13th - 15th February 2014

Saturday, 15th February: A wild, windy and stormy night, giving way to a drier morning but still with a howling south-westerly.

Selsey Bill (0700-0900hrs):  sun and cloud, wind SW 7-8.  (Obs: SH et al)
Great Crested Grebe - 1W
Fulmar - 2W
R/b Merganser - 12W, 4 os
Common Scoter - 2E, 1W
Auk sp - 2E
Kittiwake - 3E, 10W
additional 1315-1430hrs: (SH)
Great Northern Diver - 1 os
R/b Merganser - 5 os
Common Scoter - 7 os
Great Skua - 2E
Kittiwake - 1W

 

The morning after the storm before... The Bill takes a battering (Sam Hill).
 

Pagham Hbr: Church Lane is flooded and care is needed to reach Welbourne. Needless to say all the fields behind the Wall are flooded. The bench beside the Salt House has collapsed. The tide has been over the Wall overnight. Cuttlefish shells along the footpath.  Bird-wise very quiet. Behind the Breech Pool 160 Lapwing and 480 Wigeon. Very few waders around whereas at high tide yesterday there had been close to 700 Black-tailed Godwits in front of Honer Farm. Today the Brent Geese were in the fields just north of Honer Reservoir. (Jim Weston)

The Ferry held 70 Shelduck, 60 Shoveler and the usual flocks of Wigeon and Lapwing, but not much else (AH). Later, a Little Gull was reported this afternoon (IL).

The lane to Church Norton is equally flooded and only just passable, and there wasn't much to report when I got there! Plenty of Brent Geese around, 4 Red-breasted Mergansers, 1 Great Crested and 2 Little Grebes and 20 Shelduck on the water and the usual mixed flock of Grey Plover, Knot and Dunlin on the last bits of mud before high tide were the highlights.(AH)

Brent Geese (above) & Knot in the harbour (AH)

 

Sidlesham: This afternoon a flock of about 70 Fieldfares flew up from the brassica field between Boxham Lane & Rotten Row (just west of the main road). (AH)

 

Medmerry: I visited the Ham side today, it was high tide and a little fresh so not surprisingly there were few birds about.  1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 22 Mallard, 80 Brent Geese, c200 Lapwing, 27 Sanderling, 4 Skylarks, 2 Little Grebes and 3 Coots.  This is the first time I've seen waves lapping against the furthest part of the new bank, very impressive but shame about the large collection of litter caught on the new fence. (SR).

 

 View from the fence line at Medmerry (S. Russell)

 

 

 

Friday, 14th February: Grey skies, heavy rain and strong winds - the third storm of the week is well on its way.... but not enough to put off one of the stalwarts... well done Andy!

Selsey Bill: 0855-0940hrs  Wind F5/6 E & rain (AH)
Great Northern Diver 1 o/s
Red-breasted Merganser 1 W & 6 o/s
Little Gull (ad) lingering o/s
Common Gull 6 o/s
Kittiwake 17 W (inc one flock of 9 birds)

Little Gull off Selsey Bill (AH)

 

Chichester Harbour: Not being one that is easily discouraged by a strong easterly wind and heavy rain, I found a bit of shelter around the western edges, starting at Birdham Pool. Not much to report - 6 Little Grebes, 3 Tufted Ducks and a Grey Heron being the total.

West Itchenor was more interesting, the best birds being a close-in Razorbill and 3 Slavonian Grebes. Also present there were 20 Shelduck, 10 Teal, 8 Red-Breasted Mergansers, 2 Great Crested Grebes and a couple of hundred Brent Geese.(AH)

Razorbill off West Itchenor (AH)

Pagham Lagoon: In the pouring rain the Lagoon held three Red-breasted Mergansers, a pair of Goldeneye, a few Little Grebes and Tufted Ducks this morning as well as gulls various.(Bart Ives per SOS)

Thursday 13th February: A respite day between storms with some welcome sunshine later, though unfortunately yesterday's tempest didn't produce any surprises bird-wise.
Selsey Bill: 0750-1050hrs Heavy rain/showers then sunny and bright, wind W 4-5
(Obs: TR / RS / OM / AH)
Great Northern Diver - 2 o/s
Common Scoter -  12 o/s
R/b Merganser - 2W, 12 os
Common Gull - 5W
Little Gull -  1 adult o/s
Kittiwake 1 o/s

And nothing moving at all
 

adult Little Gull off Selsey Bill (above shot AH, lower two OM) 

 

 

  

Church Norton: Quiet still on the high tide - the Peregrine was on his island, 50 Pintail and 200 Golden Plover got up amongst the other wildfowl and waders when a Chinook helicopter went low over the harbour, and still plenty of Mediterranean and Common Gulls on the beach, though I could find nothing on the sea. Also there were a pair of Stock Doves on the field from Rectory Lane. (AH)

 

Stock Dove at Church Norton (AH)

Selsey: West beach was quiet except for a single Kestrel and a Guillemot close inshore. A look around Northcommon Farm was decidedly unproductive and the only thing of interest was a single Green Woodpecker and a gathering of 200+ Rooks on a flooded playing field (OM).

A quick visit to the North wall this afternoon produced nothing remarkable, just the large flock of Black-tailed Godwits  and Curlew still on the flooded fields and a selection of the usual wildfowl.
The 2 Whooper Swans were still present on the flood between Lagness and South Mundham (accessible from the footpath near the farm factory) (OM).

10th - 12th February 2014

Wednesday, 12th February: Here we go again with another storm due to batter us from late morning onwards. Not living on the peninsula, I must admit I was put off today from making the slow journey down to the Bill by the weather forecast, as only the briefest of dry interludes was predicted. Well it's still dry at 1100hrs as I write this, but it seems I didn't miss too much anyway, as the below hour's seawatch by AH/CRJ indicates! (OM).

Selsey Bill: (08.30-09.30hrs) SSW F5-6 (Obs: AH & CRJ)
Fulmar - 3 W
Red-breasted Merganser - 2 o/s
Mediterranean Gull - 1 W
Kittiwake - 9 W
Razorbill - 1 W

Fulmar (above) and Kittiwake off Selsey Bill (AH)

 

Following on from yesterday's comments by AH on the subject of Badgers in the Selsey/Norton area, the following input from Steve Hooper may be of interest:-

 I hope I can update you on the presence of Badgers in the Selsey area. In late April or early May about 25 years ago (I know it was around "Pom" time in the late 'eighties, but I can't remember exactly which year) I was doing some work for a farming contractor on what were then fields on the left hand side of the road when heading south into Selsey village, just past the roundabout after the turning into Church Norton.
Although I never actually saw a live Badger, there were the unmistakeable signs of Badger activity (territorial marking, etc) alongside one of the hedgerows that was grubbed out when the new estate was built a few years ago. I mentioned this to the contractor at the time, but I was asked not to tell anyone else - they had been there since he was a boy, and he didn't want them to be disturbed, but I guess It's o.k. to mention this now as he's been dead for many years. Hope this is of some use. (SH)

 

Tuesday, 11th February: Back to another period of rain and gales sweeping in from the Atlantic. There still seems to be no end in sight as gale follows gale, with the odd day of respite in between. Today's report starts with two items of belated news gleaned from the SOS website; one reports the Long-tailed Ducks still off Church Norton, whilst the other is a report from a birding Selsey fisherman who saw some Bonxies off the Bill ....

10th February: (1) An afternoon visit to Pagham produced three Long-tailed Ducks off shore adjacent to The Severals. Also two Bar-tailed Godwits on the adjacent spit amongst a flock of approximately 40 Grey Plovers. Two Velvet Scoters flew E to W, landing on the sea close to the 'basket' marker. Three Red-breasted Mergansers offshore and a Peregrine causing usual havoc over the harbour...! (Chris Newton, per SOS).

(2) From Chris Wilson (Selsey fisherman): We had a breezy but interesting day offshore. First half of day there were about 10 Great Skuas and numerous gulls, then when we headed off west where we had a pod of between 10-20 dolphins around us. Then midday there were two skuas, an adult and young Gannet feeding alongside boat, less gulls pm, and all day plenty of Razorbills & Guillemots but no Puffins. A typically good show of birds on a breezy day! (per SOS).

One further bit of news for yesterday was of a dead Badger seen by the roadside just north of the Ferry, which SH & I agreed was the first either of us have seen on the peninsula. Not entirely sure their arrival on the peninsula is a good thing with the number of ground-nesting birds increasing both at Pagham & Medmerry.

Selsey Bill: 09.05-10.00hrs F5/6 SSW (AH)
Great Northern Diver 2 W
Fulmar 9 W
Gannet 2 W
Common Scoter 3 o/s
Red-breasted Merganser 2 E, 4 W & 3 o/s
Kittiwake 5 W
Guillemot 1 E
Additional seawatch: 1330 to 1500hrs  (C&ME) 
Red-throated Diver - 3E
Great Northern Diver - 1 os
Diver sp - 1W
Fulmar - 1E, 3W
Common Scoter - 13 os
R/b Merganser - 8 os
Guillemot - 1E, 1 os

Church Norton: Almost birdless in the harbour, but half a dozen Goldcrests and Long-tailed Tits were feeding along the path. (AH)

Monday, 10th February: Rain early on, then mainly dry with sunshine and cloud. Less windy than the last few days, WNW 3-4.

Selsey Bill: 08.30-09.00hrs:  (Obs: AH)
Great Crested Grebe - 1 W
Common Scoter  - 4 E & 4 o/s
Great Black-backed Gull - 1 o/s
10.00 to 11.45hrs (Obs: M&CE)
Great Northern Diver - 1 os
Fulmar - 1E
R/b Merganser - 1W, 6 os
Common Scoter - 17 os
Common Gull - 6 ob
Med Gull - 2 os

Pagham Lagoon: 1 Slavonian Grebe, 18 Little Grebes, 3 Goldeneye, 1 Red Breasted Merganser, 13 Tufted Duck and 3 Med Gulls (JW).

East Head: Not much to report, despite the nice weather - 1 Great Northern Diver, 6 Red-breasted Mergansers and 5 Great Crested Grebes off the northern end, many hundreds of Brent Geese all over the place, but few other wildfowl save a handful of Wigeon and Teal, and wader numbers seemed low, too - a few Redshank, Dunlin and Grey Plover and 100+ Lapwing being the sum. Also at least 50 Skylarks and 20 Meadow Pipits about. (AH)
 

Lapwing & Grey Plover (above) and Dunlins off East Head (AH)

7th - 9th February 2014

Sunday, 9th February: Still very windy but at least it's somewhat drier today with sunny periods and the odd heavy shower. As I suggested yesterday, the sea washed up with a couple of surprises, although one of them sadly was a dead Puffin. This is the third one I know about on the West Sussex coast, so whether this is storm related or something more sinister like an oil spill we don't yet know, though I have a hunch it could be the latter.

Selsey Bill: 07.15 to 09.30hrs:  Mainly dry, some showers, Wind strong WSW 5-7.

(Obs:JA, SH, PB & IP)

Great Northern Diver 1 o/s

diver sp 1 E

Great Crested Grebe 1 W

Fulmar 2 W

Gannet 2 W

Teal 2 W

Eider 4 E & 2 W

Common Scoter 1 E & 5 o/s

Red-breasted Merganser 14 W & 3 o/s

Mediterranean Gull 1 W

Kittiwake 5 E

auk sp 2 E

Also a Peregrine seen offshore swooping down low several times apparently trying to pluck something off the sea without success

Sadly a dead Puffin was found on the beach, too.

 

Dead Puffin on Selsey Beach (SH)

The wall at the Bill, minus all of its shingle (SH)

Fishbourne Creek: I lead a dozen hardy members of the SOS around here this morning in the bracing westerly gale, and highlights of a surprisingly productive trip were 3 or 4 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, at least 500 Black-tailed Godwits, a pair of Goldeneye, half a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers and Little Grebes, 2 or 3 Rock Pipits and a dozen Meadow Pipits, a brief sighting of a Grey Wagtail, 15-20 Yellowhammers, 2 Lesser Black-backed, 1 Mediterranean and dozens of Common Gulls, and a Peregrine upsetting the peace, along with hundreds of Brent Geese and plenty of the commoner waders. (AH)

 

Spotted Redshank (top), Greenshank (above) & Grey Plover in Fishbourne Creek (AH)

Ferry Pool: At least 500 Brent Geese & Lapwings present, plus a single Snipe and 40+ Shoveler, and about 80 Goldfinch on teasels by the hide. (AH)

On the way back from seeing the Kumlien's Gull at Littlehampton I stopped off at the very blustery Pagham Lagoon but there was no sign of the recent Slavonian Grebe.  Three Goldeneye, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, 9 Tufted Ducks,  c30 Little Grebes, 9 Med. Gulls, 2 Mute Swans, c40 Coots were present (SR).

 

Church Norton: Sam & Sandra Hill found a live lobster (with eggs) on the beach which they generously returned to the sea, after a quick photo.

 A live lobster with eggs, on Church Norton Beach, before being returned to the sea (AH)

At Medmerry banks, (Earnley)  15.00hrs
200+ Pied Wagtail inc one flock of 60
70+ Yellowhammer inc one flock of 30
70 Golden Plover, 500 Lapwing and a Common Buzzard (SH)

 

Saturday, 8th February: A real mixed bag of weather today - black skies, cloud, bright sunshine, hail and very heavy squally showers. The one consistent feature has been the wind,  a strong to gale force SSW with occasional more severe gusts. Despite this it was still possible for some of the regulars to get out and do a bit of birding.... although surprisingly the sea was disappointing. It may not stay that way though, for just along the coast at Littlehampton, a Kumlein's and a Glaucous Gull were present today, generating a good deal of interest (guess where I was). Whilst they were the headline grabbers, it may well be what the sea washes in over the next few days that steals the show. Sam Hill found loads of starfish, but along the coast a moribund Puffin was found which inevitably perished, but I also heard news today of another Puffin washed up dead at Climping, together with other auks. This may or may not be weather related, but either way it's well worth checking the sea and shoreline over the next few days  - you just never know! (OM)

 

Selsey Bill 07.20 to 09.00hrs: Very windy/gales SSW, sun, rain and cloud.  (Obs: SH et al)
Red-throated Diver - 4E
Great Northern Diver - 1W
Fulmar - 4W
Common Scoter - 2E, 8 os
R/b Merganser -  1E, 1W, 5 os
Grey Plover - 8W
Kittiwake - 2E, 1W

Pagham Hbr: North Wall: Blowing a gale and very little around on this side of the Harbour. The fields behind the Breech Pool  (or more accurately the lakes) were a different story though.... 610 Black-tailed Godwit, 247 Curlew, 320 Lapwing, 4 Redshank, 3 Common Snipe, 10 Mute Swan, 680 Wigeon, 33 Teal, 9 Shoveler  and 16 Coot. There were 1400 Brent Geese in the field between Honer and Marsh Farm along with 80 Wigeon and 28 Curlew. A Firecrest in Owl Copse. (Jim Weston). 

During a walk to Church Norton from the Selsey area, S&SaH located 2 Buzzards, 3 Kestrels and a single Med Gull, but also of interest were dozens of starfish washed up on the beach and hundreds of sea urchins. They also found this, which was placed in a shell to give an idea of size (see pic) ....what is it? My guess is a sea-squirt (the object that is!) Any ideas anyone? (OM)

 

Mystery object found on the beach by Sam and Sandra; any ideas? (SH)

 

Two adult Whooper Swans on floodwater between South Mundham and Lagness this afternoon (P&BJ).

Ivy Lake this morning held all the usual suspects - a colour-ringed (red) Herring gull that was too far away to read the lettering, and another dark-eyed adult Herring gull type were the most interesting birds. An exceedingly draughty Fishbourne creek was alive with waders and Brent Geese, with c.450 Black-tailed Godwits of which many were colour-ringed individuals, but the wind/rain/hail made note-taking impossible (P.Hughes per SOS website).

 

Friday, 7th February: About the rarest thing today was the sight of a sunny morning! Even so it's not set to last and yet another storm is due overnight and into tomorrow morning.

Pagham Hbr: Church Norton: Not much new to report - the Peregrine was on his island, there was absolutely nothing offshore, but along the beach, 200 Knot, 20 Bar-tailed Godwit, 500 Dunlin, 50 Grey Plover, 30 Common Gulls and 50+ Mediterranean & Black-headed Gulls, some of which were reminding us that spring is not far away .... hopefully! 

Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls starting to show their black heads (AH) 

Sidlesham Ferry: Again not much new to report - 50+ Shoveler, several hundred Brent Geese and Lapwings on the grass and at least a dozen Curlews there, too, plus a very striking 'sinensis'-type Cormorant. (AH)

 

'sinensis'-type Cormorant on the Ferry (AH)

4th - 6th February 2014

Thursday, 6th February: After a brief respite overnight and early morning, the rain and wind continued again with the forecast of a wet day ahead. Observations today may again be at a premium, so any bird news welcomed, and thanks again to IL for maintaining our record of at least some bird news from the peninsula every day! Sure enough the rain arrived in earnest during mid-morning and continued throughout the day, though two hardy souls (which doesn't include me) managed to put a shift in - well done!

Pagham Hbr: Ivan Lang logged 46 Shelduck and 44 Shoveler on the Ferry Pool, 65 Goldfinches near the Visitor centre and 6 Avocets in the harbour.

 

Sarah Russell reports" I couldn't tolerate being indoors any longer so after lunch I spent a little time in the hide overlooking Ferry Pool.  The rain was still hammering down and visibility poor:  3 Snipe out in the open at the edge of the water, 2 Redshank, 1 Cormorant,17 Shelduck, 56 Shoveler, c150 Wigeon, c75 Teal, 11 Mallard, 6 Coot, 1 Moorhen, 2 Mute Swans, 36 Black-headed Gulls, 6 Herring Gulls, 21 Curlew, 4 Rooks, 1 Pheasant, and just 1 single Lapwing.  Just outside the hide a charm of around 35  Goldfinch.  No sign of the Ruddy Shelducks although I had restricted view and they could have been further along. I tried a picture in rotten conditions, but now I'm back at home it has actually stopped  raining!" (SR)
 

Ferry Pool birdlife in the gloom! (S. Russell) 

Wednesday, 5th February: Dear oh dear, the thoroughly depressing wet and windy winter of 2014 still shows no sign of abating. Severe gales persisted overnight and into this morning, with lengthy periods of heavy rain, and the forecast is for this continue well into the weekend with no let-up in sight. No bird news yet received today... and so it stayed, almost our first no-news day on the blog....but not quite, a late item from Ivan Lang at Pagham Hbr saved the day!
For information, I had a quick flick through the Peninsula year-list for 2014, which by my reckoning currently stands at 129 species to the end of January. I may well have missed one or two, as if I was unsure I left the details out, but it will be fascinating to see how things progress as spring approaches. Keep looking! (OM).

Hate to think you had a day with no sightings so let’s put it right...(IL)

Pagham Hbr update: 

Ferry Pool – 2 Ruddy Shelduck

Ferry Field – 500 Brent Geese

Pagham Lagoon – 2 Goldeneye

Ruddy Shelducks over the Ferry (AH)

Tuesday, 4th February: Dry throughout most of the day (apart from the odd light shower), with sunshine and cloud. Windy, S/SSW 5-6. Rain forecasted for this evening. Today was definitely one of those early-Feb doldrums days with nothing new about and little to reward the active birder. I headed for the Bill where I met the Worthing boys who had just arrived. The cold, strong wind was blowing in straight at us and proved almost impossible to shelter from; I managed to last just an hour by which time the others had already left, as there was just nothing moving and conditions were fairly unpleasant. Meanwhile the Worthing boys checked out the Dell Quay area, finding a Black Brant and a large flock of Black-tailed Godwits.I decided to leave the Peninsula and head inland; it also proved to be fairly useless but that's another story. I did meet Andy House though at Burton Mill and I hope he won't mind me telling the world, but he informed me he'd just become a granddad..... congratulations Andy, and welcome to the old boys club!!

 

Selsey Bill (0835-0935hrs): Dry, bright, cold and windy, S/SSW 5-6.

(Obs: OM/BFF/DIS/DM)

Eider - 1 os

R/b Merganser - 3E, 6 os

Common Scoter - 1 os

Auk sp - 1E

Rock Pipit - 1 ob

 

Selsey: I parked in Warner Lane and took a walk through the caravan site to the breach at Medmerry this morning. The shingle ridge running between the boulders and the breech is now flat as a pancake, the tide was coming in so I didn't venture along it, just watched from the mound (see pic).  I'd love to say I'd seen loads of birds but apart from a Stonechat on the rough ground, two Kestrels, c150 Lapwing and c70 Brent Geese in the distance, birds were in short supply on this blustery day.  Further along, near the windmill I came across a Rock Pipit, 6 Meadow Pipits and a Pied Wagtail so it was more of a walk than a birdwatch.  The coastal path from the windmill to West Street remains closed due to erosion (SR).

 

The now-flat breach at Medmerry (Sarah Russell)

 

Whilst on the subject of Medmerry please see below an update from Adrian Thomas (RSPB):

While checking out the new breach at Medmerry this afternoon (3/2/14), 12 Grey Plover, 100+ Golden Plover, 100 Stock Dove, 500+ Lapwing, maybe 800 Brent Geese and a Peregrine. It will take time for the ecology of the site to develop (the sea is basically flowing over bare subsoil and ex-arable land), so this is very encouraging already. The Environment Agency has confirmed that the unfinished paths are now open to the public, although the two new small car parks remain closed for now. The EA hope to complete the public access this spring/early summer, after which day-to-day management will transfer to the RSPB. My recommendation, should people want to visit in the interim, is to pick up the temporary leaflet from Pagham Harbour visitor centre and then drive to the new car park just south of Earnley Concourse (but be aware there is a road closed between Almodington and Earnley, with diversion via Birdham). Then park in the layby opposite the new car park (please don't block the gate into the site). Walk out east down the new track to the new bank and south to the beach. Please don't drive south of the new car park - it is a private road. And do take care around the beach and breach - the sea is shifting (i.e. chucking!) huge volumes of shingle and clay with every high tide and storm. Any queries, do drop me or the new Senior Warden, Pete Hughes, a line on medmerry@rspb.org.uk.

Church Norton: was bereft of most of its waders with virtually zero in view, even the Peregrine on the small island looked unhappy in the wind! (BFF/DIS/DM) On Pagham Lagoon the Slavonian Grebe was still present (per Matt Eade).

Dell Quay: seeking shelter down the east side of the harbour we found 2 Greenshank and 2 Spotted Redshank amongst the common waders and ducks in the main channel. In the middle of the channel a conservative count of at least 550 Black-tailed Godwits huddled together like a flock of Emperor Penguins trying to keep warm! South of Dell Quay and viewing from Salterns Way we found the Black Brant feeding amongst a huge flock of around 2000 Brent Geese! (BFF/DIS/DM) (see below - pic Dorian Mason)

 

(above) Spotted Redshank with 2 Black-tailed Godwits, and (below) Curlew at Dell Quay (D. Mason)

 

 

1st - 3rd February 2014

Monday, 3rd February: Cloudy with some sunshine and dry through the day, though with a strong, cool SE wind, force 5-6.

South Mundham area: The two Whooper Swans were on the flooded fields between Bowley Lane and Lagness this morning, there were also c10 Mute Swans there, but they flew off just as I left, hope the Whoopers didn’t follow them. Honer Reservoir was almost full to bursting, the highest I have seen it, but no birds on it. At the western end a mixed flock of 60 birds comprising Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Goldfinch. Not much to see down Fisher Lane apart from a small flock of c30 Greenfinches and Chaffinches and a single obliging Common Buzzard. (CRJ)
Pagham Hbr: North wall: A Lapwing morning; 1300 behind the Breech Pool and a further 1600 in the flooded field north of the Welbourne stables. Other waders included 90 Black-tailed Godwits, 48 Golden Plover and 33 Curlew. Just a few Wigeon, Teal and Tufted Ducks on the Breech Pool. White water rafting on White's Creek soon!! All the footpaths across the fields remain flooded. (Jim Weston)

East Head: OM & I went looking for the reported Snow Bunting and the Dartford Warbler without success this morning, but did find a flock of approximately 34 Barnacle Geese, which flew low across the harbour from the west, settled on the water for a while, before setting off east after much circling and uncertainty. (AH).

Barnacle Geese off East Head (AH)

 

Not on a par with Andy's goose shots I know, but my somewhat distant record shot shows, I think, the Barnacle flock consisted of 33 birds (OM).

There were 3 Sandwich Terns, about a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers, one Great Crested Grebe and a few Skylarks around, and several hundred Dunlin and a few dozen Ringed Plovers amongst the Brent Goose flock on the grass behind the cafe. (AH). I stayed on a while after Andy left, determined to find something noteworthy, but didn't really succeed. The large Brent flock all seemed to be dark-bellied, whilst another try for the Dartford again drew a blank. A single Med Gull nearby seemed amused by my efforts. I checked out a couple of sites for Jack Snipe but there was just no sign of them or even of Common Snipe; the water levels are clearly too high and the weather too mild.   Snowhill Marsh also held high water levels, but amongst the roosting wildfowl at high tide were 3 Greenshank and 3 Spotted Redshanks. (OM).

Sandwich Tern off East Head (AH)

 

Amused Med Gull watching the efforts of a bemused birder! (OM)

 

Sunday, 2nd February: Mainly sunny and dry with cloud building through the day. A short sea-watch at the Bill didn't produce a great deal and generally it was more of the same today.

Selsey Bill: 07.15-08.15hrs: (SH) Bright sunshine and a stiff westerly

Common Scoter 2 E & 3 os

Red-breasted Merganser 3 W & 4 os

Grey Plover 4 W

Oystercatcher 3 E

Guillemot 1 W

Church Norton:  A Grey Wagtail at the start of a walk from Park Farm, Selsey, plus 3 Sparrowhawks, 2 Eider & 12 Red-breasted Mergansers en route to Church Norton. (S&SaH) Not much to add, but big numbers of Grey Plover, Dunlin and Knot in the harbour. (AH)

Knot & Grey Plover in the harbour (AH)

Pagham Lagoon: The Slavonian Grebe was giving nice close views this morning, plus a female Goldeneye, c25 Mediterranean. Gulls and c30 Little Grebes. (SR)

Sidlesham Ferry: The two Ruddy Shelduck still present. Also 66 Shoveler, 50 Curlew and at least 300 Brent Geese on the fields with the Wigeon and Lapwing flocks. (AH)

Part of the Brent Goose flock on Ferry field (AH)

Chi GPs: I decided to pay a visit to the Drayton pits to see if anything unusual had appeared, but couldn't find anything fitting that description. Perhaps surprisingly though the most numerous bird (excluding Coots) was Gadwall, with at least 110 counted between the two pits. Other totals included 45 Greylag Geese, 80 Tufted Ducks, 45 Pochard, 45 Shoveler, 6 Great Crested Grebes, c.10 Little Grebes, 3 Snipe, a Common Buzzard and 2 Cetti's Warblers. A visit to Westhampnett North (windsurf) pit was less productive; just 20 Tufteds, a few Pochard and several each of Great Crested and Little Grebe.(OM).

 

Medmerry banks: Earnley to Bracklesham  (SH).
800+ Brent Geese

300+ Lapwing

30+ Golden Plover

2 Buzzards

100 Stock Doves (one flock)

5 Stonechat

13 Pied Wagtail
20+ Yellowhammer
50+ Chaffinch
5 Reed Bunting

 

Saturday, 1st February: Sunny and windy during the morning then cloudy with heavy showers later. A fairly quiet seawatch today in the bright and mainly westerly conditions, the highlight being two wintering Sandwich Terns offshore.

Selsey Bill: 07.15-0900hrs: Sunny with cloud, showers later, wind fresh W/SW 

(Obs: JA/SH/AH)

Red-throated Diver -  1W

Great Northern Diver - 2 os

Diver Sp - 4E

Gannet - 4E, 2W

Brent Goose - 1E

Eider - 1E

Common Scoter - 5 os

Dunlin - 1W

Sanderling - 3 ob
Guillemot - 1E, 1w
Auk sp - 3E
Sandwich Tern - 2 os

Additional seawatch: 1530-1630hrs: (SH)

Great Northern Diver - still 1 os

Diver sp - 1E

Common Scoter - 6 os

R/b Merganser - 5 os
Little Gull - 2 lingering os
Kittiwake - 6W

Two of the three Sanderling at the Bill (AH)

Church Norton: Fifteen Avocets were feeding in the main channel, the Peregrine was on his island, a huge flock (500 birds, perhaps) of Black-tailed Godwits flew around several times, and plenty of Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plover were on the mud. (AH) Later the Peregrine flew around causing havoc with the waders, and 40+ Med Gulls were also present (SH).

Part of the Black-tailed Godwit/Lapwing flock swirling around the harbour (AH)

Sidlesham Ferry: The two Ruddy Shelduck present again, plus 3 Common Snipe, 40 Golden Plover, 200 Brent Geese and the usual wildfowl. (AH)

Ruddy Shelduck on the Ferry field (AH)

29th - 31st January 2014

Friday, 31st January: Another grey, dreary and cloudy day with the promise of heavy rain later and yet more rain and strong winds thereafter, bringing to a close the wettest January on record. The only compensation to most folk is that the winter has been comparatively mild throughout, though to us birders it's of little use as it usually fails to deliver anything unusual or any exciting movements. It can still all change of course in the next few weeks but time is getting on and it may be that some birds will have dispersed early - time will tell.
Right, on with today's birding news...

Selsey Bill (08.30 - 09.15hrs): Cloud.       (Obs: AH)
Slavonian Grebe - 1W
Gannet - 2E
Brent Goose  - 16E
Common Scoter -  3W & 3 os
Red-breasted Merganser - 2 E, 3W
Kittiwake - 2 E
Guillemot - 1 W

Sidlesham Ferry: The two Ruddy Shelducks present again, along with 6 Gadwall, 40+ Shoveler, 50+ Shelduck and plenty of Wigeon & Teal. (AH)

Wigeon (above) and Ruddy Shelduck on the Ferry (AH)

 

Thursday, 30th January: Wind very light N increasing slightly to NW 2-3 later. I arrived at the Bill to find Paul Matson already in situ and some birding interest on the flat calm sea; before long the Worthing boys also arrived. A Razorbill was showing well quite close inshore, whilst a small movement of Slavonian Grebes was apparent, a couple of small groups settling on the sea awhile before moving off. A small movement of wildfowl was also of interest, including a flock of 16 mystery ducks that settled some way out before eventually revealing themselves as Tufted when they flew off.
 

Selsey Bill (08.30 - 1130hrs): Cloudy then sunny, wind very light N/NW 1-2.

Red-throated Diver - 1E, 6W, 1 os

Great Northern Diver - 1W, 2 os

Diver sp - 1W

Great Crested Grebe - 2E, 1 os

Slavonian Grebe - 1E, at least 9W (mostly settled os before moving off)

Brent Goose - 5E, 3W

Eider - 3W

Common Scoter - 13 os

R/b Merganser - 25E, 7os
Shoveler - 20W
Teal - 4W

Tufted Duck - 16E

Razorbill - 1 os

Auk sp - 1E

Med Gull - 4E, 1 os

 

 

 

 

Razorbill and Med Gull off Selsey Bill (Dorian Mason)

 

 

 

 

At Church Norton we were greeted by a honking Raven sat in the large pine tree in the car park, it quickly moved off honking around the church yard for a few minutes. In the bushes down to the beach a Firecrest was briefly seen but offshore only three Eider and four Red-breasted Mergansers. Watching from the bench overlooking the harbour at Norton we counted 36 Bar-tailed Godwits and 285 Turnstone roosting at high tide with at least 68 Med Gulls loafing. A small male Peregrine zoomed over the beach causing wader panic and in the far distance we could just make out the Ruddy Shelducks in the harbour at the North Wall (BFF/DIS/DM)

Relocating to Dell Quay we spent the reminder of the day birding around Chichester Harbour with another Raven in trees on the opposite bank. In with the roosting waders we found two Spotted Redshanks and two Greenshanks with six Goldeneye on the water. Around the edge of the harbour a skulking Water Rail and a single Rock Pipit. We located a large Brent Goose flock south of Dell Quay and glimpsed a Black Brant feeding amongst them. We then managed to get fairly close to the flock near New Barn Farm and had much better views (BFF/DIS/DM).

At East Head a Dartford Warbler still present (SR).

A Raven flew south-west over my garden in Sidlesham first thing this morning. (AH)
 

Wednesday 29th January:

North Wall: Very large numbers of Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Golden Plover & Wigeon on the flooded fields, plus a dozen Common Snipe flying about on the high tide. (AH)
 

Black-tailed Godwits behind the North Wall (AH)

Pagham Lagoon: The Slavonian Grebe still present, plus 4 Red-breasted Mergansers, 5 Goldeneye, 40 Little Grebes and 20 or so Common and Mediterranean Gulls. (AH)

Slavonian Grebe (above) & Red-breasted Merganser on Pagham Lagoon. (AH)