Monday, 16th December: A bright and breezy start slowly gave way to increasing cloud, being pushed in by the fresh westerly..........
Selsey Bill: There wasn't much going on this morning beyond a few of the regular species. Full log below. (SR/IP/AH/OM)
(0800-0945hrs) (W, F5-6)
Great Northern Diver - 1W
Red-throated Diver - 4W
Great Crested Grebe - 1W
Gannet - 5W
Brent Goose - 4E, 9W
Common Scoter - 2E
Red-breasted Merganser - 5E
Turnstone - 22
Sandwich Tern - 2os
Pied Wagtail - 1
Great Northern Diver at the Bill (AH)
Selsey East Beach pond: A brief visit this morning produced two Chiffchaffs, but otherwise it was just normal fare, with 40 Mallards, two Mute Swans, four Coots and two Moorhens.
The latter two rather mundane species are worthy of mention though, for if they were to be present just a few hundred yards further west - i.e. at the Lifeboat Station or beyond - they would then be eligible for inclusion on the Selsey Bill area and thus countable for any observer who should need these tricky additions for their Bill list! (OM)
Ferry Pool: There were 22 Avocets and c50 Black-tailed Godwits on the pool and c75 Lapwings on the field, with wildfowl comprising c50 Teal and Shovelers and c100 Wigeon. (AH)
Avocets and Black-tailed Godwits on the Ferry (AH)
Church Norton: There were large numbers of the regular waders in the harbour this morning, including c100 Grey Plovers, 400 Knot and 800 Dunlin, with a dozen Pintail and c50 Wigeon and Teal also about, but not much else.
Also, the huge flock of up to 3000 Brent Geese were still behind the hide and a couple of Chiffchaffs and Jays were in the hedges. (AH)
Later, a Siberian Chiffchaff was reported as present. (per Birdguides)
Chiffchaff (above), Pintails, Brent Geese & Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plovers at Church Norton (AH)
Pagham Spit and Lagoon: The female Goldeneye was still on the Lagoon early on, but was not seen later, whilst also on the water were two Mediterranean Gulls, nine Common Gulls, 12 Little Grebes and five Tufted Ducks.
Along the spit, 12 Linnets, two Meadow Pipits, four Rock Pipits and five Skylarks were seen, and out in the harbour two Red-breasted Mergansers were on the water and a few Wigeon, Pintail and Teal were along the banks, along with a Common Seal.
The shale islands were full of waders, with Grey Plovers, Knot, Dunlin, Ringed Plovers, Turnstones and Oystercatchers all in abundance, but offshore there wasn’t much to see, with just a few Great Crested Grebes and a Common Scoter on the water, a Red-throated Diver flying past, and three Sandwich Terns by the harbour entrance. (LP/PA)
Red-breasted Merganser (above), Tufted Duck, Mediterranean and Common Gulls, Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plovers & Common Seal around Paham Spit (LP)
East side: A look along the East side this morning produced up to 1000 Golden Plovers, 4000 Lapwings, 500 Knot, 200 Grey Plovers, 25 Black-tailed Godwits, a Bar-tailed Godwit and c70 Pintail.
There were also a Peregrine and three Marsh Harriers over, with a Firecrest, a Dartford Warbler, a couple of Goldcrests and five Chiffchaffs along the hedges. (PA)
Sidlesham Common: There were nine Cattle Egrets with the cows along Lockgate Road this morning. (AH/PA)
Cattle Egret at Sidlesham Common (AH)
Sunday, 15th December: It was a return to grey and murky conditions, and quite coo in the moderate to brisk westerly breeze......
Selsey Bill: It was fairly quiet today, but there were still a Slavonian Grebe and a few divers about.. Full log below. (SH/BI/AH/IP)
(0740-0925hrs) (WNW, F5)
Great Northern Diver - 5os
Red-throated Diver - 7E, 17W, 1os
diver sp - 1E
Slavonian Grebe - 1W
Great Crested Grebe - 1W, 1os
Gannet - 5E, 26W
Shag - 5E, 1W
Brent Goose - 4E, 8W
Shelduck - 1W
Common Scoter - 3E, 3W
Red-breasted Merganser - 3E, 4W, 3os
Mediterranean Gull - 1W
Common Gull - 2W
Sandwich Tern - 4os
auk sp - 9W
Pied Wagtail - 1
Great Northern Diver (above), Shags, Common Scoter & Gannet at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: There were 24 Avocets on the pool again this morning, along with c50 Black-tailed Godwits, with c50 Lapwings on the field, with at least 250 Wigeon spread about, together with c60 Teal and Shovelers and c40 Mallards. (AH)
Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits and Wigeon on the Ferry (AH)
Church Norton: A count of the Brent Goose flock behind the churchyard this morning produced c3500 birds, along with a single Pale-bellied Brent Goose, whilst the three greenshanks were again roosting near the concrete slabs, with two Bar-tailed Godwits among c200 Grey Plovers, c300 Knot and similar of Dunlin around the metalwork, with many more waders further down the harbour, including the vast flock of Golden Plovers and Lapwings that came up periodically.
A male Peregrine that settled on both the smaller islands at different times was certainly the cause of some of the disturbance, but there wasn't much else in the harbour beyond a Sandwich Tern, the regular Wigeon and Teal, a Little Grebe and a couple of Great Crested Grebes, with at least eight more of the latter, along with a female Red-breasted Merganser and a few Common and Mediterranean Gulls, plus a flock of c50 Ringed Plovers and c50 Dunlin looking for somewhere to settle, were all that could be found offshore. (BI/AH/IP/CRJ/RJS)
Greenshanks (above), Peregrine, Brent Geese, Golden Plovers, Mediterranean Gull & knot, Dunlin and Grey Plovers at Church Norton (AH)
North Wall: There were c1000 Golden Plover along White’s Creek this morning, along with a similar number of Lapwings, six Snipe and 24 Black-tailed Godwits, with plenty of Grey Plovers, Knot and Dunlin further out on the mud, while five Little Grebes were on the water, along with the usual selection of Wigeon, Teal, Shelduck and Pintail, and two Egyptian Geese flew south across the harbour.
A flock of 20 Long-tailed Tits were along the bushes together with a Chiffchaff, and a Rock Pipit was on the rocks, while out in the fields there were 62 Brent Geese, 58 Curlews and 18 Black-tailed Godwits.
The paddock was busy again with a Grey Wagtail, three Pied Wagtails, two Meadow Pipits, two Stonechats, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Kestrel, and a Sparrowhawk, with both male and female Marsh Harriers up over the reeds. (LP/CT/DHi)
Egyptian Geese (above), Little Grebe, Golden Plovers, Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail & Stonechat at the North Wall (LP)
Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Short-eared Owl was out hunting over the reserve this afternoon, with a Peregrine, two Kestrels and four Buzzards also seen, with 15 Egyptian Geese and c50 Brent Geese out on the reserve. Two Marsh Harriers also went into the reeds to roost seen from Ruth's Marsh.
A Ringed Plover was the only thing of note on the Stilt Pool, whilst the banks just held a Dartford Warbler, a Stonechat, three Goldcrests and seven Yellowhammers. (S&SaH/BI)
Chi GPs: Drayton House pits - The month's WeBS count found that wildfowl numbers were generally very low, with a reasonable total of 59 Pochard, but just a dozen Tufted Ducks, 38 Shoveler, 12 Gadwall and 30 Teal, but there were a few highlights.
A Great White Egret and two Little Egrets were present, whilst the first Egyptian Goose for some while appeared, two Kingfishers were chasing each other about, three Water Rails were calling and two Chiffchaffs were in the hedges. (OM)
There were also 35 Cattle Egrets and a flock of Redwings in the fields by the Drayton railway crossing. (BI)
Egyptian Goose and Pochards on the North pit (OM)
Great White Egret in flight over the North pit (OM)
Saturday, 14th December: The breeze shifted to the west overnight, though it remained fairly light, leaving a cool but pleasant morning of hazy sun and white cloud......
Selsey Bill: There were a few birds about this morning, including a Fulmar that hung around offshore for a while, a Black-throated Diver and a few Red-throated and Great Northern Divers. Full log later. (SH/PB/BI/IP/PA/P&LH/AH)
(0740-0955hrs) (W, F3)
Great Northern Diver - 2W, 3os
Black-throated Diver - 1W
Red-throated Diver - 18E, 19W, 2os
Great Crested Grebe - 1E, 1W, 1os
Fulmar - 1E, 1W
Gannet - 6E, 19W
Shag - 8E
Brent Goose - 25E, 1W
Shelduck - 4W
Wigeon - 3W
Mallard - 1W
Common Scoter - 7W
Red-breasted Merganser - 8E, 4os
Oystercatcher - 1E
Mediterranean Gull - 3W
Common Gull - 2E
Kittiwake - 5W
Sandwich Tern - 1os
Guillemot - 1W
Razorbill - 1E, 1os
auk sp - 4E, 11W
Great Northern Diver - 1E, 1os
Red-throated Diver - 1E, 7W, 1os
Gannet - 4E, 4W
Brent Goose - 6E, 1W
Common Scoter - 2E
Red-breasted Merganser - 2os
Turnstone - 2E
Sandwich Tern - 2E, 1W
Razorbill - 1E
auk sp - 9E
Pied Wagtail - 1W
Fulmar (above), Red-breasted Merganser & Red-throated Divers at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: There were 24 Avocets, 52 Black-tailed Godwits, c80 Lapwings, two Shelducks, c60 Shovelers, c100 Teal and c200 Wigeon around the pool this morning. (AH)
Avocet and Black-tailed Godwits at the Ferry (AH)
Park Farm, Selsey: A Grey Wagtail was on the fields this morning. (IP)
Church Norton: There were two Long-tailed Ducks - with one a fine drake - offshore this morning, together with a Red-breasted Merganser, two Great Crested Grebes, a Great Northern Diver and two Red-throated Divers on the sea and a further two west and one east of the latter, further out, with one or two Common and Mediterranean Gulls present, too.
A Short-eared Owl was up over Bluebell Wood and the Severals briefly, before dropping down, with a Chiffchaff, a Cetti's Warbler and a couple of Goldcrests, plus a few Long-tailed Tits, a Jay and a couple of Green Woodpeckers were also about, whilst the leucistic Blackbird was again around the Mound..
The Pale-bellied Brent Goose was present again among the 2000 strong Brent Goose flock behind the churchyard, with a few more Brent Geese in the harbour, along with the Whimbrel, three Greenshanks and a Bar-tailed Godwit among the many Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plovers roosting on the high tide, with a few Pintail among the Wigeon and Teal and two Sandwich Terns feeding over the main channel. (P&LH/IP/AH/GW/AW et al)
Long-tailed Duck (above), Great Northern Diver, Sandwich Tern, Whimbrel, Greenshanks and Redshank (AH), Pale-bellied Brent Goose & leucistic Blackbird (AW) at Church Norton
This evening seven Marsh Harriers, including an adult male, came in to roost in the Severals, and a Water Rail and a Cetti's Warbler were both heard. (AH/SH)
Marsh Harriers at Church Norton (AH)
North Wall: Most of the action this morning was in and around the paddocks, where there were two Stonechats, two Pied Wagtails, a Grey Wagtail, a Meadow Pipit, a Song Thrush, a Chiffchaff. a Chaffinch, a Jay, 24 Goldfinches, 18 Long-tailed Tits and 12 Blackbirds, with three Marsh Harriers, a Sparrowhawk and two Buzzards over the reeds further back.
Out in the Harbour around high tide there were the usual large flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover, along with a few Black-tailed Godwits, Redshanks and Dunlin, while on the water there was the regular mix of Brent Geese, Shelduck, Wigeon and Teal.
Elsewhere it was quiet, with just a Rock Pipit along the wall and a few Curlews and Brent Geese in the fields. (LP/JDW)
Grey Wagtail (above), Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Stonechat & Song Thrush at the North Wall (LP)
Ellanore: A smart male Bullfinch was in the hedges along the lane, as were a small flock of Goldfinches. There were plenty of the regular species showing at high tide including c.1000 Brent Geese, c.200 Golden Plover. c.100 Dunlin as well as numerous Shelducks and Oystercatchers.
Also, a Great Northern Diver was in the channel opposite the bird hide and several Great Crested Grebes were on the water, too. (BI/GM)
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