a confiding smew was on princes park, eastbourne this afternoon. 3 amazing jack snipes were found in a small ditch out on the levels.

yday: a rt hen harrier low over the road by the turning into barcombe res early morning.

an un oiled 1st winter iceland gull was on the undercliff at telscombe this morning then flew east. 2 whitefronts were in the lower cuckmere.

2 drake goosanders flew over arlington this afternoon and a pair were seen nearby.

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.