Saturday 23rd April 2022.
A pair of Bar-tailed Godwits heading east low over the sea at Selsey Bill this morning.
Because of Andy’s major hangover from last night, we decided to have a relatively easy days birding with little walking about and so I recommended a sea-watch down Selsey Bill where we can relax with our respective flasks of coffee and a pile of nosh from the local Co-op! It was a bit of gamble as the wind was a blustery north-easterly and though it started off very promising, it eventually fizzled out to near boredom! However, we did finish the trip off with a walk along Chichester Gravel Pits.
I found this Frosted Green moth over at The Oaks Crematorium yesterday morning.
Shuttle-shaped Dart in my moth box this morning.
It was a bit busy with the moth trap in my garden this morning with up to 11 moths of 8 species including my second Bloxworth Snout of the year. The following moths were present this morning:
- 1 Common Plume
- 1 Beautiful Plume
- 2 Brimstone moth
- 2 Double-striped Pug
- 1 Bloxworth Snout
- 1 Angle Shades
- 1 Light Brown Apple Moth
- 1 Shuttle-shaped Dart
While putting the moth box away, a pair of Med Gulls flew low over the rooftops calling in doing so as they headed north. It was a grey overcast start to the morning and quite a breeze to keep the temperature down too. However, the weather did improve as the day wore on. I was to go to my Father’s house first before picking up Andy, catching up over the past two weeks for a good chat and a coffee.
Arguably, the UK's laziest birder. Andy spending time catching up with some snooze!
I got to Andy’s house by 9.30am and quickly checked his moth box egg trays where he only had just the two moths: 1 Brimstone moth and 1 Shuttle-shaped Dart, but probably he had a lot more and had simply flown off. Andy was sporting a ‘hangover from hell’ as we made our way down to the Bill and parking up, we noticed a lot of renovation work going on to the Retirement Home here. The owners have lawned a lot of the garden but it is really missing all the shrubs that the tired migrants used to land in, which has really upset the local birders here.
Above, a near deserted beach at low tide at Selsey Bill this afternoon and below, one of a few Gannets seen on our sea-watch today.
We sat on one of the benches overlooking the sea and almost immediately, we were onto Andy’s first Common Terns of the year. A steady trickle of both Sandwich and Common Terns were going through and when two flocks of Bar-tailed Godwit went through, we really thought things were going to be tasty here. One of the local birders here told us that this morning, they had logged over 113 Little Gulls, 14 Great Skua’s, 3 Arctic Skua’s, 8 Fulmar, 5 Kittiwake, 5 Little Tern and 2 Yellow Wagtails; all species I have not seen yet this year!
Finally, our first sighting of a Reed Warbler this year. This bird was on Chichester Gravel Pits.
A drake Pochard on Ivy Lake, Chichester Gravel Pits.
Sadly, we never saw any of the above and during the two and a half hours we spent in the bright sunshine there, we logged at least 60+ Common Scoter (in various size flocks), 1 female Merganser, 6+ Gannet, a pair of Brent Geese, a flock of a dozen Whimbrel and at least four separate flocks of Bar-tailed Godwit with one flock having two probable Dunlin trailing them. Coming in off the sea included two female Wheatears and at least 10 Swallows. The last hour was pitifully slow and so I decided to wake Andy up (!) and pack up and make our way to Chichester Gravel Pits, especially when 3 idiots on Jet skis were parading up and down in front of us on the sea.
One of two female Wheatears that flew in off the sea.
It was very blustery along the footpath by Ivy Lake and a quick scan over the water revealed not one Hirundine, which was very disappointing. However, there was some water skiing going on and so probably kept the local Common Terns away. However, three birds were seen flying over our heads a little later on and another was seen perched on a small post at the eastern end of the Lake. We quickly caught up with our first Reed Warbler sighting of the year. I have heard quite a few singing, but at long last, we eventually caught sight of a singing male bird on Nunnery Lake.
A distant Common Tern resting on one of the posts on Ivy Lake.
This singing male Chaffinch was just above my head.
A few Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were heard singing and the occasional Cetti’s Warbler exploded into song, but it was rather uneventful stuff, though I enjoyed a smart singing male Chaffinch just above my head. Good numbers of Great Crested Grebe and Pochard were seen on Ivy lake as we made our way back to the car. A Speckled Wood butterfly fluttered past us and gratefully landed to bathe in the sunshine and for me to grab a quick photo.
A Speckled Wood butterfly enjoying the sunshine by Ivy Lake.
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