mainly Sussex (January and March-May 2011)

more pre-blog images of somewhat dubious quality:

local Herring Gull A5DK on the beach at Dungeness on 2 January

Bittern at Burton Mill Pond on 3 January, I've not often seen them here out in the open during the day

Snow Bunting on the sea wall at Prinstead on 8 Junaury.

it is a species that I always enjoy seeing

Greater Black-backed Gull J0273 on the Adur on 12 March. Ringed as a pullus in Vest-Agder, Norway in July 2010 it was seen in Denmark in September 2010 and July 2011

North Thames Herring Gull KT4T on the Adur on 12 March.  My first sighting of a bird ringed at Pitsea Landfill, Essex a week previously.  It has become one of my most regularly seen colour-ringed gull with 6 further sightings up to April 2013

My second sighting of this locally (Southwick) rehabilitated Herring Gull (A6XY).  I also saw it on the Adur in September 2011 and January 2013

drake Hooded Merganser on Sidlesham Ferry on 26 March.  I went for this after work  as it seemed a good time of year for a duck to be on the move.  It was gone the next day, which made my decision to go a sensible one, although reports of it failing the bread test perhaps suggest otherwise.  The long-staying Radipole bird went missing for a few days at this time and it was considered that it might be that one having a short vacation.  Its liking for bread might support that theory and the Radipole bird was, at best, considered to be of somewhat questionable origin and failed to get endorsement from BBRC.

Stock Dove at Pulborough on 27 March.  A much under-rated species

this gull caught my eye on the Adur on 4 April

I tried to turn it into something rare

but concluded that it was a faded Herring Gull

Greater Black-backed Gull 70E on the Adur on 4 April.  A Normandie bird hatched in 2009 that I'd seen on the Adur in January and November 2010 and would do so again in December/January 2011/12.  It was also seen in Seine-Maritime, France in November 2011 and May 2012

Greater Black-backed Gull JE486 on the Adur on 4 April.  A Norwegian bird hatched in 2009 that I'd seen on the Adur the previous November (2010).  It was later seen at Arlington Reservoir in October 2011 and back in Norway in April 2012 and July 2013.

'Nordic' plumaged Jackdaw at Arlington Reservoir on 12 April.  Its credentials took a bit of a nose-dive for me when it disappeared into the nestbox by the dam entrance

Ring Ouzel at Steyning Round Hill on 14 April.  Although I saw this bird after tea it wasn't as dark as this image makes it appear

Crane at Pulborough Brooks on 17 April

Cranes always look majestic birds.  To date (and subject to any unhelpful taxonomic developments) cranes are the only sizeable bird family that I've seen all the species of.

Greater Black-backed Gull J0275 on the Adur on 12 March.  This bird was ringed as a pullus in Vest-Agder, Norway in July 2010 and was seen in Denmark in September 2009 and July 2011 and back in Vest-Agder in May and June 2013

Very poor record shot of 29 May Cuckmere Red-rumped Swallow.  Despite it flying overhead for half an hour this is the only time the auto-focus allowed my camera to take an image - it moved too fast for me to keep it in te centre of the viewfinder..  I would have done better using manual focus but would probably still have been much too slow

Raven over the Cuckmere on 29 May.  Being a much bigger bird the auto-focus was less of a problem