Sunday 20th January - Coastal breezes

I hadn't been to the coast for a long while. Looking back, my last visit to the Selsey peninsula was last Summer. A strong southerly wind was predicted, which had the advantage of any seabirds being close to the shore but the direction meant that wet optics and watery eyes might be the obstacle.

It turned into a fairly decent seawatch with numbers of Gannets, Kittiwakes and Razorbills being higher than I've seen for a long time In Sussex and the southerly wind kept them closer to shore . The Razorbills in particular were heading past in Groups of 20 or 30 and numbered over 2,000 birds. The mobile feeding flock of Gannets was around 300. Smaller numbers of Guillemot and Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Fulmar were seen along with around 30 Red-throated Diver and 2 Great Northern Divers.

I moved to Church Norton where a few of the common waders were in the harbour (Grey Plover, Dunlin, Oystercatcher  Bar-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover and Turnstone) and the wintering Whimbrel was still in its favoured location on the edge of the harbour. A walk to the end of the spit was cold in the biting wind, a few Skylark alighted, and a female Goosander , a Red-breasted Merganser and a few Goldeneye were in the harbour mouth and many of the Brent Geese flock near the North Wall were just visible.

A final stop at Siddlesham where a small Lapwing Flock were in the ferry field with 4 Snipe. The Ferry channel held some Black-tailed Godwit and a Kingfisher flew past.

Little Egret

Whimbrel at Church Norton