Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 7th

Tuesday, 9th July: It was a little milder and very muggy this morning in the moderate southerly breeze, though it was very overcast throughout, with spells of drizzly rain....

Selsey Bill: A Roseate Tern was intermittently among the vey large feeding flock along the bar east of the shingle spit at low tide this morning, with a minimum of 62 Little Terns present, too, including 45 flying up together from the spit at one point, with two pale-phase Arctic Skuas east fairly close in and a flock of 55 Swallows east further out. Full log below. (AH/SR)

(0650-0935hrs) (S, F4)

Gannet - 6E

Common Scoter - 18E, 12W

Kestrel - 1

Curlew - 1E

Arctic Skua - 2E

Mediterranean Gull - c80os

Sandwich Tern - c75os

Roseate Tern - 1os

Common Tern - 5os

Little Tern - 62os

Swift - 4

Swallow - 55E

House Martin - 3

This evening there proved to be two Roseate Terns present, mostly sat on the shingle spit, but also flying around offshore. There was also a sub-adult Kittiwake on the bar and ten Common Scoters offshore. (MRe/IP/BI)

Roseate Tern and Sandwich Terns (above), Arctic Skuas, Little Terns, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern & Common Scoters at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The only birds on the pool this morning were the Shelduck family and a handful of Black-headed Gulls, though three Common Sandpipers were on the concealed roadside pool. (AH)

Later on, 11 Cattle Egrets flew over, heading east and 30 Swifts were over the pool, (BFF/DM), and later still, a Greenshank was on the pool and an adult Lesser Whitethroat was feeding two young by the pumps (AB).

Common Sandpipers (above) & Shelducks at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: There at least 200 Sand Martins and 50 House Martins feeding over the wheat fields along Rectory Lane this morning, though a family of Whitethroats around the hide were the only other small birds noted.

In the harbour there were at least 60 Sandwich Terns, including a dozen juveniles, along with c125 Mediterranean Gulls, six Whimbrel, 18 Curlews, four Ringed Plovers and a dozen or so Redshanks and Oystercatchers. (AH)

Sand Martins (above), House Martin, Whitethroat, Whimbrel & Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gulls at Church Norton (AH)

Later on, as the tide pushed up, there were also eight Little Terns, four Common Terns and a Greenshank and a Turnstone in the harbour, with the Mediterranean Gull count rising to 160, with a similar selection this evening (BFF/DM/AH)

Little Tern (above), Sandwich Terns, Greenshank and Redshank & Whimbrel at Church Norton (AH)

North Mundham: A Coal Tit was in the garden today. (MJ)

North Wall: A Spotted Redshank was along White’s Creek this morning, together with a Whimbrel, a Curlew, four Lapwings and six Redshanks, and there were 50 Swifts and a Swallow heading out over the harbour,

A Common Tern was fishing over the Breech Pool, but there were just two Great Crested Grebes and a few Mallards and Coots on the water and the now regular Cormorant on one of the posts. A total of 20 Cattle Egrets were in and around Owl Copse, together with a few Little Egrets, and at Halsey’s Farm, a pair of Little Grebes were feeding two youngsters on the rife, and a Skylark was singing in the rain from one of the fence posts. (LP/TRH)

Common Tern (above), Cattle Egret & Cormorant at the North Wall (LP)

Monday, 8th July: Another decidedly cool and overcast morning for the time of year, though the stiff breeze had finally abated somewhat....

Selsey Bill: There was a bit of variety this morning, with large numbers of gulls and terns feeding offshore, including 36 Little Terns together at one point, with a Grey Heron on the bar by the Mile Basket before flying off west, three Sand Martins east and a dark-phase Arctic Skua and an Eider lingering offshore. Full log below. (MRe/SR/AH/IP/P&LH)

(0615-0915hrs) (NE, veering SE, F2-3)

Gannet - 1W, 4E

Grey Heron - 1W

Little Egret - 1

Shelduck - 14W

Eider - 1os

Common Scoter - 2E, 7W

Sparrowhawk - 1

Kestrel - 1

Arctic Skua - 1os

Mediterranean Gull - c150os

Sandwich Tern - c50os

Common Tern - 5os

Little Tern - 36os

Swift - 2

Sand Martin - 3E

House Martin - 19

Little Tern (above), Sandwich Terns, Common Scoters & Shelducks at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The two Spotted Redshanks were back on the pool this morning, along with a Common Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover, 22 Black-tailed Godwits, four Redshanks and the Shelduck family.

Also, the Greenshank was again in the channel opposite, a pair of Lesser Whitethroats with three freshly fledged young, plus a Reed Warbler, were in the hedge by the pull-in, and later, there were 18 Cattle Egrets, including four juveniles, with the cows when they moved onto the pool. (AH)

Later on, in addition o the earlier report, there were an Avocet and three Teal on the pool, with a female Marsh Harrier and a Buzzard over. (MRe)

Spotted Redshanks (above), Greenshank, Lesser Whitethroats & Cattle Egrets at the Ferry

Church Norton: There were ten Little Terns in the harbour this morning, along with a Common Tern, 29 Sandwich Terns, including four juveniles, 85 Mediterranean Gulls, seven Whimbrel 16 Curlews, 15 Redshanks and four Ringed Plovers.

A total of 31 Sand Martins and 20 House Martins went over, as did two Skylarks, but the bushes were quiet beyond a Blackcap, a Chiffchaff and a couple of Jays. (P&LH)

This evening there were five Common Sandpipers together on the mud, with six Whimbrel. five Ringed Plovers, a Lapwing,a Turnstone, 21 Curlews and 29 Redshanks also present, along with 58 Sandwich Terns, including 15 juveniles and nine Mediterranean Gulls, whilst four Sand Martins went over. (MRe)

Long Pool: There were at least four Sedge Warblers singing and being active along the path, with about he same numbers of Reed Warblers being less conspicuous in the reeds, whilst there were also a couple of Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers, half a dozen Skylarks, and c30 Linnets about, with c20 Swallows feeding overhead.

At least 50 Redshanks were in Ferry Channel, along with half a dozen Curlews and Lapwings, a couple of Grey Herons and a Little Egret, but that was about it. (AH)

Sedge Warbler (above), Yellowhammer, Linnet, Skylark & Redshank along the Long Pool (AH)

Sunday, 7th July: An unseasonably cool, grey and miserable morning, dry early on but soon giving way to heavy showers and fairly persistent rain with a brisk W/SW wind force 5-6, eventually becoming drier and a bit brighter later, with the odd sunny spell.

Selsey Bill: There were another three Black Terns west this morning, along with a few Common and Sandwich Terns and the first Fulmar for a while. Full log below. (SH/BI/PB/MRB/IP/SR)

(0600-0845hrs) (WSW, F4)

Fulmar - 1W

Gannet - 3E, 10W

Little Egret - 1E

Oystercatcher - 1W

Curlew - 1W

Mediterranean Gull - 97W

Sandwich Tern -2E, 29W

Common Tern - 12W

Black Tern - 3W

(1500-1600hrs) (SW6). (SH)

Gannet - 4W

Mediterranean Gull - 25W, 40os

Sandwich Tern - 23W, 20os

Common Tern - 3w, 1os

Little Tern - 8W

Ferry Pool: There were two Common Sandpipers, an Avocet, 14 Black-tailed Godwits and two Little Ringed Plovers on the pool this morning, whilst in the area were three Cattle Egrets, a male Reed Bunting, a Buzzard and two Swifts overhead. A Greenshank was also present in Ferry channel. (PB/MRB)

It was much the same late this afternoon, though the Black-tailed Godwit count had risen to 22 and half a dozen Swifts were feeding over the pool. (AH)

Common Sandpiper (above), Greenshank & Swifts at the Ferry (AH)

North Wall: The Spotted Redshank was again along White’s Creek this morning, together with seven Black-tailed Godwits, 14 Redshanks, four Lapwing and a Curlew, but it was otherwise very quiet in the wet and windy conditions, with just the usual mix of Grey Herons, Little Egrets and Cattle Egrets at Owl Copse, and a Reed Warbler, a Whitethroat, six Greenfinches and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers around the paddock. (LP/DHi)

Spotted Redshank (above) & Black-tailed Godwits and Redshanks at the North Wall (LP)

Church Norton: A total of 27 Cattle Egrets were seen at the far end of the harbour this morning - including a flock of 24 in flight - with ten Little Egrets also present.

Waders noted were six Whimbrel, 14 Curlew, two Grey Plover, six Ringed Plover, three Dunlin and 10 Oystercatchers, whilst a Great Crested Grebe was in the channel and 16 Mediterranean Gulls and 12 Sandwich Terns were in the harbour, the latter including six juveniles. (PB/MRB)

This evening there were c80 Sandwich Terns, including at least 20 juveniles, in the harbour, along with 16 Common Terns and c50 Mediterranean Gulls, but a couple of Whimbrel and half a dozen Curlews and Oystercatchers were the only waders present. (AH)