the bittern was still present at shinewater and a lapland bunting flew over.

top billing today were 5 very confiding jack snipes in a ditch at shinewater. also present was a bittern seen twice in flight and a single fly over waxwing. in freezing conditions it was no surprise to see 10 water rails in the area. arlington is frozen over if anyone is thinking of going there.

started off at arlington this morning where a yellow legged gull was seen. next stop was shinewater where 3 drake goosanders, 4+ bearded tits (at least 2 pairs), 2 yellow leggeds gulls, scan herring gull and an adult caspian gull were found. not feeling very enthusiastic, we finally ended up on pevensey levels. 3 bewicks swan flew into the levels and gave very good views before flying off. we then got news of a white tailed eagle at amberley and within the hour were on site. views were always distant but the bird was seen a few times in flight. a sussex tick for everyone.

a nice surprise at arlington this morning was a black throated diver.

yday: 2362 skylarks and 556 lapwings flew west at sea off brighton marina between dawn and 8.20. i did manage to return later in the afternoon but with only 138 skylarks in a hour it was rathar boring and headed home.

21 goosanders (but only 2 bloody males) flew west off Brighton marina and a pom skua paused briefly around the pier and directly over the beach.

5 delightful little gulls and 26 dunlin at arlington late morning.

great news this morning, day off work! straight to the marina. the driving rain made it bloody hard work but very little was seen apart from a constant passage of kittiwakes, most in the surf. i decided to cut my loses and return an hour before high tide. arrived at the seafront 11:30. most obvious was the continued passage of kittiwakes, reluctant to pass over the pier most were driven inshore the moment they passed it affording great views and a real treat to see. the total tally was about 1500. other highlights included 2 separate little auks heading E in the surf with kittiwakes, med shear, long tailed duck, rh goosander, 4 arctic skuas and 19 little gulls. everything was very close in. it all went dead by early afternoon with clearer conditions and a lift in the wind. 11 dunlin were at arlington this evening.

bang on cue, a pallass warbler was found at sheepcote valley this morning. an elusive little bugger, it was first seen in the hedge around whitehawk footy pitch but also heard calling from the camp site. it was sort of tagging onto a small tit flock but the many crests, tits and few chiffs in the area made it hard to relocate. more of a surpise however was a richards pipit flying south calling as we waited for the warbler to show. also treecreeper and 4 firecrests. a firecrest was at ovingdean and the deer still present there.

yday: 2 raven, ring ouzel and 2 firecrests sheepcote. wheatear and 200 skylarks ovingdean.

just visited ovingdean this morning. very little in the bushes but a great deal going on overhead with the following totals between 8:00-11:00am: 1259 fieldfares, 50 stock doves, 6 house martins, 117 bramblings!, 3 redwings, 16 reed buntings, 209 chaffinches, woodlark, 2 great spots, mistle thrush, 6 redpolls, 379 jackdaws, 2 ring ouzels, c.20 blue tits, 18 cormorants, golden plover, 8 magpies (all high in the sky) and several siskins. also shit loads (many many thousands) of wood pigeons but i did not count them due to concentrating on everything else. i didnt want to leave especially as chaffinches began coming thru more frequently but had to due to family commitments.

sat 16th: rather quiet at sheepcote. a little egret, merlin, 2 ring ouzels and 14 stonechats (10 males) were noteworthy. little egrets is still a good sighting here. an avocet was in the cuckmere viewed from seaford head eventually landing in a field near foxhole barn, arlington bird? bins only.

expectations were running high today. it was the last day of my holiday and there had been shit loads up the east coast yesterday. unfortunately the 'mega' never materialised but it was still an enjoyable day. the wind made birding hard work. best of the bunch at sheepcote were 11 ring ouzels. ovingdean was dead, i then went to newhaven heights. the usual walk around the cliff tops revealled a ring ouzel but then decided to head down to the base of the cliffs to search for rare wheatears. i parked the car and began walking along the cliff base. i flushed a thrush into some grass near an out building and went over to have a second look. it was just a song thrush but then right infront of me was an adult rose coloured starling. it ended up showing well feeding on the grassy slopes but was rather flighty. it possibly flew over the cliff top but i cant confirm this. the day ended with 2 ring ouzels in cow gap

though the bird appears adult, i was wondering if this bird is a 2nd winter. on closer inspection there is contrast between the glossy coverts and duller primaries and the nape had a slight brown wash.

highlight of the day was a great grey shrike found this afternoon at ovingdean. the bird was in the NW corner of the horse paddocks to the NW of the main farm buildings in the centre of the village. a satisfying find tick, i've always wanted to find me own and i've been checking this area in particular for such species. other sightings today included a turtle dove and firecrest at sheepcote.

another quiet day at sheepcote. other than the owl, not much to shout about. a brambling and a flock of c.45 blue tits flew high west over the top level. at ovingdean an osprey flew west and a flock of c.20 blue tits were by the farm building before flying off high to the west. twenty mins later a flock of 7 done the same. a single blue tit also flew west along the cliff top at newhaven heights.

additional dross from yday included a woodlark flying south at ovingdean, turtle dove at newhaven and firecest at cow gap.

interesting sightings at arlington this afternoon included a black tailed godwit, 5 grey plovers and a fly-by lapland bunting.

called in at arlington this evening. had a great hour on me tod with the bird, amazing views. got some video to upload soon.

in the mist and rain, a grounded woodlark was at the N end of sheepcote.

an 11 hour stint in the field starting at sheepcote and ending at scotney with the sun going down over rye. not really that much to show for it. sheepcote had 2 ring ouzel, firecrest, short eared owl , 2nd W med gull, 37 chiffs. best of the rest were 2 firecrest seaford head, garry bagnell at arlington, little stint northpoint and 2 buff breasts, 6 ruff, little stint, 2 marsh harriers, hundreds of goldies and thousands of starlings at scotney. couldnt find any wallcreepers on the cliffs at fairlight and the midrips were closed.

weekend dross: sat: ring ouzel sheepcote, black tern shinewater, firecrest fairlight, drake merlin scotney.

a treecreeper (rare here) and ring ouzel were at sheepcote. this afternoon, in horrible conditions i decided upon a visit to arlington. scanning from the start of the dam i got onto a wader on the shingle spit beyond the water tower, surely a buff breasted sand but a bit too distant and so went back to the car for the camera and headed off. indeed it was and the bird gave excellent views. it was very hard to photograph due to its active behaviour but the strong winds and driving rain didnt help. i even lost my brolly which ended up in the res. a very pleasing find, cool birds! also juv/1st winter little gull, ad yellow legged gull and avocet.

an avocet was at arlington this afternoon.

pretty quiet at sheepcote this morning, the main interest being the continued passage of mipits with a few thousand in the early morning. at newhaven heights a wryneck and lapland bunting were present on the south side of the lookout station.

a surprise find at balsdean this evening was a lapland bunting which flew up from the field at harveys cross. nearby, 25 wheatears and 4 whinchats were in a field at the top of bazehill road.

today at sheepcote: wryneck (top level north of bmx track), juv ring ouzel, gropper, 25 whinchats, 3 wheatears, 13 willows, 2 spot fly, 6 lesser white, 3 grey wags, great spot, 4 reed w, 8 sedge w, 4 redstart, 8 tree pipit, 2 yellow wags, 2 golden plover, snipe and a clouded yellow.

yday: a turtle dove and single male redstart at the south end of sheepcote.

yday: the monty was still on the downs behind woodingdean in the evening. nearby 7 dotterel were seen at harveys cross flying low over the field calling but couldnt not be found susequently. that makes 20.

late news for sat 4th: the juv monty was still at balsdean in the evening along with a further 6 dotterels (juvs).

highlight of the mornings jaunt around sheepcote was a wryneck found on the top level in bushes N of the old BMX track. not much else to shout about with small numbers of the usual dross plus the first reed bunting of the autumn and a clouded yellow.

yday: the juv monty was still at balsdean in the evening.

nothing more than the usual padders for sheepcote this morning: 34 willow warblers, 54 yellow wags, 2 lesser whites, 2 spot fly, 5 wheatears, 16 tree pipits, 13 whinchats and nightingale amongst other stuff. later in the day arlington produced little egret, ringed plover, buzzard, little gull and 2 pied fly, 2 redstart, 6 spot fly along the hedge between the dam and the road. the best was saved til the evening when 7 dotterels were found at balsdean. there were 5 ad and 2 juvs, most of the ads still retaining much chestnut on the belly. unfortunately i only managed a single shot before they suddenly took flight and flew off high to the SE.

a marsh harrier has just flown over the garden.

late dross:

12 july: 53 med gulls roosting on ovingdean beach (8 ad, 10 2nd sum, 31 1st sum, 4 juvs).

11 july: 33 med gulls roosting on ovingdean beach ( 5 ad, 4 2nd sum, 23 1st sum, single juv). also juv med and lbbg at the marina.

10 july: purple emperor on deck at madgeland master trees (pic to follow at some point)

9 july: still a few med gulls knocking about with 20 (5 ad, 15 1st sums) on ovingdean beach and 15 (3 ad, 2nd sum, 9 1st sum and 2 juvs) on rottingdean beach.

7 july: a massive increase in med gull numbers. 59 were seen comprising 3 flocks of 30, 21 and 7 at ovingdean, rottingdean and the marina respectively. there were 22 ad, 6 2nd sums, 26 1st sums and 5 juvs. i know there only meds but this is still an unprecedented roost count for the area tho large numbers pass E in the spring.

2 july: few pics from goodwood but its probably too boring to put up a load of car pics. i did see the new merc SLS, bugatti (including 'pur sang' edition), ferrari 599 GTO and 458, new noble M15, caparo T1, zonda, mclaren MP4-12c and that weird lambo reventon. oh yeah and a few F1 cars. see i told you its boring.

y'day: a red kite was found near beddingham junction at 5:45am and was also seen by dave cooper who was driving a little way behind me. the gropper was still reeling on willingdon levels but most other sites were pretty lacking in birds.

more late news: a pair of red grouse with 2 young were seen on saddleworth moor on sun (30th).

4 red kites flew over the work site in hove this morning.

perhaps the best of todays birding was the remaining gropper still reeling on willingdon levels and a surprising amount of waders on the midrips included summer plumaged dunlin (23), turnstone (1), knot (2), blackwit (5) and best of all, 2 little stints. a sum plum barwit was at scotney too. slightly amusing was a monumental queue of traffic stretching from camber sands back onto the bridge over the rother in rye!!!

yday: temmincks stint showing well at arlington and a pair yellow wags were at shinewater.

news for weekend 8/9th: 13 ringed plovers flew low over arlington during a rain front on the sat with the 2 rumpers seen early on sunday morn along with a flock of 12 dunlin and 3 ringed plovers which flew low over the water then NE. later in the day 300 swifts were at scotney with c.100 BHG's hawking low over the water, 2 separate pairs of marsh harriers were elsewhere and an oystercatcher flew N over shinewater!

a red kite flew NE over brighton this afternoon.

pretty poor bank holiday so far, depsite arlington brimming with hirundines no rumpers could be found in visits last nite and this morning, just 2 dunlin, common sand and hobby. newhaven fort, shinewater, pevensey levels very quiet and a pair of yellow wags were at rise farm. the jay was found last week on A23.

the day started doing the usual lewes brooks, deans farm and then newhaven fort where 5 male wheatears were too good to resist so went back to get the camera. 2 ravens and a sedge warbler were seen there too. i then picked up some tasty grub from middle farm and headed to arlington. immediately there were 5 little gulls just off the dam but before i could scan the res a birder informed me he just found a bonapartes gull. being a little sceptical it was a few anxious seconds as i scanned the water and soon found the bird in question, a nice adult to boot. being the first confirmed bonapartes gull in the county since the pagham 2002 bird (which i missed due to living in oz) it was a pretty nice grip back. in all 38 little gulls were counted and at no point where there ever 60 as reported. also green sand and greenshank there.

an osprey flew over the garden this anoon.

this mega distant avocet was found on lewes brooks this evening.

At last! after a 2 month wait i can finally provide details of a colour ringed caspian gull found at brighton marina on 5 Jan. a yellow ring with black PAHP, it was ringed in a caspian gull colony in poland on 21 may 09 and has travelled 1384km. it was also seen in france prior to the marina but i dont have the details to hand.

late news: mist during the afternnon of the 19th produced my first wheatears of the year with 10 at the marina along with 2 chiffs. the following day pett pools held 83 ad LBBG's, various argies, a 'yellow legged' gull and a swallow.

the spring certainly stepped up a gear this morning when i found an alpine swift. driving south through rodmell i suddenly exclaimed to me bro 'theres a f##king swift'. hard on the handbrake we lept out the car and had good views as it flew low down circling over the roof tops close enough to see the white throat at times thru bins. with the weather clearing it gained a bit of height and after twenty mins drifted off south. a great find tick. it appears to be the earliest for sussex beating one at the crumbles on 25 march 1990. elsewhere, 2 white wagtails were on lewes brooks and 2 black reds were at cooden beach. also of interest was a steady passage of black headed gulls overhead today especially at arlington where large flocks were arriving from the south circling over the res then heading off north. various med gulls were seen/heard amongst the flocks at all sites.

news for 14th: this bittern was found last sunday morning in trees around the flood at deans farm, it was still present late afternoon when it had moved down to the waters edge. the pair of garganey and a firecrest were also seen there.

the pair of garganey were still present this morning between piddinghoe and southease on the W side of road just south of Dean's farm. 

a dismal day weather wise but at least the birding was slightly better. 4 bewicks swan (2 ad+2 juvs-1 ad with yellow neck collar) were on pevensey levels just east of middle bridge. 2 bitterns showed very well brielfy at shinewater.

yday: with nothing else to do, went to have a look at the crane at southease. on the way a red kite was found between lewes and beddingham and eventually flew down the valley. it was seen again half hour later flying N up the valley where it came very close overhead, pics taken with just camera. the crane was seen in the usual field and later in the day 10 or so jack snipes, woodcock and green sand were seen somewhere else.

at arlington this morning there were colour ringed GBBG's from jersey and norway. 2000 GBBGs were counted in the cuckmere but nothing could be found amongst them typically. the great grey shrike showed well along the pannel sewer to the west of the road.

news for yday: a trip eastwards looking for gulls was rather dissapointing in the fact there werent really any to look through. best of the rest was stuff we already knew about. scotney held slav grebe, black necked grebe (kent side), 11 smew (a flock with 2 drakes), marsh harrier and 62 whitefronts. marsh harriers were also seen at pett, icklesham and rye(2) where there was also a ringtail hen harrier. the day ended with 3 goosanders (1 drake) and 2 ad med gulls at arlington. typically, the day i dont go to the marina dad finds a black necked grebe offshore there!

more late news: 8 shags were roosting on the end of the west arm of the marina 25th.

3 goosanders (1 male) were at arlington reservoir late this morning.

finally, an update! the christmas period was largely quiet with a trip to manchester producing nothing more than 2 red grouse at dovestone res, oldham and a fem goosander on a river near batley, huddersfield. the marina failed to produce anything other than run of the mill stuff like shag (up to 5) purple sand (max 16) and 1-2 black reds. the snow of recent days hasnt really produced as much as i thought but there were still many thrushes, pipits, skylarks and lapwings on the coast. 6 woodcock, 4 firecrests and 2 chiffs were at sheepcote on the 10th, y'day there was a med gull on hove lagoon but the highlight were 5 woodlarks on southwick beach.