West Sussex (17-28 February)

Monday 17 February. Brooklands with Megan and Otis: 3 Little Grebes, Peregrine (over coast road) and Chiffchaff. Middle Road: female Lord Derby's Parakeet.

Tuesday 18 February. Mile Oak-Perching Hill with Otis: A very impressive 900+ Stock Doves, 2 Sparrowhawks, 3+ Red Kites, 3 Buzzards, 2 Kestrels, 20+ Skylarks, 6 Stonechats, 5-600 Linnets, 6 Goldfinches and 50 Corn Buntings.

Linnets on the Downs

Stock Doves on the Downs

50% more than I'd estimated at the time

Wednesday 19 February. Adur with Megan and Otis: 26 Teal, 71 Lapwings, 2 Grey and a Ringed Plover, 22 Turnstones, Dunlin, 350 Herring, 26 Great and 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and 3 Meadow Pipits. Middle Road: Grey Heron (flying E).

Thursday 20 February. Harbour Way/Boardwalk and Shoreham Fort with Megan and Otis: 200 Brent Geese (4 flocks including 95E:1W), Great Crested Grebe (on sea), 9 Teal and 2 Oystercatchers.

Oystercatcher at Harbour Way

Friday 21 February. Widewater 09:30-13:00 with Otis: 41 Mute Swans, 14 Teal, 8 Little Grebe, Coot on the lagoon and a Turnstone and 17 Dunlin E along the beach. During 10:45-12:45 seawatch: Brent Goose 550E (including flock of 220), 41 Shelduck 2E, Pintail 90E, Mediterranean Gull 9E:1W (all adults) and unidentified diver 2E.

Brent Geese passing Widewater

Sunday 23 February. Dacre Gardens/A283 with Megan and Otis. Red Kite. 

Monday 24 February. Widewater 08:55-11:15 with Otis: 41 Mute Swans, 11 Teal, 2 Coot, 8 Little Grebe and a Kingfisher on the lagoon; 10 Ringed Plover, 15 Turnstone and 46 Dunlin roosting on the beach; 17 Great Crested Grebe on the sea, 3 Oystercatchers E and an adult Mediterranean Gull W. Later Sparrowhawk over our house.

Kingfisher at Widewater

    

Tuesday 25 February. Widewater 08:50-10:20 with Otis, partly a successful visit to find a lost woolly hat: 41 Mute Swans, 18 Teal, 3 Coot, 9 Little Grebe , 2 pairs of Stonechats and a Meadow Pipit on/by the lagoon; 2 Ringed Plover, 10 Turnstone and a Dunlin roosting on the beach and nothing on the sea. Shoreham Fort: male Eider, 9 Turnstones, 2 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Cormorants and a Rock Pipit.

Rock Pipit at Shoreham Harbour

Purple Sandpipers at Shoreham Harbour

Eider in Shoreham Harbour

sinensis Cormorant at Shoreham Harbour

26 February. Boardwalk/Fort with Megan and Otis: Cormorant. Adur at dusk with Otis: Grey Plover, Curlew, 4 Oystercatchers and 800 Black-headed, 17 adult Mediterranean, 300+ Common, 200 Herring and 2 Lesser and 25 Great Black-backed Gulls.

27 February. Mill Hill with Megan and Otis: 2 Buzzards, 2 Kestrels, Peregrine, Skylark, 2 Meadow Pipits and Goldfinch. Crown Road: Stock Dove.

28 February. St. Anne's Well Gardens, Hove: Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Jays and Nuthatch (heard). Kingston Beach: male Eider from 700 bus.

West Sussex (05-16 February)

Wednesday 05 February. Mill Hill with Megan and Otis: Buzzard, Green Woodpecker, Skylark (heard) and 5 Song Thrushes.

Thursday 06 February. Adur with Megan and Otis: 2 Teal , 88 Lapwing, 2 Grey Plover, 13 Redshank, Kestrel and 8 Linnets. Woods Mill/Mill Stream/Downslink: 150 Canada, 101 Greylag, 5 White-fronted and 20 Egyptian Geese, 8 Shoveler, 80 Wigeon, 14 Pintail, 320 Teal, Stock Dove, Water Rail, 50 Lapwing, Green Sandpiper (heard), a Great and 2 Little Egrets, Red Kite, Buzzard, Kestrel, Jay, 6 Blue and 8 Great Tits, Nuthatch, 3 Redwing, 10 Dunnock, 3 Meadow Pipits, 2 Chaffinches and a Greenfinch.

Water Rail at Woods Mill

17 Egyptian Geese over the Downslink, a further 3 were seen on Henfield Levels

Great Egret on Henfield Levels

White-fronted Geese on Henfield Levels, two adults on the left, the others presumed juveniles 

Friday 07 February. Widewater with Otis: male Eider (landed on sea from west, presumed the long staying harbour bird), 3 Little and 2 Great Crested Grebes, 3 Coot, Oystercatcher, 7 + 45 prob. Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Dunlin, adult Mediterranean Gull (flew W), 4 Red-throated a Black-throated and an unidentified Diver.

Black-throated Diver off Widewater

Sunday 09 February. Boardwalk/Fort with Megan and Otis: Great Crested Grebe and 4 Turnstone. Middle Road Open Space with Otis: 2 Jays.

Monday 10 February. Shoreham Harbour east side with Megan and Otis: Rock Pipit.

Rock Pipit at Shoreham Harbour East Arm

Tuesday 11 February. Adur (Dacre Gardens to Coombes) with Otis: Little Grebe, Common Sandpiper, Little Egret and Peregrine. Tottington Woods with Otis: Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Jays, 10 Blue, 4 Great and 6 Long-tailed Tits, 3 Nuthatches, Treecreeper, 13 Blackbirds and a Song Thrush. Tesco Express: female Lord Derby's Parakeet.

Common Sandpiper on the Adur below Dacre Gardens

Wednesday 12 February. Mill Hill with Megan and Otis: Buzzard, 2 Skylarks, 9 Blackbirds, 2 Song Thrushes., 3 Redwing, 4 Chaffinches and 2 Goldfinches.

Thursday 13 February. Adur approaching high tide with Megan and Otis: 90 Lapwing, Greenshank, 3 Meadow Pipits and 3 Goldfinches. Crown Road: 2 Stock Doves.

Greenshank by the Dogs Trust

Friday 14 February. Widewater with Otis, 09:30-11:30: Mute Swan 28 and Teal 18 on lagoon, Great Crested Grebe 1 on sea, Ringed Plover and 47 Dunlin on the beach, Gannet 1 E and a pair of Stonechats by the car park.

Saturday 15 February. Steepdown with Megan and Otis, 09:45-11:45: Single Red Kite, Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Kestrel, a flock of 175 Skylarks and a Corn Bunting.

juvenile Robin on Steepdown

Sunday 16 February. Rewell Woods 06:50-12:20: 2 Goshawks, 2 Buzzards, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Coal and Marsh Tits, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, 2 Goldcrests, 4 Chaffinches, 70+ fairly mobile Hawfinches, 2 Bullfinches and 15 Greenfinches. Burpham and the Burgh: 5 Cattle Egrets, 7 Red Kites, 3 Marsh Harriers, 3 Buzzards, 3 Grey and a Red-legged Partridge, 10 Skylarks, Chiffchaff, 3 Song and a Mistle Thrush, Grey Wagtail, 6 Chaffinches, 15 Greenfinches, 40 Linnets and 10 Goldfinches but no sign of the 2 Bewick's Swans at Burpham or any Hen Harriers at the Burgh which was disappointing.

Grey Wagtail at Burpham

The first 100 (to 04 February)

I've never been too interested in day lists, I regard birding as a marathon rather than a sprint, but it is always nice to see my first 100 species in the UK at the start of the year (species heard only don't do much for me). I've never managed to see 100 on 1 January but have done so four times by 2nd, my best being 107 in 2010. It gets harder each year, a combination of motivation and my reluctance to travel to the far ends of the county (or even outside the Shoreham area) to see birds I've seen frequently/sometimes before. It doesn't help that a lot of species that used to be regular winter visitors are becoming decidedly scarcer. This year I left for India on 8 January having seen 85 species in the UK, helped greatly by a day on the Selsey Peninsular with David Buckingham. I returned on 24 January and it still took me almost 

Saturday 25 January. Shoreham Fort/Boardwalk with Megan and Otis: a single Turnstone.

Sunday 26 January. Shoreham Fort and Harbour Way in rough weather: Male Eider, 4 Turnstones and a first-winter Caspian Gull (86).

Eider and Caspian Gull at Harbour Way

Monday 27 January. Brooklands with Megan and Otis: 6 Little Grebes, 82 Coot and a Great Spotted Woodpecker (87 for the year).

Tuesday 28 January. Widewater with Otis, pretty rough: 42 Mute Swans, 7 Teal, Little Grebe, 4 Coot, 2 Little Egrets, 4 Redshank, Kingfisher and a pair of Stonechats on/around the lagoon. Six Turnstones on the beach and seawatching an adult Little Gull (88) feeding offshore with plenty of Black-headed, Common and Herring Gulls.

adult Little Gull off Widewater

    

Wednesday 29 January. Steepdown with Megan and Otis: 5 Red Kites, 2 Great Spotted and a Green Woodpecker (89), 35 Skylarks, Song Thrush, Chaffinch, 11 Goldfinches and 50 Corn and a Reed Bunting. Adur/Town Quay: 4 Teal, Grey Plover, 14 Common Snipe, 20 Dunlin, 14 Redshank, 700 Black-headed, 450 Herring and 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (90), Grey Heron, 2 Little Egrets and a Sparrowhawk (91). Earlier Ring-necked Parakeet seen and Lord Derby's heard flying over our garden.

Thursday 30 January. Southwick Canal with Megan and Otis: 2 Ravens (92).

Friday 31 January. Widewater with Otis: 41 Mute Swans, 7 Teal, 7 Little Grebe, 4 Coot, and a pair of Stonechats on/around the lagoon.  4 Oystercatchers, 9 Ringed Plover, 10 Turnstone and a Dunlin on the beach. Seawatch from 09:40-11:15: Brent Goose 1W, Great Crested Grebe 5 on the sea, Mediterranean Gull 1 adult W, Guillemot (94) 1W, Razorbill (93) 2W & 1 on the sea, auk sp. 3W, Red-throated Diver 6E and Gannet 4 off shore.

male Stonechat at Widewater

Saturday 01 February. Adur with Megan and Otis: Little Grebe, 101 Lapwing, 2 Grey Plover and 12 Redshank. Middle Road roost: female Lord Derby's and male Ring-necked Parakeets in their usual pre-roost tree.

Lord Derby's and Ring-necked Parakeets in Middle Road

Sunday 02 February. Dacre Gardens/Beeding with Megan and Otis: 3 Buzzards, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 2 Song Thrushes, 12 Redwings (95) and 4 Greenfinch (96). Some strange 'creatures' in Buckingham Park's late afternoon/dusk lantern show.

Monday 03 February. Shoreham Fort/Boardwalk with Megan and Otis: 17Teal and male Eider. Middle Road roost: female Lord Derby's and male Ring-necked Parakeets in their usual pre-roost tree.

Tuesday 04 February. Figure of 8 walk centered on No Man's Land with Otis, 09:05-13:10: 33 species seen including 2 Grey (100) and a Red-legged Partridge, 6 Stock Doves, 850 Common Gulls, Sparrowhawk, 5-7 Red kites, 5 Buzzards, 2 Kestrels, 14 Skylarks, 8 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Chiffchaff (99), 5 Stonechats, 21 Pied Wagtails, 16 Meadow Pipits (98), 2 Chaffinches, a Goldfinch, 2 Corn Buntings and 6 Yellowhammers (97).