Leach's Petrel off Sandy Point.

Saturday 26th November 2022.

One of at least two juvenile Little Gulls off Sandy Point this morning.

There were no moths in or around Andy’s moth box this morning when I checked this morning, which was disappointing, although somewhat expected. End of the year ‘moth-ing’ is really a bit of a hit or miss affair and mostly the latter, hence why I don't put my moth box on all that often at this time of year. Rain was forecast for later this afternoon and so I was deciding to either go to Selsey Bill and Medmerry over in West Sussex or Hayling Island for the Little Gulls off Sandy Point?

Above, one of the adult Little Gulls and below, one of the adult Kittiwakes off Sandy Point. 

I went to the latter site and was so glad I did after the super array of quality birds we saw this morning and into the early afternoon! I knew Andy had not seen a Little Gull this year and with these dainty little birds hanging around in the harbour entrance by the Lifeboat Station most of the week, he stood a good chance of adding this species to his year list, which currently stood at 193 species for the year. Parking in Seafarers Walk, we walked down the muddy track to Sandy Point, picking up a calling Firecrest along the way. On exiting the footpath, a quick scan into the harbour entrance and we were soon onto our first Little Gulls of the day!

Above, adult Kittiwake with the juvenile Little Gull. Below, the juvenile Little Gull with an adult Little Gull.

The sea was racing into the harbour and though a bit choppy, I counted at least 5 Little Gulls (4 adults and a juvenile bird) flying out of the harbour towards the Solent. These were joined by an adult Kittiwake with them and at least two Razorbills on the water, which added to the excitement. Within a few minutes, we were joined by fellow ‘Lazee Birders’ Andy Friend and Simon as I pointed out the birds within the harbour entrance. It was a bit of a job to keep up with all the excitement, though there were just the two Little Gulls left to enjoy along with Kittiwake and even a juvenile Mediterranean Gull came in with the birds to make a very interesting photograph! 

Above, an extraordinary photo from left to right: Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, adult Little Gull, juvenile Little Gull and an adult Kittiwake. Below, a Sandwich Tern flying out into the Solent from the Harbour entrance.

Happy with our sightings, we all made our way to the Lifeboat Station where it was safe to say, out of the wind! From here, more ‘Lazee Birders’, Becky Ladd and Gary Fennemore, were sitting on the benches enjoying the bird fest. They kindly put us onto a Slavonian Grebe within the swell and white waves within the harbour entrance, with the bird showing very well at times. I picked out a Diver species flying over Chichester Harbour and we all agreed, once it landed, that it was a Great Northern Diver and I believe I might have had a second bird further to the west near Thorney Island.

Adult Little Gull flying out towards the Solent.

It was all go for a while when an immature Shag was picked up by one of the tall posts within the harbour entrance and then at least two Sandwich Terns flew south close in. The Little Gulls, both an adult and juvenile bird, were now joined by a second juvenile bird and we even found another two more much further to the north within the harbour and a second Kittiwake. All told, we think there were 3 Kittiwakes present and with the news of at least 5 Little Gulls over at Fishbourne Creek this morning, how many Little Gulls were actually in the area? Pete Gammage and Keith Turner joined us when we were at the Lifeboat Station and later in the afternoon, they notched up another 5 more Little Gulls and 3 Kittiwakes by the Inn on the Beach pub on the seafront!

Above, one of the juvenile Little Gulls and below, a pair of Stonechats were on brambles by the beach, including this lovely male.

By now, both Andy Friend and Simon had left to go for the Great Grey Shrike in the New Forest, when news of a Sooty Shearwater had flown west through the Solent off Hill Head! What the ………!!! So we all 'bee-lined' to the seafront and set up a scope hoping to get a view of this rare bird for Hampshire. I have never seen any Shearwater species in Hampshire so I was never going to be dipping out on this opportunity. Though braving the windy conditions from a blustery southerly wind, unfortunately, we had no sightings of the Shearwater, but at least a Leach’s Petrel made up for that! 

One of the two Great Northern Divers within the north area of Langstone Harbour.

While carefully scanning the sea, I saw something interesting, small and dark, rise up above the waves through my scope and I was in no doubt that it was Leach's Petrel and Gary was on the same bird as the shout of Petrel went up. Both Becky and myself were on the bird and although I only got two glimpses of the bird, I was in no doubt that it was my first Leach’s Petrel for many a year and my 223rd species for the year. Unfortunately, Andy did not get on the bird at all, but it was really a scope job and the bird simply vanished and was not to be seen again. Apart from another adult Kittiwake flying in over our heads and over the nature reserve behind us plus a flock of around 50+ Sanderling belting along the shoreline, nothing else of note was seen and so we made our way back to the car.

The juvenile Little Gull (left) and adult Little Gull within the harbour entrance.

We bumped into Andy Tew on the way back, who was sporting his new Canon R7 Camera, along the beach after he successfully got his Little Gull for the year from the Lifeboat Station and after a brief chat, he headed off to join Gary, as Andy and myself made our way back to the car, enjoying 3 Goldcrests along the pathway to the car. We took a quick look on Sinah Warren to see if there was anything of note on the water there, but apart from three Tufted Duck, all was quiet. So we popped into 'Greggs' on the way to Southmoor to try our luck with the Long-tailed Duck that was seen this morning.

Another photo of the Black-headed Gull, immature Mediterranean Gull, adult Little Gull, juvenile Little Gull and the adult Kittiwake. 

From the car park at Southmoor, a few birders were there and one chap told us that he had seen it earlier heading towards the Broadmarsh area and despite a lengthy search for around an hour over a high tide, there was no sign of the bird whatsoever. That's the fourth time Andy had tried and failed to see this very elusive duck! Despite being a bit choppy, I did pick out two Great Northern Divers off the Broadmarsh & Slipway area along with a Little Grebe, a pair of Goldeneye and several Great Crested Grebes and Mergansers. Several Rock Pipits were seen flying round the seaweed area and the sea wall and one of the Harbour Seals popped his head out of the water every so often which was quite entertaining. 

The Harbour Seal popping its head out of the water viewed from Southmoor Car Park.

That was one incredible morning’s birding and although the Sooty Shearwater would have been fantastic to see, I was more than happy with the contents of our morning’s trip to Hayling Island and Southmoor. Selsey Bill boasted another Little Auk going west this early this morning; the second one this week!