Easter Sunday, 31st March: A fresh and blustery easterly breeze dominated proceedings the morning, with it initially cool and grey and later warmer and sunnier......
Selsey Bill: There was more genuine migration this morning than of late, with the first eight Common Terns of the year heading east, along with seven Little Gulls and 506 Common Scoters, with two Swallows, three Sand Martins, two Wheatears and several Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs seen coming in off the sea. Full log below.
(JA/SH/PB/MRB/PM/BI/RHa/IP/KT/AH/P&LH/SR/SHo/PG et al)
(0620-1020hrs) (E, F4-5)
Great Northern Diver - 5os
Red-throated Diver - 2E, 1W
diver sp - 1W
Great Crested Grebe - 2W, 1os
Fulmar - 3W
Gannet - 7E, 3W
Grey Heron - 1N
Teal - 2E
Shoveler - 6E
Eider - 3E
Common Scoter - 506E, 14os
Red-breasted Merganser - 12E, 2W, 5os
Peregrine - 1E
Oystercatcher - 5E, 1W
Redshank - 1E
Turnstone - 23E
Mediterranean Gull - 10E
Black-headed Gull - 27E
Common Gull - 21E
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1E
Kittiwake -
Little Gull - 7E
Sandwich Tern - 76E
Common Tern - 8E
Razorbill - 1os
Meadow Pipit - 7N
Swallow - 2N
Sand Martin - 3N
Wheatear - 2N
Willow Warbler - 3N
Chiffchaff - 3N
Willow/Chiff - 3N
Linnet - 9N
Goldfinch - 4N
Common Terns (above), Peregrine (PM), Little Gulls, Common Scoters, Sandwich Terns, Red-breasted Merganser & Willow Warbler (AH) at the Bill
This afternoon, a Black-throated Diver, more Common Scoters, Common and Sandwich Terns went east, with a Sand Martin and half a dozen Swallows in off the sea and a couple of Wheatears on the beach. Full logs below.
(1310-1510hrs) (P&LH/SH)
Black-throated Diver - 1E
Red-throated Diver - 1E
Gannet - 2E
Pintail - 4E
Common Scoter - 96E
Red-breasted Merganser - 1E
Turnstone - 2
Mediterranean Gull - 1os
Common Gull - 1E
Sandwich Tern - 21E
Common Tern - 3E
Meadow Pipit - 4N
Swallow - 2N
Sand Martin - 1N
Wheatear - 2
Willow Warbler - 1
(1640-1830hrs) (SH/AH/JA)
Great Northern Diver - 3os
Red-throated Diver - 1E
Great Crested Grebe - 3os
Gannet - 3E, 1W
Shelduck - 3E
Eider - 2E (pair)
Common Scoter - 11E, 34os
Red-breasted Merganser - 3E, 5os
Turnstone - 1E
Common Gull - 4E
Sandwich Tern - 37E
Common Tern - 5E
Swallow - 4N
Wheatear - 2
Black-throated Diver (above), Wheatear, Sandwich Tern & Common Scoters at the Bill (LH)
Ferry Pool: The Green Sandpiper was at the back of the pool again this morning, whilst three Redshanks, 38 Avocets and c125 Black-tailed Godwits were present, too, along with ten Shelducks, c25 Teal and c40 Shovelers, with a pair of Lapwings on the fields.
Also, six Sand Martins went low over the arable fields south of the pool. (NM/AH/P&LH)
Avocets at the Ferry (AH)
Park Farm, Selsey: A Pied Wagtail flew into the building site and a Willow Warbler was in the brambles behind the Farm. (IP)
Church Norton: A Short-eared Owl came in off the sea late this morning and landed out on the salt-marsh, whilst a Marsh Harrier was hunting around Greenlease Farm and the Severals.
Otherwise it was fairly quiet, though a dozen Brent Geese, a Sandwich Tern, the Whimbrel, 23 Turnstones, 13 Ringed Plovers, a Grey Plover and c50 Dunlin were in the harbour, along with the usual mix of Redshanks, Curlews and Oystercatchers, whilst two more Sandwich Terns were offshore and four Gadwall flew over Priory Wood.
Also, three Meadow Pipits and half a dozen Skylarks were along the spit, the male Reed Bunting was in the Severals, and there were just one or two Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps in the bushes. (IP/AH/P&LH)
Whimbrel a Church Norton (AH)
North Wall: The first Little Ringed Plover of the year was by the Church Barton reservoir and 63 Shelducks were on the nearby wet fields, whilst a Great White Egret was in Honer 1 early on, before heading off to the north, but otherwise there was just 12 Shovelers in the flooded fields and the now usual selection of Grey Herons, Little Egrets and Cattle Egrets around Owl Copse.
A Sedge Warbler was singing by the Breech Pool but didn’t show itself, and on the water, there were two Great Crested Grebes and four Gadwall, whilst, further back over the reeds, the male Marsh Harrier was about and a Buzzard was higher up, but the harbour was very quiet with just 28 Redshank, 16 Teal and four Pintail to be seen.
A Green Woodpecker, two Stock Doves, two Pied Wagtails, a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff were at Little Welbourne, and the pair of Egyptian Geese were still in the muddy field down Church Lane. (JDW,LP)
Marsh Harrier (above), Gadwall, Great Crested Grebes & Green Woodpecker at the North Wall (LP)
Hunston Church to Fisher Corner: Six Yellowhammers, 32 Linnets, four Skylarks, two Tufted Ducks, two Shelducks, three Mallards, two Green Woodpeckers, a Song Thrush, five Chiffchaffs, two Blackcaps, an Orange-tip butterfly and a number of Bee-flies were the total for a walk between the two locations today. (SR).
Chichester GPs: Ivy Lake complex - A Guillemot was on the main lake this morning - quite possibly a first record for the pits - possibly pushed inland by the recent storms.
Otherwise, though, it was quiet, with just four Sand Martins and a Swallow about and just a few Pochard, Tufted Ducks and Great Crested Grebes on the water, plus five Shovelers flying over, whilst the bushes held at least eight singing Chiffchaffs, three singing Cetti's Warblers and a few Long-tailed Tits. (RAI/NM/AH/AB)
Guillemot (above) (NM top, AH lower two), Great crested Grebe & Chiffchaff (AH) at Ivy Lake
Saturday, 30th March: A pleasant morning of hazy sunshine and white cloud in a fairly light southerly breeze
Selsey Bill: It was another interesting morning for a good turn-out of watchers, with a good variety of species, despite there being little evidence of migration.
Highlights included a relatively close Manx Shearwater that traversed the horizon as it headed west, a Bonxie lingering offshore for a while early on, a Black-throated Diver and a first-winter Little Gull east and four Long-tailed Ducks dropping in on the sea, whilst there was also the highest count for the year of 14 Great Northern Divers offshore. Full log below. (JA/SH/PB/PM/BI/KT/IP/AH/LP/SP/SR/AHu et al)
(0535-0905hrs) (SW, F2-3)
Great Northern Diver - 14os
Black-throated Diver - 1E
Red-throated Diver - 1E, 2W, 1os
diver sp - 2E
Great Crested Grebe - 1W, 1os
Manx Shearwater - 1W
Gannet - 2W, 1os
Shag - 1os
Brent Goose - 85E
Shelduck - 2W
Teal - 2E
Eider - 2E, 1W
Long-tailed Duck - 4os
Common Scoter - 76E, 8W, 22os
Red-breasted Merganser - 2E, 4W, 11os
Sparrowhawk - 1
Oystercatcher - 2E, 4W
Turnstone - 13W, 19 present
Great Skua - 1os
Mediterranean Gull - 44E
Black-headed Gull -19E
Common Gull - 27E
Little Gull - 1E
Kittiwake - 5E
Sandwich Tern - 15E, 2os
Meadow Pipit - 13N
Pied Wagtail - 2N
(1545-1715hrs) (SH/JA/AH)
Great Northern Diver - 1os
Red-throated Diver - 1E
Gannet - 2W
Eider - 3os (including two drakes)
Common Scoter - 6os
Red-breasted Merganser - 6os
Common Gull - 8E
Sandwich Tern - 5E
Black-throated Diver (above), Long-tailed Ducks & Common Scoters at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: The Green Sandpiper was at the back again this morning, whilst there was an impressive count of 52 Avocets on the pool, along with four Snipe, two Shelducks, a dozen or so Teal and c40 Shovelers, plus a pair of Lapwings on the field. There was no sign of the Willow Warbler in the Discovery Area early on but a few Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were about the bushes. (AH/AHu/BI/KT et al)
Green Sandpiper (above), Avocets& Black-tailed Godwits at Medmerry (AH)
Park Farm, Selsey: Two Buzzards and a Green Woodpecker were about it this morning. (IP)
Church Norton: The Greenshank was on the mud this morning, along with 26 Ringed Plover, six Dunlin, a Grey Plover and the usual Oystercatchers, Redshank and Curlews, plus just two Brent Geese, whilst among the Back-headed Gulls there were 29 Mediterranean Gulls, two Common Gulls and three Sandwich Terns, the latter also seen offshore at differing times.
Two Meadow Pipits were on the spit, along with half a dozen Skylarks, whilst there were a lot of Cetti's Warblers calling this morning and a Reed Bunting was again in the first Several in its' usual location, with Chiffchaffs calling everywhere. (IP)
Fishbourne Creek: A Spotted Redshank and two Greenshanks were along the creek this morning, together with a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, whilst a Red Kite went over and a Brimstone butterfly was on the wing. (AHu)
Spotted Redshank at Fishbourne Creek (AHu)
Medmerry: Ham Farm - A Corn Bunting was singing along the banks this morning and a Marsh Harrier was hunting over the ponds there. There were also 14 Buzzards kettling over the Medmerry Trail, two Stonechats at Ham and a large flock of Linnets over the banks. (BI)
Corn Bunting at Medmerry (BI)
Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pools - Three or four Dartford Warbles were along the banks this morning, together with two pairs of Stonechats, four Chiffchaffs, eight calling Cetti's Warblers, a Reed Bunting, 12 Yellowhammers, a couple of Meadow Pipits, c20 Skylarks and c50 Linnets.
There were probably two different Marsh Harriers about, along with a Sparrowhawk, a Kestrel and a kettle of eight Buzzards, whilst the Stilt Pool held ten Avocets on their island, three Ringed Plovers, nine Dunlin, two Snipe and c20 Teal, along with eight Mediterranean Gulls. (SH/PB/AH et al)
Dartford Warbler (above), Linnet, Skylark, Stonechat and Linnet, Ringed Plover & Avocets at Medmerry (AH)
Good Friday, 29th March: After a wet and stormy night, another cool and breezy morning, with a strong south-westerly breeze pushing through some more rain before brightening and warming up......
Selsey Bill: Yesterday's storms produced an unexpectedly interesting morning, including two Sooty Shearwaters west, three Manx Shearwaters east and another three west, a Black-throated Diver, a Bonxie and two dark-phase Arctic Skuas east, a Long-tailed Duck on the sea and a first-winter Little Gull lingering close offshore. Full log below. (SH/JA/BI/IP/SR/MO-W/AH/RHa/AW)
(0545-0930hrs) (SW, F5-6)
Great Northern Diver - 1os
Black-throated Diver - 1E
Red-throated Diver - 3E
diver sp - 2E
Great Crested Grebe - 2W
Sooty Shearwater - 2W (0640 & 0715hrs)
Manx Shearwater - 3E, 3W
Fulmar - 1W
Gannet - 1E, 12W
Brent Goose - 249E
Long-tailed Duck - 1os
Common Scoter - 124E, 2W
Red-breasted Merganser - 4E, 4W
Turnstone - 5
Great Skua - 1E
Arctic Skua - 2E
Mediterranean Gull - 4W
Little Gull - 1os
Common Gull - 1W
Kittiwake - 16W
Sandwich Tern - 6E, 1W
Guillemot - 1W
Razorbill - 1W
Meadow Pipit - 1N
(1230-1330hrs) (SH)
Common Scoter - 1W
Red-breasted Merganser - 2os
Turnstone - 10
Sandwich Tern - 2os
Little Gull (AH) (above), Black-throated Diver, Arctic Skua & Brent Geese (AW) at the Bill
The Little Gull was still around this afternoon, along with four Long-tailed Ducks, whilst 93 Brent Geese went east. Full log below. (JA/SM)
(1610-1800)
Gannet - 5W
Brent Goose - 93E
Long-tailed Duck - 1E, 3os
Common Scoter - 5E
Turnstone - 7
Mediterranean Gull - 1E, 2W
Little Gull - 1os
Common Gull - 1E
Kittiwake - 1os
Sandwich Tern - 1E, 1W
Little Gull (above) & Kittiwake at the Bill (SM)
Ferry Pool: There were 187 Black-tailed Godwits and 34 Avocets on the pool this morning, plus a couple of pairs of Lapwings on the fields, but wildfowl numbers were low, with just c20 Teal and c40 Shovelers present.
Also, a Marsh Harrier went over some way to the west, and the Willow Warbler and two or three Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were around the Discovery Area. (AH/RHa)
Willow Warbler (above), Lapwing, Avocets & Black-tailed Godwits around the Ferry (AH)
North Wall: The first Sedge Warbler of the year was heard singing from the wall this afternoon, and there were also three Cetti's Warblers about, whilst the pair of Marsh Harriers were chasing off the local Buzzards by the Breech Pool and c200 Black-tailed Godwits were in the harbour.
Also, at Halsey's Farm there were three Chiffchaffs and two Blackcaps, whilst 11 Cattle Egrets, six Little Egrets and two Grey Herons went in to roost in Owl Copse. (SH)
Church Norton: The harbour was almost completely bereft of birds this morning, with just c20 Redshanks and half a dozen Curlews and Oystercatchers present, with nothing on the beach and just a couple of singing Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs around the sheltered hedges. (AH)
Blackcap (above) & Wren at Church Norton (AH)
