Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 25th

Tuesday, 27th February: A complete contrast to recent days this morning, with some hazy sunshine in just a light northerly breeze.......

Selsey Bill: There was nothing moving this morning, but the five Long-tailed Ducks were around again, along with six Great Northern Divers, and a pair of Gadwall flew in from way out. Full log below. (SR/AH)

(0740-0840hrs) (NNE, F2-3)

Great Northern Diver - 6os

Great Crested Grebe - 2os

Gadwall - 2E

Long-tailed Duck - 5os

Common Scoter - 3os

Red-breasted Merganser - 2E, 11os

Turnstone - 10

Mediterranean Gull - 1os

Sandwich Tern - 4os

Gadwall (above), Red-breasted Mergansers & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: A first-year Spoonbill appeared on the pool late this morning - the first of the year, whilst, otherwise, there were still 14 Avocets present, along with c50 Teal, c80 Shovelers, c150 Wigeon, eight Shelducks and c20 Mallards,with a dozen Mediterranean Gulls among c200 roosting Black-headed Gulls. (GR/AH et al)

Spoonbill (above), Teal & Shovelers and Teal at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: A Great White Egret was around the flooded fields all morning along with nine Grey Herons, three Little Grebes, two Ruff, 250 Black-tailed Godwits, 30 Lapwings, 45 Curlew, 200 Wigeon, 80 Teal, 12 Shovelers and two Gadwall, with two Tufted Ducks, a Little Grebe and a Great Crested Grebe on the Breech Pool.

Along the rocks, there were two Rock Pipits, and in the hedgerows, there were six Chiffchaffs, a Goldcrest, four Reed Buntings and six Long-tailed Tits, whilst a Grey Wagtail was in the paddock, along with a pair of Stonechats, a Kestrel, and a Jay, and further back, both male and female Marsh Harriers were about, too.

Also, four Snipe were along White’s Creek, together with 24 Redshank and the usual selection of Teal and Wigeon, while further out there were 1000 Brent Geese, 200 Grey Plovers, 80 Dunlin and a few Pintail and Shelducks. (LP/JDW/CT/JMo)

Later on, the Great White Egret flew into the harbour. (NM)

Great White Egret (above), Ruff, Ruffs, Lapwings and Black-tailed Godwits, Grey Wagtail, Chiffchaff & Reed Bunting at the North Wall (LP)

Pagham Spit: Two Dartford Warblers were along the spit this morning and two Common Seals were hauled up in the harbour, whilst offshore there were a pair of Long-tailed Ducks and two Slavonian Grebes. (PB)

Medmerry: Easton Lane - A White-tailed Eagle flew over, heading northwards early this afternoon. (AS)

Also seen were a Buzzard, a Kestrel, a Green Woodpecker, a Dartford Warbler, plenty of Skylarks and Yellowhammers, Greenfinches, Wrens, Reed Buntings and Linnets and Cetti’s Warblers were heard.

Around the Stilt Pool there were Canada Geese, Shelducks, a Little Grebe, a Little Egret and a few Oystercatchers, Wigeon, Cormorants, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and at least five Avocets.. (MT)

Yellowhammer (above), Avocets, Little Grebe & Kestrel at Medmerry (MT)

Church Norton: The White-tailed Eagle was sheen shortly afterwards, being mobbed by Buzzards as it went east over the west side. (GR)

Runcton: South of the village this morning were pairs of Mute Swans and Shelducks, 13 Mallards, 20 Shovelers, 16 Gadwall, 12 Teal, 12 Tufted Ducks, a Little Grebe, 11 Coots, two Moorhens, two Common Buzzards, a Kestrel, two Green and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, two Song Thrushes, two pairs of Stonechats, two Chiffchaffs, a Jay, a Reed Bunting, and ten Goldfinches. (CRJ)

Medmerry: Porthole Farm to Ham Farm - Half a dozen Chiffchaffs were along the hedges by the sewage works, with a couple of Grey Wagtails among c50 Pied Wagtails on the settling tanks,whilst a Snipe, three Red-legged Partridges and a dozen Meadow Pipits were around the stubble fields and a pair of Ravens went over.

The Medmerry Trail to Ham was very quiet, beyond a single Reed Bunting and a few Stock Doves, whilst the banks at Ham held a couple of pairs of Stonechats and another Reed Bunting, with a dozen Skylarks and c250 Linnets on the big barley stubble field. (AH)

Raven (above), Chiffchaff, Meadow Pipit & Reed Bunting at Medmerry (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: At the Lavant outfall there was a Spotted Redshank, a drake Pintail, two Red-breasted Mergansers, a Kingfisher , two Mediterranean Gulls and two singing Cetti's Warblers.

From Dell Quay there were three Greenshanks, and there were good numbers of Redshank, Curlew and Turnstone about, but only a few Dunlin and no sign of Lapwings or Black-tailed Godwits.

Also, the bushes held two singing Yellowhammers, two Bullfinches and a flock of Greenfinches were near Apuldram church. (RW)

Curlew at Fishbourne Creek (RW)

Monday, 26th February: After another night of very heavy rain, a cool, grey and blustery morning in a near gale-force north-easterly.....

Selsey Bill: There was a bit of action early on, including two Long-tailed Ducks and five Velvet Scoters that dropped in offshore and ten Pintails that went east, but that was about it. Full log below. (IP/SR/AH)

(0725-0855hrs) (NNE, F7-8)

Great Northern Diver - 1os

Great Crested Grebe - 1W

Gannet - 16E, 25os

Brent Goose - 1E, 4W

Pintail -10E

Long-tailed Duck - 2os

Velvet Scoter - 5os

Common Scoter - 10W, 2os

Red-breasted Merganser - 3E, 2W, 4os

Turnstone - 7

Mediterranean Gull - 2W

Common Gull - 2E

Sandwich Tern - 5os

Sandwich Tern (above), Gannet & Red-breasted Merganser at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were 14 Avocets on the pool this morning, along with c80 Shovelers, c60 Teal and c100 Wigeon. (AH)

Avocet (above) & Avocets and Shovelers at the Ferry (AH)

Marsh Farm, Sidlesham: Around 50 Cattle Egrets were in the vicinity of the dairy buildings this afternoon. (TG-P)

Church Norton: Apart from at least 800 Brent Geese around the harbour mouth, there was almost nothing present beyond just a handful of Shelducks, Redshanks, Curlews and Oystercatchers. (AH)

Brent Geese (above) & Shelduck at Church Norton (AH)

Sunday, 25th February: After a cool and fairly grey start in a moderate south-easterly, the morning slowly deteriorated, as the breeze freshened and the sky became darker before the forecast rain.....

Selsey Bill: A Puffin flew in and landed well offshore early on, and there was a bit of variety, albeit in low numbers this morning, including three Slavonian Grebes and five Sanderlings west. Full log below. (SH/PB/MRB/BI/IP/AH/SR)

(0630-0900hrs) (ESE, F3)

Great Northern Diver - 2E, 2os

Red-throated Diver - 2E, 1os

diver sp - 1W

Slavonian Grebe - 3W

Great Crested Grebe - 1E

Fulmar - 1W

Gannet - 2E, 4W, 6os

Little Egret - 1E

Brent Geese - 2E

Common Scoter - 17os

Red-breasted Merganser - 3E, 2W, 9os

Sparrowhawk - 1

Oystercatcher - 1W

Grey Plover - 35E, 3 present

Sanderling - 5W

Turnstone - 6

Mediterranean Gull - 4os

Common Gull - 11E

Sandwich Tern - 9os

Puffin - 1os

(1300-1400hrs) (SH)

Gannet - 10E

Shag - 1os

Red-breasted Merganser - 3E, 5os

Mediterranean Gull - 2os

Common Gull - 2E

Kittiwake - 1E

Ferry Pool: Six Avocets were on the pool this morning, along with six Gadwall, four Shelducks, c100 Shovelers, c50 Teal and c30 Mallards, plus a couple of Mediterranean Gulls among c40 Black-headed Gulls, whist the fields still held at least 150 Wigeon. (AH)

Shovelers, Teal and Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)

Chalder & Marsh Farms, Sidlesham: A brief walk this morning with very little about, the best being c60 Cattle Egrets huddled together behind the milking shed at Marsh Farm, with, otherwise, just three Stonechats, two Goldcrests and six Long-tailed Tits seen. (SR)

Cattle Egrets at Marsh Farm, Sidlesham (SR)

Church Norton: Two Great Northern Divers flew west together offshore this morning, whilst a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers and two Great-crested Grebes were on the sea and a couple of Mediterranean Gulls and a few Common Gulls were along the shoreline.

The harbour was again dominated by small family parties of Brent Geese thinking about departing, whilst a cream-capped Marsh Harrier was viewed flying over Owl Copse, and a large number of Pintail could be seen along the North Wall.

Also, 16 Avocets were in the main channel, a flock of 20 Black-tailed Godwits appeared to drop into the fields behind the North Wall and reasonable numbers of common waders were present, whilst a flock of up to 1000 Golden Plovers were viewed distantly in the direction of Medmerry.

Passerines were thin on the ground, a female Stonechat on the Spit, a few Skylarks singing there, a male Reed Bunting in the First Several and a Cetti's Warbler singing from Bluebell Wood being about it. (IP)

North Wall and East side: Both the male and female Marsh Harries were around this morning, repeatedly upsetting the 300+ Black-tailed Godwits, c50 Curlews, c100 Wigeon and Teal and dozen or so Shovelers that were on the very flooded Honer fields.

Also, a Grey Wagtail was in the paddocks, with a Stonechat and half a dozen Reed Buntings nearby, along with a Buzzard, whilst at least 200 Wigeon, 50 Teal and c30 Redshanks were in White's Creek.

Further out in the harbour on the rising tide, there were vast numbers of Brent Geese - probably in excess of 1000 birds - spread throughout, along with c150 Pintail, c300 Wigeon, c50 Teal, a dozen Mediterranean Gulls, c25 Common Gulls, a couple of Bar-tailed Godwits, c100 Knot, c200 Grey Plovers and c500 Dunlin. (AH/LP/DHi/PB/MRB et al)

Marsh Harrier (above), Black-tailed Godwits, Pintail, Pintail and Brent Geese, Mediterranean, Common and Black-headed Gulls & a very flooded Honer 1 field around the North Wall (AH)

Pagham Spit and Lagoon: The pair of Eider were still on the newly-forming lagoon by the harbour mouth, busily catching crabs, with c100 Brent Geese also there, whilst a probable Scandinavian Rock Pipit and a few Linnets were along he spit.

Also, the two female Goldeneyes were on the Lagoon, along with four Little Grebes and a dozen or so Common Gulls. (AH)