Paul Matson's Birding Blog: 5/6th May

At last a Bank Holiday with sunshine - at least on Monday. Saturday was take up with an athletics event for Hannah in Kingston, so I went out early on Sunday to Selsey.

A fairly light SW wind and it was dry with cloud that intermittently became heavy, so anything could happen especially at the start of May, having arrived before 6am to a chorus of moans from some of the locals that spring hadn't really happened yet and no birds at all had been moving past this part of the South coast all Spring.

Up to 5 Great Northern Divers were visible on the sea and an early movement of 'Commic'Terms was more than had been seen in total for the past couple of weeks although the assumption was this was just the early morning shift of roosting birds from the coast. It ended up being the biggest movement of the year and while I was there nearly 2,000 'commic' terms were recorded moving east - many were distant and frequently we were caught out by high and close moving groups that almost eluded being seen. Sandwich Terns only numbered around 35 over the morning and 10 Little Terns . A Great Skua was one of the first birds picked up and several flocks of up to 25 Common Scoter were recorded frequently, totalling over 350 throughout the course of the morning. Waders were scarce with 5 Whimbrel, 2 Sanderling and 1 Bar-tailed Godwit and then just after 8am a single Pomarine Skua, a light phased bird with full 'spoons' flew gracefully by at around half-distance giving good scope views.

Surprisingly with all the Terns only a single Arctic Skua was logged late in the morning. Inbound Swallows numbered over 100 and 12 Swifts, my first of the year. A Wheatear spent 15 minutes perched on one of the offshore triangles before eventually deciding to complete the final 20 metres to shore and 5 Yellow Wagtails flew north - only one of which being seen. A flock of 8 Shags were offshore and both Red-throated and a Black-throated Diver were recorded.

So overall a pretty good day by Selsey standards.

Bank Holiday Monday 6th

With intermittent Fog forecast for the coast I decided to stay local and first called in at Stanley Common. An area of mixed woodland with patches of what used to be heathland, only just surviving as heath, but being on sandy soil has quite a few pines. Historically this was one of the reliable areas in Sussex for Wood Warblers, but I must admit to never having found one in the area.

I spent a good 2.5 hours tramping around Stanley Common and making it as far as Lynchmere Common. It was a glorious sunny morning and early enough not to encounter the dog-walkers.
A couple of Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were first heard along with a Cuckoo, also commoner species such as Goldcrest and Coal Tits were plentiful in the pines. Song Thrush and Mistle Thrushes were belting out their own melodies .

3 Lesser Redpolls flew over calling and eventually I found a singing male Redstart high up in the canopy, I heard 4 singing males in different territories during the morning and also saw one female. I eventually saw a Cuckoo and nearby a displaying Whitethroat . I was surprised at not encountering a Garden Warbler and less surprised at not getting a sniff at a Wood Warbler, although many of the Oaks had yet to unfurl their leaves, whereas at home just a couple of miles away the large Oak in the garden was further advanced.

I moved onto Woolbeeding Common, which is on slightly higher ground and has a slightly more traditional heathland area of gorse and heather. A pair of Tree Pipit were present just by the car park, and the heath was rich with bird song. 6 Yellowhammers, several Linnet , more Whitethroat, a good density of Willow Warblers and 2 singing Garden Warbler along with Green Woodpecker and Jay. A distant Common Buzzard , a single Swift and 8 Swallows were seen which wrapped up a great Spring morning walk.

Back at home, nothing particularly interesting on the bird front although with half the house demolished it was great spending time in the garden. The 2 Blackcaps and 2 Chiffchaff are still in full song and the Cuckoo was again heard on Monday afternoon with a glimpse in flight of the drooping narrow wing beats. 3 Buzzard and a couple of Sparrowhawks were all to report on the raptor front and the most engaging avian sight at the moment are the Starlings which constantly stream between the houses and the fields obviously rearing broods but are intensely busy. Swallows have been seen flying over but none feigning a passing interest in the stables as a home.

I'm nearly there with the Zimbabwe trip report , just need a final effort to finish.