1st - 3rd October 2024

Thursday, 3rd October: A rather cool, dry and cloudy start, but soon improving to become pleasant and mainly sunny, though with a fresh E/SE breeze 3-4.

Ancton & Elmer: More bush-bashing was on my agenda this morning, so I started with a visit to the local woods and paddocks at Lane End. There were at least six Chiffchaffs and two Pied Wagtails, plus a few birds flying over eastwards on vis.mig, including two Skylarks, several Meadow Pipits and two Siskins.

I tried a couple of other promising spots, finding nothing more than a couple of Chiffchaffs, then moved onto the woodland around the edge of Barnham Brooks and Felpham GC, finding c.10 Chiffchaffs, three Blackcaps, 20 Goldfinch, two Song Thrushes, five Meadow Pipits and three Skylarks flying over. 

Lidsey and WTW area: Chiffchaffs again featured (eight) plus a singing Cetti's Warbler and a Grey Wagtail in the filter pans. Nearby, the small reservoir held six Little Grebes, 34 Gadwall and another Grey Wagtail.

Grey Wagtail and Gadwalls at Lidsey

Bilsham farm: On the reservoir were 140 Coots, seven Little Grebes, six Tufted Ducks, a single Shoveler and three Teal, plus c.50 Swallows and a few House Martins feeding over  the water and passing through. Several Skylarks and c.25 Meadow Pipits also passed over heading mainly east, whilst in the hedgerows another half a dozen Chiffchaffs were present; however, nothing more unusual could be found.

Wednesday, 2nd October: A fairly mild and sunny morning at first, with a light breeze N 2, but heavy cloud soon developing, with a risk of showers though remaining dry, as the wind veered gradually NE, increasing to a force 4.

Elmer Rocks - Climping: Plans to start elsewhere this morning were soon abandoned when I found the A259 even more gridlocked than usual, so I decided on a slow walk locally instead. My plan was to go 'bush-bashing' (=searching the hedges and bushes thoroughly for migrants) as a number of the scarcer warblers (such as Yellow-browed Warbler) have recently appeared elsewhere in the South.

A quick look at the sea from time to time produced very little beyond a Curlew and a couple of Brent Geese west, whilst a number of the regular waders were along the beach including 24 Oystercatchers and 15 Ringed Plovers. Along the beach and fields behind, at least 150 Mediterranean Gulls were amongst other gulls.

A single Wheatear was on the shore and there was also a fair bit of 'vis.mig' going on, though once again a good deal of it was heard rather than seen. Some hundreds of Swallows and House Martins were again on the move, mainly eastwards, plus c.15 Skylarks, 25 Meadow Pipits, 20 Linnets, 2 Pied Wagtails and a Grey Wagtail. A total of about 30 Chiffchaffs were logged on my bush-bash, along with a couple of Goldcrests and Blackcaps, but alas nothing scarcer could be located despite my best efforts. Better luck another time, I hope!

Wheatear at Climping, but nothing scarcer could be found

Tuesday, 1st October: A cool dry start to a fairly bright and breezy morning, with sunny periods and a fresh NW breeze force 3-4, then clouding over by afternoon with the odd drizzly shower.

Elmer Rocks - Atherington: A pleasant morning after yesterday's stormy weather. There wasn't a great deal moving offshore, but five Gannets and two Brent Geese went west whilst a single Curlew went east. Hirundines were again the most numerous birds, with a steady stream heading west, erratically at times, along the shore and sea; initially it was all Swallows, then eventually House Martins seemed to dominate and there must have been into the hundreds of both.

There are more Common Gulls around now and I logged at least seven, whilst Mediterranean Gulls also featured, with perhaps 70 amongst a large gull flock in the fields, which consisted mainly of Black-headed, but also about a dozen Great Black-backed Gulls. On the high tide, 38 Ringed Plovers were roosting on the rock islands with 10 Turnstones, whilst a little further east, along the beach at Atherington, there were 29 Oystercatchers.

Along the bushes were two Song Thrushes, two Blackcaps and at least eight Chiffchaffs, whilst two Wheatears were also found, in the general area of Poole Place rocks. There was also a bit of 'vis.mig' again, with at least three Skylarks going over, two Pied Wagtails, a few Meadow Pipits (uncounted) and a few Goldfinches and Linnets.

At Elmer this morning, a variety of gulls included Great Black-backed Gulls (above) and Common Gulls (below), whilst (bottom) this Wheatear was one of two seen.