Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 14th

Sunday, 16th October: A bright start, before clouding up, as the breeze freshened as it shifted from the west to the south...........

Selsey Bill: A fairly quiet morning, though 20 Shags went east and two Red-throated Divers and 21 Swallows went west. Full log below. (SH/BI/AH/SR/RJS/RAI)

(0700-0900hrs) (WSW, F3-4)

Red-throated Diver - 2W, 1os

Gannet - 1E, 35W, 34os

Shag - 20E

Brent Goose - 1W

Common Scoter - 5E

Kestrel - 1

Sandwich Tern - 1os

Razorbill - 145W, 16os

auk sp - 19E, 453W

Swallow - 21W

Meadow Pipit - 15W

Pied Wagtail - 14W

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

Ferry Pool: The Ruff was on the pool again, along with c40 Black-ailed Godwits, c60 Lapwings, a Gadwall, c40 Shovelers, c60 Teal and eight Shelducks.

There was also a Spotted Redshank in Ferry Channel, along with a few Redshanks and Wigeon.(AH/RAI)

Ruff (above), Ruff and Lapwings & Gadwall, Shelduck and Lapwings on the Ferry (AH)

This evening there were an Avocet and a Greenshank on the pool and two Spotted Redshanks and c30 wigeon in the channel opposite. (AH)

Greenshank, Avocet and Lapwings (above) & Spotted Redshank and Wigeon at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A Woodlark, two Redpolls and a dozen Siskins went over this morning. (RAI)

Otherwise there were a couple of Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests among a few Long-tailed Tits around the car-park/Mound area, whilst a Curlew Sandpiper, a Greenshank, the two Whimbrels and c20 Grey Plovers and c50 Dunlin were in the harbour and a Merlin went over, being mobbed by a crow. (AH/RJS/P&JW et al)

Chiffchaff (above), Long-tailed Tit & Whimbrels at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: A Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Green Woodpecker were at Little Welbourne this morning, and a Greenshank was in White's Creek, along with 50 Wigeon, eight Pintail and lots of Redshank.

A Rock Pipit was along the wall and a pair of Stonechats were in the bushes with a few Reed Buntings, whilst a Water Rail was calling from Owl Water and at Halsey’s Farm there were a couple of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits.

In the field north of Owl Copse, four Jays were busy taking acorns from the oak trees and a Goldcrest and a couple of Chiffchaffs were in Bremere Copse, with eight Cattle Egrets around the cows in the nearby fields.

Also, an RSPB person reported a Short-Eared Owl by Owl Point. (LP/PC/SP/DH)

Rock Pipit (above), Skylark, Cattle Egrets & Great Spotted Woodpecker at the North Wall (LP)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Merlin, two Kestrels and three Buzzards were about this morning, along with a Raven, two Jays, five Green Woodpeckers and a Kingfisher, whilst a Greenshank, two Redwings and a Mistle Thrush were near the poplars.

A total of six Dartford Warblers, 28 Stonechats, three Chiffchaffs, nine Yellowhammers, four Cetti's Warblers and a Pied Wagtail were along the banks, whilst two Snipe, another Pied Wagtail and Greenshank and 20 more Egyptian Geese were on the Stilt Pool. (S&SaH)

East Head: Eight Greenshank, c400 Golden Plovers, 70 Black-tailed Godwits and 85 Redshank were on Snowhill Creek this afternoon, whilst at least three Sanderlings and c100 Brent Geese were in the harbour. (GM)

Greenshank (above), Sanderlings, Golden Plovers & Brent Geese at East Head (GM)

Saturday, 15th October: A fairly warm, bright and breezy morning in a fresh westerly, though with showers developing later on.........

Selsey Bill: There were lots of auks and Gannets back offshore, along with a few Kittiwakes, but not much was on the move. Full log later. (SH/PB/SR/AH)

(0700-0900hrs) (W, F4)

Gannet - 146W

Shag - 8E

Brent Goose - 1W

Common Scoter - 2E, 1W

Turnstone - 19

Mediterranean Gull - 1W

Kittiwake - 5W

Sandwich Tern - 3os

Razorbill - 796W

auk sp - 214E, 635W

Skylark - 6W

Swallow - 6W

Pied Wagtail - 10W

Meadow Pipit - 51W

Linnet - 67W

(1300-1530hrs) (SH)

Gannet - 12E, 82W, 57os

Shag - 6W

Common Scoter - 3W

Turnstone - 11

Mediterranean Gull - 2W

Kittiwake - 6W

Razorbill - 2E, 6W

auk sp - 7E, 7W

Swallow - 2E

Shag at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: A Ruff was on the pool this morning, along with c30 Black-tailed Godwits, c50 Lapwings, c60 Shovelers and Teal and half a dozen Shelducks. (NR/AH)

Shoveler on the Ferry (AH)

The Ruff was still present this afternoon, along with two Greenshanks. (SR/AH)

Ruff, Greenshank and Lapwings (above) & Greenshank and Lapwings at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were two Whimbrels together in the harbour this morning, but otherwise it was just the usual scattering of Dunlin, Grey and Ringed Plovers and regular waders, though a Merlin shot along the spit at speed.

A handful of Chiffchaffs and Long-tailed Tits were along the sheltered hedges, along with a surprising number of Hornets, but the only other small birds seen were a dozen Swallows and similar of Linnets and Meadow Pipits going over the Severals area. (AH/S&saH/PB)

Whimbrel (above), Swallow, Chiffchaff & Hornet at Church Norton (AH)

East Side: It was just the regular mix of wildfowl and waders this morning, with the regular Greenshank, 20 Dunlin, 16 Grey Plovers, 20 Ringed Plovers, 30 Lapwing, 100 Redshank, a Turnstone, 150 Wigeon, 20 Pintail, 40 Teal and 14 Mallards present. (LP/IH)

Greenshank along the East side (LP)

North Wall: A pair of Stonechats and a Jay were around the paddock and a Kingfisher and a Wheatear were along the wall, but it was generally quiet in the windy conditions.
At Halsey’s Farm, four Mute Swans were on the rife and a Kestrel was in a tree, but the only other birds were 30 Rooks in the fields. (LP/IH)

Kingfisher (above) & Kestrel at the North Wall (LP)

Friday, 14th October: A very grey and overcast, but mild, morning in a light westerly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: An Arctic Skua chasing the gulls was the highlight of another quiet morning. Full log below. (BI/SR/AH)

(0730-0845hrs) (W, F3)

Gannet - 8E, 22W

Brent Goose - 6W

Wigeon - 3E

Common Scoter - 3E

Kestrel - 1

Arctic Skua - 1os

Mediterranean Gull - 1os

Sandwich Tern - 1os

auk sp - 13E

Meadow Pipit - 16W

Pied Wagtail - 19W

Linnet - 12W

Brent Geese (above) & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: A Grey Wagtail was feeding along the edges this morning, whilst t least 30 Black-tailed Godwits and 80 Lapwings were on the pool, along with c50 Shovelers, c60 Teal and eight Shelducks. (AH)

Grey Wagtail (above) & Shovelers at the Ferry (AH)

West Itchenor: A Marsh Harrier flew north over the quay and across the harbour early this afternoon. (PH)

North Wall: The Reed Warbler was still on the Breech Pool, whilst two or three Chiffchaffs were along the wall, along with four Stonechats, a couple of Cetti's Warblers and a few Reed Buntings, whilst the Kingfisher was about, again, too.

Also, three Spotted Redshanks and the short-billed Greenshank were in White's Creek, along with plenty of Redshanks and Wigeon. (AH/LP/CRJ)

Reed Warbler (above), Reed Bunting & Greenshank at the North Wall (AH)

East side: A couple of Golden Plovers were among c80 Lapwings and plenty of Dunlin and Grey Plovers, with a Yellow-legged Gull, a Bar-tailed Godwit and an unusually large flock of 58 Turnstones sat together on the mud also present, whilst wildfowl included a single Brent Goose, a Greylag Goose, a drake Gadwall, c40 Pintail and plenty of Wigeon and Teal.

The hedges along the harbour-side just held two or three Chiffchaffs and Reed Buntings, plus a Cetti's Warbler. (AH/CRJ)

Greylag Goose (above), Pintail, Gadwall, Pintail and Wigeon and Turnstones along the East side (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - It was very quiet this evening, though 11 Egyptian Geese flew out from the reservoirs, a couple of Dartford Warblers, six Stonechats and c20 Linnets were along the banks, and a Greenshank, a Greylag Goose, c100 Lapwings and c200 Wigeon and Teal were on the Stilt Pool. (AH)