14th - 16th January 2024

Tuesday, 16th January: After the coldest night of the year, a beautiful winter's morning of bright sunshine and barely a trace of breeze...........

Selsey Bill: A few Red-throated Divers going in both directions was about it for movement, though a Slavonian Grebe, a handful of Great Northern Divers and 40+ Common Scoters were on the sea. Full log below. (SR/AH)

(0810-0910hrs) (NNW, F2)

Great Northern Diver - 5os

Red-throated Diver - 22E, 22W, 2os

Slavonian Grebe - 1os

Great Crested Grebe - 1os

Brent Goose - 24W

Wigeon - 15W

Teal - 1E

Common Scoter - 4E, 43os

Red-breasted Merganser - 18os

Ringed Plover - 2

Dunlin - 20

Turnstone - 20

Mediterranean Gull - 1os

Sandwich Tern - 1os

auk sp - 22E

Red-throated Divers at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were just 16 Lapwings and three Wigeon on a frozen Pool this morning, though a Kingfisher was in the channel opposite, along with c50 Wigeon and Teal and half a dozen Dunlin and Redshanks. (AH)

Kingfisher (above) & Wigeon at the Ferry (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: There were six Goldeneyes, including three drakes, five Red-breasted Mergansers, two Little Grebes and two Great Crested Grebes north of Dell Quay this morning, whilst a Spotted Redshank, two Greenshanks and 15 Avocets were among the many waders in the harbour.

By the edge of the River Lavant reedbed there were two Chiffchaffs, a Cetti's Warbler and a Stonechat; whilst three Snipe flew out of the field into the harbour where earlier three Snipe had been at the top of the creek. Also, a Water Rail was in the rife to the north of the sewage works and four Pintail were among the wildfowl in the upper part of the creek. (RW/HB et al)

Medmerry: Porthole Farm to Easton Lane - There were lots of birds on the frozen maize stubble fields at Porthole farm this morning, including c500 Golden Plovers, c300 Lapwings, half a dozen Snipe and a flock of c80 Skylarks, whilst the southerly facing hedges along the sewage works held at least a dozen Chiffchaffs, most of which were feeding in a loose flock on the ground, along with a few Long-tailed Tits and a pair of Stonechats, but the settling tanks just held Starlings and Pied Wagtails. 

A dozen or so Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings, plus at least 200 Linnets, were around the cover crops at Wilson's Farm, whilst the stubble fields opposite held at least 60 Skylarks, 150 Stock Doves and up to 1000 Brent Geese and 200 Lapwings were in the cropped field nearest the farm. (AH)

Golden Plovers (above), Snipe, Chiffchaff, Skylarks, Stock Doves & Brent Geese at Medmerry (AH)

Drayton Pits: A dozen Cattle Egrets were in the field opposite the crossroads at Drayton this afternoon. (BI)

West Itchenor: A Great Northern Diver was busy catching crabs just off the jetty this afternoon. (PH)

Great Northern Diver at West Itchenor (PH)

Monday, 15th January: A very cold, but bright, morning in a moderate, but freshening north-westerly breeze.........

Selsey Bill: A pair of Goldeneyes went east early on, but not much was on the move beyond a few Red-throated Divers and lots of very distant auks heading east. Full log below. (SR/IP/AH)

(0800-0915hrs) (NNW, F4)

Great Northern Diver - 2E, 1W, 2os

Red-throated Diver - 40E, 1W, 2os

Gannet - 6E, 5W

Goldeneye - 2E

Common Scoter - 12os

Red-breasted Merganser - 2E, 1os

Oystercatcher - 1W

Sandwich Tern - 6os

Razorbill - 5E

auk sp - 556E

Red-throated Diver (above) & Great Northern Diver at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: It was just ducks this morning, namely c60 Shovelers, c200 Wigeon and Teal, c30 Mallards and six Shelducks. (AH)

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

Church Norton: This morning a Marsh Harrier and a Peregrine were seen hunting over the harbour, putting up large flocks of Knot and Grey Plovers, whilst a Merlin alighted from Tern Island to give chase to a pipit before it was chased off by a Peregrine.
Also, two Goldcrests were seen in the old oaks along the west side, with another further along in the gorse, whilst two Mistle Thrushes were in the field adjacent to the mostly frozen Long Pool. (AW)

Merlin (above), Marsh Harrier, Knot & Goldcrests at Church Norton (AW)

Runcton: South of the village this morning were a Grey Heron, a Cattle Egret, two Mute Swans, 12 Canada Geese, ten Mallards, 60 Shoveler, 30 Teal, two Wigeons, nine Tufted Ducks, six Coot, a Moorhen, a Common Buzzard, a Green Woodpecker, two Song Thrush, a pair of Stonechats, two Chiffchaffs, two Goldcrests, three Great Tits and three Chaffinches. (CRJ)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - It was quiet this morning, with the banks just holding a couple of Dartford Warblers, three pairs of Stonechats and the odd Meadow Pipit and Skylark, whilst three Fieldfares flew over Easton Lane.

The most notable species was Brent Goose, with vast numbers coming and going all morning, and probably involving up to 2000 birds, whilst there were also just c50 Canada Geese and a single Greylag Goose about.

There were a few waders on the Stilt Pool, including up to five Snipe, eight Ringed Plovers, 14 Dunlin and 30 Lapwings, with c100 Teal, c50 Wigeon, six Gadwall, four Tufted Ducks and four Little Grebes also present. (AH)

Later on, there were c50 Redwings and c30 Fieldfares in the stubble fields south of the car-park (TG-P)

Brent Geese (above), Snipe, Meadow Pipit & Gadwall at Medmerry (AH)

Sunday, 14th January: Another cold and grey morning, but with only a fairly light north-westerly breeze and brightening up later on......

Selsey Bill: A Black-throated Diver, six Great Northern Divers and ten Red-throated Divers were on the sea this morning, with more of the latter, a Fulmar and lots of auks on the move. Full log later. (SH/SR/BI/JA/IP/KT/AH)

(0730-0945hrs) (WNW, F3)

Great Northern Diver - 6os

Black-throated Diver - 1os

Red-throated Diver - 27E, 29W, 10os

diver sp - 2E

Fulmar - 1W

Gannet - 33E, 46W, 10os

Shag - 1E

Shelduck - 2E

Teal - 2W

Common Scoter - 3E, 4W, 20os

Red-breasted Merganser - 2W, 5os

Turnstone - 4

Mediterranean Gull - 1os

Common Gull - 2W

Sandwich Tern - 6os

Guillemot - 2W

Razorbill - 62E, 2W, 4os

auk sp - 792E, 134W

Red-throated Diver (above), Razorbills & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: Early this afternoon there were 37 Avocets roosting on the pool, with a Snipe, a Redshank and c500 Lapwings around the field, whilst there were also two pairs of Gadwall, c75 Shovelers and 200+ Wigeon and Teal also present.

Also, a Marsh Harrier went east over the Visitor Centre and at least 800 Brent Geese went over west.(AH/IP & the SOS)

Avocets (above) & Wigeon and Teal at the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool and west side: Pairs of Stonechats, Mistle Thrushes and Red-legged Partridges were in the first field, with a female Yellowhammer about the only bird in the hedges early on, though later a dozen or so Reed Buntings, half a dozen Meadow Pipits and three Skylarks were also seen, along with a Kingfisher.

Earlier on, a female Marsh Harrier was over the end of Ferry Channel, and later it held the Avocet flock before it decamped to the Ferry, along with half a dozen Snipe and lots of roosting waders.(AH/IP & the SOS)

Marsh Harrier (above), Mistle Thrush, Reed Bunting, Stonechat & Red-legged Partridges along the Long Pool (AH)

Church Norton: There was a good selection on the sea this morning, including two Slavonian Grebes, a Great Northern Diver, two Red-throated Divers, a Razorbill, a female Common Scoter, the two regular Eider and three Great Crested Grebes, along with 30+ Gannets, most of which were heading west a fair way out.

The Whimbrel was in the harbour again, with good numbers of waders, including a Black-tailed Godwit, three Bar-tailed Godwits, 50+ Grey Plovers, half a dozen Ringed Plovers and at least 400 Knot, whilst there were at least 100 Pintail among the Wigeon and Teal, with four Little Grebes, a couple of Great Crested Grebes and a couple of Mediterranean Gulls also about. (AH/IP & the SOS)

Slavonian Grebe (above), Eiders, Whimbrel & Pintail at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: On the rising tide this morning, there was a good selection of all the regular species about, with Redshank, Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Knot, Grey Plovers, Curlew, Lapwing, and a Bar-tailed Godwit all present, and plenty of Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Shelduck and Brent Geese, along with two Little Grebes and a Shoveler on the water.

At Halsey’s Farm there was a Common Gull with the Wigeon flock, a Kingfisher was by the outfall, two Stonechats were in the fields, eight Long-tailed Tits were moving along the hedgerow and a Sparrowhawk shot through.

A Mediterranean Gull was by the sluice and two Song Thrushes, and three Redwings were around the paddock, three Marsh Harriers and two Buzzards were over the reeds and by the Church Barton reservoir, a Goldcrest was with the large mixed flock of Reed Buntings, Linnets, Yellowhammers and Goldfinches, with four Stonechats, a Skylark, six Pied Wagtails and a few Meadow Pipits also about. (LP/CT/DHi)

Redwing (above), Yellowhammer, Reed Buntings, Stonechat & Meadow Pipit at the North Wall (LP)

Late this afternoon, there were c30 Fieldfares at Halsey's Farm and a female Marsh Harrier went over, whilst at least 800 Brent Geese were in the arable fields along Rookery Lane. (AH)

Marsh Harrier (above) & Fieldfare at Halsey's Farm (AH)

Chi GPs: Drayton House pits - WeBS count day, which produced the regular species in fairly average numbers, although there had been a welcome influx of Pochard, resulting in a decent count of 75 (of which all but one were on North pit). 

A Water Rail was recorded on both of the  pits, whilst the few other highlights were again on North pit, namely two Egyptian Geese, a Kingfisher and a Bullfinch in the hedgerow. (OM)

Fishbourne Creek: A Spotted Redshank, a Greenshank, a Goldeneye and a Kingfisher were seen at Dell Quay this morning and 17 Avocets were also noted. (BI)

Spotted Redshank (above) & Kingfisher at Dell Quay (BI)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - It was busy this afternoon with c800 Lapwing, c400 Golden Plover, 64 Snipe, an Avocet, a Greenshank, and 81 Dunlin as well as the usual waders and ducks, whilst a young Peregrine, a Merlin, and at least Marsh Harriers were all hunting over the reserve.

Three Corn Buntings flew over the rock armour and landed in some brambles at the southern end of the Stilt Pools, whilst on the pools were 38 Ringed Plovers, as well as 59 Snipe and offshore, a Great Northern Diver headed east and two Red-breasted Mergansers went west. Also, near the poplars a Dartford Warbler was showing well. (HB)

Later in the afternoon there was a bit of activity along the banks and hedges, including 35 Fieldfares, three Redwings, a Dartford Warbler, four Stonechats, a Reed Bunting, four Yellowhammers, two Cetti's Warblers and a flock of c20 Chaffinches

There was also a Greenshank, two Dunlin, c100 Golden Plovers, c300 Lapwings and a huge flock of c1400 Brent Geese around the reserve, with a sub-adult male Marsh Harrier, two Buzzards and two Kestrels over. (SH)