SELSEY BIG DAY 30/03/26 PART ONE

So, here we are again. Just over three months ago, I was out on my first ever proper big day, on the Selsey Peninsula. Last time, I managed 84 species, finishing the day off with a stunning ringtail Hen Harrier at the North Wall... what a time that was. Well, I've been hoping to do another big day for a while, and with the holidays presenting a brilliant opportunity, I started planning, bought my Gold Day Rider Bus Ticket, and got everything ready for a blockbuster day of birding. 

It was going to be a very long day. I woke up at 4:45 feeling excited, and of course, slightly nervous. There are just so many things that can go wrong. Especially with buses. Don't like 'em. I'm sure all of you know that by now. My bus out of the peninsula in the evening was at 20:33, and I was due to be back in Petersfield at 21:48... so I was going to be out all day. 

After catching the train to Chichester, I boarded the bus to my first location- the Bill. Of course. Last time, it had been pitch black the whole journey, but the sun was already rising, so as soon as we crossed over the A27 onto the peninsula, I started scanning. Within seconds, my first species came- a Woodpigeon. Soon, a field that went by held a Black-headed Gull and a few Herring Gulls, and a small pond held a few Coots. Some Jackdaws flew over, and a Crow was on top of a house. Species were flying in, and a Rook added another. The bus soon whizzed past the ferry pools, where I managed Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit, Shoveler, and Shelduck. As we got into Selsey itself, a Magpie showed itself, along with some Sparrows and Starlings. And with that, at 7:30, the bus journey came to an end, and I got off at Selsey Lifeboat Station, with a total of 15 species. 

Immediately as I started walking down the beach towards the bill itself, a Cormorant flew in, and on one of the houses, there was a Collared Dove. There were plenty more Sparrows and Starlings around here as well. 

The sun was well and truly up now, and the sea was looking beautiful in the early morning light.

I made it to the bill itself, where I joined two other seawatchers, and was informed that it had been pretty rubbish so far. Not a great start. But before long, a new species came in in the form of a very distant Gannet- the first decent species of the day. Soon, a group of 4 Sandwich Terns heading west added number 19, and 20 came in the form of a Linnet in off the sea. A Great Crested Grebe flew past, and the first wader of the day was a Ruddy Turnstone that briefly popped up. A few minutes later, a Shag flew through.

By now, about 45 minutes had elapsed, and I was starting to think about heading to the bus station for my next bus- there wasn't too much point staying here much longer. I gave it five more minutes, which produced a Mediterranean Gull, Oystercatcher, and more Ruddy Turnstone turning up.

I didn't pick up any species on my way to the Seal Road bus stop, so my total leaving the bill was 25- not too bad. 

Now, just an important mention, that the Stagecoach app had a fault all day, apparently in the whole of Sussex, where half of the buses didn't show up on the map or timetables. This caused quite a bit of difficulty, the first of which was now. I ended up having to run to another bus stop, completing the 20-minute walk in 10 minutes, which, with all my equipment, was pretty tough, and I only just managed to catch my bus. 

After the rush of catching the bus, I had only just caught my breath when I was off and walking again, towards Church Norton. I had got off at Norton Corner bus stop, with a twenty-minute walk to Church Norton planned. From there, I was hoping to walk along the sea to the Ferry Pools and then walk around that area of Pagham Harbour. I had a whopping three hours until I planned to take my next bus, so I set off looking forward to seeing what I could find. 

The walk to Church Norton itself proved very fruitful, with Great and Blue Tit seen, a Great Black-backed Gull, a Chaffinch that seemed rather interested in me, a Blackbird, Robin, Goldfinches, and plenty of Skylark. Two Kestrels were around as well. Birds I had already seen included more Rooks, Crows, and all sorts of gulls. 

I made it actually into the reserve with 33 species. More soon came in, with Greenfinch and Wren being seen. Plenty of other small birds were around, including some Robins. 

I soon made it to the beach and sat down on a bench to scan the harbour. New species picked up included Grey Plover, Curlew, Dunlin and Redshank, and other species, including plenty of Black-headed Gulls, Mediterranean Gulls, Oystercatchers, Shelduck, Great Crested Grebes, and quite a few calling Greenfinches. 

With not much else showing up, I moved on, spending a while in the hide scanning the bushes and the harbour, but nothing was visible to start off. A Robin was calling, and plenty of Chiffchaffs were around, although I couldn't see any. 

All of a sudden, everything was sent up, and as I was searching for the reason, it presented itself to me... a Sparrowhawk zipped by, another species added. 

With this, I continued along the path towards the ferry pools. The path was stunning. The sun was out, with the sea on my right and gorse bushes, trees and fields on my left. Couple this with the calls of Curlews, Linnets, Goldfinches and Pheasants in the background, this was just brilliant. I was loving it. 

Another species came in the form of a brief Cetti's Warbler. A scan produced at least a dozen Curlew, and Linnets were everywhere. 

As I was walking along, two birds flew into a bush. A brief look through my binos revealed a species I had not been expecting today- two Yellowhammers. A great species to pick up, and number 42 of the day. 

I continued along the path, finally picking up one of the seemingly hundreds of Pheasants I had heard, and also managed Long-tailed Tits. Plenty of other birds were about, including Linnets and more Shelduck out in the harbour. 

As I was looking around, admiring the scenery, my first Little Egret of the day appeared.

There were very large numbers of Curlew around, and a Buzzard circling in the distance added another species. A few more new ones included a Meadow Pipit and a Mallard that was on some water. 

I was now on 49 species, and before long, a channel held number 50... and 51. A Little Grebe, and two Mute Swans- one of which was on a nest.

I was very close to the Ferry Pools now, and another day tick came in the form of a Mistle Thrush.

A Wren allowed me to get a photo of it, and finally, I made it to the Ferry Pools. 

Tons of ducks, waders, and gulls were around, and new species I picked up quickly were Teal, Wigeon, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Gadwall. Plenty of other things were around as well.

I soon noticed some Avocets, a Pintail in the distance, and a Red Kite circling, which were all new birds for the day. 

With not much else turning up, I continued on past the discovery area, picking up Dunnock.

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I'm going to finish up Part One here- thought it would be good to get something out... It's been two weeks since the day I'm writing about! I have been away nearly all of last week, which doesn't help, but the post is taking a loooong time to write up. Will try and have Part Two out as soon as possible:)

AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER Twitch @ Warsash. 02/04/26

It's been a while since I've really been anywhere with a specific target bird, so it was nice to be out and about again with a clear aim in mind. The subject of todays' trip is an American Golden Plover that turned up on Monday, while I was actually out birding on the Selsey Peninsula. Sooo why is there not a blog post about that yet? Well, I've already worked 4 hours on it and haven't got half way, so thought I would do this post first and then finish that tomorrow, or later in the week. It was a great day, but insanely exhausting (walked 20 miles). Great species were seen, and it was an absolute blast, so do check for when it finally comes out:)

So, after waking up at 7:15 and having a pretty slow morning getting stuff ready, with no reports telling me that the bird was gone, I headed down to the station, bought my ticket to Swanwick, and boarded the train. Immediately as I did, a report came through that the bird was still present. Brilliant.

I arrived at Swanwick at 9:26, and made it to Warsash for about 10:00. I started biking up the sea path, heading closer and closer to the pin, and soon noticed a small group of birders looking at something. 

Hopeful...

I made it there, got my camera and binoculars out, scanned the mud, and immediately picked a small, brownish plover out. This was the American Golden Plover- stunning!

It was out on the mud banks around with Grey Plovers, just minding its own business. Such a beautiful little wader!

It was relatively close, just moving around, catching the occasional worm. 

Here it is with a Grey Plover.

Well, number 218 in Britain, and a fifth lifer of the year! A brilliant start to April, with a vagrant lifer coming on just the second day of the month. Brilliant!

The sun soon came out, giving some great light... this was just incredible.

There was quite a lot of other stuff around, including Brent Geese, a couple Black-tailed Godwits, two Mute Swans, and a few Avocets.

The American Golden Plover was still just standing there, before moving to a slightly more vegetated area on the mud banks. 

The plover went out of view, so I took a few photos of a Dunlin.

The American Golden Plover is a scarce but not all too rare vagrant to the UK, with a few reaching our shores every year. Hampshire is definitely not the best county for them, but they seem to turn up once every few years. 

The bird soon came back into view, here are some heavily cropped shots.

After about 15 minutes, everything flew up, and the plover landed very close, giving just stunning views. Wowee! 

It disappeared below a ridge, but seconds later, its head popped up.

It spent a while making its way down the bank before coming into view- what an insanely cool bird this really is! 

It seemed very happy to just feed right in front of us, giving terrific views.

I continued watching it, loving every moment. Now and again I would get up and look at it through my scope, which yielded just mouth-watering close-ups and detail of the bird. I was absolutely buzzin!

This bird was just brilliant. I ended up taking 367 photos of it- in just an hour. That is a lot more than I usually get. Like a lot more. Sometimes birds just require endless clicking of the shutter. This was one of them. 

This was pretty insane. What a stunning bird... 

These views were, and scuse the pun, but these views were just golden.

The tide was rapidly coming in, and with the plover on a small island, it kept on having to move as the water pushed it onto the banks. It soon just decided to stand there and wait for the water to come up to it.

Its island soon dissapeared, and before long, with the water pushing it away, it flew off into the distance, bringing this incredible trip to a close.

Wow Wow Wow. What a day. What a trip. What a bird! I enjoyed that soooo much. It's been great to be able to get back out and about, and what a bird to kick April off! My second lifer plover of the year.. after the Killdeer back in January. It's been a great weeks birding, with the Selsey Big Day happening on Monday, as mentioned before, I will get the post out, but its just taking so long because of all the stuff I saw. That said, this has taken quite a few hours, due to all the photos I've had to edit- 34 to be exact...! Well, I'm going to leave you on that note, as I need to get some sleep. Hope all have enjoyed and will be back at some point soon to read all about the crazy day I had on Monday. 

Good night:)

And of course, many thanks to the finder, A Collins:)