Wildlife in Chichester Harbour.

[FairweatherDave]

Last two times in the darkness in Chichester I have seen bio-luminescence. Haven't seen that before (just in the Med). Magical even if not wildlife, and hopefully nothing to do with sewage! We frequently swim off the boat when the weather is good and the water looks clean, just don't do it after heavy rain. One memorable wildlife encounter is going up on deck in the darkness and being swooped on by an owl, near Dell Quay.

 

[Mark-1]

Seals are pretty common throughout the Harbour and the Solent. I find you don't notice them unless you're single-handed. (Or going to a known haunt looking for them.) Seeing them with a catch is rarer and more interesting.

Falcons live on the Cathedral so they have little rarity value round here although one close up on the Harbour is pretty cool. I had no idea they did that.

I dream of seeing a Deer swim in the Harbour. One day.

 

[johnalison]

View attachment 182536

Seals are pretty common throughout the Harbour and the Solent. I find you don't notice them unless you're single-handed. (Or going to a known haunt looking for them.) Seeing them with a catch is rarer and more interesting.

Falcons live on the Cathedral so they have little rarity value round here although one close up on the Harbour is pretty cool. I had no idea they did that.

I dream of seeing a Deer swim in the Harbour. One day.

We have a notable colony of red seals nearby in Hamford Water numbering at least seventy, red because of iron in the mud they bask on. I may have previously mentioned an occasion when I watched some fishing as a team. It was mid evening and I saw a seal drift past on the flood tide. Shortly after, I saw another on the other side of our anchored boat, and soon I could see at least eight. They were forming a semicircle facing the shore and it was obvious that they were slowly closing the circle. I watched for about twenty minutes until the light went and they were out of sight. I have tried to find references to this behaviour without success, and several wildlife experts didn’t seem to know either.

 

[salar]

It probably was a peregrine, I have seen a lot more around in the last few years. There's one nesting in Porchester Castle, I have seen them over the sea near Bembridge and they nest in Chichester Cathedral. I'm sure there are plenty more. I don't know their hunting range but they can travel a long way in a short time!

 

[Snowgoose-1]

Sailing never stops giving does it .
Last week whilst sailing I felt something on my shoulder. A small bird had landed on me. I think it was a Plover. It jumped onto the rail and we looked at each other . Unfortunately it took off before I could take a picture.

Pleased for your magic moment.

 

[ashtead]

Ring tailed plover used to be common at Newtown and had their own warden to clear off landings onshore from sailors -I haven’t been in by boat so I don’t know if the warden still there or suffered from cost cutting but he was quite vocal I recollect . I guess plovers are rare though even now.

 

[Boathook]

Referring to post 5, been in Newtown and Poole quite a few time and never seen a Sea Eagle, so far. Maybe next week when I'm out sailing ....

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

It probably was a peregrine, I have seen a lot more around in the last few years. There's one nesting in Porchester Castle, I have seen them over the sea near Bembridge and they nest in Chichester Cathedral. I'm sure there are plenty more. I don't know their hunting range but they can travel a long way in a short time!

PorTchester. We locals get fed up with misspelling
Not as in Lord Porchester.
lord porchester - Google Suche

 

[Mark-1]

Referring to post 5, been in Newtown and Poole quite a few time and never seen a Sea Eagle, so far. Maybe next week when I'm out sailing ....

Nor me but I've seen a Robinson R44 Helicopter briefly land there which was something of a surprise.

 

[salar]

PorTchester. We locals get fed up with misspelling
Not as in Lord Porchester.
lord porchester - Google Suche

I feel your pain. People can't remember or spell my actual name so I now respond to anything starting with N.

 

[alahol2]

Referring to post 5, been in Newtown and Poole quite a few time and never seen a Sea Eagle, so far. Maybe next week when I'm out sailing ....

Not seen one this year, but apparently they go 'walkabout'.
Previous years...

 

[Refueler]

Given the amount of sewage being pumped into Chichester harbour it is amazing any wildlife can survive

Latvia some years ago adopted an EU option for sewage .. which has created a bad situation on the rivers here ...

As a riverside resident - I have the option of :

1. Connection to Town sewage system
2. Own collection and truck pump out
3. Chemical treatment and pump into river.

I have #2 - system was installed before town pipework was laid nearby ....
Later when rules changed and I was offered #3 - I was shocked. Further investigation revealed that the huge increase in Reed / Marine Grass growth in the river / channels coincided with the introduction of #3 ..... I refused to change.

It is now so bad that many small channels are unusable - even with 'mowers' employed to cut ... I've just paid out to have specialist 'mower' company clear my channel ... but after 2 months - its already starting to break surface again.

 

[Derek ide]

White tailed Sea eagle seen in Newtown on 29th August

 

[Mark-1]

Given the amount of sewage being pumped into Chichester harbour it is amazing any wildlife can survive

I was at Dell Quay yesterday (500m downstream of the Apuldrum Sewerage Plant) and the place utterly stank. (Not the typical "mud" smell, this was more sinister.)

I'd guess the recent heavy rain means they've been sending it out untreated again. (I can't find a way to check if that's the case.)

 

[John_Silver]

This chap liked to sit above us, on the sea wall, in Dingle.....



Reckon Northney (where we are at the moment) needs to attract one in. Soon deal with the ‘purple rain,’ from the blackberry eating, rigging roosting, songbirds hereabouts!

 

[johnalison]

This chap liked to sit above us, on the sea wall, in Dingle.....

View attachment 182678

Reckon Northney (where we are at the moment) needs to attract one in. To deal with the ‘purple rain,’ from the blackberry eating, rigging roosting, songbirds hereabouts!

In the Baltic hooded crows are the default species. They interact much more with human habitation and seem to fill the niche occupied here by magpies.

 

[John_Silver]

In the Baltic hooded crows are the default species. They interact much more with human habitation and seem to fill the niche occupied here by magpies.

Thanks for an authoritative ID @johnalison .Nearest I could get, from my bird book was quite -like-a-peregrine (stocky) but not quite (plumage).
Presumably, as a crow, more of a carrion eater, than a hunter?

 

[johnalison]

Thanks for an authoritative ID @johnalison .Nearest I could get, from my bird book was quite -like-a-peregrine (stocky) but not quite (plumage).
Presumably, as a crow, more of a carrion eater, than a hunter?

Presumably so. I have seen them scavenging, but they are so common over there that I didn't give them much attention. Another species difference is in gulls. In the Baltic, at least the southern part, you rarely seem to see herring gulls but their co-species Lesser Black-backed gulls are common, as is the Common gull, which is infrequently seen here.

 

[Mark-1]

Thanks for an authoritative ID @johnalison .Nearest I could get, from my bird book was quite -like-a-peregrine (stocky) but not quite (plumage).
Presumably, as a crow, more of a carrion eater, than a hunter?

Seek concurs!

 

[John_Silver]

Excellent @Mark-1, thank you! Seek now downloaded. Had PictureThis, for plants. Didn’t know there was a wildlife version