Saturday, 17th May: Still very dry, but quite cloudy this morning and cool in the NE breeze force 4/5, but gradually getting warmer with continuous sunshine and scattered cloud by afternoon, as the wind eased and veered round to a SW 3.
Climping Gap: Things do now seem to have gone very quiet locally on the scarcer migrants front and on my, admittedly leisurely, circuit this morning, I tried hard but failed to find to find anything beyond the routine. On the sea were four Great Crested Grebes and a Sandwich Tern going east, whilst on the beach were five Turnstones and two Ringed Plovers, whilst several Swallows arrived from the sea.
Whitethroats seemed to be in good numbers with many singing on territory, plus a few Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Reed Warblers, a Sedge Warbler, a Cetti's Warbler and four Song Thrushes. Other species logged included Buzzard, Kestrel, Jay, eight Greenfinches, a male Goldcrest continually singing in the fir trees at Bailiffscourt, and Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Lidsey WTW area: Another visit here produced two Little Grebes, two Tufted Ducks, 14 Mallard, four Gadwall and the nesting pair of Coots on the small reservoir, whilst at the WTW area a Pied Wagtail and a Grey Wagtail were both carrying food presumably to their respective young, but there were only about a dozen Swallows today. The now regular warblers - including two or three Cetti's Warblers - were in good voice around the hedgerows, but otherwise it was unremarkable.
Grey Wagtail at the WTW, Little Grebe with pair of Gadwall and Coot nesting on plastic floats
Thursday, 15th May: A bit cooler and cloudier than of late, though still dry, with a mix of grey cloud and sunnier periods in a light to moderate NE breeze 3-4.
Bilsham farm: A short visit this morning before moving on elsewhere off the patch. There was nothing beyond the expected species, although there were three broods of Mallards today; the female previously reported with nine young, a second with a new brood of seven and a third with a brood of 11, although the latter female was clearly a cross-bred hybrid of some sort, spreading her imperfect genes with the largest brood to date!
There were also ten other adult Mallard, loafing, whilst on the water were two Little Grebes, a Great Crested Grebe and two Tufted Ducks. At least eight Swifts were high over the fields, where two Red Kites and three Buzzards were also seen, and a pair of Yellowhammers was noted in a hedgerow.
On Bilsham reservoir this morning new Mallard broods were about the only highlights: (above) the female with seven young, whilst (below) this hybrid female clearly has impure genes and most of her brood of 11 look rather similar to her.
Lidsey WTW area: A quick visit here also produced nothing beyond commoner species. There were 12 Mallard and a pair of Gadwall, but most of the action was around the Works and the filter pans, where c.30 House Martins and 25 Swallows were feeding above, at least 200 noisy Starlings - many of them recently fledged - were dominating proceedings and an adult Pied Wagtail was feeding a recently fledged juvenile.
It was then time for a change of scenery as I headed for the Selsey Peninsula.
(above) Recently fledged Pied Wagtail at the WTW awaiting food and (below) some of the Starlings at the filter pans, including many noisy juveniles.
Wednesday, 14th May: The very dry spell and high pressure continues unabated, giving yet more prolonged sunshine through the day, with almost cloudless skies and a moderate NE breeze force 3-4, veering to SSE 2-3 by afternoon and becoming very warm in sheltered spots.
Elmer Rocks: There was very little that suggested any migration was going on this morning and it was so slow it didn't merit a visit of any longer than an hour and a half. There was a mixed flock of gulls feeding well offshore at first, with a number of Mediterranean Gulls, a couple of Sandwich Terns and about eight Gannets amongst them, before the flock gradually dispersed and birds drifted away. A flock of 25 Sanderlings and seven Oystercatchers flew east, whilst four Great Crested Grebes were on the sea near Poole Place and a couple of Little Egrets were on the beach. Two Swallows were seen arriving from the sea and two Swifts were high over the fields behind the beach, but that was about it except for a Chiffchaff and several Whitethroats along the hedges and four demented Mallards chasing each other around.
Three drake Mallards and a female were chasing each other about most of the time I was there; two of the males (above) are shown here taking a rooftop time-out near the Elmer rife, whilst (below) two of four Great Crested Grebes offshore.
Bilsham farm: It was quiet here too, where the reservoir held only two Little Grebes, a Great Crested Grebe, a pair of Gadwall and a dozen Mallard, including the female still with her brood, but not a single wader was present today. Over the fields three fairly distant Red Kites were seen and four Buzzards, whilst a pair of Swallows seem to have settled in at the donkey paddocks.
Pair of Gadwall (above) and female Mallard with her brood, whilst (bottom) one of the Swallows which has settled in at the donkey compound
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