10th - 13th January 2025

Monday, 13th January: The breeze had freshened overnight and shifted round to the south-west, leaving it overcast, but a little milder than of late............

Selsey Bill: There was a good bit of activity this morning, including a flock of seven Velvet Scoters west early on, two Slavonian Grebes and a Black-throated Diver on the sea and a continuous movement of Gannets, including a loose flock of c130 going west, along with a flock of 52 Curlews. Full log below. (CRJ/PA/MRe/AH/IP/SR)

(0740-1010hrs) (SW, F4)

Great Northern Diver - 3E, 4W, 2os

Black-throated Diver - 1os

Red-throated Diver - 12E, 39W, 2os

Slavonian Grebe - 2os

Great Crested Grebe - 1os

Gannet - 40E, 303W, c80os

Shag - 5E

Velvet Scoter - 7W

Common Scoter - 38W, c70os

Red-breasted Merganser - 8E, 2W

Oystercatcher - 1E

Curlew - 52W

Turnstone - 6

Mediterranean Gull - 4W, 2os

Common Gull - 22W

Kittiwake - 1E, 40W

Sandwich Tern - 1E

Razorbill - 5E, 165W, 27os

auk sp - 30E, 202W

Velvet Scoters (above), Great Northern Diver, Red-throated Divers, Red-breasted Merganser, Shag & Gannets at the Bill (AH)

The first two Eider - two drakes - of the year went west at lunchtime (AW) and were later offshore (ML).

(1230-1330hrs) (AW)

Red-throated Diver - 5W

Gannet - 1W

Eider - 2W

Eiders at the Bill (AW)

Ferry Pool: With the ice starting to thaw, a few birds were back on the pool, including 22 Avocets, c40 Shovelers and c100 Teal. (AH)

Later on, a Green Sandpiper was on the small roadside pool and a Fieldfare was in the Discovery area. (TG-P)

Avocets on the Ferry (AH)

Church Norton: Most of the interest was offshore this morning, with the drake Long-tailed Duck showing again, whilst a Great Northern Diver, at least half a dozen Red-throated Divers, four Red-breasted Mergansers and at least 20 Great Crested Grebes were on the sea, whilst a Sandwich Tern flew east and c30 Gannets were feeding further out.

There wasn't much beyond the usual in the harbour, though a Marsh Harrier was about,  c200 Geese were on the water, along with a few Wigeon and Teal and vast numbers of Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plovers were towards the harbour mouth. (AH/CRJ et al)

Long-tailed Duck (above), Red-throated Divers & Great Crested Grebes at Church Norton (AH)

North Wall: There was a vast amount of birds out in the harbour early on, with huge numbers of Lapwing, Golden Plover and Brent Geese as well as lots of Wigeon, Teal, Shelduck, Pintail, Black-tailed Godwits, Redshank, and further out were many Dunlin, Grey Plover and Knot.

Two Rock Pipits were along the wall and the Spotted Redshank was again in Honer 1, whilst ten Mute Swans were on the Breech Pool with the usual Mallards, and a Bearded Tit was seen briefly across the reeds.

At Halsey’s Farm the ten Barnacle Geese were again in the field, and the flock of c20 Lesser Redpolls were in the trees by the entrance, along with a Chaffinch, with both a Green Woodpecker and a Great Spotted Woodpecker also in the vicinity.

Also, a Grey Wagtail, a Pied Wagtail and a Jay were in the paddocks and a female Marsh Harrier was further back over the bushes. (LP/CT/PA/BFF/SL et al)

          

Lesser Redpolls (LP top three, BFF lower two) (above), Barnacle Geese, Jay, Grey Wagtail (LP) & Brent Geese (BFF) at the North Wall

The Lesser Redpolls were still showing well this afternoon, and a Pale-bellied Brent Goose was among the Brent Goose flock. (AW)

Also, at dusk this evening, a Little Owl was in the paddocks. 9BI)

Lesser Redpolls (above) & Pale-bellied and Dark-bellied Brent Geese at Halsey's Farm (AW)

Medmerry: Coastguards - There were 40 Common Scoters and a Great Northern Diver on the sea today. (BFF/SL)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pools - There were a Merlin and a Marsh Harrier around the reserve early this morning, whilst a single Golden Plover was with a few Lapwing on the pools with c200 more flying high overhead into the reserve from the west.

A Greenshank and one Avocet were also on the pools along with 85 Brent Geese and two Canada Geese. There were also small flocks of Linnets, Reed Buntings and Meadow Pipits along the path, as well as a dozen Yellowhammers near Marsh Barn. (AW)

Marsh Harrier (above), Yellowhammers, Linnets, Greenshank, Golden Plover and Lapwings & Golden Plovers at Medmerry (AH)

Sunday, 12th January: The morning started cold and frosty, slowly warming up under increasing cloud cover, the the breeze remained light and from the east............

Selsey Bill: Two Slavonian Grebes and a Fulmar went west this morning, whilst the Velvet Scoter was offshore again. Full log below. (JA/SH/BI/IP/AH/SR/OM et al)

(0730-0930hrs) (E, F3)

Great Northern Diver - 1E, 2W, 2os

Red-throated Diver - 3E, 29W, 5os

diver sp - 1E, 1W

Slavonian Grebe - 2W

Fulmar - 1W

Gannet - 5E, 144W, 2os

Brent Goose - 20E

Wigeon - 4W, 10os

Teal - 5os

Shoveler - 3W

Velvet Scoter - 1os

Common Scoter - 4E, 17W, 47os

Red-breasted Merganser - 5E, 7W, 10os

Sanderling - 2

Turnstone - 14E

Sandwich Tern - 4os

Razorbill - 5E, 4W

auk sp - 26E, 188W

Great Northern Diver (above) & Red-throated Divers at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: A Kingfisher was in the channel opposite this afternoon, along with a few Wigeon and Teal,, but a single Black-headed Gull was again the only bird on the frozen pool. (AH/IP et al)

Kingfisher in Ferry Channel (AH)

Long Pool: A pair of Stonechats, a Meadow Pipit and four Reed Buntings were the only birds along the hedges, whilst c100 Golden Plovers and Lapwings were at the end of Ferry Channel, along with a pair of Shovelers and good numbers of Redshanks, Wigeon and Teal.

Also, the huge flock of c2000 Brent Geese were seen over Sidlesham Quay. (AH/IP et al)

Stonechat (above), Reed Buntings & Brent Geese at the Long Pool (AH)

Church Norton: The drake Long-tailed Duck was offshore this morning, along with two or three Red-throated Divers and a dozen Great Crested Grebes, whilst two Common Scoters, a Great Northern Diver and another four Red-throated Divers flew west. 

In the harbour there were three Greenshank, the Whimbrel, eight Bar-tailed Godwits and good numbers of Knot, Grey Plovers and Dunlin, with c140 Pintail, 50+ Teal and 100+ Wigeon, plus a dozen Shelducks also present. (AH/IP et al) 

Also, distantly offshore from Church Norton, between 2 and 4pm, there was a gigantic feeding frenzy of large gulls, with over 100 Gannets and some Kittiwakes also involved. Very hard to estimate, but a minimum of 5,000 birds were likely present. (A.Glossop)

Long-tailed Duck (above), Greenshanks, Wigeon (AH) & large offshore feeding flock (A Glossop) at Church Norton 

North Wall: A Spotted Redshank was again in Honer 1 field, a Green Woodpecker was along the bushes, two Rock Pipits were along the wall, and a Jack Snipe flew up from near the sluice, whilst out in the harbour around high tide there was the usual mix of Lapwing and Golden Plover, along with three Bar-tailed Godwits, a group of 29 Avocets, c400 Knot and plenty of Dunlin, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail and Shelduck. A single noisy Greylag Goose made several circuits of the harbour before eventually disappearing high over the Wall and heading north. The ten Barnacle Geese were still in the field at Halsey’s Farm, where there were also ten Canada Geese, 12 Black-tailed Godwits, a few Curlews and c200 Wigeon, whilst the flock of Lesser Redpolls were still in the field by the entrance, a Song Thrush was along the hedgerow and a Marsh Harrier drifted overhead. 

Two Pied Wagtails and eight Meadow Pipits were in the paddock, and a Buzzard and two Marsh Harriers were further back behind the Breech Pool, where a Bearded Tit was heard early on. Two Water Rails were also calling from around the reeds. (LP/AHu/DHi/OM/SR/JDW)

Lesser Redpolls (above), Barnacle Geese, Green Woodpecker, Rock Pipit, Meadow Pipits and Avocets at the North Wall (LP)

Pagham Lagoon and Spit: The female Goldeneye, a Common Gull, a Mediterranean Gull and seven Little Grebes were on the lagoon this morning..

At the spit there were a Lesser Black-backed Gull, 27 Mediterranean Gulls, plenty of Dunlin, a few Grey Plovers, Oystercatchers and Turnstones and eight Great .Black-backed Gulls. (AHu)

West Wittering: There were at least 14 Grey Partridges in fields just north of Rookwood this morning, in the same area they were seen a couple of days ago. (BI)

Grey Partridges at West Wittering (BI)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Short-eared Owl was out near Marsh Barn mid-morning today, though not later. (HB/LT)

Later, two Dartford Warblers were along the banks, together with a Goldcrest, a Chiffchaff, three Reed Buntings, 24 Yellowhammers and 25 Chaffinches.

Also, a Water Rail and a Kingfisher were on the reserve, along with c100 Brent Geese, three Dunlin and two Ringed Plovers were on the Stilt Pool and two Marsh Harriers, a Buzzard and a Kestrel went over. (S&SaH)

East Head: Eighteen Sanderlings were along the strand line and a few Great Crested Grebes were offshore but it was otherwise quiet here (BI/DBh)

Sanderling at East Head (BI)

Appledram Church: Half a dozen Redwings and at least ten Song Thrushes were in the fields to the left of the church this morning and two Chiffchaffs were in the adjacent hedges. (BI)

Redwing at Appledram (BI)

Saturday, 11th January: After another very cold night, a gloriously sunny morning, with just a light easterly breeze blowing.......

Selsey Bill: It was fairly quiet this morning, the Velvet Scoter was about, along with a few divers. Full log below. (JA/SH/PB/BI/AH/SR)

(0730-0930hrs) (E, F3)
Great Northern Diver - 1E, 2W, 3os

Red-throated Diver - 11E, 10W, 6os

diver - 3E, 2W

Great Crested Grebe - 3E, 1W

Gannet - 4E, 5W

Shag - 7E

Brent Goose - 1W

Shelduck - 1W

Wigeon - 11W

Teal - 3W

Velvet Scoter - 1os

Common Scoter - 17W

Red-breasted Merganser - 10E, 5W, 4os

Oystercatcher - 4E

Turnstone - 11E

Mediterranean Gull - 3os

Razorbill - 3os

auk sp - 8E

Velvet Scoter (above) & Shag at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: The only bird on the whole pool was a single Black-headed Gull on the ice. (AH)

North Wall: The flock of 15 or so Lesser Redpolls were again at Halsey's Farm today though fairly mobile, with a couple of Mistle Thrushes and a Firecrest there as well, whilst later on, four Bearded Tits - two pairs - were showing well on the Breech Pool. and two Grey Wagtails, a Pied Wagtail, two Meadow Pipits, a Jay and two Song Thrushes were in and around the paddocks.

Also of note, a flock of ten Barnacle Geese were in and around the huge Brent Goose flock (which included a Pale-bellied Brent Goose), before they went over to fields further inland. Several of them had numbered collars on and were from established feral flocks in Northern England. (BI/AB/RHa/AW/LP/JDW/AHu/NM/IP/PB/S&SaH/AH/MRe//EB et al)

Lesser Redpoll (SH) (above), Bearded Tits (EB, top two, LP next two & RHa), Mistle Thrush (SaH), Grey Wagtail (LP), Barnacle Geese (LP top, then SH. GHi & AW) & Pale-bellied and Dark-bellied Brent Geese (AW) at the North Wall

Pagham Lagoon and Spit.: The female Goldeneye was still on the Lagoon, along with 12 Little Grebes and four Tufted Ducks. A few Linnets, eight Skylarks, a Rock Pipit and a Kingfisher were along the spit and 26 Mediterranean Gulls were on the offshore bank but apart from a female Red-breasted Merganser and a Great Crested Grebe in the harbour it was otherwise quiet. (LP)

Goldeneye (above), Red-breasted Merganser, Kingfisher & Tufted Duck on Pagham Lagoon (LP)

Selsey Peninsula: At least two Long-eared Owls were still present today. Eds)

Long-eared Owls on the Peninsula

Church Norton: The drake Long-tailed Duck was offshore early this afternoon, along with a Slavonian Grebe, a Great Northern Diver, three Red-throated Divers, two Razorbills and three Guillemots. (AB)

Earlier, two Greenshanks and the Whimbrel were in the harbour, along with a Kingfisher, few Grey Plovers, Redshanks, Wigeon, Teal and Shelducks, but most birds were roosting elsewhere. (AH/GR/GW)

Greenshank (above) & Teal at Church Norton (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: A Jack Snipe was in the creek this morning, along with two Greenshanks, and, unusually a sanderling was among the regular roosting waders.

There were also two Grey Wagtails about, whilst c20 Redwings and a dozen Song Thrushes were in the churchyard and adjacent field. (IP)

Runcton: Around the village this morning there were 46 Mallard, 13 Shovelers, 30 Teal, 12 Tufted Ducks, two Pochard, a Common Buzzard, five Coots, two Moorhens, a Green Woodpecker, a Chiffchaff and a male Bullfinch. (CRJ)

Chi GPs: Drayton House Pits -  The pits were at least 80% frozen this morning, although there were patches of open water in the sunnier corners, where unsurprisingly the wildfowl present had gathered. There was a high count of 145 Pochard, whilst 190 Shoveler and 70 Teal were also present, but otherwise just low numbers of other ducks and geese were noted. Eight Snipe were located, plus a Water Rail, two Cetti's Warblers and four noisy Jays, but despite my best efforts I could find little else of note. (OM)

Medmerry: Easton Lane to Porthole Farm - There wasn't too much to report today, though c50 Linnets and Chaffinches and a few Greenfinches and Skylarks were in the stubble fields and c30 Yellowhammers and c20 Reed Buntings, plus at least 250 Stock Doves, were in the cover crop field at Wilson's Farm, but a Sparrowhawk and a couple of Meadow Pipits were all that could be found between there and Porthole Farm. (AH)

Sparrowhawk (above), Meadow Pipit & Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting at Medmerry (AH)

Friday, 10th January: After a sharp frost, a  cold and mostly grey morning, but with just a fairly light easterly breeze........

A brief note to say that for those who have followed the Diary Notes for the pre-blog years, the entries for 1981-84 have now been added....Ring-necked Duck, Snow Geese and Little Owl at the Bill are amongst the latest updates, just click the link on the title bar. 
Note the reports begin with the oldest first (1975) and will gradually work their way up to 2012,thus adjoining the first of the blog years in 2013. (OM)

Selsey Bill: It was another interesting morning, with  a Velvet Scoter and a Long-tailed Duck offshore, along with c100 Common Scoters, and a few auks were on the move, too. Full log below. (JA/PB/BI/AH/SR)
(0740-0930hrs) (E, F3)
Great Northern Diver - 1E, 4os
Red-throated Diver - 14W, 3os
diver sp - 1E, 7W
Great Crested Grebe - 1os
Gannet - 5E, 3W
Shag - 7E, 2os
Wigeon - 6W
Long-tailed Duck - 1os
Velvet Scoter - 1os
Common Scoter - 2E, 4W, c100os
Red-breasted Merganser - 12E, 2W, 2os
Oystercatcher - 2E, 2W, 2 present
Lapwing - 1E
Mediterranean Gull - 3W, 4os
Common Gull - 4E, 5W, 2os
Kittiwake - 2E, 1os
Sandwich Tern - 2E
Guillemot - 1W, 1os
Razorbill - 19E, 95W, 19os
auk sp - 62E, 274W
Black Redstart - 1

A quick look between 1345 and 1415hrs just produced four Sandwich Terns west and c60 Common Scoter offshore. (JJE)

Velvet Scoter (above), Great Northern Diver, Sandwich Tern & Shags at the Bill (AH)

Ferry Pool: There were no birds on the frozen pool this morning, with just two pairs of Wigeon in the channel opposite. (AH)

Selsey Peninsula: All three Long-eared Owls were present again today. (Eds)

Long-eared Owl on the Peninsula

Pagham Lagoon: The female Goldeneye was again on the lagoon today. (JJE)

North Wall: The flock of at least 15 Lesser Redpolls were showing well this morning along with a couple of Fieldfares, in the bushes around the cover crop field opposite Halsey's Farmhouse and Halsey's Barn.

The wall itself was quiet, though the Spotted Redshank was in Honer 1 field briefly and a Raven and two Marsh Harriers went over, whilst c80 Black-tailed Godwits, c300 Wigeon and a dozen or so Teal and Shovelers were in the creek at Halsey's Farm.

Another 200+ Black-tailed Godwits and similar of Lapwings were in the harbour, along with just four Knot and plenty of Grey Plovers, Dunlin, Wigeon and Teal, whilst at least 2000 Brent Geese flew in from the west. 

(AW/BI/AH/LP/SP/IH/TRH/CRJ et al)

This afternoon there were 83 Pintail, 85 Golden Plovers, c600 Lapwings, 227 Black-tailed Godwits, 479 Knot and 1400 Dunlin in the harbour, along with 15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, whilst a Chiffchaff and a Reed Bunting were along the wall and a Stonechat and a Goldcrest were at Halsey's Farm. (JJE)

Late this afternoon, there was a Barn Owl at Halsey's Farm. (BI)

Lesser Redpolls (top two AW, then LP, then AH) (above), Fieldfares (AW above, LP lower), Spotted Redshank, Raven, Marsh Harrier & Brent Geese (AH) at the North Wall

Fishbourne Creek: There were three Goldeneyes (two males and a female) and three Pintail off the Lavant outflow, where there were also a Kingfisher and two Grey Wagtails.

From Dell Quay there was very little on the water - just four distant Little Grebes being the pick, whilst a Common Seal swam down the creek, and on the receding tide there were three Greenshank at Fishbourne. (RW)

West Itchenor to West Wittering: Three Grey Partridges in fields just north of Rookwood were the highlight this afternoon, though four Linnets, two Meadow Pipits and three Goldcrests were the only other birds of note along the hedges.

There were plenty of birds in the harbour, though, including two Great Northern Divers, ten Red-breasted Mergansers, a Whimbrel, an impressive count of 150 Bar-tailed Godwits, 450 Knot, five Sandwich Terns and c250 Common Gulls, plus a Raven going over. (PA)

Chichester GPs: Ivy Lake - A look round today produced 23 Greylag Geese, 14 Shovelers, eight Gadwall, 13 Pochards and 11 Tufted Ducks. (JJE)

Medmerry: Porthole Farm - Two Corn bunting were again in the hedges along the Medmerry Trail, together with a Reed Bunting, six Yellowhammers and a Redwing. (JJE)

Corn Bunting at Medmerry (JJE)