Sunday, 6th July: After quite heavy overnight rain, a grey and blustery, though dry, morning in a fresh westerly breeze.........
Selsey Bill: A flock of six Black-tailed Godwits going west a long way out were the first of the year here, and another Common Sandpiper went west, too, with an Arctic Skua chasing the gull flock, but that was about it. Full log below. (AH/IP/SR/MRe/OM)
(0700-1100hrs) (W, F4)
Gannet - 17E, 36W, 15os
Common Scoter - 2E
Black-tailed Godwit - 6W
Curlew - 1W
Common Sandpiper - 1W
Arctic Skua - 1os
Mediterranean Gull - 46E, 21W, 20os
Sandwich Tern - 5E, 21W, 4os
Little Tern - 1W
Swift - 4
House Martin - 12
House Martin (above), Gannet, Mediterranean Gulls & Common Seal at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: A Common Sandpiper was on the pool this morning, along with the juvenile Avocet and 14 Black-tailed Godwits. (AH)
Common Sandpiper (above) & Black-tailed Godwit at the Ferry (AH)
Mill Pond Marsh: There were three Green Sandpipers on the flooded field this morning, and there were still two families of Little Grebes present, with another pair and a juvenile on the Mill Pond. (PB/OM/S&SaH)
Church Norton: The Roseate Tern was still present this morning, sat out by the end of the metalwork among c100 Sandwich Terns and six Common Terns, plus large numbers of Black-headed Gulls and Mediterranean Gulls, with plenty of Little Terns further over, whilst waders included a Whimbrel, four Curlews, 12 Redshank, four Turnstones and a Ringed Plover. .
A female Tufted Duck swam across the second Several with two ducklings in tow, a Little Grebe was also here and at the back of the pool a Buzzard was being mobbed by a Kestrel, and just two Cetti's Warblers were heard around the area. Also, two Jays, another couple of Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk and three Great Spotted Woodpeckers, including a juvenile were around Greenlease Farm. (PB/IP)
The Roseate Tern was still present this evening, along with a few Little and Common Terns and large numbers of Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gulls, both in the harbour and offshore.
Also, a male Mash Harrier went over the harbour and a dozen Sand Martins were about. (NM/AH et al)
Common Tern (above), Common and Sandwich Terns & Marsh Harrier at Church Norton (AH)
Pagham Spit: The Little Terns were very active around their islands this morning, with at least 40 seen, though it would appear that many have decamped to the adjacent areas of vegetated shingle, with at least six well-grown chicks seen, but no fledglings as yet.
There were also at least 80 Sandwich Terns on the islands, with birds bringing in fish, and many Black-headed Gulls, too, whilst at least 500 presumably non-breeding Mediterranean Gulls were spread around the harbour and offshore islands.
The only waders noted were half a dozen Ringed Plovers and Turnstones and a couple of families of Linnets and a Skylark were the only things on the spit itself. (AH)
Little Terns (above), Sandwich Terns, Turnstone & Ringed Plover at Pagham Spit (AH)
Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Common Sandpiper was on the Stilt Pool this morning, along with four Ringed Plovers and nine Oystercatchers, and ten Common Terns were around the rafts on the pool opposite, and five Swifts, six Sand Martins, 12 Swallows, a Kestrel and two Buzzards went over
The banks were quiet, though, with just a Stonechat, two Chiffchaffs, half a dozen Reed Warblers, c15 Whitethroats, a Reed Bunting and c20 Yellowhammers noted. (S&SaH/PB)
Saturday, 5th July: A very grey and muggy morning, with the threat of rain never far away, in a blustery westerly breeze, freshening considerably as the day progressed......
Selsey Bill: A Common Sandpiper and a Ringed Plover went through west, and there were plenty of terns about. Full log below. (SH/PB/AH/IP/SR)
(0600-0900hrs) (W, F4)
Gannet - 11W
Mallard - 2E
Common Scoter - 4E
Ringed Plover - 1W
Common Sandpiper - 1W
Mediterranean Gull - 7E, 13W, 20os
Sandwich Tern - 52W, 18os
Common Tern - 4W, 3os
Little Tern - 7W
Swift - 6
House Martin - 4
This afternoon a Roseate Tern - presumably the one from the harbour - went west and then back east, but not much else was moving. Full log below. (SH)
(1430-1600hrs)
Gannet - 6W
Mediterranean Gull - 10W
Roseate Tern - 1W, then E
Sandwich Tern - 4E, 43W
Common Tern - 2W
Little Tern - 7E, 9os
Common Sandpiper (above), Little Tern & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: The juvenile Avocet was still on the pool this morning, along with 19 Black-tailed Godwits. (AH)
Black-tailed Godwits on the Ferry (AH)
Mill Pond Marsh: The two Green Sandpipers were still present this morning, along with two families of Little Grebes, with two and three chicks, two Teal and five Gadwall. (AH)
Green Sandpipers (above) & Little Grebes at Mill Pond Marsh (AH)
Church Norton: A Roseate Tern was sat out on the mud this morning, along with half a dozen Common Terns, a dozen Little Terns, c60 Sandwich Terns and c400 Mediterranean Gulls, with many more coming and going from the islands.
Also, two Sanderling were out in the main channel, with half a dozen Ringed Plovers and Turnstones about, too, plus a few Curlews, but not much else, whilst the landside was very quiet save half a dozen Swallows over Rectory Lane. (AH)
Roseate Tern with Little, Common and Sandwich Terns (above), Common Terns & Ringed Plover at Church Norton (AH)
The Roseate Tern was on the mud again this evening, among much lower numbers for other species, though at least a couple of juvenile Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gulls were among them.
There were a few more waders, though, including five Whimbrel, c40 Dunlin, 24 Grey Plovers, a Turnstone and a few Ringed Plovers and Curlews, and there was also a Mistle Thrush along Rectory Lane. (AWi/SR/AH)
Roseate Tern with Little and Sandwich Terns (above), Whimbrel & Mistle Thrush at Church Norton (AH)
North Wall: Three of the juvenile Marsh Harriers were in the bushes behind the Breech Pool and the adult female was also about this morning, but although the water level on the pool is dropping rapidly there were just six Black-tailed Godwits and a Teal with the regular Mallards.
Also, a Whimbrel, c50 Redshanks, 12 Lapwings and ten Curlews were along White’s Creek, and a Pied Wagtail was on the rocks, but elsewhere it was quiet in the windy conditions, with just eight Reed Warblers, a Cetti's Warbler and a couple of Reed Buntings along the wall, plus 12 Sand Martins and half a dozen Swallows and Swifts over, and 14 Cattle Egrets and a Skylark around the fields. (LP/MJa/S&SaH)
Marsh Harrier (above), Cattle Egret, Whimbrel & Black-tailed Godwit at the North Wall (LP)
Chi GPs: Drayton House pits - An early WeBS count for me at these pits, but my visit today was really all about Pochards and trying to discover any late broods, for this species is notorious for such broods here.
Sure enough, my visit paid dividends and I located a female with at least two small ducklings, another female that gave the briefest glimpse of at least one tiny young, and a female at the other end of the lake with two, possibly three, well grown young. So, at least three recent broods, to add to the earlier three broods in late May/June, makes six successful pairs this year - all on North pit - plus one wary pair earlier, making an overall total of seven likely breeding pairs - a nationally important total of this scarce breeding species.
There were also a good number of adult non-breeders present, consisting of 11 on South pit and 45 on North pit = 56, a significant number for the time of year. Other species logged included 12 Tufted Ducks, ten pairs of Great Crested Grebe, several Little Grebe families, a family of four Green Woodpeckers, a noisy family of four Jays and a number of Reed Warbler families. (OM)
Pochards on the Drayton North pit this morning: (above) This wary female Pochard allowed just a brief glimpse of one of her very small young (and herself), whilst (middle two) this female had at least two small young in tow, but soon disappeared into cover, and (bottom) this female had at least two well-grown ducklings with her. (OM)
Friday, 4th July: After a cool start, a warm and increasingly hazily sunny morning in a moderate south-westerly breeze......
Selsey Bill: Another very quiet morning in pleasant conditions. Full log later. (AH/SR/IP/MO-W)
(0700-0815hrs) (SW, F4)
Mediterranean Gull - 3W
Sandwich Tern - 7E, 22W, 1os
Common Tern - 1W
Little Tern - 1E, 2W
Swift - 10
House Martin - 20
Jackdaw - 15E
Swift (above), House Martin, Little Tern & Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)
Ferry Pool: There were just the juvenile Avocet and two Black-tailed Godwits on the pool this morning. (AH)
Avocet on the Ferry (AH)
Mill Pond Marsh: The two Green Sandpipers were on the flooded field again this morning, with a Little Grebe and two chicks, a Tufted Duck and seven ducklings and a couple of Reed Warblers present, too. (AH)
North Wall: A Common Tern was fishing along White’s Creek early on, and there were at least 50 Redshanks out on the mud, as well as a few Curlews, whilst three Teal were on the Breech Pool along with 11 Black-tailed Godwits and c40 Mallards, with c20 Sand Martins and 12 Swallows over the water, and along the reeds there were lots of Sedge Warblers and Reed Warblers.
The juvenile Marsh Harriers were in their usual bushes further back, and around the paddock there was a Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, two Linnets, 14 Swallows and a Green Woodpecker, but it was quiet elsewhere, with just a Kingfisher along the rife at Halsey’s Farm, and four Lapwings in the fields. (LP/SP/MJa/CT)
Kingfisher (above), Sedge Warbler, Black-tailed Godwit & Redshanks at the North Wall (LP)
Medmerry: Easton Lane to the Stilt Pool - A Greenshank, a couple of Curlews and half a dozen Redshanks were by the poplars this morning, with a Common Sandpiper on the Stilt Pool, together with three Ringed Plovers, six Lapwings, four Oystercatchers, a Grey Heron and c40 Canada Geese, whilst up to five Common Terns were around the rafts.
There was quite a bit of activity along the banks, with a couple of Dartford Warblers and Chiffchaffs, half a dozen Reed Warblers, c20 Whitethroats and two families of Stonechats seen, along with 20+ Yellowhammers and Skylarks and 50+ Linnets, with half a dozen Swallows going over.
Also, there were still quite a few Marbled Whites and a profusion of Gatekeepers along the banks, and there was also a Pyramidal Orchid, too. (AH)
Greenshank (above), Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plovers, Dartford Warbler, Stonechats, swallow, Marbled White & Pyramidal Orchid at Medmerry (AH)
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