10th - 13th December 2023

Wednesday, 13th December: A very dull and overcast morning, though dry and fairly mild, in a moderate north-westerly breeze................

Selsey Bill: A first-winter Little Gull went east and a Slavonian Grebe and six Great Northern Divers were on the sea, with another three of the latter going west, along with four Red-throated Divers. Full log below. (SR/AH)

(0750-0905hrs) (NW, F4-5)

Great Northern Diver - 1E, 3W, 6os

Red-throated Diver - 4W

Slavonian Grebe - 1os

Great Crested Grebe - 2os

Gannet - 8E, 9W, 3os

Brent Goose - 17E, 4W

Common Scoter - 2E, 15W

Red-breasted Merganser - 1E

Mediterranean Gull - 1os

Common Gull - 1W

Little Gull - 1E

Sandwich Tern - 2W

Razorbill - 7W

auk sp - 10E, 6W

Little Gull (above), Slavonian Grebe & Great Northern Diver at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The roosting flock of Avocets on the pool had risen to 26 birds this morning, along with a Redshank, c40 Shovelers, c20 Mallards and c80 Teal, with c200 Wigeon, but just a handful of Lapwings, on the fields. (AH)

Avocets at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A Great Northern Diver was in the harbour this morning, feeding on crabs along the main channel, with the first-winter drake Eider still present, too, along with two Little Grebes and three Red-breasted Mergansers, with four more of the latter and five Great Crested Grebes the only birds on the sea, offshore.

The two Greenshanks flew across the harbour, but otherwise it was just the regular waders looking for somewhere to roost, whilst there were also c50 Wigeon and Teal, plus 300 Brent Geese present, with another 500 of the latter in the fields along Rectory Lane. (AH/MRu et al)

Great Northern Diver (above), Eider, Red-breasted Merganser, Little Grebes & Wigeon at Church Norton (AH)

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: This afternoon the fields held 36 Cattle Egrets, a Grey Wagtail, seven Pied Wagtails, a single Fieldfare, a Kestrel, a flock of Long-tailed Tits and 56 Collared Doves. (SR)

Fishbourne Creek: On the high tide this morning a Great Northern Diver was initially off the Dell Quay boat yard, and probably the same bird was later well downstream from Dell Quay.
The wader roost opposite Dell Quay contained three Greenshank and a Spotted Redshank, whilst on the water there were four Little Grebes and five Red-breasted Mergansers. 

The harbour side bushes held five Redwing and a flock of 20 Greenfinches, whilst on the salt marshes at Fishbourne there were two Rock Pipits, and in the reedbeds a Water Rail was squealing. (RW)

Great Northern Diver in Fishbourne Creek (RW)

Tuesday, 12th December: Another quite mild morning, but very changeable, brighter to start and finish, but with heavy, thundery showers passing through in-between in the fairly brisk south-westerly breeze...........

Selsey Bill: One of the Little Gulls was offshore early on, and there were a few Great Northern and Red-throated Divers about again, though it was generally quiet. Full log below. (SR/AH)

(0800-0915hrs) (SW, F4-5)

Great Northern Diver - 1W, 2os

Red-throated Diver - 2E, 12W

Great Crested Grebe - 1W

Gannet - 5E, 6W

Brent Goose - 5W

Common Scoter - 6W

Red-breasted Merganser - 1E, 2W

Mediterranean Gull - 2os

Little Gull - 1os

auk sp - 2E, 4W

Rock Pipit - 1

Chiffchaff - 1

Great Northern Diver (above), Common Scoters, Chiffchaff, Red-breasted Merganser & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were 25 Avocets roosting on the pool this morning, with c250 Lapwings on the field, and there were also c40 Shovelers and Mallards and c100 Teal about. (AH)

Avocets at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: Two Greenshank were in the harbour this morning, along with the Whimbrel, half a dozen Bar-tailed Godwits and a few of the regular waders looking to find somewhere to roost, whilst a flock of at least 30 Snipe flew in and appeared to settle on the horse field, before about half that number were watched flying around for ages before settling around the concrete blocks.

Also, the Eider re-appeared in the middle of the harbour, where a big flock of c250 Pintail gathered before dispersing again, and there were also a couple of Little Grebes, c50 Brent Geese and Teal and c100 Wigeon about.

A Sandwich Tern was offshore, along with a couple of dozen Mediterranean and Common Gulls, but two Great Crested Grebes were all that could be seen on the sea. (AH/CT/CBa)

This evening, a first-year male and three female Marsh Harriers flew in to roost in the Severals. There were also a Cetti's Warbler and a Water Rail calling, and c500 flighty Brent Geese flew in and back out of the harbour. (S&SaH)

Snipe (above), Greenshanks, Eider, Grey Plover, Sandwich Tern & Pintail at Church Norton (AH)

Pagham Spit and Lagoon: A female Goldeneye was on the Lagoon this morning along with a Little Grebe, four Tufted Ducks and the usual Mallards and Coots, whilst five Brent Geese and a Curlew were on the golf course and a Goldcrest was with a group of eight Long-tailed Tits along the hedgerow.
The regular female Eider was on the sea, just off the beach, and along the outer spit there were several hundred roosting waders, comprising of a mixture of Grey Plovers, Knot, Dunlin, Turnstone and Oystercatchers, along with a handful of Redshanks.
Also, around the islands there were two Sandwich Terns and 40 Mediterranean Gulls, whilst in the harbour at high tide there was just a Great Crested Grebe and a few Wigeon, Pintail, Teal, and Brent Geese. (LP)

Eider (above), Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe, Sandwich Tern, Grey Plover, Redshank, Knot, Dunlin, Turnstones and Grey Plovers & Mediterranean Gulls at Pagham Spit (LP)

Runcton: A pair of Green Woodpeckers were in the garden this morning, performing their curious head-swaying courtship dance. Not a sight I have seen before. (CRJ)

Monday, 11th December: A fairly mild, bright and breezy morning in a moderate westerly...........

Selsey Bill: The two first-winter Little Gulls were about again this morning, as were a few Great Northern and Red-throated Divers. Full log below. (SR/AH/IP et al)

(0750-0905hrs) (W, F4-5)

Great Northern Diver - 3W, 3os

Red-throated Diver - 16W, 1os

diver sp - 2W

Gannet - 7E, 16W, 6os

Brent Goose - 2E

Common Scoter - 12W

Red-breasted Merganser - 1os

Turnstone - 1

Mediterranean Gull - 3os

Common Gull - 1os

Little Gull - 2os

auk sp - 21W

Little Gull (above), Great Northern Diver, Red-throated Divers & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were 20 Avocets on the pool again this morning, along with a Redshank, c20 Shovelers and c100 Teal, with c200 Lapwing and c60 Wigeon on the field. (AH)

Earlier, two Marsh Harriers went over, heading west. (RBe)

Avocets and Lapwings at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A Peregrine was upsetting all the waders in the harbour again this morning on the high tide, including the Whimbrel, nine Bar-tailed Godwits and vast numbers of the regular species.

Also, the first-winter drake Eider was in the harbour, busy catching crabs, and there were c40 Pintail, c500 Brent Geese and plenty of Wigeon and Teal about, but there was nothing offshore except a lot of gulls, including a few Common and Mediterranean Gulls, and a Stonechat and a couple of Linnets along the Severals was about it for passerines. (AH/RBe et al)

Eider (above), Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwits, Knot and Grey Plovers, Brent Geese, Stonechat & Linnet at Church Norton (AH)

Sunday, 10th December: The day started grey and overcast in a freshening south-westerly breeze before persistent, and occasionally heavy, rain took hold once more by mid-morning......

Selsey Bill: There was plenty of activity around the high tide this morning, with a Black-throated Diver west, and over a dozen Great Northern Divers and over 50 Red-throated Divers also logged, whilst a Purple Sandpiper, two first-winter Little Gulls, eight Guillemots  and nearly 200 Gannets went west, too. Full log below. (SH/BI/IP/AH)

(0730-1015hrs) (SW, F4-5)

Great Northern Diver - 5E, 4W, 4os

Black-throated Diver - 1W

Red-throated Diver - 13E, 30W, 11os

diver sp - 5W

Slavonian Grebe - 1os

Great Crested Grebe - 1E, 1W, 2os

Gannet - 38E, 194W, 55os

Shag - 4E, 1os

Common Scoter - 7W, 48os

Red-breasted Merganser - 11E, 3os

Sparrowhawk - 1

Oystercatcher - 1W

Purple Sandpiper - 1W

Turnstone - 54

Mediterranean Gull - 4W, 6os

Common Gull - 2E, 4W

Kittiwake - 5E, 5W

Little Gull - 2W

Guillemot - 8W, 1os

Razorbill - 24W, 1os

auk sp - 22W

(1400-1500hrs) (SH)

Great Northern Diver - 1os

Gannet - 13W

Oystercatcher - 1E, 1W

Ringed Plover - 2W

Kittiwake - 1W

Little Gull - 2os

Razorbill - 1W

auk sp - 1W

Little Gulls (above), Great Northern Divers, Kittiwake, Guillemots, Shag, Gannets & Common Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were two Spotted Redshanks, a Black-tailed Godwit, three Snipe and 20 Avocets around the pool this morning, with c300 Lapwings on the field, whilst wildfowl comprised of three Shelducks, c20 Shovelers, c100 Teal and c150 Wigeon. (AH)

North Wall: A Merlin was at the west end of Church Lane this morning. (JDW)

Church Norton: The only waders seen on the high tide were the Whimbrel, half a dozen Curlews and a dozen Redshank, whilst c500 Brent Geese flew in from the fields and there were also a Red-breasted Merganser, c30 Pintail and c50 Wigeon and Teal also about. (AH)

Whimbrel (above), Whimbrel and Curlew & Brent Geese at Church Norton (AH)

Late this afternoon, two Marsh Harriers and a Peregrine were causing havoc around the harbour, before one of the Marsh Harriers flew to the Severals, where it was joined by another two birds, circling around, looking to go to roost.

The disturbance in the harbour included at least 500 Brent Geese and Lapwing, a flock of c80 Curlews that flew in but couldn't settle, as well as c50 Pintail and c100 Wigeon and many smaller waders. (AH)

Marsh Harriers (above), Peregrine & Pintail and Wigeon at Church Norton (AH)