Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 19th

Tuesday, 21st June: A very pleasant morning for Midsummer's Day, with plenty of warm sunshine in a moderate easterly breeze......

Selsey Bill: Another very quiet morning! Full log below.(SR/IP)
(0645-0745hrs) (E, F2-3)
Gannet - 2E, 2os
Oystercatcher - 1E
Sandwich Tern - 30os
Little Tern - 1os
Swift - 7
House Martin - 2
Swallow - 1
Pied Wagtail - 1

Ferry Pool: A Little Ringed Plover was at the back of the pool, along with the Shelducks and their eight ducklings, and there were also two Avocets, two Black-tailed Godwits, 12 Redshank and a drake Teal present.

Also, a Cattle Egret flew over west and the channel opposite held a Great Crested Grebe, two Little Egrets and a pair of Mute Swans with their single cygnet. (SR/AH)

Shelducks on the Ferry (SR)

Long Pool: It was fairly quiet early on, with just a couple of Sedge and Reed Warblers singing, and there were otherwise just a couple of Reed Buntings and Whitethroats and a handful of Linnets about, whilst c40 Mediterranean Gulls were in the adjacent fields. (AH)

Sedge Warbler (above) & Reed Bunting along the Long Pool (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pools - The two Quails were still calling, either side of the gate, and a Dartford Warbler made a brief appearance along the banks, but otherwise it was generally quiet.

Two Little Ringed Plovers were seen toward the back of the pool, though no chicks could be seen, but hopefully they were tucked away from the sun, and there was also a Ringed Plover present.

Six Avocets and the three young were present, too, as was the Egyptian Goose family, a juvenile Pied Wagtail, six Swallows, a drake Teal, eight Lapwings, six Tufted Ducks and a Grey Heron.

Two pairs of Stonechats were along the banks and there were plenty of Yellowhammers, Whitethroats and Skylarks, whilst insect interest was provided by an Oak Egger caterpillar along the path, as was a Devil's Coachman Beetle and an Emperor Dragonfly. (SR)

Dartford Warbler (above), Yellowhammer & Oak Egger caterpillar at Medmerry (SR)

The two Quail were still just north of Marsh Farm this evening, and two Barn Owls were out, hunting successfully, whilst a Cuckoo was calling, a Marsh Harrier was about and there were three or four Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings and Stonechats along the banks.

There appeared to be, sadly, just one Little Ringed Plover chick left, along with four adults on the Stilt Pool, where there were also three juvenile and six adult Avocets, two juvenile and two adult Oystercatchers, the juvenile and two adult Egyptian Geese and two Pied Wagtails, along with c30 Sand Martins and similar of Swallows.

Also two Roe Deer bucks were seen rutting. (S&SaH)

Sand Martin (above) & Roe Deer at Medmerry (SH)

Church Norton: There were lots of sandwich Terns bringing in fish this evening, along with the odd Little Tern, and two Gannets were among the offshore gull and tern feeding flock.

In the harbour the first dozen or so fledgling Black-headed Gulls were on the banks of Tern Island, whilst waders on the high tide comprised a Bar-tailed Godwit, six Curlews, eight Redshanks and 25 Turnstones. (AH)

Sandwich Tern (above), Little Tern, Gannet, juvenile Black-headed Gulls & Turnstones at Church Norton (AH)

Monday, 20th June: A warm and sunny day with prolonged sunshine, but blustery at times, in a fresh north-easterly breeze......

Selsey Bill: Another quiet morning, with just the regular species recorded. Full log below. (AH/IP/P&LH)
(0705-0820hrs) (NE, F4)
Gannet - 2E
Sandwich Tern - 75os
Common Tern- 2os
Little Tern - 3os
Swift - 1
House Martin - 4

Common Tern (above) & Sandwich Terns at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were just two Avocets, four Lapwings, eight Redshanks and the pair of Shelducks, plus their eight young and another four adults, on the pool this morning. (AH)

Shelduck family on the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: A Cuckoo was near Owl Copse this afternoon and this evening two Barn Owls were hunting in Honer 3 field. (SP et al)

Also this evening, both Marsh Harriers were out tonight, with the female seen taking a Slow-worm or small snake into the nest and she also flew out over the harbour twice, where a common Seal was hauled up, whilst the pair of Little Ringed Plovers and their three chicks were still in the cultivated fields.

A Cuckoo was behind the wall, whilst a busy Owl Copse had at least 20 Little Egrets, ten Cattle Egrets and ten Grey Herons in it. (S&SaH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Stilt Pool - There were still probably two different Quail calling from the reserve just north of Marsh Farm this morning, and at least one Dartford Warbler was busy in the gorse near Marsh Barn.
Otherwise, there were plenty of Whitethroats, Linnets and Skylarks along the banks, along with the odd Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting, plus a family of Stonechats, with singing Reed Warblers in most of the pools, whilst in the Stilt Pool area there were a Swift, a couple of Sand Martins and a dozen Swallows, before a later pulse of c.30 Sand Martins went west along the beach.
On the Stilt Pool itself there were still a pair of Little Ringed Plovers with at least one chick (with the others hopefully in the reeds), three now near-juvenile Avocets, along with 14 adults, a pair of Ringed Plovers and a mother Gadwall with seven young, plus the Egyptian Geese and their nearly fully-grown offspring and three juvenile Pied Wagtails. (AH/OM/P&LH/KT/CRJ/EB et al)

Little Ringed Plovers (above), Avocets, Yellowhammer, Whitethroat, Linnet & Skylark at Medmerry (AH)

A sight to make any Quail quail! OM on manoeuvres at Medmerry (AH)

More images from Medmerry - Dartford Warbler (above), Whitethroat, Skylark & Grey Heron (EB), Marbled White, Small Tortoiseshell & Marsh Frog (CRJ)

Sunday, 19th June: A complete contrast to yesterday, with a fresh north-easterly breeze making for a distinctly chilly morning, mostly under heavy cloud, but with the odd sunny interlude.....

Selsey Bill: A few Gannets were among the feeding gull and tern flock, but there was, again, nothing on the move. Also, a pair of Little Terns were passing fish and displaying - presumably they are not going to breed now this year, so either failed breeders or young birds. Full log below. (SR/AH)

(0645-0745hrs) (NE, F4)

Gannet - 1E, 8os

Oystercatcher - 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 1os

Sandwich Tern - 50os

Common Tern - 2os

Little Tern - 4os

Swift - 4

House Martin - 2

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

Ferry Pool: There were just two Avocets, 12 Black-tailed Godwits, 16 Redshank and the Shelduck family on the pool this morning, whilst a look round windy Tramway circuit produced a fly-over Cuckoo, c40 Lapwings over the harbour and three singing Blackcaps, but not much else. (AH)

Avocet (above) & Shelduck-lings at the Ferry (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Stilt Pool - Best bird of the morning was a Quail, heard only, on the upper path just before the long barn. Apart from that the bushes held good numbers of Yellowhammer, Whitethroat, Linnet and Skylark, with eight Swifts, four Swallows and a Kestrel.

The Stilt Pool held the Oystercatcher family, Avocets with two juveniles, the two Egyptian Geese with their youngster and the family of Little Ringed Plovers, plus a Ringed Plover, a drake Teal, a pair of Stonechats carrying food, five Lapwings, half a dozen Tufted Ducks, singing Sedge Warblers and four more adult Avocets. Also along the path was a large Drinker Moth caterpillar. A Bright Wave moth was also along the banks. (SR)

This afternoon two, and probably three, Quail were present on either side of the path, whilst there were also a Dartford Warbler, a Marsh Harrier, a Common Tern, a Cattle Egret, a drake Teal and eight Swifts seen

Also, there were a minimum of eight Sand Martins present, with six feeding over the Stilt Pool, whilst a male Reed Bunting was along the hedges, Reed Warblers were calling from a number of locations and a Marbled White was along the path. (IP/HB/D Hill et al)

Later in the evening both Barn Owls were out hunting, too. (AW)

Little Ringed Plover chick (above), Stonechat (SR) & Barn Owls (AW) at Medmerry

North Wall: Both Marsh Harriers were around this morning, with the female airborne for much of the time, carrying prey - hopefully in an attempt to encourage its youngsters out of the nest.

Possibly less positive, though, was the sight of two adult Little Ringed Plovers on the Breech Pool, with no sign of any on the vegetable fields where they were they were seen with chicks yesterday.

Otherwise the Little Owl was again north of the stables, a Cuckoo was calling from the distant trees and the Swallows were busy around the stables, with the odd Reed Bunting, Cetti's, Reed and Sedge Warblers present but keeping low.

At least three young Cattle Egrets, including one fully-fledged and flying, a dozen young Little Egrets and two young Grey Herons were in Owl Copse. (AH/S&SaH)

Marsh Harrier (above), Little Ringed Plover, juvenile Cattle Egret & Little Egrets at the North Wall (AH)

This afternoon, there was an adult Little Ringed Plover with three chicks still on the vegetable field, with another still on the Breech Pool and the Marsh Harriers were seen passing food, with the female then bringing it in.

Also, at least five Cuckoos were in close proximity in the bushes behind the Breech Pool and the five young Kestrels were still doing well at Pagham church. (SP/S&SaH)