4th - 6th December 2023

Wednesday, 6th December: A complete change this morning, with blue skies and sunshine in a light northerly breeze........

Selsey Bill: There were two slightly unexpected firsts for the year for the Bill this morning - with a Ring-necked Parakeet going over noisily west and ten Long-tailed Tits passing through the bushes. 

There were also over 30 Red-throated Divers about, along with five Great Northern Divers, four Slavonian Grebes and four Eider. Full log below. (KT/SR/MO-W/AH)

(0750-0935hrs) (ENE, F1-2)

Great Northern Diver - 5os

Red-throated Diver - 11E, 18W, 4os

Slavonian Grebe - 4os

Great Crested Grebe - 1E, 4os

Gannet - 1E

Brent Goose - 4W

Wigeon - 9W

Eider - 2W, 2os

Common Scoter - 11E, 60os

Red-breasted Merganser - 6E, 16os

Oystercatcher - 3E

Turnstone - 3

Common Gull - 1W

Razorbill - 4E, 1os

auk sp - 32E, 2W

Ring-necked Parakeet - 1W

Pied Wagtail - 1

Meadow Pipit 3W

Rock Pipit - 1

Long-tailed Tit - 10

Ring-necked Parakeet (above), Long-tailed Tit, Red-throated Divers & Cormorant at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The Spotted Redshank was on the hidden pool early on, whilst c500 Lapwings and a handful of Curlews were around the field, with c30 Shovelers, c100 Teal, c150 Wigeon and c30 Mallards around the pool. (TG-P/AH)

Wigeon at the Ferry (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Merlin was showing well this morning, upsetting the 100+ Linnets and 50+ Stock Doves present, but the banks were generally quiet, though up to five Dartford Warblers and three pairs of Stonechats were seen.

A flock of 300 Lapwings came up off the reserve, and a Marsh Harrier and a Raven went over, whilst at the Stilt Pools there were four Snipe, six Redshanks, c50 Wigeon and c200 Teal, along with a similar number of Lapwings. (AH)

Merlin (above), Dartford Warblers, Marsh Harrier, Snipe, Teal, Linnet & Stock Dove at Medmerry (AH)

Runcton: A pair of Ravens went over this morning, with a Jay, a singing Song Thrush, a pair of Stonechats, two Yellowhammers and two Chaffinches also about, along with three Roe Deer. (CRJ)

Stonechat at Runcton (CRJ)

Fishbourne Creek: On the low tide this morning, there were two Goldeneyes, two Red-breasted Merganser, two Little Grebes and a Great Crested Grebe well below Dell Quay, whilst upstream there was an Avocet, and off the Lavant outfall there were 500 Black-tailed Godwits, 11 Knot and a Greenshank in addition to good numbers of the usual waders and ducks.

Also, a Rock Pipit was seen well on the beached boat on the salt marsh and there were five Meadow Pipits around the horse paddocks. (RW)

Avocet at Fishbourne Creek (RW)

North Wall: It was busy around the paddock with a Grey Wagtail, a Pied Wagtail, a Jay, a Song Thrush, two Stonechats, a Chiffchaff, two Kestrels, and a Buzzard, with two Marsh Harriers over the reeds further back.

White’s Creek contained the usual mix of Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Redshank, and a couple of Grey Plovers, with 200 Lapwing on the mud and lots of Brent Geese further back, and a Kingfisher was by the sluice.

A Rock Pipit was along the wall and a few Reed Buntings, and a Greenfinch were in the bushes, while at Halsey’s Farm a Kingfisher was at the far end of the rife, 12 Canada Geese were with 80 Wigeon in the fields, four Meadow Pipits, two Long-tailed Tits, a Chiffchaff and four Reed Buntings were in the hedgerow, and a Green Woodpecker and a Jay were in the trees. (LP)

Marsh Harriers (above), Rock Pipit, Reed Bunting, Grey Wagtail & Jay at the North Wall (LP)

Tuesday, 5th December: Another cool and really murky and overcast morning, though dry beyond a bit of light drizzle in a moderate north-westerly breeze........

Selsey Bill: Yesterday's first-winter Little Gull was around again this morning, going first east, then west, with at least eight Great Northern Divers, four Slavonian Grebes and 50 Common Scoters on the sea. Full log below. (SR/AH/IP/KJ et al)

(0750-1030hrs) (NW, F4)

Great Northern Diver - 8os

Red-throated Diver - 9E

Slavonian Grebe - 4os

Great Crested Grebe - 2E, 4os

Gannet - 145E, 3W, 5os

Shag - 1W, 3os

Brent Goose - 2E, 2W

Common Scoter - 50os

Red-breasted Merganser - 11E, 3W, 3os

Oystercatcher - 1W

Dunlin - 2W

Turnstone - 19

Mediterranean Gull - 3E

Kittiwake - 1W

Little Gull - 1E, then W

Sandwich Tern - 3os

Razorbill - 5E, 2os

auk sp - 22E

Pied Wagtail - 1W

Little Gull (above), Common Scoter, Shag & Sandwich Terns at the Bill (AH)

This afternoon two Pale-bellied Brent flew west past the Bill while a Great Northern Diver was feeding offshore. (AW)

Great Northern Diver (above) & Pale-bellied Brent Geese at the Bill (AW)

Ferry Pool: There were plenty of ducks back on the pool this morning, including c50 Shovelers, c150 Wigeon and c100 Teal, with at least 300 Lapwings and four Little Egrets on the field, and there were also five Common Gulls among the Black-headed Gull flock. (AH)

Common Gulls at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There were up to a dozen Avocets and four Bar-tailed Godwits in the harbour this morning, along with a few Ringed and Grey Plovers, large numbers of Dunlin and Knot and a few Wigeon and Teal, but 20 Mediterranean Gulls were all that were offshore.

A pair of Stonechats and at least four Goldcrests were along the front of the Severals, together with a Buzzard, and a Mistle Thrush was along Rectory Lane, but that was about it. (AH/KJ et al)

Goldcrest (above), Stonechat, Buzzard, Bar-tailed Godwit, Avocet & Wigeon at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: A Kestrel, two Song Thrushes and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were by the stables and a Jack Snipe and a Common Snipe flew over, whilst along White’s Creek there were 150 Wigeon, 20 Teal, 180 Lapwing, a Little Grebe, 100 Black-tailed Godwits and a few Redshank and Dunlin.

Also, a Marsh Harrier flew over the harbour towards the reeds behind the Breech Pool, where there were just a few Mallards. (LP)

A busy White's Creek (above) & Great Spotted Woodpecker at the North Wall (LP)

Pagham Spit: A Red-breasted Merganser was in the harbour along with 200 Wigeon, 80 Pintail, 30 Teal, 68 Shelduck, three Great Crested Grebes, 74 Great Black-backed Gulls, 200 Lapwing, 40 Grey Plovers, four Ringed Plovers, 28 Turnstones, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 120 Oystercatchers and a dozen Brent Geese, but it was quiet along the spit with just a pair of Stonechats around. (LP)

Red-breasted Merganser (above), Stonechat, Ringed Plovers & Pintail and Wigeon at Pagham Spit (LP)

Medmerry: Coastguards - Oddly, a Shag and a Brent Goose flew west together offshore, but there was nothing else about, except a handful of Red-breasted Mergansers on the sea. (AH)

Shag and Brent Goose at Medmerry (AH)

Monday, 4th December: After more heavy overnight rain, a cool, grey and drizzly morning in a fresh southerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: There were plenty of Gannets about, mostly heading east, along with a Slavonian Grebe, but not too much else, though four Great Northern Divers and 44 Common Scoters were on the sea. Full log below. (SR/AH)

(0750-0920hrs) (S, F6)

Great Northern Diver - 4os

Red-throated Diver - 2E, 1W

Slavonian Grebe - 1E

Great Crested Grebe - 2E

Gannet - 56E, 6W

Common Scoter - 1E, 44os

Red-breasted Merganser - 7os

Turnstone - 3

Mediterranean Gull - 2E

Kittiwake - 1E, 1W

Sandwich Tern - 3E

auk sp - 1E, 2W

Kittiwake (above), Red-throated Diver, Common Scoter & Gannets at the Bill (AH)

This afternoon there was a Little Gull working along the shoreline, before heading west, along with five Red-breasted Mergansers, a Great Northern Diver offshore, and an Eider heading east. Full log below. (AW)

(1330-1430hrs) 

Great Northern Diver - 1os

Eider - 1E

Red-breasted Merganser - 5W

Little Gull - 1W

Little Gull (above), Great Northern Diver, Eider & Red-breasted Mergansers at the Bill )(AW)

Ferry Pool: The RSPB were back cutting hedges in the fields again, so the pool was more or less devoid of birds, though a Spotted Redshank was with a Redshank at the front and c30 Teal were along the edges, with c300 Lapwings flying around the fields to the south. (AH)

Spotted Redshank and Redshank at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: A Merlin was chasing birds around over the harbour mouth this morning, whilst most of the waders - including three Bar-tailed Godwits, c250 Knot, c50 Grey Plovers and1000+ Dunlin - were down in the southern end of the harbour, along with a pair of Shelducks and c40 Wigeon.

A Stonechat along Rectory Lane and a flock of c80 Goldfinches at the bottom of the path to the harbour were the only small birds seen. (AH)

Shelduck (above), Wigeon & Knot and Dunlin at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: Along White’s Creek this morning, c100 Wigeon and a few Teal were along the banks, a Little Grebe was on the water, and 250 Lapwing, 20 Dunlin and a few Redshanks were out on the mud.

Two Marsh Harriers and a Buzzard were about, and along the wall there were just a Rock Pipit and a couple of Wrens, whilst at Halsey’s Farm, 3 Meadow Pipits, 60 Wigeon and 32 Curlews were in the fields, but that was about all, in the wet and windy conditions. (LP/CT/JDW)

Curlew (above) & Dunlin at the North Wall (LP)