25th November 2024

Monday, 25th November: The weekend's storm finally subsided overnight, leaving a fairly mild and - after a grey start - bright and breezy morning in a moderate to fresh westerly....

Selsey Bill: There was a noticeable westward movement of Great Northern Divers this morning, with a Long-tailed Duck, two Velvet Scoters and a Slavonian Grebe also going west, along with a few Red-throated Divers, Red-breasted Mergansers and Great Crested Grebes. Full log later. (PB/BI/IP/AH/P&LH/PA/SR/KT/CRJ)

Great Northern Divers (above), Long-tailed Duck, Velvet Scoters, Red-breasted Mergansers & Shags at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were c20 Black-tailed Godwits and a handful of Lapwings at the back this morning, with, otherwise, just five Shelducks, c50 Wigeon and Shovelers and c75 Teal. (AH)

Shovelers and Teal (above) & Wigeon and Teal at the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: At least 1500 Brent Geese were in the harbour before they started drifting back over to the nearby fields, whilst waders included the Whimbrel, three Bar-tailed Godwits, 16 Avocets,  c200 Knot, c50 Grey Plovers, c25 Ringed Plovers, c50 Turnstones and c500 Dunlin, along with c300 Golden Plovers and c500 Lapwings put up from the north of the harbour by a Marsh Harrier. 

There were also three Sandwich Terns, a dozen Common Gulls and 30 Mediterranean Gulls present in the harbour, along with seven Red-breasted Mergansers and eight Pintail, whilst a Chiffchaff and a couple of Goldcrests were among a Long-tailed and Blue Tit flock along the path to the harbour. (PB/AH/CRJ/P&LH)

Sandwich Tern (above), Common Gull, Whimbrel, Knot, Brent Geese & Chiffchaff at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: There were c500 Brent Geese in the harbour around high tide, with many small groups heading inland to the fields, but otherwise it was just the regular Shelducks, Wigeon, Teal, Lapwings, and Redshanks along White’s Creek, and good numbers of Dunlin, Knot and Grey Plovers further out.

A Grey Wagtail, a Pied Wagtail and a flock of 20 Long-tailed Tits were by the sluice, two Stonechats, a Jay and a Meadow Pipit were in the paddock, and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers were in the willow at Little Welbourne.

Two Rock Pipits were along the rocks, but there was just a Chiffchaff and five Goldfinches in the bushes, while in Honer 1, 30 Black-tailed Godwits were with 24 Curlew and 12 Brent Geese., but it was just Mallards on the Breech Pool, where the water level is again very high, and a Marsh Harrier and a Buzzard were further back. (LP/GHi/CT)

Rock Pipit (above), Jay & Brent Geese at the North Wall (LP)