SELSEY BIG DAY 30/03/26- PART TWO

For those who haven't yet seen Part One, I would recommend starting this story with that as well, it makes sense! Here's the link- In Flight: Aves Observata: SELSEY BIG DAY 30/03/26 PART ONE

So picking from where I left off- at Pagham Harbour and The Ferry Pools, with a species count of 60.

After picking up the Dunnock, things went very slowly for the next hour or so. I walked nearly all the way to the Crab and Lobster Hotel before turning around and following my steps back with no sign of anything anywhere. My main aim was to see one of the seemingly hundreds of Chiffchaffs I could hear all around me. Finally, after walking back through the Discovery area a few times, I located one singing and showing well.

Number 62 of the day came in the form of a Song Thrush that flew past. 

I made it back to the Ferry Pool Hide, where I took some more photos of the birds on the feeders, and another day-tick came through a Pied Wagtail that flew overhead.

With no luck with anything else around, I headed to the bus stop for my next stint of the day.

I ended up taking the 12:34 bus up to Chichester Bus Station...the plan was to go up there, order lunch on the journey, walk in, grab my meal and walk from there to Chichester Gravel Pits- about a 30-minute walk. 

Everything went to plan, and I made it to Chichester on time, ordered my lunch and walked to my food and picked it up. So what was I eating? Well, I love food and do loads of cooking, so I love trying new stuff out. So, when I realised there was a Taco Bell within walking distance from the bus station, I planned to go there. Taco Bell is a Mexican fast-food chain that is most common in North America, but a few are found in Britain... (I just can't help describing things like birds!) I was really looking forward to trying it out.

After picking up a lava burrito with seasoned fries and a Pepsi, and, with a half an hour walk in front of me, I tucked in to my meal, heading towards my next location...

Now I'm not trying to advertise Taco Bell or anything, but this meal was something else. It was so, so, so good. It tasted like proper food as well- nothing like the greasy fake cheese on a Big Mac! A good-sized burrito, a full bag of simply incredible chips, and a good-sized drink all for £7.50, which isn't too bad nowadays... I will definitely be going back at some point. I'm writing this over two weeks later and still thinking about how good this was. Yum.

Anyways, back to the birds.

I made it to Chichester Gravel Pits at 13:30 after a long walk along the A27 (not on the actual road of course:). Here, the two species I was hoping to pick up were Tufted Duck and Pochard. Without really knowing what the place was like, I just started walking down the path, quickly picking up one of the two targets for this site- Tufted Duck.  

One thing I really noticed was how blue the water was. It was like really blue. Funnily enough, I was taking a photo of this vibrant water when another new species swam into view- Canada Goose. I had completely forgotten about getting a Canada Goose! I'd somehow avoided them so far in the day...

Just as I was searching through the gulls, another new bird turned up- a Greylag Goose.

I was really enjoying this place... I had expected to quickly pick up a few species and then move on, but things kept coming. Soon, what had been my second target species here turned up- Pochard. It was distant, so I quickly moved on.

It was quite a weird location, with some paths cut off by fences, caravans dotted around, a house situated on one of the paths between 3 of the lakes, and, well, lots and lots of lakes dotted all over the place. 

Yet another species soon came in- a family of Egyptian Geese.

I walked around the east part of the lakes for a little bit, finding another few Pochard that came very close, before heading back on myself to have a look at another lake I hadn't searched yet.

I was constantly checking around for two species that I could see here but were very unlikely- Sand Martin and Little Gull, both of which had been seen a day or two previous but not since. 

I finally picked up a Moorhen and made it onto a new path, looking over a different lake. Almost immediately, one of the gulls was different. Small... tiny... Little. It was on the water, and a very brief scan through binoculars confirmed the already certain ID- this was a Little Gull... What a bird! I spent quite a while photographing it- it showed so well, landed at first, before flying over the water like a paper aeroplane, hawking insects. Wow.

To say I was enjoying this would be a massive understatement...

With time quickly moving on, I had to tear myself away from this little stunner and head back towards the bus stop, with an incredible species total of 70... what a successful trip the Gravel Pits had been. I planned to go there and pick up two species, but in the end, I got a brilliant seven. Wow.

I boarded my bus at about 14:45 and headed off to my final location of the day- Pagham Harbour North Wall. This would be an epic finale to the trip, but for now, I'm going to draw Part Two to a close.

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Thanks for reading, hope you've enjoyed. I am really sorry about how slowly these are coming out, but I've got an exam coming up in the very near future, so I've been studying a lot and just haven't had much downtime to write this up.... and when I do have time, little progress is made because of how many photos need editing, remembering what actually happened and various other things. I need to get to sleep as I have a big day tomorrow... It's the blog's 1-year anniversary, and I've got something very nice planned. 

Good night:)

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:)