As usual April saw huddles of local bird watchers at various places along the seafront from Goring to Widewater hoping to witness the spectacle of bird migration up the Channel. The most popular watch point being Marine Gardens with upto 10 observers on the most promising looking days. Most of the month was dominated by north easterly to easterly winds with a prolonged period of sunny weather. In total observation took place on 20 days, with a total of more than 100 hours recorded, mostly early morning and occasionally again in the evening if winds are from a favourable south easterly direction.
The biggest daily total was saved until last, the 30th April, with 24 species (650 individuals) noted.
Highlights
Brent Geese: (Total seen 116). Although peak movement of Brents is March, there is usually still reasonable numbers heading east in April though this year it has been limited to a few stragglers with counts on just 8 dates with a peak of 16e (4th) and 17e (11th) until a final late flurry with 70 recorded on 26th.
Common Scoter: (Total seen 720). Distant black dots scurrying eastwards are usually a continuous feature of April seawatching with many hundreds being recorded. However this year, although birds were seen on 80% of watches, the only counts >50 were (60e-4th), (151e-11th), (147e-14th), (76e-25th), (79e-26th) and (54e-30th) with all the remaining dates being < 20. Frustratingly seven distant birds on 30th may have been the flock of Velvets recorded past Selsey that morning.
Other Ducks - Eider (6) were recorded on three dates between 24-26th with a maximum of three birds, otherwise duck movement was limited to a few Red-breasted Merganser (10), Shelduck (41), Shoveler (26) and Teal (2) though a probable female Goosander was observed on 14th.
Divers / Grebes - A close small grebe on the evening of 26th took observers by surprise but was confirmed as a Black-necked Grebe following consultation with various reference documents. However there have been very few divers noted this month with Red-throated Diver (total 13, peak count 5) and single Great Northern Diver (10th) and Black-throated Diver (26th).
Terns- Tern numbers continue to disappoint with numbers much lower than the expected historical records. The first Common Terns (4e) were seen past Rustington on 8th and then Marine Gardens (3e) on 20th but after that only a handful of Common/Arctic Terns have been sighted with the only notable count (20e) on 27th.
As yet no Little Terns have been reported past any of the Worthing sea watching sites, which will hopefully be addressed in May.
Whimbrel: (Total seen 920) - The first records were past Marine Gardens (1e) and Ferring (4w) on 7th with further single figure counts from Rustington (6e) on 8th and Marine Gardens (2e) on 9th and (3e) on both 10th and 13th. From 19th April onwards they were recorded daily with peak counts on 24th (351e including a single flock of 100+), 26th (143e) and 30th (92e).
Bar-tailed Godwit: (Total seen 750). - The first Bar-tailed Godwits (4e) were seen heading east on 19th. Barwits were then recorded on all subsequent watches but in surprisingly low numbers with the only notable counts on 20th (44e) However a late afternoon watch from Brougham Road on 23rd produced several large flocks of distant waders which were identified as Barwits from photos. A further huge flock of 150+ distant birds creating a black smoke like cloud across the horizon was seen on 27th.
Finally numbers increased in the last few days of the month with peak totals on 29th (230) and 30th (186). One of the joys of spring migration is seeing mixed flocks of waders flying close to the shoreline with the stunning red summer plumaged godwits travelling with the larger Whimbrels.
Other Waders - Avocet were recorded on two dates with 5w on 18th and 2e on 28th. There was a good movement of Grey Plover (82e) on 30th and a few Red Knot were also recorded mostly in mixed flocks (peak count 10 on 30th). Greenshank were also picked out on two dates hidden in groups of Barwits. Smaller waders included Dunlin (total 14, peak count 9) on 28th and Sanderling (total 101, peak count 85) on 30th.
Pomarine Skuas: (Total seen 26). - The Pom season began early with low numbers of birds seen daily past Selsey between 21st and 25th April, keeping Worthing based observers on high alert.
Unfortunately most seemed to pass by too far out to sea but our first Pom Skuas (2e) of the season were tracked moving slowly east very distantly from Marine Gardens and Brougham Road (11:35-12:10) on 21st April, but views were very poor.
The evening of 24th was more rewarding with six birds moving quickly east past Marine Gardens much closer to shore (1e @17:08, 1e @18:45 and 4e @19:05). On the 25th three birds were tracked from Selsey past Rustington at 15:47 and St George’s Road Worthing at 16:01 and later that evening another four distant birds were reported from Marine Gardens or Sea Lane.
Strong easterlies on the morning of the 30th produced a memorable encounter with a superb leisurely fly past. Two groups of majestic “fully spooned” Pomarine Skuas (4e @07:09, 2e @ 09:23) were seen from Marine Gardens and Widewater, with more distant birds (2e@07:00 and 3e@10:50) as part of a bigger movement of skuas past Selsey.
Arctic Skuas: (Total seen 17) - Arctic Skuas have been very scarce this month with the first record being the evening of 24th with a total of five individuals including three close inshore and two accompanying the Poms. Further sighting from Worthing Pier / Marine Gardens (8e) on the evening of 25th and subsequently there were singles on 26th, 27th and 2e on 30th.
Great Skua: (Total seen 6). - The first record was a single bird seen past Ferring on 23rd, which then lingered off Marine Gardens chasing gulls behind a fishing boat. Singles were then seen daily off Marine Gardens between 24th - 27th, though these sightings must relate to 1-2 lingering birds.
Fulmar / Kittiwake- Fulmars were seen regularly with records on 14th, 18th and then daily until end of April with a maximum count of four. A group of adult Kittiwakes (5e) were seen on the evening of 24th and a smart juvenile was sat on the beach for 10 mins on the 25th. The only other sighting were all adults (6e) on 30th.
Manx Shearwater - The only shearwaters (4e) were seen from Marine Gardens on the evening of 24th.
Little Gull- the only April record was an adult dip feeding whilst flying slowly east on evening of 26th.
Egrets - Unthinkable 10 years ago but now almost expected. Great White Egrets were recorded heading east on 4th and 26th, whilst a flock of 15 Cattle Egrets headed east on 27th.
Passerines - There was a steady arrival of Wheatear with in excess of 30 birds between 1st - 20th with a peak of 12 (1st) and 9 (19th), then a gap until a single seen coming in off sea on 30th.
Swallows (total estimate >200) were recorded almost daily (peak count 40) and a handful of Sand Martins battling their way across the channel to speed off inland once they reached the safety of the shore, and the first Swifts were seen on 21st from Marine Gardens (ln) and Brougham Rd (2n).
Bottle-nosed Dolphins - On calm still days regular sightings of Bottle-nosed Dolphins helped relieve the tedium with the local pod of up to 10 individuals hunting offshore anywhere between Ferring and East Worthing.
Standing room only at Marine Gardens (R Phillips)
