17th - 19th January 2024

Friday, 19th January: Another glorious winter morning, cold but sunny in just a light north-westerly breeze...

Selsey Bill: There wasn't too much going on, but most of the regular species were well represented. Full log below. (BI/AH/SR)

(0745-0915hrs) (NW, F2)

Great Northern Diver - 1E, 1W, 4os

Red-throated Diver - 15E, 18W, 5os

diver sp - 1E

Great Crested Grebe - 3E, 5os

Gannet - 1E, 9W

Common Scoter - 5E, 23W, 20os

Red-breasted Merganser - 11E, 7W

Oystercatcher - 1E

Sandwich Tern - 1os

Razorbill - 20E, 49W, 19os

auk sp - 296E, 176W

Rock Pipit - 1

Pied Wagtail - 1

Great Northern Diver (above), Red-throated Divers & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The pool remains frozen, with just a single hunched-up Little Egret sat on the edge, whilst the channel opposite just held c50 Wigeon and Teal and a few Redshanks and Dunlin. (AH) 

At the Long Pool, the two Mistle Thrushes were again in the first field and visiting birders reported a Merlin in the area. (BI et al)

Little Egret (above) & Wigeon at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: By the stables this afternoon there were two Lapwings and a Pied Wagtail, whilst at dusk two Marsh Harriers were over the reeds, and in Honer 1 field there were at least eight Snipe amongst 40 Coots.
Also, at Halsey Farm 250 Wigeon kept being disturbed, with two Buzzards in the area and c 20 Redshanks out in the harbour. (GHi)

Later, a Great White Egret flew into the harbour from Halsey's Farm, and 45 Snipe and three Marsh Harriers were seen from the North Wall. (MPr)

Snipe (above), Lapwing & Teal at the North Wall (GHi)

Fishbourne Creek: There were a lot of birds in the creek at low tide, but nothing out of he ordinary, with the exception of six Jack Snipe and eight Snipe in the salt-marsh.

Otherwise, there were three Greenshanks, an Avocet, a Ringed Plover and c300 Black-tailed Godwits among the numerous Dunlin and Redshanks, with many hundreds of Wigeon, Teal and Brent Geese also about.

At least a dozen Rock Pipits were along the harbour edge, as was a Stonechat, a Grey Wagtail and a Chiffchaff, whilst a flock of c80 Coots marching across the mud together was an unusual sight. (AH)

Jack Snipe (above), Snipe, Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Rock Pipit, Stonechat & Coots at Fishbourne Creek (AH)

Drayton: The 12 Cattle Egrets remained on the field by Drayton crossroads today. (BI)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The Ruff was again in the field opposite the Stilt Pool this morning, with a Corn Bunting seen nearby. There were also c.30 Fieldfares and ten Redwings near Easton Lane, three Dartford Warblers along the banks and at least 20 Snipe were put up from a frozen Stilt Pool by two foxes. Twenty Redshank and twenty Dunlin were at Ruth's Marsh and 50 Brent Geese and 40 Wigeon were in the reserve. (BI)

Late this afternoon, the Barn Owl re-appeared near Marsh Barn, whilst a little earlier, the Ruff was still on the fields opposite the stilt Pool, along with at least a dozen Snipe, c20 Golden Plovers and c50 Lapwings.

Also, eight Ringed Plovers, four Dunlin and a dozen Lapwings were on the Stilt Pool, a few Grey Plovers were in the channel opposite, and at least eight Gadwall were among the many Wigeon and Teal on the reserve. (AW/RP/AH)

Barn Owl (AW) (above), Snipe, Golden Plover & Gadwall (AH) at Medmerry

Thursday, 18th January: A very cold, but very bright, morning in a light to moderate north-westerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: There a few Red-throated Divers going both east and west, plus two Shovelers west, but it was generally quiet. Full log below. (P&LH/AH/SR)
(0800-0900hrs) NW, F3)

Great Northern Diver - 4os

Red-throated Diver - 22E, 14W, 1os

Great Crested Grebe - 2os

Gannet - 6E

Shoveler - 2W

Common Scoter - 6E

Red-breasted Merganser - 7E

Turnstone - 1

Mediterranean Gull - 3W

Sandwich Tern - 1os

auk sp - 54E, 1W

Red-breasted Merganser (above) & Red-throated Divers at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The pool was completely frozen, with just a Little Egret and four Black-headed  Gulls on it, whilst c150 Teal and c100 Wigeon were in the channel opposite. (AH)

North Wall: Two Greenshanks in the channel at the Halsey's Farm end of the harbour were the most notable birds, with the harbour holding, otherwise, plenty of Dunlin and Redshank, along with a few Grey Plovers and c300 Lapwings, whilst up to ten Snipe were flying about.

There were hundreds of Wigeon and Teal in White's Creek, and at least 80 Pintail were roosting further out in the harbour, whilst vast numbers of Brent Geese were coming and going from the inland fields.

Passerines were few, though a Mistle Thrush was at Halsey's Farm and a Fieldfare, a handful of Reed Buntings and a couple of Meadow Pipits were seen from the wall. (AH)

Greenshanks (above), Snipe, Brent Geese and frozen salt-marsh at the North Wall (AH)

Church Norton: The pair of Long-tailed Ducks were offshore this afternoon, with a Common Scoter, a Red-throated and a Great Northern Diver also about, along with lots of distant auks.

There were also two female Goldeneyes in the harbour, along with a Greenshank, ten Bar-tailed Godwits and c400 Knot. (C Holter)

Fishbourne Creek: Two Goldeneyes were on the water this morning, along with c40 Wigeon and Teal, three Little Grebes and two Great Crested Grebes, whilst a good selection of waders included eight Avocets, c70 Black-tailed Godwits, 20 Grey Plovers and c200 Lapwings, and there were also eight Fieldfares along the hedges. (P&LH)

Drayton: There were still a dozen Cattle Egrets in the rape field by the railway crossing today. (BI)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The Ruff was in the field opposite the Stilt Pool this afternoon. (EB)

Ruff at Medmerry (EB)

Later, a Barn Owl was out hunting near the poplars at just after sunset this evening - the first sighting here since the late summer. (AH)

Barn Owl at Medmerry (AH)

Wednesday, 17th January: A cold and grey morning in a light to moderate north-westerly breeze....

Selsey Bill: There was a bit of variety this morning, including the two Long-tailed Ducks and an Eider going east, four Velvet Scoters offshore early on, rising to seven later, though less divers were about than of late. Full log below. (SH/SR/AH)

(0730-0900hrs) (NW, F3)

Great Northern Diver - 1E, 1os

Red-throated Diver - 11E, 1W, 1os

Great Crested Grebe - 2os

Gannet - 20E, 9W

Eider - 1E

Long-tailed Duck - 2E

Velvet Scoter - 4os

Common Scoter - 4E, 2W, 25os

Red-breasted Merganser - 3E, 2W, 6os

Grey Plover - 4E

Mediterranean Gull - 3os

Sandwich Tern - 3os

Razorbill - 25E, 2os

auk sp - 236E

(1000-1245hrs) (SH)

Great Northern Diver - 4os

Red-throated Diver - 12E, 3W, 1os

Great Crested Grebe - 5os

Gannet - 142E, 1W

Teal - 6os

Velvet Scoter - 7os

Common Scoter - 25os

Red-breasted Merganser - 4E, 2W, 11os

Sandwich Tern - 1os

Razorbill - 3os

auk sp - 31E, 2W

Common Scoters (above) & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were just c50 Lapwings around the field and frozen pool this morning, whilst the Kingfisher was again in the channel opposite, along with c100 Wigeon and Teal and half a dozen Redshanks. (AH)

Kingfisher (above), Wigeon & Teal in Ferry Channel (AH)

Late this afternoon, there were a Greenshank and a Redshank on the concealed pool. (TG-P/AH)

Greenshank on the Ferry (AH)

Selsey: There were at least 35 Curlews on the football field opposite the Academy this morning. (EB)

Curlews in Selsey (EB)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - Three Guillemots were drifting east offshore from the beach this morning, whilst 30+ Fieldfares and a Redwing were in the first stubble field opposite the car-park. (JMo)

This afternoon, five Redwings, 14 Fieldfares and seven song Thrushes were near the poplars, with two Yellowhammers and three Stonechats along the banks.

Also, the Stilt Pool held two Snipe, 16 Dunlin and 17 Ringed Plovers and three Marsh Harriers and a Buzzard were out hunting. (S&SaH)

Drayton Pits: Still at least 11 Cattle Egrets in the rape field opposite the crossroads at Drayton this morning. (BI)

Church Norton: There was little to report from a quick look late this morning, with just a single Common Scoter, two Red-breasted Mergansers and two Great Crested Grebes on the sea, plus a few Common Gulls along the beach, whilst a quiet harbour held plenty of Knot and Dunlin, plus a few of the other regular waders, along with c50 Teal and c30 Shelducks, with a Green Woodpecker and a couple of Goldcrests the only other birds noted. (AH)

Knot (above) & Green Woodpecker at the Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: It was busy along White’s Creek this morning, with large numbers of Teal, Wigeon, Pintail, Brent Geese, Lapwing, Dunlin, and Black-tailed Godwits present, along with a few Grey Plovers, Curlews, Snipe and Shelducks, whilst 2 Common Seals were on the far bank.

Also, a Goldcrest was by the Salt House, two Rock Pipits were along the wall and two Song Thrushes, a Stonechat, and a Jay were by the stables. (LP/CT)

Fieldfare (above), Rock Pipit, Grey Plover & a busy White's Creek at the North Wall (LP)