7th - 9th May 2023

Tuesday, 9th May: A mostly murky and overcast morning - cold and grey early on, warmer and more humid later - in a light westerly breeze...........

Selsey Bill: An Arctic Skua and three Common Scoters were the only things heading east, though there were lots of terns offshore, and 22 Kittiwakes of various ages settled on the bar. full log below. (SR/AH)

(0710-0840hrs) (WNW, F3)

Great Northern Diver - 2os

Gannet - 2E, 8W

Common Scoter - 3E

Oystercatcher - 7E, 3W

Arctic Skua - 1E

Kittiwake - 1E, 22os

Sandwich Tern - 78os

Common Tern - 22os

Little Tern - 28os

Swallow - 2W

House Martin - 7

Arctic Skua (above), Kittiwake & Little Terns at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were just two Black-tailed Godwits one Avocet, the drake Gadwall and eight Shelducks on the pool this morning, whilst a Common Sandpiper, a Whimbrel and 24 Black-tailed Godwits were in the channel opposite.(AH)

Gadwall (above) & Black-tailed Godwit at the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: A female Whinchat was along the hedges this afternoon. (NR)

Church Norton: At least 48 Little Terns were sat out on the mud, late this morning, with a Peregrine seen taking and eating a Black-headed Gull, before settling on Tern Island displacing all the birds from there. (AW)

This evening there were no birds back on the island, with c100 Sandwich Terns, half a dozen Little Terns, a Common Tern, a Common Gull, a single Mediterranean Gull and at least 500 Black-headed Gulls spread around the adjacent harbour, and there were just a couple of Curlews and c40 Dunlin seen. (AH/AW)

Little, Common and Sandwich Terns and Black-headed Gull (above), Little and Sandwich Terns & Sandwich Terns at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Little Stint was on the Stilt Pool early this morning. (AS)

There was no sign later on, with the Stilt Pool just holding just a Little Ringed Plover, two  Ringed Plovers, two Redshank, 23 Dunlin, an Oystercatcher and eight Avocets, three pairs of which were back on their island. 

There were also four Gadwall and six Tufted Ducks present, plus a pair of Canada Geese with six goslings, and at least a dozen Swallows were about, with several seen collecting nesting material.

The banks were fairly quiet, though a Dartford Warbler was about, along with half a dozen Whitethroats and Yellowhammers, three Reed Buntings, a Chiffchaff and several Reed, Sedge and Cetti's Warblers, plus numerous Skylarks and Linnets, with an Egyptian Goose near the car-park and a Cuckoo calling towards Ham. (AH/BI/SR)

This evening three Ravens went over together, with two Buzzards, two Whimbrel and two Egyptian Geese also about, whilst the banks held nine Yellowhammers, a Reed Bunting, three Reed Warblers, six Whitethroats, two Chiffchaffs and three Cetti's Warblers, with four Swallows over. (S&SaH)

Whitethroat (above), Yellowhammer, Skylark, Little Ringed and Ringed Plovers, Avocets & Egyptian Goose at Medmerry (AH)

Bank Holiday Monday, 8th May: A generally cool and grey morning, in a moderate south-westerly, with some drizzle and some hazy sunshine.......

Selsey Bill: It was pretty slow-going this morning, with the highlights all early, comprising two Manx Shearwaters west, a flock of 61 Brent Geese east, and a fairly distant pod of c20 dolphins, which were most probably Common Dolphins. Full log below. (SH/IP/SR/ABi/AH/JA)

(0530-0900hrs) (SW, F4)

Great Northern Diver - 4os

Red-throated Diver -1E

Great Crested Grebe - 1E, 2W

Manx Shearwater - 2W

Fulmar - 1W

Gannet - 12E, 40W

Brent Goose - 61E

Common Scoter - 34E

Oystercatcher - 4E, 6W

Whimbrel - 1E

Arctic Skua - 1os

Kittiwake - 1E

Sandwich Tern - 73os

Common Tern - 21os

Little Tern - 25os

Razorbill - 4W

auk sp - 6E, 1W

House Martin - 6

dolphin sp - c20E

Great Northern Diver (above) & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

(1600-1730hrs) (SH/AW)

Great Northern Diver - 1os

Gannet - 10E, 20os

Brent Goose - 9E

Eider - 2W

Common Scoter - 3E

Kittiwake - 1E

Sandwich Tern - 17os

Common Tern - 3os

Razorbill - 1E

auk sp - 2W

Eider (above), Kittiwake & Brent Geese at the Bill (AW)

Ferry Pool: There were two Little Ringed Plovers on the concealed pool early on, with 15 Black-tailed Godwits there later, but otherwise there were just two Avocets, two Redshank, a drake Gadwall, six Mallards and c20 Shelducks present, plus six Swifts that went over. (AH/TG-P)

Litlte Ringed Plover (above) & Avocet and Shelduck at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were still plenty of Little and Sandwich Terns about, but t there wasn't too much else going on in the harbour this morning, with just an handful of Whimbrel,  Curlews and Black-tailed Godwits, a dozen Grey Plovers and c100 Dunlin on the mud, along with c30 scattered Shelducks.

A couple of Swallows went over, but the bushes were quiet, too, beyond the odd Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff, all keeping low. (AH/P&JW et al)

Lesser Whitethroat (above), Grey Plover and Dunlin & Black-tailed Godwits at Church Norton (AH)

Late this afternoon, a Spotted Flycatcher was behind the hide, whilst a Cuckoo was calling well from the back of the Severals.

There were still lots of Little and Sandwich Terns in the harbour, but not much else beyond a couple of Whimbrels and Curlews and half a dozen Grey Plovers. (AH)

Spotted Flycatcher (above) & Whimbrel at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry: Medmerry Trail to Porthole Farm - There was a good selection of warblers long the trail, including a Lesser Whitethroat, a dozen Whitethroats, seven Chiffchaffs, three Blackcaps, three Reed Warblers, six Sedge warblers and six Cetti's Warblers, whilst over the sewage works there were roughly75 Swifts, 50 Swallows and 200 House Martins. (S&SaH)

Sedge Warbler at Medmerry (SH)

Medmerry: Stilt Pool - There was no sign of the Kentish Plover on the pool this morning this morning, though the Pintail was still there before flying off east, and, remarkably, the two Manx Shearwaters seen at the Bill were seen from the beach, well offshore. (AW/PB et al)

Pintail at Medmerry (AW)

Sunday, 7th May: A very murky, humid morning in a light westerly breeze, slowly giving way to pleasant sunshine.......

Selsey Bill: Very little was moving offshore, but there was a good inward arrival of birds, including a Hobby, 16 Swifts, 173 Swallows and 11 Yellow Wagtails, plus a Spotted Flycatcher in a garden in Ursula Avenue and three Whitethroats nearby.. Full log below. (SH/Bi/PB/MRB/JA/SR/IP/AH/ RJS/OM et al)

(0530-1030hrs) (WSW, F2)

Great Northern Diver - 3os

Great Crested Grebe - 1os

Fulmar - 1E

Shelduck - 5W

Common Scoter - 24E, 5os

Hobby - 1N

Oystercatcher - 1E, 4W

Sanderling - 6E, 2 on beach

Dunlin - 3W

Bar-tailed Godwit - 1N

Turnstone - 1E

Arctic Skua - 1E, 1os

Kittiwake - 12W

Sandwich Tern - 62E, 16os

Common Tern - 19E, 12os

Little Tern - 26os

Swift - 16N

Swallow - 173N

House Martin - 10

Yellow Wagtail - 11N

Pied Wagtail - 2N

Spotted Flycatcher - 1

Whitethroat - 3

Chiffchaff - 1

Blackcap - 1

Linnet - 3

Bottle-nosed dolphin - 3W

(1545-1800hrs) (SH/JA)

Great Northern Diver - 1os

Gannet - 1E, 7W, 6os

Canada Goose - 1W

Common Scoter - 30E, 10os

Sandwich Tern - 2E, 47os

Common Tern - 15os

Little Tern - 8os

auk sp - 2W

Swallow - 1N

Sandwich Tern (above), Fulmar (AH) & Sanderlings (SR) at the Bill

Ferry Pool: There were just five Avocets, 16 Black-tailed Godwits, four Shovelers, a Gadwall, a pair of Tufted Ducks, six Mallards and 22 Shelducks on the pool, with the Greenshank, three Whimbrel and eight Black-tailed Godwits in the channel opposite.

The Tramway circuit was very quiet, with just the odd Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff making its presence known. (AH)

Greenshank (above) & Whimbrels at the Ferry (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A female Kentish Plover - just the fourth record in the last decade, and found by S&SaH - was showing well on the big island on the Stilt Pool today, though there were only seven Avocets present, and none on their favoured island, with just three Dunlin and five Ringed Plovers being the only other waders present, though a drake Pintail flew over.

There were also 21 Black-tailed Godwits and a Cattle Egret on the reserve, a Raven, a Hobby, two Buzzards and a Kestrel over and a flock of 18 Brent Geese went east offshore.

The banks were busy in the lighter winds, and included two Dartford Warblers, a Sedge Warbler, six Reed Warblers, three Cetti's Warblers, a Chiffchaff, a Blackcap, two Stonechats, a Lesser Whitethroat, 15 Whitethroats, six Yellowhammers, five Reed Buntings and two Pied Wagtails, whilst a Cuckoo called near the car-park, c40 Swallows went over and a flock of c15 Yellow Wagtails dropped into one of the cropped field near Marsh Farm, with two later on the Stilt Pool. (S&SaH/AB/BI/AH/SR/RHa/ESt/IP et al)

Kentish Plover (top two SH, lower two AH), Raven & Pintail (AH) at Medmerry

There was no sign of the Kentish Plover this evening, though a Barn Owl was out hunting. (AW/CS/KT et al)

Barn Owl at Medmerry (AW)

Chichester GPs: There were four pairs of Common Terns and two pairs of Lesser Black-backed Gulls among the Black-headed Gulls at the rooftop nesting colony in Quarry Lane. (BI)

Common Terns (above) & Lesser Black-backed Gulls at Quarry Lane. (BI)

North Wall: A Cuckoo was at Halsey' Farm and another was behind the Breech Pool, where at least four Swifts and a dozen swallows were feeding overhead, but the very high water levels meant thee were no singing warblers there.

Also, at least two pairs of Swallows were around the barns and half a dozen Sand Martins went over west, but the wall was quiet beyond a few singing Reed and Sedge Warblers, plus the odd Whitethroat, Cetti's Warbler and Reed Bunting along the path, whilst there was plenty of, mostly unseen, activity from the Grey Herons, Cattle and Little Egrets in Owl Copse.

The harbour was quiet, though two Common Sandpipers were in White's Creek and four Bar-tailed Godwits, two Whimbrel and c100 Dunlin were out on the mud. (LP/CT/AH et al)

Cattle Egret (above), Swallow, Reed Warbler & Swift at the North Wall (AH)

Church Norton: A Roseate Tern was among the Sandwich Terns on the mud this morning, with c20 Little Terns also present, along with just a few Bar-tailed Godwits, Whimbrel and Grey Plovers. (PB/MRB/OM/RHa et al)

Late this afternoon, a Curlew Sandpiper was among the Dunlin flock, before they all flew off. (MB)

Later on, there were just a handful of Dunlin present, plus four Whimbrels, but the harbour was busy with both Sandwich Terns and Little Terns displaying, fish-passing and mating, with up to 20 of the latter sitting out on the mud, waiting for a suitor to bring a fish. (AH)

Little Terns (above), Sandwich Terns & Whimbrel at Church Norton (AH)