Wednesday, 18th June: Another fine, very dry and sunny day, soon becoming quite warm, with a light to moderate SW breeze 2-3/4. It appears summer has now well and truly arrived, with high pressure currently dominating and a spell of very warm weather predicted.
Elmer Rocks: An early visit before it got too warm, though there wasn't too much to report, and with the same species as recently featuring again. Sandwich Terns were feeding close inshore and moving back and forth, with at least six counted, whilst two Mediterranean Gulls went west. Little Egrets were the main feature today, with eight feeding along the shore and in the rockpools either side of Poole Place, with a couple of Grey Herons for company. Then a small wader flew east, but frustratingly the conditions didn't allow for an ID to be made, so one that got away! Behind the beach a Whitethroat was again singing and a few Goldfinches were also about....but that was as far as I got, before a message was received informing me of a potentially rare bird over at Medmerry, on the Selsey Peninsula. Ah......
Now, many non-birders know the term 'twitcher' and use it as a general term for all birders (or birdwatchers), as indeed do sections of the media. However, in a birder's world a twitcher is different, someone who is prepared to abandon what he or she are doing and set off promptly in order to get a sighting of a rare bird, sometimes meaning a very long journey. Fortunately, this bird was under 20 miles away, but yes - I showed my twitcher credentials by setting off after it asap and abandoning the local patch! Given the road works, closures and hold-ups in our area it was a frustrating journey, but eventually I got there and saw the bird. 'So what was it?' I hear you cry!
Well, it was a Lesser Yellowlegs, a rare American wader in the UK. In fact, there was a hope it would be the rarer Greater Yellowlegs for a while, before the ID as Lesser was fully established, but either way a fine bird to see. And I didn't expect that when I started my casual look along Elmer beach on a fine morning!
Sandwich Tern at Elmer beach - note the wind turbines in the background
Little Egrets stole the show at Elmer this morning; top two around the rock islands and the bottom image from the rockpools just to the east side of Poole Place
Tuesday, 17th June: A fine sunny day, though a bit hazy at times, and feeling quite warm in a light to moderate SW breeze.
Bilsham farm: After a visit to Pagham Harbour early on, I made a brief stop at the local reservoir for a quick look around before heading home. It was of course generally quiet given the time of year, but I logged a Little Grebe, a Great Crested Grebe, two Tufted Ducks, six Mallard and 24 Coots on the water, and several Swallows and a Buzzard above. Two singing Whitethroats were surprisingly vocal today in the hedgerows and a family party of four Swallows were around the donkey compound.
Great Crested Grebe and Buzzard at Bilsham reservoir
Monday, 16th June: A pleasantly sunny and calm start to the morning, with just a light NW breeze, before becoming more hazy and cloudy later, as the wind freshened and backed SW 3-4; then becoming sunny again by late afternoon.
Elmer Rocks: A fine start with a calm sea and the tide low, but initially with very little to be seen bird-wise. However, before long some small gatherings of gulls offshore produced a few Mediterranean Gulls, and further scrutiny produced c.30 of them along the shore or flying back and forth. Likewise, a couple of Sandwich Terns flew east, then further birds were located along the beach and feeding offshore amongst the gulls, the total number of terns reaching a dozen or more. Four Little Egrets were feeding either side of the Poole Place rocks, a couple of Oystercatchers put in an appearance, then surprisingly a party of five Sanderlings flew east just offshore; surely this late group of migrants will be too late to now reach the Arctic in time to breed successfully?
There was little else of note to report; a flock of 12 Goldfinches - including several juveniles - were around the Poole Place area, together with two Greenfinches, two Skylarks were singing above the crop fields behind the beach and a Whitethroat briefly sang from hedge tops before disappearing into cover.
Little Egret feeding along the shoreline, Sandwich Tern offshore and adult Goldfinch at Poole Place
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