norton car parks only. As previously stated, visitors to St Wilfred’s Church and/or graves at Church Norton, Blue Badge holders and RSPB members will be able to park for free.  Payment will be made by PayByPhone app and will be £2 up to 4 hours, £3 over 4 hours with coaches/minibuses/motorhomes £12.  (Eds)

Selsey Bill: A Sanderling and a flock of 26 Common Scoters east and a Grey Heron west were the only birds beyond the regulars this morning. Full log below. (SR/AH/IP)

(0700-0800hrs) (NE, F1)

Gannet - 1E

Grey Heron - 1W

Common Scoter - 26E

Sanderling - 1E

Mediterranean Gull - 6os

Sandwich Tern - 20os

Common Tern - 2os

Little Tern - 6os

Swallow - 1

House Martin - 4

Sanderling (above), Little Tern, Sandwich Tern, Common Scoter & Grey Heron and Herring Gulls at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were five Avocets, a Black-tailed Godwit, 25 Redshanks and the Shelduck family on the pool this morning, whilst four Cattle Egrets were among the cows and a Reed Bunting was by the Small Pool. (AH) 

Avocet (above), Cattle Egret, Reed Bunting, Shelduck-lings & Redshanks at the Ferry (AH)

Selsey: There were both an Elephant Hawk-moth and a Small Elephant Hawk-moth in the trap this morning. (SH)

Elephant Hawk-moth and Small Elephant Hawk-moth in a Selsey garden (SH)

Church Norton: There wasn't much to report this morning beyond a steady procession of Sandwich Terns, plus a few Little and Common Terns bringing in fish, with otherwise just three Ringed Plovers and six Curlews seen, and land-birds confined to singing Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat, plus a couple of Swallow. (AH)

Little Tern (above), Sandwich Tern & Ringed Plover at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: It was generally very quiet along the wall, but there was a juvenile Green Woodpecker in the willow tree behind the stables and further along the path at the end of the paddocks there was a juvenile Jay with its very protective mother.

The Swallows were still busy in the paddocks, too, going in and out of the stables, whilst on the Breech Pool there were at least ten each of Lapwings & Black-tailed Godwits, two Curlews and the Shelduck family with at least six and probably seven ducklings, and two Cuckoos were calling from the back.

The harbour was quiet, too. with just one Little Egret, two Great Crested Grebes, two Mute Swans, a Lapwing, whilst a Cormorant and a Common Tern flew over. (KP)

juvenile Green Woodpecker at the North Wall (KP)

Thursday, 16th June: A very warm morning of unbroken sunshine in a light breeze, initially from the north-west before turning south-west....

Selsey Bill: It was just the regular feeding terns this morning, though a pair of Little Terns were passing fish. Full log below. (AH)

(0705-0805hrs) (NW, F2)

Sandwich Tern - 25os

Common Tern - 3os

Little Tern - 6os

Swift - 4

House Martin - 6

Little Terns (above), Common Tern, Sandwich Tern & House Martin at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: A Greenshank was on the pool this morning, along with seven Avocets, a single Black-tailed Godwit, 23 Redshank and the Shelduck family, whilst a Reed Bunting, two singing Reed Warbles and a brief Jay were along the front. (AH)

Greenshank (above), Avocets & Shelduck-lings at the Ferry (AH)

Selsey: A Privet Hawk-moth and Figure-of-eight were in the moth-trap this morning. (SH)

Privet Hawk-moth (above) & Figure-of-eight in a Selsey Garden (SH)

Medmerry: Chainbridge to Ham Farm - Around the hedges and ditches at Chainbridge there were lots of Whitethroats, along with several Reed Warblers, a Blackcap and a Sedge Warbler, with four Swifts and several Skylarks going over.

At Ham, there were at least three, and probably four, singing Corn Buntings in the big barley field, with numerous Skylarks and Linnets about, whilst a Stonechat and a couple of Reed Buntings and Stock Doves were along the banks and several Reed Warblers were in the pools.

Also, half a dozen Swallows and two or three Chiffchaffs were around the houses and a few Common Darters were in the grassy margins, along with numerous Meadow Browns. (AH)

Corn Bunting (above), Swallow, Chiffchaff, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Stock Dove & Common Darter at Medmerry (AH)

Church Norton: An unseasonable Brent Goose was out in the harbour this evening, along with a Bar-tailed Godwit, six Curlews and two Ringed Plovers, whilst there was still plenty of activity around the islands.

A Lesser Whitethroat was calling from near the hide, where the Swallows were being busy.(AH)

Also, a report was received this afternoon from a visiting birder of a Spotted Flycatcher nearby. (per AT)

Brent Goose (above), Bar-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover & Mediterranean Gull at Church Norton (AH)

Chichester Canal: It would seem there are huge numbers of Green-eyed (Norfolk) Hawkers on Chichester canal now; I looked today along about 1.2km of the south-western end and saw at least 10, and probably 14, individuals. (PH)

Norfolk Hawker at Chichester Canal (PH)