14th - 16th October 2023

Monday, 16th October: Another cold morning, in a freshening north-easterly breeze, grey early on before slowly brightening up .......

Selsey Bill: There was a bit of visible migration going on, but nothing unusual, and the sea remained slow. Full log below. (SR/MO-W/AH/P&LH/IP/CRJ)

(0735-0905hrs) (ENE, F4)

Great Crested Grebe - 1E

Gannet - 6E, 9W

Shag - 16E

Brent Goose - 19W

Wigeon - 2W

Common Scoter - 2E

Red-breasted Merganser -1W

Curlew - 1E

Turnstone - 20

Mediterranean Gull - 4W, 7os

Sandwich Tern - 1E

auk sp - 1E, 12W

Skylark - 5E

Swallow - 85E, 2W

House Martin - 5E

Pied Wagtail - 41E

Meadow Pipit - 15E

Chiffchaff - 7

Goldcrest - 1

Linnet - 90E

Goldfinch - 110E

Later, at around 1100hrs, a Red-throated Diver flew east and then west, with three Common Scoters going east, too. (AW)

Red-throated Diver at the Bill (AW)

Ferry Pool: There were six Spotted Redshanks, a Greenshank, a Black-tailed Godwit and five Avocets on the pool this morning, with a flock of c75 Golden Plovers going over, but otherwise there were just c30 Lapwings, c30 Shovelers and c20 Teal, plus four Little Egrets on the field. (AH/P&LH)

Spotted Redshanks (above), Avocets & Lapwing at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: Two House Martins and c30 Swallows were feeding over Church Barton Reservoir this morning. (JDW)

A Great Spotted Woodpecker and two Chiffchaffs were by the stables and a Bar-tailed Godwit, six Black-tailed Godwits, two Turnstones, two Pintail, 30 Teal and 28 Wigeon and the usual Redshank and Lapwings were along White’s Creek.
A Rock Pipit was along the wall, but there wasn’t much else about with just a couple of Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings in the bushed and 30 Swallows overhead. (LP/CT)

Rock Pipit (above), Meadow Pipit, Bar-tailed Godwit & Pintail at the North Wall (LP)

East Side: A Spotted Redshank was along the channel with lots of Redshank, Ringed Plovers, Dunlin, and Grey Plovers, and three Common Seals were hauled out on the mud.
Over towards the harbour entrance 45 Brent Geese were on the water, before 25 of them took flight and headed off to the west, 42 Great Black-backed Gulls were out on the mud and 15 Shelduck were also about. (LP/CT/TRH)

Grey Plover (above) & Common Seals along East side (LP)

Church Norton: A few Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs were in the hedges, and four Stonechats were along the path to the beach, with a bit of visible eastward migration going on, thus - four Skylarks, 12 Swallows, c 40 Meadow Pipits, c25 Siskins, c80 Linnets and c150 Goldfinches.
Also, two Mistle Thrushes were around the churchyard, with another flock of five flying over, and there were a couple of Sparrowhawks and half a dozen Jays about.
The harbour, though, was very quiet, with just a Bar-tailed Godwit, six Turnstones and 15 Grey Plovers among a few of the regular waders, and there were five Pintail among the c50 Wigeon and Teal present. (AH/P&LH)

Stonechats (above), Mistle Thrush, Sparrowhawk & Jay at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry: East side - A ring-tail Hen Harrier was seen early this afternoon. (AS)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pools - This evening the banks produced four Dartford Warblers, four Cetti's Warblers, three Chiffchaffs, a Goldcrest, seven Stonechats, two Yellowhammers and c30 Meadow Pipits, with two Sparrowhawks and a Kestrel going over. (S&SaH)

Sunday, 15th October: After a very chilly start, a pleasant morning of unbroken sun in a moderate northerly breeze.......

Selsey Bill: A Merlin, a Lesser Redpoll , a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers and a few Brent Geese were the highlights of a fairly quiet morning. Full log below. (SH/MRB/BI/SR/AH/MO-W)

(0700-0900hrs) (N, F3)

Gannet - 8W

Shag - 12E

Brent Goose - 21W

Wigeon - 3W

Common Scoter - 3E

Red-breasted Merganser - 2W

Merlin - 1W

Oystercatcher - 2W

Turnstone - 7

Mediterranean Gull - 4W, 10os

Skylark - 8N

Swallow - 14W

House Martin - 1W

Grey Wagtail - 3W

Pied Wagtail - 18W

Meadow Pipit - 12W

Chiffchaff - 6

Magpie - 16 (together)

Lesser Redpoll - 1W

Goldfinch - 24

Shag (above) & Brent Geese at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There was a bit of a selection this morning, including four Spotted Redshanks, three Greenshanks, five Avocets, a Redshank, 12 Black-tailed Godwits, c30 Lapwings, c20 Shovelers and c20 Teal, with two Cattle Egrets and four Little Egrets on the field. (AH/MRB)

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

East Beach: There was a Hummingbird Hawk-moth in my garden this afternoon. (SR)

Hummingbird Hawk-moth in an East Beach garden (SR)

Church Norton: A Short-eared Owl was along the spit this morning, and two Red Kites went over early this afternoon. (AJW/GR)

North Wall: There were half a dozen Stonechats and Chiffchaffs and a couple of Rock Pipits, Reed Buntings and Cetti's Warblers along the wall this morning, plus a Grey Wagtail over, with three different Marsh Harriers seen over the reeds, but the Breech Pool just held a few Wigeon and Mallards.

White's Creek was devoid of birds, with three fisherman along its banks, but out in the wider harbour there were c30 Golden Plovers, c20 Grey Plovers, c50 Knot and a dozen Ringed Plovers, along with many Dunlin and Redshanks, but there were just a few Wigeon and Teal present, otherwise. (AH/LP/SP/DHi et al)

Marsh Harrier (above), Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Wigeon & Golden Plovers and Knot at the North Wall (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A kettle of eight White Storks over the beach were joined by seven Spoonbills for a while, before the Storks gained height and drifted out to sea and the Spoonbills disappeared over the reserve.

There was also a Great White Egret present, seen flying over and landing near Marsh Barn.

Otherwise, there were eight Dartford Warblers along the banks, together with 13 Stonechats, four Chiffchaffs, four Goldcrests, five Cetti's Warblers and nine Yellowhammers, with nine swallows going over.

There were also two Kingfishers, a Snipe, a Cattle Egret, a Peregrine, two Sparrowhawks, three Buzzards and four Kestrels seen.(S&SaH/MRB/HK/HB et al)

White Storks over Medmerry (SH)

Chi GPs - Drayton Pits: A rather unobliging  first winter or female Ring Ouzel was in the long hedges early this morning, before flying towards Drayton House. Also, a female Bullfinch was seen. These apart, highlights were very few, with two Water Rails, 28 Pochard and a handful of Chiffchaffs being about the best, whilst wildfowl numbers (for the WeBS) were exceedingly low for the time of year) (OM/BI)

Medmerry: Coastguard Station to the Breach - It was fairly quiet here, though c20 Pied Wagtails came in off the sea, and there were a Wheatear, six Meadow Pipits and four Stonechats at the viewpoint.

Also, a Kestrel was close by, ten Swallows flew over, a Chiffchaff was along the banks, but there was little to see on the high tide apart from 14 Turnstones, nine Teal, four Wigeon and a large feeding flock of mainly Black-headed Gulls by the rocks. (SR)

Wheatear at Medmerry (SR)

Saturday, 14th October: Despite more or less unbroken sunshine, a much cooler morning, as the brisk breeze shifted north-westerly.......

Selsey Bill: There wasn't too much going on this morning, though the first Red-breasted Merganser and a few Brent Geese went west offshore and a couple of Woodlarks were among a modest amount of westward movement overhead. Full log below. (SH/BI/SR/CRJ/MO-W/AH/MB/DB/K Britten)

(0700-0930hrs) (NW, F4)

Great Crested Grebe - 1W

Gannet - 3E, 36W, 20os

Shag - 14E

Brent Goose - 2E, 11W

Common Scoter - 1E, 4W

Red-breasted Merganser - 1W

Turnstone - 2

Mediterranean Gull - 9W, 11os

Common Gull - 1W

Sandwich Tern - 3W

Razorbill - 5W

auk sp - 11E

Woodlark - 2W

Swallow - 16W

Pied Wagtail - 10W

Meadow Pipit - 66W

Chiffchaff - 1

Goldfinch - 40

Reed Bunting - 2

Brent Geese (above), Sandwich Tern & Mediterranean Gulls at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were just two Spotted Redshanks and two Avocets of note on the pool this morning, along with the regulars, including c25 Black-tailed Godwits, c40 Lapwings and c50 Shovelers and c50 Teal. (AH)

Spotted Redshanks (above), Avocet & Lapwings at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A dozen or so Lesser Redpolls dropped in briefly before flying off, and similar of Siskins went over this morning, whilst a Blackcap and half a dozen Chiffchaffs were along the sheltered hedges, along with a mobile flock of Long-tailed, Blue and Great Tits, and a couple of House Martins were among c20 Swallows.

Also, the Greenshank and a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits were in the harbour, along with c20 Grey Plovers, a couple of Ringed Plovers and c50 Dunlin, plus a few Teal and Wigeon.

Also, a Painted Lady was among the numerous Red Admirals present.  (AH/CRJ/K Britten) There wasn’t a great deal around the Severals and Greenlease Farm today but a Sparrowhawk was overhead, a few Lesser Redpolls were along the hedges and c.15 Chiffchaffs were on the gorse near Bluebell Wood (BI)

Blackcap (above), House Martin, Swallows & Painted Lady at Church Norton (AH)

There wasn't much different in the harbour this afternoon, though eight Brent Geese were on the mud, whilst one, and probably two, Dartford Warblers were in the gorse on the beach, along with at least eight Stonechats. There was also a Clouded Yellow along the beach. (AH/HL/RPa et al)

Dartford Warbler (above), Stonechat, Bar-tailed Godwit & Brent Geese at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: Two Marsh Harriers - presumably the resident pair - were around the Breech Pool this afternoon, with two Buzzards, four Kestrels together and 18 Swallows were also on the wing.

A Kingfisher was about, with a Stonechat, a Chiffchaff and three Cetti's Warblers were along the wall. (S&SaH)

Also, the Barn Owl was hunting over Halsey's Farm this evening. (AD)

Marsh Harrier (SH) (above) & Barn Owl (AD) at the North Wall 

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - An impressive count of 39 Stonechats were spread along the banks this morning, with six Dartford Warblers, five Goldcrests, five Chiffchaffs, six Cetti's Warblers,, a Reed Bunting and 15 Yellowhammers also seen, with eight Swallows going over.

Two Cattle Egrets, c50 Meadow Pipits and two Pied Wagtails were on the reserve, whilst c40 Golden Plovers, a Raven, a Buzzard, two Sparrowhawks and five Kestrels went over. (S&SaH)

Chichester Canal: Along the stretch west from Donnington. there were four Gadwall and two Tufted Ducks were among the usual Mallards and Little Grebes, whilst a flock of Siskin were among the birches, a Bullfinch was heard, and a Goldcrest was flitting among the trees.

Also, at least ten Chiffchaffs were along the bushes and a Raven landed briefly in the tall conifer. (AW)

Raven (above), Goldcrest, Little Grebe, Gadwall & Tufted Duck along Chichester Canal (AW)