Wildfowl migration continues

Roger Browne visited today, so we met up at the Selsey Seawatch with the usual gang. The movement from yesterday continued but to a somewhat lesser degree as the wind had shifted more to the east and it was clearer and cooler. Migrant list HERE. Highlights included 3 Velvet Scoter, 2 Slavonian Grebe, the first-winter male Eider again and migrating ducks included 56 Shoveler, 34 Pintail, 45 Teal, 63 Common Scoter , 7 Red-breasted Mergansers and also 5 Red-throated and 2 Great Northern Diver.. A few passerines were moving again including 1 Chiffchaff, 4 Meadow Pipit, an alba-type wagtail, 1 Skylark and 23 Stock Dove.

Full log and birding news from the Peninsula as ever and always on the excellent local blog HERE

We had a quick look at the Ferry Pool, 2 Siskins flying over calling were a local year tick. Now on 123. 

A few new moths last night including Oak Beauty and Small Brindled Beauty. Also some mystery Agonopterix from yesterday. 

3 Velvet Scoters with Common Scoters

Common Scoters and a couple of Teal- seemingly unlikely travel companions. Common Scoters winter as far south as the coast of Western Sahara. The local flock round here dissappeared a couple of weeks ago so these are seemingly birds from further afield. 

A nice long line of Shovelers and Teal. Shovelers, Teal and Pintail winter as far south as West Africa (and everywhere in between apart from the Sahara) so the birds we are seeing migrating could be coming from a wide range to the south. There were only a handful of migrating ducks off Portland yesterday so clearly the bulk of the numbers were near the Channel headlands (mainly Dungeness) with Selsey apparantely being on the edge of the movement which does imply these are birds cutting across Biscay and clipping the south east as opposed from south coast birds. The Shovelers and Wigeon are still very much settled on Ferry Pool also supporting the theory that these ducks have probably come from far and wide.  

Pintails- upto 45000 Pintail winter in a single estuary in Senegal so it really is anyone's guess where these birds are coming from 

Adult summer Med Gull - only one today and no real movement of Common Gulls either

Oak Beauty - always great to the see the first one of these. As it's our first Spring here, also a garden tick.

Small Brindled Beauty- really nice little early Spring moth 

Dotted Border 

A better picture of yesterdays mystery Agonopterix. Gorse Buff, A.umbellana does winter as an adult so it could be a good candidate for that species. 090325- rather than worn agonopterix this might be a Depressaria sp 

I may have been hasty yesterday identifying the other smaller Agonopterix as heracliana as on closer inspection this looks like it could be a Coastal Buff, Agonopterix yeatina  or maybe A.scopariella HEREwhich both also over winters as an adult. Any help with these much appreciated. .