1st - 3rd November 2023

Friday, 3rd November: A pleasantly warm and fairly sunny morning in a moderate westerly breeze...........

Selsey Bill: It was very much 'After the Lord Mayor's Show' this morning, with just a couple of Great Northern Divers and Little Gulls of note, plus a couple of late Swallows. 

Later on, though, finally a couple of Leach's Petrels went back west at 1330 and 1345hrs, along with a Common Tern. Full log below. (SH/BI/IP/SR/CRJ/AH/CN/P&LH/OM/AW et al)

(0630-1530hrs)  (W, F5-6)

Great Northern Diver - 1E, 2W

Red-throated Diver - 3W

Great Crested Grebe - 5W

Leach's Petrel - 2W (singles, 1330 & 1345hrs)

shearwater sp - 1W

Gannet - 2E, 8W

Shag - 1E, 4W

Brent Goose - 4E, 76W

Common Scoter - 5E, 16W

Red-breasted Merganser - 2E, 11W

Sanderling - 25W

Dunlin - 2W

Turnstone - 15

Mediterranean Gull - 10W, 3os

Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1os

Kittiwake - 1E, 4W

Little Gull - 4W

Sandwich Tern - 4E

Common Tern - 1W

auk sp - 1W

Skylark - 2W

Swallow - 2W

Pied Wagtail - 5W

Meadow Pipit - 10W

Goldfinch - 33

Reed Bunting - 2W

Common Tern  (above), Lesser Black-backed Gull( AW), Little Gull & Great Northern Diver (AH) at the Bill

Rainbow over the Bill, east side (OM)

Ferry Pool: The pool was empty, save three Canada Geese, but the RSPB staff working a the back put up three Greenshanks and c30 Shovelers that flew into the harbour. (AH)

Greenshanks (above) & Shoveler at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A quick look this morning produced the Whimbrel and three Bar-tailed Godwits, along with plenty of Grey Plovers, Dunlin, Redshanks, Wigeon and Teal, with a large roosting flock of Black-headed Gulls, plus a few Mediterranean Gulls, and half a dozen Brent Geese also present.

The bushes were very quiet, though, beyond a couple of Goldcrests and Long-tailed Tits. (AH)

Bar-tailed Godwit (above) & Grey Plover at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: A late afternoon look from Halsey's Farm produced a Short-eared Owl, a Merlin and a Marsh Harrier, which in turn upset all the waders in the harbour, which included at least 500 Black-tailed Godwits, 100 Lapwings, 50 Golden Plovers and half a dozen Snipe.
The Honer fields were all very flooded and just held lots of assorted dabbling ducks, whilst the fields at Halsey's Farm held c250 Canada Geese, with seven slightly dodgy-looking Barnacle Geese among them. (AH)

Short-eared Owl (above), Marsh Harrier, Black-tailed Godwits, Barnacle and Canada Geese and a very flooded Honer 1 field at the North Wall (AH)

Thursday, 2nd November: After Storm Ciaran did its slightly less bad than feared worst overnight, a morning of persistent spitty drizzle in a moderate westerly, freshening up again as the morning went on.........

Selsey Bill: There was one last twist to the bumper autumn of sea-birds, with the overnight storm bringing an unprecedented arrival of Leach's Petrels to the Bill and all points to our east. At least 35 passed, mostly heading east, though some were seen to linger and feed, after a first bird was seen moribund on the sea. There are only five previously accepted records of the species at the Bill, the last of which was in December 2012.

There was also a single Storm Petrel seen going east and a Grey Phalarope dropped in offshore before flying off west, but apart from that, though, it was remarkably quiet offshore, with just a single Gannet seen, and three Great Northern Divers and a Little Gull west the best. Full log below. (AH/SR/BI/CRJ/PB/SH/AB/AW/LGRE et al)

(0700-1500hrs) (W4, freshening to F6-7)

Great Northern Diver - 3W

Red-throated Diver - 2W

Leach's Petrel - 26E, 13W, 1os

Storm Petrel - 1E (1309hrs)

Gannet - 1W

Shag - 1E, 2W, 2os

Brent Goose - 31W

Mallard - 1E

Common Scoter - 1E, 8W

Red-breasted Merganser - 4W

Dunlin - 10W

Turnstone - 15

Grey Phalarope - 1os, then W (1443hrs)

Mediterranean Gull - 3E, 1W, 1os

Common Gull - 1E

Kittiwake - 6E, 1W

Little Gull - 1W

auk sp - 1W

Pied Wagtail - 1E

Linnet - 8W

Goldfinch - 40W

Timings for the Leach's Petrels were thus - 1os @ 0841, 1E @0848, 1E @ 0915, 3E @ 0927, 1E @ 0947, 1E @ 1045, 1E @ 1055, 1E @ 1108, 1E @ 1115, 1W @ 1118, 1E @ 1120,, 1W @ 1125, 1W @ 1130, 2W @ 1131, 1W @ 1140, 2E @ 1146, 2E @ 1147, 1W @ 1148, 1W @ 1152, 1W @ 1157, 1W @ 1204, 1W @ 1206, 1W @ 1211, 1W @ 1213, 1E @1215,1E @ 1218, 1E @ 1222, 1E @ 1225, 1E @ 1259, 1E @ 1301, 1E @1305, 2E @ 1325, 1E, @ 1332 & 1E @ 1414hrs

Leach's Petrels (top five AH, lower SH), Great Northern Diver, Common Scoters & Shags (AH) at the Bill

The Leach's Petrels stopped thereafter, with an afternoon watch producing a Bonxie and a Little Gull, but not much else. Full log below. (SH/AH/IP)

(1500-1630hrs)

Great Skua - 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 1E, 1W

Kittiwake - 5W

Little Gull - 1E

Sandwich Tern - 1W

Ferry Pool: There were just c50 Teal and Shovelers at the back and a lot of roosting Herring and Black-headed Gulls on the pool today. (AH)

Pagham Beach: A Leach's Petrel was seen going west off of the beach at 1223hrs. (RHa)

Chichester GPs: Remarkably, all three hirundine species were recorded over the pits today - namely a Sand Martin (13 days later than the previous latest this century in 2016), two House Martins and at least seven Swallows, with a Mediterranean Gull and three Redwings also seen. (SM)

Church Norton: A quick look this morning produced a Greenshank, c80 Grey Plovers and c500 Dunlin in the harbour, along with half a dozen Brent Geese and a few Wigeon and Teal, plus the other regular waders.

The bushes were unsurprisingly quiet, beyond a couple of Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests, a few Long-tailed Tits, a Song Thrush and a Jay. (AH)

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

Wednesday, 1st November: A very windy morning, with a near gale-force west-south-westerly blowing through constant heavy squalls before brightening up later on.....

Selsey Bill: It was quiet early on, with two Red-breasted Mergansers west about the only things note. Full log below. (SR/AH)

(0715-0830hrs) (WSW, F6-7)

Great Crested Grebe - 1W

Gannet - 1E

Shag - 4E

Common Scoter - 6W

Red-breasted Merganser - 2W

Dunlin - 12W

Turnstone - 12

Mediterranean Gull - 1E, 1W

Kittiwake - 1W

Red-breasted Mergansers at the Bill (AH)

There was a bit more interest, later on, as the tide pushed up, including two juvenile Arctic Skuas, 17 Little Gulls and 38 Kittiwakes going west. Full log below. (AH)

(1000-1130hrs)

Shag - 2E

Common Scoter - 6E

Dunlin - 22W

Turnstone - 30

Arctic Skua - 2W

Mediterranean Gull - 1W

Kittiwake - 38W

Little Gull - 17W

Little Gulls (above), Arctic Skuas & Kittiwakes and Common Scoters at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Five Avocets were present early on, but later there were just c20 Wigeon, c30 Teal and c30 Shovelers on the pool. (NR/AH)

Shovelers and Teal on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A Wheatear was a nice surprise on the beach this morning, but a couple of Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests in the churchyard, along with a pair of Red-legged Partridges and four Jays, were the only other birds of note in the bushes.

Also, the Whimbrel was in the harbour again, along with a Greenshank, c40 Grey Plovers, c200 Dunlin and a few Wigeon and Teal. (AH)

Wheatear (above), Chiffchaff, Red-legged Partridge, Whimbrel, Greenshank & Grey Plovers at Church Norton (AH)

Pagham Spit and Lagoon: Two Little Grebes were at the far end of the Lagoon with the usual Coots and Mallards, a Stonechat and a Meadow Pipit were by the old car park, and a Common Seal, 50 Brent Geese and 3 Great Crested Grebes were just offshore.

Out in the harbour there were 400 Brent Geese with a 100 Wigeon and a few Teal, but waders were few, with just a Grey Plover, a Redshank and 12 Turnstones noted. (LP)

Meadow Pipit (above), Brent Geese and Wigeon, Turnstones & Common Seal at Pagham Spit (LP)

North Wall: It was predictably quiet along the wall in the strong winds but a Grey Wagtail and a Pied Wagtail were by the sluice, nine Canada Geese were on the Breech Pool and the flooded Honer fields held 52 Shovelers, two Wigeon, 300 Black-tailed Godwits and a huge flock of c1200 Black-headed Gulls, with a few Common Gulls among them.

At Halsey’s Farm 24 Curlews were on the flooded fields with 36 Canada Geese, but a lone Reed Bunting was the only small bird seen along the bushes. (LP)

Black-tailed Godwits, Common and Black-headed Gulls (above), Shovelers and Wigeon, Canada Geese & Black-headed Gulls at the North Wall (LP)