2 rh goosanders flew over barcombe res this morning.

rh goosander on river ouse on south side of lewes opposite the cliffs (friday)

early this morning, a single tundra bean goose with 7 whitefronts was on lewes brooks before flying off over the downs. the 3 barnacle geese and the single bewicks remained. at arlington, a 2nd winter caspian gull was found on the spit and stayed for ten mins before flying off.

drake mandarin at arlington

rh goosander and common sand at arlington late morning.

rh goosander at arlington briefly.

highlight of the day were 2 whooper swans west over the bottom of sheepcote. a site first. at arlington 23 mergs (yes mergs not goosanders) flew over and 3 shelducks were on the spit. later in the day 2 short eared owls were found at an undisclosed site and a water pipit there too.

the great grey shrike was still present just north of the southease bridge on both sides of river. best we could find on a blustery day were 2-3 snow buntings on the beach at cooden

my brolly still present after it blew away in the finding of the buff breast last year!

very quiet at sheepcote this morning so headed to arlington afterwards. ian found another caspian gull whilst i was looking for shorelarks on the spit. the glossy ibis was also seen at horse eye with a raven thrown in.

a fairly quiet day overall with no hoped for rare wabs or issy shrikes. at sheepcote highlights were several groups of bullfinches flying n totalling 14. a very unusual bird here and possibly the first records since the humes. 4 meally redpolls feeding with goldfinches in the bmx track briefly were a first for sheepcote. still lots of reed buntings. the first two black reds of the autumn were at ovingdean and newhaven. at arlington a noisy mob of corvids put us onto a bird on the dam wall. it must of landed there whilst we were scoping the res. a bloody massive saker! a great bird.

found another pallass warbler this afternoon, at seaford head in harrys bush. to be honest not that surprising given the conditions this morning. all i could muster at other sites were firecrests which were seen at every site tho very few chiffs.

it doesnt quite give itself up but it does call a bit.

called it last nite and today found a pallass at sheepcote. initially in a small isolated tree amongst the long grass behind 'the crescent' it had possibly just arrived. it did show pretty well and was quite vocal at times. always great birds to find. a few firecrests, goldcrests and just a single chiff were also seen. pretty quiet elsewhere.

bird is in large crescent of trees on the hillside at the south end. park by the cafe and look across the cricket pitch and you'll see the crescent. bird was usually in the middle.

castricum, holland

34 bonxies flew east past brighton between 7:20 and 10:15 and 2 close in poms were on the the drink before heading W. an avocet was then found at arlington and showed well.

a yellow browed warbler was found this afternoon at harry's bush, seaford head.

2 lapland buntings flew over the cuckmere this morning and a firecrest was at arlington.

highlight of the day was a confiding grey phal found at princes park, eastbourne. at arlington, it must be of concern that there is now a dead great crested grebe and about twenty herring gulls with two more seemingly on the way out. there seemed to be a fair few chiffs around today and a possibly interesting jackdaw was on eastbourne seafront. a few firecrests around too.

almost forgot, the most amazing sky this morning from beddingham.

the third black neck of the autumn, this time another juv type bird near eastbourne. also of interest were 40 wheatears in a field near arlington.

2 arctic terns, 6 common terns, 2 juv little gulls and 14 knot were at arlington this evening.

news for the weekend:

sat: pretty quiet in general. about the only thing possibly worth mentioning was a rather grey and white yellow wagtail amongst 70 or so individuals at arlington

sun: still pretty quiet. at arlington, i had gone ahead of me bro to sift through the wags when five mins later he shouted over that he had a caspian gull. there werent many gulls present and i immediately picked up the bird- a juv too (i think i can still call it that). it was present for about 6 mins when it flew of SE. one of the better caspo records in what is the rarest plumage to see in the uk.

juv black tern and first autumn wigeon at arlington this morning.

slightly amusing, a common sand was on falmer pond and a juv little gull was at the marina this afternoon. just as i came off the west arm i noticed a small peep with the naked eye rumaging about in the seaweed on the beach, it really should of been a yank but it was a little stint, bugger! probably a personal site tick.

an unexpected find this morning were 2 dotterel (ad and juv) flying south over fields near arlington res.

a black necked grebe at arlington again today but it did look different to the bird a few days ago.

black necked grebe and juv little gull at arlington this evening.

no sign of any dotterels on 22nd but a further single juvenile there last nite, seen in flight only.

yday: 4 dotterels (3ad and juv) were at balsdean briefly last nite. i didnt have a tripod so the vids are a bit wobbly.

yday: 3rd cal year caspian gull, 25 common terns, 10 barwits and ringed plover at arlington briefly.

17 common terns (including a 2nd cal year bird) and juv yellow legged gull at arlington this afternoon and a juv black tern at shinewater.

first juv med gull of the year at the marina tonite.

one of the best things ive ever seen at sheepcote, awesome and bizarre. it does take off.

today: perhaps the quietest day with 2 egyptian geese, greenshank and 2 common sands at arlington early morning. at dusk the little gull and common tern were still present.

sunday: a vocal male garganey, greenshank, 2 green sand, 5 common sand and whimbrel at arlington early morning. off newhaven, poms and black throats were the highlights tho the bushes were very quiet. the original pevensey pool held 7 hobbies with another single nearby. best site however was the midrips where highlights were 3 summer plumage curlew sandpipers and about 1000 barwits. one of the curlew sands was awesome! also present: avocets, greenshanks, knot, turnstones, dunlins, whimbrels, grey plover, 2 little terns, spotted redshank and a drake garganey flew east.

saturday: a wader fest at arlington early morning with 3 greenshank, 4 common sand, oystercatcher, 2 green sand and 6 whimbrel.

at a private and sensitive site up to 5 wood sands recently.

a red kite flew over west rise marsh. also tree pipit and 2 cuckoo in area. 3 hobbies pevensey levels.

not really that much to shout about lately tho this weekend produced a couple of interesting birds. yday, a stone curlew was found at west rise marsh flying around for a minute before heading north. today, a wood warbler was singing at arlington res in trees by the start of the dam with 2 ravens overhead. a marsh harrier flew north over newhaven. plenty of summer migrants about now esp. whitethroat and blackcap but also cuckoo and lesser white. the only other reports from the month were single summer plumaged 'icelandic' blackwit and oystercatcher at an inland site.

red kite very close overhead at work today near hove park.

started off around lewes brooks where 10 egyptian geese and 3 garganey were seen. a male ring ouzel and 4 wheatears where at newhaven and a further 9 wheatears were at the tidemills. a willow warbler was at west rise marsh along with 3 jack snipes and 4 wheatears. plenty of chiffs around most places.

8 waxwings still present in hove at the junction of fonthill road and newtown road late morning.

luck was certainly on my side today with the chance finding of two waxwing flocks in brighton. 8 were found this morning on a visit to the plumb centre in hove by the junction of fonthill road and newtown road. they were still present after work and having dropped the van off located 13 more in elm grove by the junction of howard road but flew off low. i then remembered that 13 were seen by the level a while back so were presumably the same and not a find. only shame was not having bins or camera.

late news: a 2nd winter caspian gull was at the marina on monday 17th.

yday: 3 bitterns together at willingdon levels.

today: 2 slavs on the drink between the marina and pier and the remains of a woodcock, presumably from a peregrine kill was found under st peters church, brighton.

more late news: 2 bitterns shinewater, rh goosander piddinghoe pond, 53 barnacle geese and 69 whitefronts just north of the golden galleon on 31 dec.

spent the xmas oop north again just outside manchester. temporary local patch was dovestone res, a pretty but birdless tourist spot. i'd never even seen a large gull on it before. however on the first visit(23rd) 3 ad whooper swans were present briefly before flying off over the snow capped hilltops surrounding the area. later in the day 10 goosanders (5 males) were present and became the focus of interest during visits peaking at 17 (4 males) on 28th. also on this date 4 waxwings were found but only stayed a few seconds before being chased off by mistle thrushes. the surrounding moorland and streams held red grouse and dippers. highlight of the trip was a visit to audenshaw res in manchester on the 29th. it was a bit of a shot in the dark, not knowing whether it was private and anticipated them being frozen over. they were frozen over except for a tiny patch close to the path and on arrival was greeted with 15 goosanders (9 male) and 20 goldeneye (14 males) all showing very well. there was a massive gull roost on the ice but thick mist over the res made it impossible to work. i decided to go back and video the goosanders staying until dusk when an amazing 85!! (33 males) had gathered, an awesome sight and a great end to the holiday.