Everything is reset, the slate is wiped clean and we go again. At least when your a birder that's exactly what you do and a New Year means a new list. I've not been driven by trying to achieve any particular total but just like to go out birding and see what birds I can. The weather is still set in a very mild, strong SSW airflow which has dispersed many birds and not displaced or brought in anything of particular note.
Today was a fairly leisurely pace. I started at Selsey Bill with a number of others, ticking off plenty of Red-throated Divers, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Scoter and both Razorbill and Guillemot, but the choppy waters made finding anything on the sea difficult and I failed to see a Great Northern Diver or Slavonian Grebe, but had the unexpected bonus of a close fly-by Red-necked Grebe, a bird I did not see at all last year.
The tide was at it's highest point around 10am and rather than go to Church Norton I went to Fishbourne Creek, and met up with Ian, who was doing a Peninsula New Years Day challenge trying to get 100 species. The high tide made for slightly more difficult viewing but a number of birds were added with highlights being a Sandwich Tern, 4 Goldeneye, Spotted Redshank and 5 Greenshank, Rock Pipit and Cetti's Warbler.
The last stop for me was at the North Wall of Pagham Harbour, although the strong breeze made viewing a bit more challenging. A large flock of Golden Plover was the stand out of the common waders, a Marsh Harrier over the reeds the large flocks of Brent Geese, a Chiffchaff and Stonechat were the other limited highlights, returning home there was enough light to add both Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker. A slow-paced 70 Species for me on the day, but it was good to be out.
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| Red-breasted Merganser |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Brent Geese |
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