25th - 27th September 2023

Wednesday, 27th September: It remains pleasantly warm, mainly overcast, but with the odd sunny interlude, in a moderate south-easterly breeze....

Just a little reminder - can everyone make sure that all submissions go to - selseybirdblog@gmail.com - to ensure that they get picked up and added to the blog. Thanks. Also, our esteemed assistant editor Bart (BI) will be holding the fort during the absence of the other two editors, so please be understanding as he also has a living to earn! (Eds)

Selsey Bill: It was really just a mix of the regular species this morning, though 21 Shags and nine Common Scoters went east. Full log below. (MO-W/AH)

(0730-0900hrs) (SSE, F4)

Gannet - 3E, 3os

Shag - 21E

Common Scoter - 9E

Kestrel - 1

Oystercatcher - 1E

Turnstone - 24

Mediterranean Gull - 4os

Sandwich Tern - 7os

Swallow - 45E

Pied Wagtail - 2E

Meadow Pipit - 24E

Linnet - 15W

Shags (above) & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Eight Spotted Redshanks were all feeding together in a tight little flock at one point this morning, whilst a Common Sandpiper was along the edges, and there were also 28 Black-tailed Godwits, c40 Lapwings, 12 Shovelers and c50 Teal present. (AH)

Common Sandpiper (above) & Spotted Redshanks at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: Around the high tide 112 Grey Plover and 32 Knot were roosting on mud and vegetation before being pushed off by the rising water, and an adult Peregrine was on the fencing around one of the islands. (IMcK)

Later, a Whinchat, six Stonechats and a Chiffchaff were around the paddock, with a Green Woodpecker nearby, and two Marsh Harriers were over the reeds further back.
At high tide, there wasn’t much to see in the harbour, with just 40 Grey Plovers and a few Redshanks, Lapwings and Curlews out on the remaining muddy areas, and overhead, a few Swallows and Meadow Pipits.
The Breech pool held just four Little Egrets and a Grey Heron, and in the bushes along the wall there was a Wheatear and a few Reed Buntings, whilst on the water by Owl Copse, there were nine Little Grebes, but it was quiet at Halsey’s Farm with just a Kestrel over the fields. (LP/CT)

Stonechats (above), Wheatear, Reed Bunting & Green Woodpecker at the North Wall (LP)

Church Norton: There were at least 20 Chiffchaffs present this morning, including seven feeding around a small patch of weeds on the side of The Mound alone, with up to a dozen Goldcrests and Blackcaps also around the wider area, whilst a Yellowhammer and many Swallows went over, and in the fields along Rectory Lane a Wheatear and two Pied Wagtails were among c80 Meadow Pipits, with a Sand Martin among a few Swallows going over.
Also, a juvenile Marsh Harrier was quartering the saltmarsh in front of the hide, a Whimbrel was close in and a flock of eight Brent Geese went west offshore. (AH/IMcK/JMo)

Later, two Kestrels, three Bar-tailed Godwits and c150 Dunlin were around the harbour, a Jay, a Spotted Flycatcher and 10 Chiffchaffs were around the Mound, 25 Meadow Pipit were along Rectory Lane (CRJ)

Whimbrel (IMcK) (above), Wheatear, Sand Martin, Meadow Pipit & Goldcrest (AH) at Church Norton

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - This evening the banks held a Whitethroat, four Chiffchaffs, two Cetti's Warblers, eight Stonechats and eight Yellowhammers, whilst out on the reserve there were a Kingfisher, a Greenshank, nine Cattle Egrets, eight Pied Wagtails and c40 Meadow Pipits, with just two Swallows going over. (S&SaH)

Tuesday, 26th September: Another warm morning, brightening up after a grey and muggy start, with the moderate breeze initially from the south, before swinging south-westerly....

Selsey Bill: A fairly quiet morning, though with increasing numbers of Swallows and a few other bits and pieces, including 33 Siskins, heading out south-west into the breeze, and a total of 19 Shags going east. Full log below. (IP/AH)

(0715-0900hrs) (SSW, F4)

Gannet - 3E, 16W

Shag - 19E

Common Scoter - 3E, 2W

Oystercatcher - 2E

Turnstone - 25

Mediterranean Gull - 3os

Sandwich Tern - 6os

Swallow - 554W

House Martin - 40W

Pied Wagtail - 5W

Meadow Pipit - 92W

Siskin - 33W

Shag (above), Sandwich Tern, Gannets & Swallow at the Bill (AH)

Between 0930-1030hrs, a Rock Pipit landed on the beach briefly before heading west, along with a Common Gull and 11 Sandwich Terns. (AW)

Rock Pipit (above), Common Gull & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AW)

Ferry Pool: There were four Spotted Redshanks, a Greenshank and two Redshanks on the pool this morning, along with 55 Black-tailed Godwits, 23 Lapwings, three Shelduck, two Shovelers and c60 Teal, plus a vocal Cetti's Warbler in the hedges. (AH)

Greenshank (above), Spotted Redshanks & Greenshank, Spotted redshanks, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwits at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: The adult Yellow-legged Gull and adult Lesser Black-backed Gull were roosting out on the exposed mud from the North Wall again, four Sandwich Terns were feeding off White’s Creek and a Spotted Redshank was roosting with Redshanks off the North Wall.
Also, a female Marsh Harrier was quartering behind the Breech Pool. (IMcK)

East side: From just after 7am, a total of 443 Meadow Pipits, 284 Swallows, 146 House Martins, three Sand Martins, three Siskins, two Grey Wagtails and 8 alba wagtails passed south-west over the east side of the harbour in only 90 minutes, though more birds continued to move through (uncounted) thereafter. A Cetti’s Warbler sang in the north-west corner of Pagham Lagoon whilst along the Slipe Field there was another singing Cetti’s Warbler, 14 Chiffchaffs, five Blackcaps and a single Willow Warbler, the latter moving swiftly through the bushes and eventually flew off high south-west! Mid-morning a juvenile Peregrine flew in from the east and out into the harbour. (IMcK)

A Whimbrel was on the mud off the east side this afternoon, along with three Greenshanks, whilst ten Great Crested Grebes were in the very southern end of White’s Creek.
A total of 142 Great Black-backed Gulls and 24 Herring Gulls were roosting on the mud there, with a further roost of 95 Great Black-backed Gulls (making a harbour total of 237 birds) and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gul out on the mud off the North Wall.
Also, a flock of c50 Linnets were on Pagham Spit. (IMcK)

Whimbrel on the east side (IMcK)

Church Norton: At least 500 Swallows and 50 House Martins moved steadily through the harbour, mostly heading west offshore, with just a handful of Meadow Pipits moving otherwise, whilst a couple of Blackcaps and a handful of Chiffchaffs were all that could be found in the bushes, along with two Mistle Thrushes and two Jays in the churchyard.
The harbour was quiet, too, with just a Whimbrel and a few Curlews to be seen on the high tide, along with four Sandwich Terns and c50 Wigeon and Teal, and a Kingfisher flew through. (AH)

Chiffchaff (above), Mistle Thrush, Swallow & Sandwich Tern at Church Norton (AH)

Chichester GPs: A Great White Egret flew west over Ivy Lake at 1350hrs this afternoon and continued west into the distance. (IMcK)
On Copse Lake this morning, a Black Swan, 34 Greylag Geese, single Pochard and Tufted Duck and along the Ivy Lake footpath Green Woodpecker, three Cetti's Warbler, 12 Chiffchaff and ten Long-tailed Tits. On New Lake Little Grebe and Little Egret. (CRJ)

Long-tailed Tit at Chichester GPs (CRJ)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The Merlin,was out on the reserve again this evening, with three Cattle egrets, two Greenshanks, a Raven, a Kingfisher, c40 Meadow Pipits and eight Egyptian Geese also in the vicinity.

Along the banks here were four Wheatears, 11 Stonechats, 12 Chiffchaffs, three Dartford Warblers., a Cetti's Warble and 18 Yellowhammers, with eight Swallows going over. (S&SaH)

Merlin at Medmerry (SH)

Monday, 25th September: An unseasonably warm morning, in a mix of sun and white cloud in a moderate westerly breeze....

Just to give everyone the heads up, we are planning to carry out maintenance works to Church Norton car park, starting Monday, 2nd October continuing until Thursday 12th October. During this period the car park will obviously have to be closed. (RSPB Pagham Harbour)

Selsey Bill: A very late Little Tern was a surprising highlight, with a distant unassigned shearwater sp east and five Golden Plovers in off the sea the other birds of note on a fairly quiet morning.. Full log below. (KT/MO-W/IP/P&LH/AH/RP)

(0700-0900hrs) (W, F4)

shearwater sp - 1E

Gannet - 6E, 1W

Shag - 5E, 1W

Common Scoter - 2E

Sparrowhawk - 1

Oystercatcher - 2W

Golden Plover - 5N

Turnstone - 10

Mediterranean Gull - 2E, 6os

Sandwich Tern - 1E, 1W, 4os

Little Tern - 1W

Swallow - 32W

House Martin - 2

Meadow Pipit - 7E, 4W

Grey Wagtail - 1W

Pied Wagtail - 3W

Wheatear - 2W

Siskin - 2W

(1330-1415hrs) (P&LH)

Gannet - 1E, 1W

Common Scoter - 2E

Kestrel - 1

Mediterranean Gull - 3W

Sandwich Tern - 6W, 7os

Swallow - 13

Little Tern (above), Sandwich Tern, Mediterranean Gull (AH) & Sparrowhawk (RP) at the Bill

Ferry Pool: There were three Spotted Redshanks and five Greenshanks on the pool this morning, along with 28 Black-tailed Godwits, c60 Lapwings, four Shelducks, two Shovelers and c50 Teal. (AH)

Spotted Redshanks (above) & Greenshanks at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: There were just two Curlew Sandpipers along White’s Creek this morning, along with three Black-tailed Godwits, a Grey Plover, a Turnstone, three Curlews, 80 Redshank, 60 Lapwings, 50 Wigeon and 24 Teal, whilst a Sandwich Tern was with the gulls out on the mud and a Yellow-legged Gull, and a Lesser Black-backed Gull were also present.

A Jay and a Cetti’s Warbler were around the paddock and a Marsh Harrier, and two Buzzards were further back. On the Breech pool there were a Reed Warbler, three Black-tailed Godwits, 20 Little Egrets and 21 Teal, and six Buzzards were over Owl Copse, with six Little Grebes on the water.

At Halsey’s Farm, 20 Long-tailed Tits were in the bushes, along with a Whitethroat, three Chiffchaffs, four Blackcaps and a few Blue Tits and Great Tits, with four Stonechats on the fences and 70 Curlews, and 40 Black-tailed Godwits were in the fields. (LP/GHi/CT/TRH/IMcK)

Little Grebes (above), Turnstone & Jay at the North Wall (LP)

East side: A juvenile Little Stint was in the harbour this morning, along with an adult Yellow-legged Gull, five Greenshanks, 86 Grey Plovers, eight Knot, three Golden Plovers, 452 Dunlin, 82 Curlew, eight Bar-tailed Godwits, 181 Ringed Plover, 168 Teal , 525 Black-headed Gull, a Lesser Black-backed Gull, 11 Herring Gulls and a Sandwich Tern.

Also, two Chiffchaffs and two Blackcaps were along West Front Road, and another 11 Chiffchaff and two Blackcaps were along the Slipe Field, whilst a Siskin flew over the east side of the harbour at 1030hrs. (IMcK)

Little Stint (above) & Yellow-legged Gull along the East side (IMcK)

Church Norton: Half a dozen Stonechats were along the front this morning, with just a couple of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs in the bushes and a dozen Swallows over being the only other migrants about, though a Mistle Thrush and c30 Meadow Pipits were along Rectory Lane.

Six Sandwich Terns and c20 Mediterranean Gulls were among the many Black-headed Gulls in the harbour, with waders including two Bar-tailed Godwits, three Knot, c30 Grey Plovers, c50 Dunlin and c20 Ringed Plovers, whilst half a dozen Pintail were among c40 Wigeon and a Peregrine went over. (AH/P&LH)

Peregrine (above), Stonechat, Sandwich Tern, Bar-tailed Godwit & Knot, Grey Plovers and Turnstone at Church Norton (AH)

The only different birds seen this evening in the harbour were a Greenshank and a Whimbrel, whilst at least 50 Swallows were feeding overhead. (AH)

Swallows (above), Whimbrel & Greenshank at Church Norton (AH)

Runcton: South of the village this morning there were a Grey Heron, a Little Egret, a Moorhen, 22 Egyptian Geese, four Mallards, a Green Woodpecker, and a Cetti’s Warbler, with three Swallows and 19 Canada Geese going over. (CRJ)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Merlin,was out on the reserve this evening, along with c50 Meadow Pipits, a Greenshank and eight Egyptian Geese, whilst a dozen Chiffchaffs, ten Stonechats, three Dartford Warblers, three Cetti's Warblers and c40 Yellowhammers were along the banks this evening, with  on the reserve and  three Buzzards and 43 Swallows went over. (S&SaH)

Merlin at Medmerry (SH)