28th - 30th November 2024

Saturday, 30th November: A mild but rather grey and dreary day, dry but murky at times, with a moderate breeze SW 3-4.

Elmer Rocks: This, the last day of meteorological autumn, certainly felt like the end of the season, with very little happening as we await the throes of winter. There was almost nothing moving offshore with the exception of the regular gull species, where around ten Mediterranean Gulls were about the best, and the fields and hedgerows seemed equally quiet.

Along the beach a dozen Oystercatchers and six Turnstones were present, whilst on the rock islands five Grey Plovers and 25 Ringed Plovers dropped in to roost with a Little Egret. Around the field margins behind the beach it was much quieter than of late, with the flooded area holding just four Pied Wagtails and a Grey Wagtail, whilst a single Chiffchaff was calling near the rife.

(above) Oystercatchers on the beach, (below) Grey Plover on the rocks as a Ringed Plover arrives to roost and (bottom) Grey Wagtail on the flooded fields.

Friday, 29th November: A cool start though less chilly than yesterday, with plenty of sunshine through the day and becoming progressively milder despite a brisk SSE breeze force 5.

Barnham Brooks: There was nothing out of the ordinary on my circuit this morning, but having not visited for a little while I was surprised to see the amount of floodwater brought about by the recent rains. Flocks of c.30 Wigeon and 25 Teal were out on the floods, although often obscured by vegetation, whilst a Water Rail was calling from the reeds. Along the paths there were two Chiffchaffs in the hedgerows and the rife held a Cetti's Warbler and two Stonechats.  A Buzzard, a Kestrel and a flock of Long-tailed Tits were the best of the rest.

Bilsham farm: There was nothing unexpected here either today, the best being an increase of Shovelers to 45 and flocks of eight Wigeon and six Tufted Ducks. The flock of Canada Geese had reduced to 17, whilst a count of Coots produced a total of 114 and six Little Grebes were also still present.

Tufted Ducks at Bilsham reservoir.  Although normally seen in reasonable numbers locally, this common species seems to have been in short supply this autumn. 

Thursday, 28th November: A cold and frosty start, but bright and sunny throughout the day, with a fairly light N/NE breeze, veering SE by afternoon.

Elmer Rocks: A high tide, a fairly calm sea and a sunny morning drew me to the local beach again, but there wasn't much moving during my brief look at the sea, except a Diver sp going east way out and half a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers and two Great Crested Grebes back and forth offshore. A decent-sized flock of Grey Plovers flew in from the east and circled around before 20 dropped onto the rocks to roost, whilst the remaining 55 flew off east again. Other waders logged included 12 Oystercatchers, 30 Ringed Plovers and 12 Turnstones.

Grey Plover flock over the rock islands

I then went to look around the set-aside corner and the fields and woods behind the beach. A Grey Wagtail and five Pied Wagtails were in the flooded area of the arable field, but there was little else of interest until I got to a sheltered and very sunny corner of the woods. Here there was a sudden burst of life, with three Chiffchaffs. together with a small flock of Long-tailed Tits, Blue and Great Tits and a Goldcrest. As I watched for a couple of minutes, I suddenly got a flash of another bird that seemed much paler, but it kept disappearing into the tree cover. To cut a long story short, it turned out to be a Siberian Chiffchaff....(*to those of you not deeply into birding I will spare you here the full details required to prove it, but suffice to say it is a scarce far eastern sub-species of our Common Chiffchaff). 

Siberian Chiffchaff tristis at Elmer woods. (Amongst other things, note prominent dark eye, blackish bill and legs, generally pale underparts but with warm buff supercilium and ear covert patch, buffish tints to breast sides and flanks but no yellowish tones, no greenish/olive tones to head and mantle, etc. It also had a distinct call, a piping, almost mournful note). Surely sufficient features here for tristis.

25th - 26th November 2024

Tuesday, 26th November: A fairly cool but pleasant day, with plenty of sunshine, some scattered cloud and a light to moderate breeze W 2-3.

Elmer Rocks: It was fairly quiet overall, but there was a little bit of variety this morning. A Great Northern Diver flew east whilst there were at least 12 Red-breasted Mergansers and six Great Crested Grebes offshore. A single Brent Goose flew east whilst two went west, as did five Common Scoter and a distant auk sp.

Waders were of interest, with c.150 Sanderlings flying west, the majority of which dropped onto the rock islands to roost during the high tide, together with nine Grey Plovers, 20 Ringed Plovers, 15 Turnstones and five Oystercatchers. Along the beach were 35 Mediterranean Gulls and four Common Gulls amongst other gull species.

During my watch this morning I also bumped into local birder Bola at Poole Place, where he had earlier seen a Slavonian Grebe offshore, but unfortunately it had gone by the time I arrived. We watched together for some while, before then going our separate ways. I spent some time searching around the back fields, where there was a Grey Wagtail and a surprise Mistle Thrush feeding. Late butterflies were on the wing with Painted Lady and Red Admiral seen.

Mediterranean Gulls on Elmer beach: three of these birds are actually colour-ringed (furthest left=green, centre=white and furthest right=white). Unfortunately I couldn't get anywhere near enough to obtain the ring details.

Great Black-backed Gull (upper bird) dislodging a Common Gull from its perch, just as I took a shot of the latter.....

.....and Carrion Crow flying in to rob a Med Gull, just as I took a shot of the latter...!

Monday, 25th November: Storm Bert finally passed through overnight, to give a fairly mild start, with early cloud giving way to a dry, bright and breezy morning in a fresh N/NW breeze force 4-5.

Lidsey WTW area: There were two Grey Wagtails and several Pied Wagtails around the Works area, but around the adjacent hedgerows Chiffchaffs were the most notable species with c.20 birds logged; also a couple of Cetti's Warblers and a small flock of Long-tailed Tits were present. Around the reservoir and adjacent fields were 20 Gadwall, 15 Mallard, eight Teal, seven Shoveler and just singles of Tufted Duck and Little Grebe.

Chiffchaffs were the main feature in the Lidsey WTW area this morning, with c.20 birds present on an otherwise quiet day.

Bilsham farm: Having left the above site and en route to this one - a couple of miles distance and just a short drive - the realities of all the building development in the area and its associated services soon kicked in, with road works on both the A29 and A259 severely affecting my journey...taking a little under an hour to arrive. Diabolical.

When I did finally arrive, the reservoir today held nothing new and I logged 26 Canada Geese, 24 Shoveler, seven Tufted Ducks, two Pochard, seven Little Grebes and 100 Coots. The usual build up of mixed gulls species was present but there was  nothing  to reward my persistence!

22nd - 24th November 2024

Sunday, 24th November: Similar to yesterday with Storm Bert still making its presence felt; a dry, grey morning but very windy with a SSW gale and the prospect of rain later....

Elmer Rocks (0830-1100hrs): Again a sheltered look at the sea was the only sensible option, with the land being blasted by the wind. It was hard going, with rather little reward for my efforts, a total of 52 Brent Geese and three Kittiwakes going west being about the meagre best, whilst up to seven Red-breasted Mergansers were back and forth over the rough sea, plus a Great Crested Grebe. A flock of 18 Sanderlings dropped onto the beach to feed for a short while and the only other species of note were three Oystercatchers, several Turnstones and three Common Gulls.

Brent Geese passing westwards at Elmer Rocks; several smallish flocks moved through this morning, whilst (bottom) a flock of Sanderlings dropped in to feed

Saturday, 23rd November: A complete change to milder conditions again, but also becoming wild and windy with the effects of 'Storm Bert' passing through. Gale force SSW winds and heavy cloud throughout the day, though with a mainly dry morning, but heavy persistent rain by afternoon.

Elmer Rocks (0915-1115hrs): The only option was to find a sheltered spot and watch the sea, hoping for something unusual to pass in the storm. Sadly it didn't happen here - although other headlands such as Selsey did considerably better -  but local conditions and a murky horizon meant that plenty was probably moving well beyond my viewing range. Those birds I did manage to see were as follows:-

Gannet - 3W

Great Crested Grebe - 1 o/s

Brent Goose - 72W

Shelduck - 2W

Red-breasted Merganser - 5W

Ringed Plover - 23

Turnstone - 10 

Sanderling - 1

Rock Pipit - 1

Small flock of Brent Geese battling through stormy conditions at Elmer Rocks

Friday, 22nd November: A clear night giving way to a cold and frosty start and a mainly sunny day, but with a bite to the NW breeze force 4.

Elmer Rocks: It was slow going this morning, but a bit of a mixed bag, albeit nothing exciting was found. Offshore a Red-throated Diver went east and seven Brent Geese and four Mediterranean Gulls went west, whilst just a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers and Great Crested Grebes went back and forth over the sea. Along the beach at low tide were a number of the regular waders, albeit they were frequently disturbed by walkers, but a fairly casual count logged 15 Ringed Plovers, five Grey Plovers, 12 Sanderling and 15 Turnstones, plus three Little Egrets. 

Most of the activity was actually in the fields just behind the beach, adjoining the set-aside area, around a small area of flood amongst the winter wheat, where at least 35 Pied Wagtails were feeding, together with a Grey Wagtail, at least three Meadow Pipits, a Rock Pipit and a couple of Skylarks. In the set-aside was a Snipe, whilst three Chiffchaffs were also present along the hedgerows.

Most of the action was here this morning, around the small flooded area in the crop field and adjacent to the set-aside area.

(above) Meadow Pipit, (below) Pied Wagtails, (lower) Rock Pipit and (bottom) Rock Pipit with Pied Wagtail

Bilsham farm: On the reservoir it was apparent that the cold weather had reduced numbers still further and Coots were now down to about 100. Wildfowl consisted of 16 Canada Geese, four Tufted Ducks, one Pochard and 16 Shoveler, whilst the Little Grebe count had actually increased to nine, A Grey Wagtail was around the edges and a single Chiffchaff was in the adjacent hedges.

19th - 20th November 2024.

Wednesday, 20th November: A cold and frosty start, with early cloud clearing to leave a mostly fine and sunny day, with a chilly NW wind force 4.

Climping Gap: A bit of a late start and I was joined by long term birding mate Bernie this morning. We didn't spend too long on the (5Km) patch, as we had planned to move on (to the WWT at Arundel), but the highlight of our short visit was finding a Jack Snipe in the set-aside area. Skylarks were plentiful in the area with at least 60 present, plus at least 20 Linnets, several Pied Wagtails and a Reed Bunting. Three Little Egrets and a Great Crested Grebe offshore were about it before we left.

Tuesday, 19th November: A complete change, with the onset of some wintry weather. A grey, cold and gloomy day of persistent drizzly rain with a fresh N/NW wind force 4-5.

Bilsham farm: The miserable weather encouraged me to find indoor jobs most of the day, but when the rain eased early afternoon I decided to give it a go and see if the cold weather had prompted anything unusual to visit the reservoir. Predictably it hadn't and numbers of Coots, for example, had fallen somewhat to 125, from a recent count of 185. It was otherwise fairly similar to previous recent counts and today's totals were:

Coot - 125

Canada Goose - 39

Shoveler - 34

Pochard - 5

Tufted Duck - 2

Little Grebe - 6

Pied Wagtail - 4

Also, several hundred gulls of mixed species were again present, including ten Great Black-backed Gulls, and a herd of 40+ Mute Swans were on Barnham Brooks, distantly viewable from the reservoir area.

Little Grebes in the gloom on Bilsham reservoir

16th - 18th November 2024

Monday, 18th November: After some overnight rain, a much better morning than forecast, with some hazy sun breaking through broken cloud, pleasantly mild and calm conditions and just a light NE breeze. Then becoming grey and dull by early afternoon, with light to moderate rain setting in and the wind veering more SE force 3.

Elmer Rocks: An interesting morning where there had clearly been an influx of birds offshore. At least 30 Great Crested Grebes were logged on the calm sea, ranging from close in to distant birds, whilst 25 Red-breasted Mergansers were also present, of which a flock of around 15 were displaying and head-bobbing frequently, presumably having recently arrived.

Highlight of the morning for me though was a Velvet Scoter, quite well out and heading west, doubtless the same bird seen heading west off Selsey Bill some 15 minutes or so later, whilst a Red-throated Diver flew east and six Brent Geese west.

The rising tide produced a selection of waders coming in to the rock islands to roost, producing a good count of  72 Oystercatchers, five Grey Plover, 18 Sanderling, 45 Ringed Plover and 12 Turnstones. Two Chiffchaffs were still present along the tamarisk hedges, but there was little else except c.20 Goldfinches and the regular Kestrel

Red-breasted Mergansers offshore from Elmer Rocks this morning and (bottom) Oystercatchers arriving to roost at high tide.

Elmer & Ancton: A casual look around the local woods and horse paddocks produced surprisingly little really. Three Chiffchaffs and two Goldcrests were about the best, with regular species such as Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers noted, plus Song Thrush, Pied Wagtail, Skylark and Buzzard,

Green Woodpecker at Ancton

Saturday, 16th November: A cloudy, dry and light grey sort of day, very calm again with just a very light N/NW breeze, increasing a bit later.

Bilsham farm: A short visit on my way back from a WeBS count elsewhere, hoping that something new might have dropped in, but the reverse was true and numbers had actually dropped somewhat with nothing out of the ordinary found. There were still 36 Canada Geese and 185 Coots, plus a good number of mixed gull species, but Pochard and Shoveler numbers had dropped to one and 14 respectively, whilst only two Little Grebes and two Tufted Ducks were present….disappointing overall.

A Shoveler amongst a gaggle of Coots, but nothing out of the ordinary at the reservoir this morning.

13th - 15th November 2024

Friday, 15th November: A very calm, dry and largely cloudy day with just a very light NE breeze and occasional glimpses of the sun later, with the gentle breeze becoming more variable later.

Elmer Rocks: The high tide combined with virtually no breeze made for a calm sea, allowing a good opportunity to count the birds offshore. The majority were off the west end of the rocks today and there had been a small influx, with counts of 24 Great Crested Grebes and at least 20 Red-breasted Mergansers, whilst a single Teal flew in and dropped onto the sea. Waders numbers too had increased as flocks dropped onto the rocks to roost; at least 75 Ringed Plovers, 30 Sanderling and 25 Turnstones were logged, with just half a dozen Oystercatchers.

Along the beach were two Rock Pipits and four Pied Wagtails, whilst a Grey Wagtail flew over and three Chiffchaffs were again in the hedgerows and the regular Kestrel also made an appearance, although it was quickly chased away by a Sparrowhawk.

Ringed Plovers, Sanderlings and Turnstones dropping onto the rocks and (bottom) Pied Wagtail on the beach

Climping Gap: I made a visit to the West Beach (Local Nature reserve) by the cafe and the rivermouth, and spent a very pleasant hour there (1120-1220hrs according to my car park ticket). My target was a Dartford Warbler that has been present for some days and fortunately I didn't have to wait too long for it to appear, and also present there were two Stonechats. I then spent half an hour sea-watching and was surprised to find two late Sandwich Terns going east, followed by four Red-breasted Mergansers, then two Brent Geese and a Common Scoter went west.

(above) Dartford Warbler and (below) Stonechat at West Beach Climping....I saw them well but somehow the photos obtained were fairly dire. Oh well!

Thursday, 14th November: Slightly misty at first but soon clearing to give a morning of sunny breaks and scattered cloud in a light but cool breeze, NNW3/4; then becoming warmer and clearer by afternoon with pleasant sunshine and the wind veering NE2-3.

Bilsham farm: Despite a good search of the reservoir this morning, I could find no trace of the long-staying Black-necked Grebe, which had been present for around three weeks (since 21st Oct). It seems likely it has now departed, although it is just possible it may have moved to another nearby water body - time will tell. There were as usual plenty of birds present however, as listed below:-

Canada Goose - 36

Pochard - 12

Tufted Duck - 3

Shoveler - 22

Little Grebe - 6

Coot - 175

Lapwing - 14 flew over

Meadow Pipit - 2 on banks

Pied Wagtail - 30+ in adjacent ploughed field

Stock Dove - 80+ ditto above

Chiffchaff - 2 in surrounding hedges

Long-tailed Tit - 10 ditto above

Mute Swan - herd of 30 viewed distantly in fields Barnham Brooks

At Bilsham reservoir this morning, (above) Pochards and (below) flock of Lapwings flying over

In addition, there were several hundred of the commoner gulls present, of mixed species. I spent a good while searching through them for the scarcer species, with no success, but in amongst the c.200 Herring Gulls I found two that were surely a good call for Scandinavian Herring Gulls (sub-species argentatus).

Presumed Scandinavian Herring Gull (sub-sp argentatus) top centre. Note the darker greyish mantle compared to the Herring Gull (sub-sp argenteus) immediately below it, together with slightly stockier build, pronounced head/neck streaking and mask (not showing up too well in this pic) pink legs and other features.

Elmer Rocks: A beautiful afternoon for a look around the beach at low tide. There wasn't too much to show for my efforts, but a Curlew flew east, whilst offshore were seven Red-breasted Mergansers and six Great Crested Grebes. Along the beach were eight Oystercatchers, 20+ Ringed Plovers, two Sanderling, a Rock Pipit, two Meadow Pipits and two Pied Wagtails. There were also four Chiffchaffs which were notably active and calling frequently in the sunny hedgerows and tamarisk.

Wednesday, 13th November: A bit cooler, but a splendid late autumn day, with sunshine most of the time and a little scattered cloud in a moderate N/NE breeze 3-4.

Elmer Rocks: I started off with my usual look at the sea, where nothing special was on offer but there were a few things of interest, as below:-

Gannet - 2E

Great Crested Grebe - 6 o/s

Brent Goose - 1E, 1W

Shelduck - 4W

Teal - 2W

Red-breasted Merganser - 3o/s, 1W

Sanderling - 18 (roosting on rock islands at high tide)

Ringed Plover - 15 (ditto above)

Sandwich Tern - 2W

Pied Wagtail - 2E

Goldfinch - c.80E

Also, along the hedgerows and bushes were 3 Chiffchaffs and several Long-tailed Tits, whilst the now-regular Kestrel was present and hunting close to the footpath.

This Kestrel has generated a good deal of local interest lately, often perching at fairly close range to passers-by as it looks for its prey. I have been asked about it almost daily and today a lady showed me a nice flight shot she had taken on her mobile (better than my efforts I fear) as I explained the situation. I think it is a young female bird, hatched this year, and it is now fending for itself as it faces its first winter. As yet it is not too wary of humans, but that will gradually change if it survives. Some folks have asked whether it is likely to be an escapee from captivity, but I'm sure it's not and as can be seen from the photo below there are no rings on its legs which would indicate this.

The 'regular' Kestrel at Elmer beach

My circuit around the beach was cut short however, when I received a message from local birder Dan Boon who was on his way to work in Felpham when a Hoopoe flew over, having likely just been disturbed from the George V playing field. The next couple of hours or so I spent checking out a number of sites on the patch considered as good bets for the bird to appear, but alas with no success.

 

10th - 11th November 2024

Monday, 11th November: After some light rain overnight, at last a bit of a welcome change with the heavily overcast skies giving way to some brighter, sunny interludes with broken, scattered cloud in a cool but fairly light N/NE breeze 2-3.

Elmer Rocks: Not a whole lot on going on this morning in a fairly short visit, but there were a few birds of interest. A Grey Heron arrived and took up a perch on the upper storey of a house, until driven off by some angry Herring Gulls, whilst roosting on the rock islands were 40+ Ringed Plovers and six Sanderlings. Offshore there were six Brent Geese heading west, plus up to four late Sandwich Terns (two went east close inshore, then an hour later two flew west much further out - perhaps birds emanating from the Selsey area where there is now a small wintering population). On the sea were also ten Great Crested Grebes and 4 Red-breasted Mergansers.

A single Chiffchaff was in the bushes behind the beach and 50+ Goldfinches and a couple of Pied Wagtails went east, whilst a late Red Admiral butterfly was on the wing enjoying some sunshine.

At Elmer beach this morning: (top to bottom) Rooftop Grey Heron, Great Crested Grebes, Sandwich Terns and Red Admiral.

Lidsey WTW area: There was little on the small reservoir - just a Little Grebe, four Tufted Ducks, seven Gadwall and two Shoveler - with bird of the morning here being a Raven flying over and giving it's 'cronking' call as it went. At the WTW works I only logged three Chiffchaffs in the adjacent hedges, plus half a dozen Chaffinches, six Pied Wagtails and a Grey Wagtail.

Sunday, 10th November: Similar weather to yesterday though perhaps a shade less chilly; dry with grey skies and light winds NE 1-2 as high pressure continues to dominate....

Bilsham Farm: The reservoir was again busy with birds but with little change since my last visit. On the water were ten Little Grebes, the Black-necked Grebe, 32 Canada Geese, 18 Shoveler, three Tufted Ducks, 12 Pochard and 185 Coots. There were several hundred gulls present again and I took time to search through them, but sadly couldn't find any of the scarcer species - the best being a single Lesser Black-backed Gull (of the graellsii form).

Shovelers on Bilsham reservoir

Black-necked Grebe, still present on the reservoir (with Coots) 

7th - 9th November 2024

Saturday, 9th November: More of the same with settled and slightly murky but dry conditions, overcast skies and a cool but fairly light NE breeze becoming variable later.

Elmer Rocks: Generally little change in the weather or the local birdlife of late, though subtle additions show the season is moving on. There was very little moving over the sea, but offshore were six Red-breasted Mergansers and seven Great Crested Grebes. The clear highlight though was the first Slavonian Grebe of the winter here - and probably the rest of the County too - but although it was fairly distant and a telescope was certainly needed, it showed well enough on a calm sea.

Otherwise, it was very similar to recent days; up to 45 Ringed Plovers, three Sanderlings and just a few Turnstones and Oystercatchers were feeding along the beach early on, before they dispersed as walkers arrived, whilst the near-resident Kestrel was back on its perch in the boat club compound and six Little Egrets were in the adjacent fields. Two Chiffchaffs were also in the tamarisk hedgerows behind the beach, three Pied Wagtails and 25 Goldfinch flew east, and at least two Siskins flew over calling but remained unseen.

(above) An air of familiarity, as yet again the Kestrel visits one of its favourite perches in the boat club compound, whilst (below) two very grainy and cropped images of the Slavonian Grebe offshore. Light conditions and distance were completely against photography (for me at least) but although poor, at least it gives some idea, and fortunately 'scope views were much better.

Thursday, 7th November: Another grey, overcast and rather gloomy day; still dry but with a decidedly chilly E/SE wind force 4.

Elmer Rocks: A rather bleak morning along the beach, with nothing apparently moving or showing offshore except a few gulls and Cormorants, plus just a few of the regular waders - Turnstones, Ringed Plovers and Oystercatchers - dropping in with the tide low and five Little Egrets around the rock islands. On the beach itself were 50 Mediterranean and five Common Gulls, whilst two Pied Wagtails and two Meadow Pipits flew over, but there was little else of note.

The highlights - such as they were - all came later along the hedgerows and back of the beach as I was returning from my circuit having decided to move on. Three Chiffchaffs were present in the tamarisk hedges between the set-aside corner and the Kiosk, then a Rock Pipit was located amongst the sea-weed debris, before finally a Black Redstart popped up on the fence of a beachside garden. The latter remained all too briefly before hopping over the fence and into the said garden, disappearing from my view.

(above) Two Common Gulls with Mediterranean Gull in foreground, whilst (below) two images of the Rock Pipit along the beach.