from sunday. annoyingly, some of the image quality has been lost in the upload to blog.

finally getting round to updating blog for oct. the 3rd-13th was holiday time! 11 straight dawn til dusk days is hard work in sussex but expectations were running high (as always). with the eventual arrival of yellow browed warblers to the sussex coast, 7 were seen at various sites with 3 on 7th including 2 together. fri 11th saw a large movement of thrushes over brighton and between 8am and 1pm we recorded the following heading NE: 35000 redwings, 3000 fieldfares, 1000+ chaffinches, 118 ring ouzels, 100+ bramblings, 35 mistle thrushes, 7 snipe, golden plover and lapland bunting.  sat 12th was raddes day! get in there! of course it wouldn't be October without mention of long tailed blue. after singles at ovingdean, sheepcote and the sites at newhaven and seaford, we finally struck gold at a site in brighton where 15 individuals were found. mad.

the yellow browed warbler still at sheepcote this morning. a siberian chiff there too. grey phal at the tidemills.

a yellow browed warbler at sheepcote this morning in the campsite. (no general access)

yday: 2 yellow browed warblers. one spent most of the morning in a garden in vale road, portslade. the other was in queens park, brighton and becomes my 10th individual for the county this autumn.

news from the weekend: the long staying wryneck still present at newhaven heights on sat and sun.



the run of scarcity finds continued this morning with a corncrake flushed underfoot at sheepcote. the 3rd individual ive found at this site.

late news: a tawny pipit flew over balsdean last wed (28th).

the red backed shrike still present this morning.

a nice find this evening was a juv red backed shrike showing well along bazehill road, rottingdean. the bird was by the 2 hay troughs half a mile or so beyond the private road sign. also a cool looking juv cuckoo. absolutely no cars beyond the sign. park and walk.

2 honey buzzards flew over west rise late morning.

osprey east over brighton this afternoon.

taken on sunday morning.

no surprise to find a wryneck at sheepcote today. it was on the east side of the 2nd level down from the top.

late news: a male long tailed blue was in a private garden around queens park, brighton on fri 23rd and a juv caspian gull was at the marina on 13th.

yday: honey buzzard over brighton.

another quiet weekend. a dead porpoise was on the beach at ovingdean on friday evening (9th). the first returning purple sand was at the marina today. long gone are the days when they returned in the first week of july.  i also collected the set of sussex bird reports from 1972 onwards.