Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 28th

Sunday, 30th June: A mostly grey and muggy morning, with the odd sunny spell and the odd drizzly shower in a fairly fresh north-westerly breeze.

Selsey Bill: It remains very slow, though a flock of Common Scoters popped up for the first time in a while. Full log below. (AH/IP)

(0645-0815hrs) (NW, F4)

Gannet - 1E,1W

Common Scoter - 25os

Curlew - 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 6E, 15W

Sandwich Tern - 8E, 14W

Common Tern - 2W

Swift - 12

House Martin - 6

Sandwich Tern (above) & Mediterranean Gull at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The two Spotted Redshanks were again on the pool early on, but not later, with it being quiet otherwise beyond three Black-tailed Godwits, three Redshanks, five Lapwings and he Shelduck family.

There were also half a dozen Cattle Egrets on the field with the cows, but a look round the Tramway circuit produced not much more than a couple of Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Whitethroats. (AH)

Spotted Redshanks (above), Black-tailed Godwits & Chiffchaff at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: Around the paddocks this morning there were a Green Woodpecker, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 16 Long-tailed Tits, a Chiffchaff, a Chaffinch, two Greenfinches and a few Goldfinches, but elsewhere it was very quiet with nothing on the Breech Pool and a Black-tailed Godwit, 16 Redshanks, a Curlew, three Lapwings and five Shelduck along White’s Creek.

One of the juvenile Grey Herons was still on the nest, being fed by an adult, and there were lots of Little Egrets and Cattle Egrets around Owl Copse, but apart from a couple of Skylarks at Halsey’s Farm, that was it. (LP/JDW)

Cattle Egret (above), Grey Herons & Great Spotted Woodpecker at the North Wall (LP)

Church Norton: A dozen Ringed Plovers and three Whimbrel were on the mud this afternoon, together with five Curlews and a dozen Oystercatchers, and there were also c25 Sandwich Terns, a Common Tern and a dozen Mediterranean Gulls roosting, with a couple of Chiffchaffs calling around the mound. (AH)

Ringed Plovers (above), Whimbrel & Sandwich Terns, Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls at Church Norton (AH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - There were four adult and two young Little Ringed Plovers, nine adult and three young Avocets and three adult and two young Oystercatchers, plus three Ringed Plovers, on the Stilt pool today, whilst a Cattle Egret was on the reserve and a Swift, c40 Swallows, a Marsh Harrier and a couple of Buzzards and Kestrels went over.

Also, as many as 30 Yellowhammers were along the banks, together with five Reed Buntings, c15 Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat, two Chiffchaffs, a Stonechat, two Sedge Warblers and five Reed Warblers. (S&SaH)

Itchenor Pond: A look this morning produced the first Goldcrest of the month, but not much else. (IP)

Chichester GPs: Ivy Lake complex - There wasn't much to report from here, though the pair of Egyptian Geese on Triangle Lake sill had five goslings, and another eight, including several juveniles, were on Ivy Lake, whilst a flock of c40 Tufted Ducks were on West Trout Lake, with a few more and half a dozen Great Crested Grebes spread around the other lakes.

A single Common Tern flew over, but there were no hirundines about, despite the conditions, whilst the path just held a couple of Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Reed Warblers. (AH)

Egyptian Geese (above), Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Ducks & Blackcap at Chichester GPs (AH)

Chichester GPs: Drayton House pits - A visit today mainly to check on the situation regarding breeding Pochard, following on from a previous visit (on 16th June) when two breeding pairs were found. My hopes were realised when further broods were located today, with two broods (both of one young) with their respective mothers on South pit and a further two broods (of two and five) likewise on North pit. Additionally, another anxious female on North pit was close to the reedbed edge, calling softly and not wanting to move away; this bird surely had a nest or young close by, but this could not be confirmed and it was not practical for me to remain in the area. I therefore estimate a total of up to seven pairs have bred this year - a nationally important total for this rare breeding bird.

Apart from the breeding birds, a joint total of 35 other Pochard were counted, together with 15 Tufted Ducks, 14 Gadwall, 103 Canada Geese, eight Greylags, two pairs of Mute Swans with broods, five pairs of Great Crested Grebes with young and several Little Grebes with young. Two Common Terns were also fishing over the pits and several Reed Warblers were still singing.(OM)

Breeding Pochards at Drayton House pits: (above) Female with one small young on South pit, (below) female with two young on North pit, (lower) female with five young at North pit and (bottom) agitated female which remained near reedbed edge on North pit - surely a breeding bird. (OM)

Saturday, 29th June: After a cool and grey start, a very pleasant morning of warm sun and light cloud in an initially light and variable breeze, that freshened as it veered round the west.....

A warning that cars were broken into at Easton Lane car-park early this morning. (Eds)

Selsey Bill: Another slow morning, with just the usual mix. Full log below. (AH/MO-W/IP/SR)

(0650-0750hrs) (NE, F2)

Gannet - 2E

Oystercatcher - 1E

Mediterranean Gull - 21E, 5W, 5os

Sandwich Tern - 9E, 6W

Common Tern - 3E, 2W

auk sp - 1W

Swift - 12

House Martin - 8

Sandwich Tern (above) & House Martin at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The two Spotted Redshanks, a Common Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover and three Black-tailed Godwits were all on the pool early this morning, along with six Avocets, four Redshanks and the Shelduck family, but only the latter were present by mid-morning. There were also half a dozen Cattle Egrets among the cows and two or three Reed Warblers in the road-side reeds.(AH/MO-W/PB)

Spotted Redshanks (above), Common Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwits, Reed Warbler & Shelducklings at the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: There were still several singing Reed and Sedge Warblers, plus a Cetti's Warbler along the path this morning, but not too much else beyond a couple of Reed Buntings and 20+ Linnets. (AH)

Reed Warbler (above), Sedge Warbler & Reed Bunting along the Long Pool (AH)

Church Norton: There were six Little Terns in the harbour his morning, with three more offshore, along with a Common Tern and nine Sandwich Terns, including the two juveniles, whilst waders comprised three Whimbrel, four Ringed Plovers, two Redshank, two Curlews and plenty of Oystercatchers, including a.juvenile on Tern Island

A Lesser Whitethroat was in the hedges by the path to the beach, but the Severals were quiet, with just a Reed Bunting, two Reed Warblers and three Cetti's warblers noted, with, otherwise, a pair of Stock Doves flying across from the spit, a Sparrowhawk at Greenlease Farm and a family of five well-grown Mallard ducklings on the second Several. (IP)

North Wall: Just one juvenile Marsh Harrier was about this afternoon, with 57 Little Egrets and 12 Cattle Egrets in the Owl Copse area, and just a few Reed warblers and Reed Buntings, plus ten swallows, along the wall. (S&SaH)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - There were at least two Dartford Warblers along the banks this morning, along with a handful of Whitethroats, two or three Reed Warblers, half a dozen Skylarks and innumerable Linnets and Yellowhammers.

At the Stilt Pool, three - and probably four - Little Ringed Plover chicks were on the island with their parents, and there were also four juvenile Oystercatchers with their parents, eight juvenile Lapwings, up to five young Avocets and similar of adults and two pairs of Ringed Plovers, plus a handful of Swallows and c40 Canada Geese. (S&SaH/PB/AH et al)

Dartford Warbler (above), Avocet (SaH), young Little Ringed Plover, young Avocet, Yellowhammer & Skylark (AH) at Medmerry

Friday, 28th June: A fairly cool and increasingly grey morning in a brisk westerly breeze.....

Selsey Bill: A very quiet morning, with a few Common Terns the only species beyond the regular. Full log below. (AH/MO-W/SR/IP)

(0650-0805hrs) (W, F5)

Gannet - 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 3E, 20W

Sandwich Tern - 2E, 16W

Common Tern - 2E, 7W

House Martin - 4

Common Terns (above) & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The two Spotted Redshanks, a Greenshank and a Common Sandpiper were on the pool early on, but had all moved off by mid-morning, with, otherwise, the Black-tailed Godwit again, along with six Redshanks, six Avocets, three Lapwings and the Shelduck family all present, whilst a Teal was in the channel opposite and a juvenile Blackcap was by the hide. (AH)

Spotted Redshanks (above), Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, Greenshank and Redshank, Shelduck family & Blackcap at the Ferry (AH)

Long Pool: There were at least three Sedge Warblers being active and singing this morning along the path, as were c20 Linnets, but most species, including a Yellowhammer, a couple of Reed Buntings and Reed Warblers, a Lesser Whitethroat and a couple of Whitethroats, were all keeping their heads down in the breeze.

Also, a mother Tufted Duck and six ducklings were on the pool, a couple of Skylarks and Swallows were over the fields and c120 Redshanks and half a dozen Curlews were along Ferry Channel. (AH)

Sedge Warblers (above) & Tufted Duckling along the Long Pool (AH)

North Wall: A Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Green Woodpecker, a Song Thrush and two Greenfinches were around the paddocks this morning, and a Teal, four Tufted Ducks and a Great Crested Grebe were on the Breech Pool, whilst there were lots of Cattle Egrets and Little Egrets in and around Owl Copse and two of the juvenile Grey Herons were still on their nest, but it was otherwise quiet along the wall with just two Linnets and a few Goldfinches in the bushes.

Along White’s Creek there were 16 Redshanks and six Curlews, with 22 Grey Plovers and 26 Dunlin further out, and a Sandwich Tern was fishing along the creek, while in the bushes along the east side there were families of Whitethroats and Long-tailed Tits, and a few Marbled Whites were on the wing. (LP)

Grey Plover (above), juvenile Whitethroat, Linnet, Green Woodpecker, Cattle Egret and Little Egret & Marbled White along the North Wall (LP)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - The highlight of a good morning was two Dartford Warblers near the Stilt Pool, flying about and sitting very close to me, carrying food, suggesting young were nearby, and there were also many Linnets, Yellowhammers, Whitethroats, Sedge and Reed Warblers along the banks, together with a few Reed Buntings, Stonechats, Swallows and Skylarks,

There were also a pair of Egyptian Geese about, with a Ringed Plover, several Avocets, Oystercatchers and Lapwings and the flock of Canada Geese on the Stilt Pool and a Buzzard and a Kestrel over. (MT)

Dartford Warbler (above), Yellowhammer, Linnet, Swallow, Skylark, Lapwing & Avocet at Medmerry (MT)

East Head: Eight or nine pairs of Avocets successfully bred at Snowhill Creek this year, with several pairs and at least nine young still present.

Eight of the young have been colour-ringed (two colours on each leg), with at least three of the breeding adults having been previously ringed at other sites, and reports of any of the birds would be much appreciated. Reports can be sent to https://cr-birding.org/node/1485 . (PH)

Church Norton: Two juveniles were among c30 Sandwich Terns on the concrete blocks this evening, along with a Common Tern and c30 Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls, whilst a Common Sandpiper and 15 Turnstones were on the ironwork. (AH)