Great Day

A great day today set to a F6 easterly wind. 

I started the day off at 530am at Ferry where there was an amazing arrival of 5 Wood Sandpiper, 2 Little Stint, 4 Greenshank, 2 Common Sandpiper and also 2 LRP, 12 Avocet, the Black-tailed Godwit and a Yellow Wagtail. The stints were at the back of the pool in poor light and were difficult at first to identify and while I was trying to sort them out news broke from Paul Bowley of 5 Poms already past the Bill. 

I therefore abandoned the stints, quite sure they were Littles (which were confirmed later) and headed to the Bill. It was one of my best days there HERE with a further 12 Poms (4 at 0820, a flock of 7 at 840 and a single bird around 930), 4 Arctic Skuas, 6 Black Tern, 51 Common Scoter, 16 Grey Plover, 12 Whimbrel, 185 Bar-tailed Godwits, 4 Turnstone, 86 Knot, 75 Sanderling, 22 Dunlin, 138 Little Tern and a few hirundines. Full log HERE

Due to the arrival and passage of waders, at lunchtime I drove over to Snowhill Marsh to check it out but there was only 4 Greenshank, 2 Barwits and 5 Whimbrels there but it was very exposed and windy. 

In the late afternoon another go at the Bill produced a few more waders but no more Poms unfortunately (one more was seen before I got back there by Justin). 

A great day! The Little Stints were a year tick. Now on 169 for the local year and 839 the world year list. 

Three pale phase and one dark phase Pomarine Skua (above)

Seven more distant pale phase Pomarine Skuas (six visible in this image- click on image and zoom in to see) 

Single Pom

2 pale phase Arctic Skuas

Summer plumage Knot with a Barwit (above) and Sanderling (below). Interesting that the Knot in the harbour are still mainly in winter plumage (pic from yesterday here) so presumably different age/population. Knot are basically one of our most common 'Nearctic' birds with birds in our region breeding in Greenland and Canada HERE. Not sure on the route they take but these ones decided to head north over Selsey village. According to Birds of the World birds either head north to stage in Iceland or first go to the Wadden Sea and then head west to Iceland to stage before moving onwards to the breeding grounds. 

Bar-tailed Godwits- over 200 today recorded by the log

Sanderling and a Dunlin

Dunlins and Sanderlings 

Knot and Turnstone 

Barwits (above and below)- can't get enough of them! 

Whimbrel numbers seem to be post peak with only 12 today and only 5 birds at East Head/Snowhill

Greenshank and Little Stints at Ferry at dawn. Better image of a stint here