Mega Nursery

I attempted to do a harbour count today so started off on the rising tide at East Side, then Breach Pool, then I did Mill lane and Ferry and then over to Church Norton for the falling tide. I made it 69 species of nearly 4000 birds HERE. I didn't do Pagham Lagoon, the Spit, Halseys or the beach so quite a few more birds around than this estimate. However this is a significant increase in the last estimates of individual numbers because I met Gail from the RSPB who confirmed the latest official number of breeding gulls and terns in the colony which is about 65% higher than I estimated from the limited viewing from the benches. There are an incredible 700 pairs of Sandwich Tern, 800 pairs of Black-headed Gulls and 106 pairs of Mediterranean Gulls (seem a lot less than earlier in the summer) with lots of fledged Sandwich Terns and Black-headed Gulls but I couldn't see any juvenile Med Gulls yet.

What with the Little Grebe chicks and Gadwall young on Mill Lane and all the young birds on Ferrry including over 30 young Avocets, 3 Little Ringed Plover chicks, 2 Oytercatcher chicks and 5 Shelduck chicks there are literally young birds everywhere- its been an incredibly successful breeding season. 

The moth trap was much quieter, as expected, in the more normal weather conditions but still had a few new for years. 

Little Ring chick

Adult Little Ring with chick Avocets that are already much bigger than it

Black-headed Gull - fresh fledgling

Sandwich Terns- plenty of juveniles flying around 

Juvenile Pied Wagtail- a family party on Ferry

Adult Little Tern- the first juveniles have fledged (via Gail) 

Black-tailed Godwits. There were pretty good numbers of non-breeding (some post breeding?) waders in the high tide roosts with 55 Grey Plover, 5 Lapwing, 3 Whimbrel, 35 Curlew, 9 Barwits, at least 40 Blackwits, 35 Redshank, 3 Knot, 9 Turnstone, 3 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover and also had my first Common Sandpiper for the autumn

Common Seals- apparantely Selsey means Seal Bay from the old english Sel Sey. Good to know they have persisted into modernity- there are always a few in the harbour. 

Hummingbird Hawkmoth on the garden lavender

Plum Fruit Moth, Grapholita funebrana- attracted to the MOL lure- NFY

Grey Oak Knot-horn, Acrobasis consociella- a NFY. Now on 373 for the garden year.