7th - 9th June 2025

Monday, 9th June: A fairly bright and breezy day, remaining dry with variable amounts of cloud and sunny spells in a moderate to fresh breeze W4-5.

I spent the morning birding over at Pagham Harbour, but on my way back home diverted to make a couple of quick visits to the patch, although as expected it turned out to be very quiet.....

Lidsey area: There was very little at the WTW beyond a good-sized flock of Starlings, a couple of Swallows, a Pied Wagtail carrying food and a singing Cetti's Warbler in the perimeter hedgerow. On a small reservoir were two Little Grebes, two Gadwall, six Tufted Ducks and a pair of Coots with young.

Bilsham Farm: A Little Grebe, a female Mallard with a brood of young and 18 Coots were on the reservoir, where a good number of the commoner gulls were washing and preening, together with eight Great Black-backed Gulls and an immature Lesser Black-backed. Nearby, three Buzzards were soaring over the fields together together with four Swifts, whilst along the hedgerows were two Yellowhammers, and a few bursts of song from two Whitethroats and a Chiffchaff.

Not much to be seen on the reservoir today, although these Great Black-backed Gulls were part of the total of eight present 

Saturday, 7th June: Continuing changeable, with steady rainfall overnight and into the morning, clearing soon after 07:00 to give a largely dry morning of sunshine and heavy cloud, in a moderate WSW breeze force 3-4.

Elmer Rocks: Predictably quiet again with just a few bits of interest. There were several smallish flocks of gulls feeding offshore at various ranges - with a handful of Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gull amongst them - and later, three or four of each also flew west, closer in. At least seven Gannets also went west, but more of a surprise were the two separate Curlews that flew through also in that direction, whilst two Great Crested Grebes were offshore. Behind the beach, a Great Spotted Woodpecker was briefly on a telegraph pole near Poole Place, the pair of local Buzzards were in the air together and four Greenfinch were probably all from one family.

Two different Curlews went west off Elmer Rocks this morning

Ancton (Lane End paddocks): A check on the Swallow situation at the stables and paddocks found only two occupied nests, well down in number from a decade or so ago. A male Pied Wagtail was also present in an area where a pair nested earlier; presumably this bird is one of that pair. Things were generally quiet in the area, although two different Blackcaps and a Chiffchaff gave brief snatches of song from the woods behind the paddocks.

Pied Wagtail at Lane End paddocks, and active Swallow's nest in the stables at Ancton