Birding the Selsey Peninsula: 1st-3rd May 2015

Sunday, 3rd May: A very wet start, with the wind just east of south, before it eased around to west of south. Surprisingly, given the conditions, bird of the day was Black Tern, with a dozen past the Bill and another on Ivy Lake....

Selsey Bill: (0530-0945hrs) (JA/SH/IP/CN/AH/J&PW/JW)
Great Northern Diver - 2os
Fulmar - 4E, 1W
Gannet - 52E, 168W
Brent Goose - 9E
Shelduck - 2p
Common Scoter - 45E
Greenshank - 6W
Whimbrel - 7E
Sanderling - 2E
Arctic Skua
Sandwich Tern - 80E, 136os
Common Tern - 341E, 190os
Little Tern - 29E, 25os
Black Tern 7os, then E, and 5E
Swallow - 4N
(0945-1115hrs) (AH/CN/JW)
Manx Shearwater - 1W
Fulmar - 2E
Gannet - 10E, 85W
Common Scoter - 30E
Arctic Skua - 2E(1l/p,1d/p)
Little Gull - 1W
Sandwich Tern - 25W
Common Tern - 10E, 20os
Little Tern - 3W
Swallow - 1N
Wheatear - 1p

Gannet (above), Sandwich Terns, Brent Geese & Wheatear at the Bill (AH)

(1215-1415hrs) (SR)

Great Crested Grebe - 1E

Gannet - 2E, 42W

Fulmar - 1W

Common Scoter - 12E

Hobby - 1N

Sandwich Tern - 15W

Common Tern - 2W

Commic Tern - 6E, 9W

Little Tern - 9E, 1W

Swift - 1N

Swallow - 3N

(then until 1830hrs) (SH/PB/JA/IP/CN)

Great Northern Diver - 1os

diver sp - 2E

Great Crested Grebe - 2E

Fulmar - 1E
Gannet - 59E, 42W
Common Scoter - 23E

Dunlin - 10W

Sanderling - 10W

Whimbrel - 1W
Great Skua - 2E
Arctic Skua - 1E (d/p)
Kittiwake - 1W

Sandwich Tern - 8E

Commic Tern - 4E

Arctic Tern - 3W

Black Tern - 2E

Guillemot - 1W
auk sp - 2W

Swift - 10N
Swallow - 24N

There was a huge mixed flock of terns off Hillfield Road late this afternoon, including good numbers of Sandwich and Common, plus a few Little terns sat on the beach. (AH)

Sandwich, Common & Little Terns at the Bill (AH)

Chichester GPs: Ivy Lake - A Back Tern was showing well with c50 Common Terns and the first-summer Little Gull on the lake this morning. Also there were 50+ Swifts and House Martins and a few Swallows and Sand Martins present and a Sedge warbler by the road. (S&SaH/PC/GM/AH/BI et al)
The Black Tern and Little Gull were still present late afternoon, and a Hobby went over, upsetting the hirundines. (T&BR)

Black Tern at Ivy Lake (AH)

Church Norton: A bank of drizzly fog swept across the harbour, but there were still eight Sandwich Terns and two Little Terns visible offshore, with 15 of the former and six Common Terns in the harbour, along with about ten Whimbrel. A Lesser Whitethroat was by the concrete wall and two or three Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were singing. (AH/CN)

'View' across the harbour (above), Little and Sandwich Tern at Church Norton (AH)

Not much change this afternoon, though the Cuckoo was calling well and c20 Sandwich Terns, four Common Terns and two Little Terns were in the harbour, and a Whimbrel rather gruesomely shook all the legs off a crab before devouring it. (AH)

Whimbrel dismantling and eating a crab at Church Norton (AH)

Ferry Pool: Despite the high tide, the only waders present were an Avocet and a Redshank, plus the usual Lapwings, and there were six Gadwall and 30 Shelduck also present. (AH)
Three Spoonbills were on the pool at 4pm this afternoon. (MP/DH)

North Wall: There was a ringed Avocet and one Little Ringed Plover on the Breech Pool late this afternoon. (MP/DP)

Saturday, 2nd May: Even colder, greyer and windier start than yesterday, with a ENE wind shifting slowly towards ESE, but still cool and grey.....

Selsey Bill: (0525-0930hrs) Similar to yesterday, just fewer of the same species! A single Arctic Skua went east by 10am, but almost nothing else going through, though there were plenty of Little, Sandwich and Common Terns lingering close offshore and along the beach. (Full log below) (JA/SH/IP/PB/AB/PM/AH/CRJ et al)
Great Northern Diver - 4os
Red-throated Diver - 1W
Fulmar - 2E, 3W
Gannet - 156E, 11W
Shag - 1os
Shelduck - 2p
Mallard - 1E
Common Scoter - 9E
Hobby - 1N
Kestrel - 1p
Curlew - 2E
Whimbrel - 7E
Bar-tailed Godwit - 8E
Dunlin - 4E
Arctic Skua - 1E (d/p)
Kittiwake - 1E, 1W
Sandwich Tern - 52E, 62os
Commic tern - 48E, 70os
Little tern - 14E, 9os
Razorbill - 8W
Guillemot - 1W
auk sp - 3E, 76W
Swift - 5N
Yellow Wagtail - 1N
Grey seal - 1os

Little Terns (above), Sandwich and Common Terns, & Grey Seal with a good catch at the Bill (AH)

A good gathering (above) and an early departure by the regulars at the Bill (AH)

(1510-1840) (GH/SH/JA/CRJ/AH/CN)

Great Northern Diver - 2os

Manx Shearwater - 1E

Fulmar - 1E, 2W

Gannet 86E, 1W

Shelduck - 2p

Common Scoter -E

Whimbrel - 2E

Arctic Skua - 5E (all d/p)

Great Skua - 1E

Little Gull - 1E

Kittiwake - 4E

Common Tern -18E, 100 os

Commi Tern - 12E

Sandwich Tern - 6E, 44os

Little Tern - 20os

Black Tern - 1E

auk sp - 1W

Swift - 3N

Swallow - 5N

Fulmar (above) & Arctic Skua chasing Sandwich Tern at the Bill (AH)

Church Norton: As bleak as to be expected, with a single Grey Plover and a dozen or so Whimbrel and Dunlin being the only birds in evidence on the high tide in the harbour. A Cuckoo was calling and a Lesser Whitethroat was showing uncharacteristically well along the west side, but otherwise it was the usual warblers, plus a couple of Reed Buntings and Linnets. (AH)
Along the beach there were three Swifts over, 20 Sandwich Terns and six Common Terns, but just a few Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Whitethroats in the bushes. (S&SaH)

Lesser Whitethroat (above), Chiffchaff & Reed Bunting at Church Norton (AH)

Chichester GPs: Ivy Lake - The first-summer Little Gull was again at the back of the lake, with plenty of Common Terns, Swifts and all three species of hirundine present, too. (AB)

Ferry Pool: Not much change - four Avocets, eight Redshank, c50 Black-tailed Godwits, six Gadwall and c40 Shelduck being the lot. (AH)

Fishbourne Creek: At least two Greenshanks and a Spotted Redshank this afternoon, but the only other waders were a dozen or so Whimbrel and a couple of Curlews. There were four Brent Geese in the creek with 50+ Shelduck, a pair of Common Terns were there too, a pair of Mediterranean Gulls went over and around ten Lesser Black-backed Gulls were at the northern end. (AH)

Greenshank (above) & Whimbrel in Fishbourne Creek (AH)

Friday, 1st May: Mainly cloudy and dry with hints of brightness, but cool with a brisk E/NE wind. As we enter the long-awaited early May period, yours truly is doing the unthinkable and leaving the Peninsula! It will be the first time in my birding life I've chosen to miss this period in the UK and I'm going on a week's trip to Lesvos with several of the Selsey old boys; I won't see many Poms out there - am I mad I keep asking myself?!! But the die is cast....I leave early tomorrow and predictably a look at the weather forecast for the day shows cloud and rain and a brisk SSE, so if you want to see me off big style there's every chance of doing so.... and I can't pretend it won't hurt! However, the reason I tell you all this is to say please spare a thought for Andy, my erstwhile co-editor. AH will be doing the blog solo at about the busiest time of year whilst trying to fit in some birding and a job(!).. keeping the blog output current really is a two-man job now, so please be a bit understanding...as you wipe away a tear, it would help greatly if you got your news to him promptly and in a form he can just 'cut and paste' with minimal editing. Good luck to all (especially AH) for a great week ahead! (OM).

Selsey Bill (0525-0945hrs): Cloudy, ENE 4-5. Another slow and frustrating morning at the Bill, with the bitter north-easterly making it feel like mid-winter early on. An Arctic Skua east, and two west, plus a Bonxie and three Whimbrel were about the only things moving through, though there were plenty of Common, Sandwich and Little Terns feeding close in and eventually drifting off on the rising tide, as well as a few Fulmars and Gannets, and, surprisingly, there were two Hobbies and two Yellow Wagtails in off the sea. (Full log below) (JA/PM/GH/BI/AH et al)

Great Northern Diver - 1E, 4os
Gannet - 41E, 22W
Fulmar - 5E, 6W
Shelduck - 2E, 3p
Common Scoter - 16E
Hobby - 2N
Peregrine - 1p
Dunlin - 1W
Whimbrel - 4E
Arctic Skua - 1E, 2W
Great Skua - 1E

Sandwich Tern - 71E
Common Tern - 17E
Little Tern - 47E
Kittiwake - 1E
Auk sp - 18W
Yellow Wagtail - 2N
Swallow - 1N
Goldfinch - 2N

Whimbrel (above), Sandwich Terns, Little Terns & Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls at the Bill (top five AH, bottom two BI)

(1540-1800hrs) (JA/SH)

Great Northern Diver - 5os

Fulmar - 1E
Gannet - 39E, 6W, 6os

Curlew - 1W

Whimbrel - 1E

Bar-tailed Godwit - 31E

Turnstone - 4W

Arctic Skua - 1E (l/p)

Great Skua - 1W

Kittiwake - 2E

Little Tern - 26os
Sandwich Tern 10E, 30os
Commic tern - 30os
auk sp - 1W

Medmerry: The three Spoonbills were still out on the reserve this morning. (PH)

This afternoon the Spoonbills weren't on show late this afternoon, but there were 22 Avocets around the Stilt Pool, plus a Little Ringed Plover and two pairs of Gadwall, a couple of Whimbrel and c40 Dunlin were on the reserve and a few Sandwich, Common and Little Terns were offshore. Very few passerines were about, with just a few Linnets, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits to be seen. A Hare was keeping a wary distance ahead of a Fox till the latter spotted me and turned tail! (AH)

Avocets (above), Little Ringed Plover, Gadwall, Fox & Hare at Medmerry (AH)

Church Norton: If the Bill was bad, Norton was worse, with the wind keeping stuff low and emptying the harbour of birds. There were still a dozen Whimbrel on the mud, though, and fifteen Sandwich Terns on Tern Island, but passerine activity consisted of odd snatches of Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff song from deep in the bushes. (AH)

Ferry Pool: Identical to yesterday, with two Avocets, c50 Shelduck, c60 Black-tailed Godwits and eight Gadwall being about it. Also, the Kingfisher was seen again this morning along the rife beside the pool. (AH)

Chichester GPs: Ivy Lake - A first-summer Little Gull was dip-feeding on the back of the lake this morning, along with at least 50 Common Terns, and there were c100 Swifts and several hundred Swallows, plus smaller numbers of House and Sand Martins overhead. The usual Cetti's Warblers, Blckcaps and Chiffchaffs were present, plus a couple of Sedge Warblers and several pairs of Long-tailed Tits were showing well. (AH)