2023 Off to a damp start

Two weeks into the New Year and the wind and rain has been pretty relentless, at least it has at weekends when I would rather have been out birding. 

I had the first 2 days of the year off work. New Years Eve was very quiet as after dropping Hannah and Adie at Heathrow in the evening for their spell in Australia. So an early start on New Years Day was easy. I went to Selsey Bill for 2.5 hours to start the day, with birds moving where there was quite a bit of activity with birds moving. Highlights were Red-throated Diver (19), Great Northern Diver (5), Red-breasted Merganser (20), Slavonian Grebe (2) and up to 20 Sandwich Terns. There were plenty of Auks moving with Razorbill and Guillemot identified. Also  seen were Med Gull, Kittiwake, Brent Geese, Gannet and Shag.

The weather was already closing in but I went to Church Norton where there were plenty of waders in the harbour with Dunlin (400+), Grey Plover (100+), Golden Plover (350+), Lapwing (300+) also Avocet (14), Knot, (5), Black-tailed Godwit (15) and some duck with Pintail, Shelduck, Teal, Wigeon and a Kingfisher on the metalwork. I headed home seeing some Red Kite on-route and then added a few garden birds in the afternoon including a Sparrowhawk Marsh Tit, Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker. A list of 70 species for the day with very little effort.

On the 2nd the weather started as yesterday ended but brightened late morning, I started again at Selsey without seeing anything different form the previous day then went to Fishbourne Creek on a falling tide. There was a male Goldeneye in the channel and 6 Greenshank and 2 Spotted Redshank roosting with other waders I also added Yellowhamer, Reed Bunting, 2 Stonechat another Kingfisher and a Peregrine.

A further visit to Selsey on the 8th again didn't add anything different to the previous week and a call in to Church Norton where the wader numbers seem increased from the previous week where the harbour also had 16 Barnacle Geese (probably feral) a Bar-tailed Godwit a Marsh Harrier, which were new for the year, and another Slavonian Grebe was in the harbour.

The garden birds have been relatively quiet for mid-winter which leaves me wondering on the effects of last years drought and avian flu has been on their numbers. I did see a Goshawk on the 7th and 2 Hawfinches on the 12th, which flew over and laded briefly in a field hedge I could see from the kitchen door. Single visits from a Pied Wagtail and a Grey Wagtail, only a couple of Redwing and only 1 or 2 Siskin, but currently no good numbers of other finches.

Waiting here for the weather to clear before I can go out and the camera hasn't had a look in yet this year... but currently still optimistic.