25th - 27th June 2023

Tuesday, 27th June: Still warm,with sunshine and cloud, but with a fresh west to south-west breeze keeping the temperature down.....

Editorial: What sort of spring was it? Everyone will have their own opinion, but those that put in any time watching at Selsey Bill this spring will certainly have theirs! So what was the reality? Well, have a look, for our esteemed Log-keeper JA has once again compiled the annual spring summary for the Bill and this can now be found by clicking the appropriate heading on the title bar. (OM)

Selsey Bill: Another quiet morning, again with just a few regular species. Full log below (SR/G Charles)

(0650-0750hrs) (NW, F3) 

Gannet - 2W

Sparrowhawk - 1

Mediterranean Gull - 3W

Sandwich Tern - 6os

Little Tern - 1os

House Martin - 6

Sandwich Terns at the Bill (SR)

Ferry Pool: Seven Little Egrets were feeding well on eels, and there were also four Avocets, four Shelduck, two Common Terns and a Stonechat, with a Cetti's Warbler and a Sedge Warbler in the bushes. 

The young Kestrels were still in the tree just outside their nest box, Reed Warblers sang from Red Barn Ditch and the tramway hedges held five Blackcaps, two Whitethroats, two Song Thrushes and six Chiffchaffs. The bramble bushes held a large number of Red Admiral butterflies feasting on their flowers. (SR)

Blackcap (above) & Kestrel at the Ferry (SR)

North Selsey: A Hobby went over the north of the village this evening. (SH)

North Wall: A drake Wigeon and a Great Crested Grebe were along White’s Creek this morning, and seven Redshank, two Little Egrets and a Curlew were along the banks.

Two Black-tailed Godwits were on the Breech Pool as well as a single Tufted Duck, and a Reed Warbler was singing in the reeds, while further back the male Marsh Harrier was seen briefly. (LP)

Reed Warbler (above) & Black-tailed Godwits at the North Wall (LP)

This evening both adult and three juveniles were seen behind the Breech Pool, with the young now flying strongly, and there were also two Buzzards and a Kestrel about.

Also, there were c30 Cattle Egrets present, including 25 with the cows at Halsey's Farm, and c40 Little Egrets, including 23 on the island, and there were also three Reed wWarblers and two Chiffchaffs singing. (S&SaH)

juvenile Marsh Harriers at the North Wall (SH)

Church Norton: A White-letter Hairstreak - a very scarce butterfly on the Peninsula - was seen in the elms in the car-park this afternoon. (AT)

This evening the first returning Common Sandpiper was by the concrete slabs, with up to a dozen Turnstones and half a dozen Ringed Plovers and Redshanks also about, along with the growing family of Shelducks.

Also, one Little Tern flew into the harbour, and there were eight Sandwich Terns, two Mediterranean Gulls and c50 Black-headed Gulls present. (AH)

Common Sandpiper (above), Shelduck family, Sandwich Tern & Ringed Plover, Sandwich Tern, Mediterranean Gulls and Black-headed Gull at Church Norton (AH)

Monday, 26th June: A warm, but quite cloudy and blustery morning in a fresh westerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: A quiet morning, with just a few of the regular species. Full log below. (SR/IP/AH)

(0650-0820hrs) (WNW, F4-5)

Mediterranean Gull - 3W

Sandwich Tern - 19os

Common Tern - 1os

Swift - 2

House Martin - 9

(1640-1740hrs) (SH)

Mediterranean Gull - 1W

Sandwich Tern - 3os

Swift - 3

Sandwich Terns at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: A Spoonbill flew over the visitor centre at 0910hrs this morning. (TG-P)

Later, there were just four Avocets and two Shelducks on the pool, with four Cattle Egrets among the cows. (AH)

This evening, a Cuckoo flew over the Tramway. (AH)

Avocet at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were just a couple of Little Terns around their island this morning, with a very quiet harbour otherwise holding a Sandwich Tern, a couple of Ringed Plovers and four Curlews, plus the family of Shelducks on the concrete slabs.

Also, two Cattle Egrets were in the horse field, a couple of Blackcaps were calling by the Mound, a Swallow went over and a handful of Linnets and Skylarks were along the spit, but that was about it. (AH)

Sandwich Tern (above), Cattle Egrets, Skylark & Linnets at Church Norton (AH)

Selsey: There was a Small Elephant Hawk-moth in the trap this morning. (SH)

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

North Wall: There were three Redshanks, 12 Lapwings and four Curlews along White’s Creek and a Reed Warbler was by the sluice. The male Marsh Harrier was up high over the reeds and on the Breech Pool there was a pair of Canada Geese with a single well grown gosling and a pair of Shelducks. There were at least 25 Little and Cattle Egrets in the trees at Owl Copse, including a few juveniles, and two more Little Egrets were with four Grey Herons out on their island.

At Halsey’s Farm, three Teal were along the rife and a few Skylarks were singing. There were also lots of butterflies about with a good selection of Marbled Whites, Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Small Skippers, Small Tortoiseshells and Red Admirals. (LP)

Cattle Egret (above), Teal, Canada Geese, Marbled White, Gatekeeper & Small Tortoiseshell at the North Wall (LP)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The Stilt Pool held a minimum of 20 Avocet chicks, two families of Oystercatcher, a Lapwing with chicks, the Little Ringed Plover with their two chicks, a Ringed Plover, two Little Terns, a Pied Wagtail, four Tufted Ducks, the Egyptian Goose family and numerous Canada Geese.

Also, the fields held four Cattle Egrets, with five Swallows, a Reed Bunting, three Whitethroats, four Yellowhammers and two Buzzards seen along/from the banks, but it was generally quiet in the windy conditions. (SR)

Avocet and chick at Medmerry (SR)

Sunday, 25th June: Another very pleasant morning of warm sun and some cloud, with the moderate breeze from the south-east early on before veering south-westerly....

Selsey Bill: A pale-phase Arctic Skua and 16 Common Scoters going east were the highlights this morning. Full log below. (SH/SR/AH)

(0600-0750hrs) (SE, F4)

Gannet - 16E, 1W, 7os

Common Scoter - 16E

Oystercatcher - 2E

Arctic Skua - 1E

Mediterranean Gull - 2E, 8W

Sandwich Tern - 21os

Common Tern - 1os

auk sp - 1E

Swift - 27

Swallow - 2

House Martin - 11

(1445-1600hrs) (SW, F5) (SH)

Gannet - 2E, 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 1W, 3os

Sandwich Tern - 4os

Common Tern - 1os

Swift - 1os

House Martin at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were just two Avocets, a Little Egret and five Shelducks on the pool this morning, though eight Cattle Egrets, including two juveniles, were with the cows. (AH)

Also, the young Kestrels were out of their box and sitting on the adjacent branches, whilst in Yeoman's Field there was a Swallow, a Lesser Whitethroat, three Chiffchaffs, a Kestrel and a Buzzard, whilst the cycle path held another Lesser Whitethroat, four Chiffchaffs and a Common Whitethroat, and two Swifts and a Little Egret flew over. (SR)

Cattle Egret (above), juvenile Cattle Egret (AH) & juvenile Kestrel (SR) at the Ferry

Long Pool: There was very little singing going on, though a couple of Sedge and Reed Warblers were seen, along with a Whitethroat, a Reed Bunting and a dozen Linnets, with a dozen Swallows going over.

Also, two pairs of Little Grebes had seven young chicks between them on the pool and c30 Redshanks were along Ferry Channel, whilst among the numerous butterflies present were at least three Painted Ladies and a couple of Small Tortoiseshells. (AH)

Sedge Warbler (above), Reed Bunting, Little Grebe chicks & Painted Lady along the Long Pool (AH)

Park Farm, Selsey: Early this morning two Sparrowhawks were flying high, in amongst a mixed flock of hirundines. (IP)

Church Norton: The harbour's waders numbered three Ringed Plovers, five Curlews and a few Oystercatchers, whilst the nine Shel-ducklings were again present, this time with both parents.

A pair of Mediterranean Gulls flew through, with a Sandwich Tern present, and another offshore, whilst Little Tern numbers were considerably increased, with at least 20 around their island, sat on the mud and feeding in the channels.

Most noteworthy bird on the landside was a Lesser Whitethroat at the seaward end of the path between the Severals, whilst the Sedge Warbler remained singing in front of the horse field, one (and possibly two) Meadow Pipits were long the spit and two pairs of Stock Dove flew over. (IP)

Pagham Spit: It was extremely quiet here, with just one Little Tern around their island (in contrast to earlier activity - see above) and a Common Tern, two Mediterranean Gulls, a couple of Curlews and Oystercatchers and a few large gulls being about it for the harbour, and just a handful of Linnets and a couple of Skylarks seen along the spit itself. (AH)

Linnets at Pagham Spit (AH)

West Wittering: A bit of 'noc-migging' in woodland near Rookwood Lane last night produced up to four young Tawny Owls heard making their begging calls, along with a wide selection of woodland birds, including Cetti's Warbler, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Song Thrush, plus flyovers like Oystercatcher, Tufted Duck and Canada Goose. (GM)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - Thee were still 29 adult Avocets and 28 chicks on the Stilt Pool this morning, along with two pairs of Little Ringed Plovers - one with three chicks, six adult Oystercatchers and two chicks, a pair of Lapwings with two chicks, four Ringed Plovers and the Egyptian Goose family.

Also, a Sandwich Tern was offshore, three Cattle Egrets were on the reserve and six Swifts, two Sand Martins, 20 Swallows, a Kestrel and a Buzzard went over.

There was the usual selection along the banks, too, including two Dartford Warblers, two Stonechats, c20 Whitethroats, a Reed Warbler, a Cetti's Warbler, two Sedge Warblers, two Chiffchaffs, five Reed Buntings 12 Yellowhammers and a Pied Wagtail. (S&SaH)

Little Ringed Plover family at Medmerry (SH)