Sherwood Rough, Swanbourne Lake, Ferring Rife and Goring Gap

It was a fine morning to visit Sherwood Rough, where I located a Hawfinch, a flock of 26 Lesser Redpolls, a fly-through ringtail Hen Harrier, a Crossbill, 20 Siskins, a Firecrest, two Bullfinches, five Marsh Tits, a Mistle Thrush, a Treecreeper and three Great Spotted Woodpeckers among others.

Marsh Tit at Sherwood Rough

Lesser Redpolls at Sherwood Rough

A flying visit to Swanbourne Lake featured a Firecrest, three Pochards, 42 Tufted Ducks and six Gadwall.

Ferring Rife had two Snipe, a Chiffchaff, a Grey Heron and a site mega in the form of a quite showy Cetti's Warbler!

At Goring Gap I soaked in some wonderful views of the 2CY female Snow Bunting on the coast path. Two Redshanks were on the beach, three adult Mediterranean Gulls were in the roost field and the sea had six Red-throated Divers, 96 Great Crested Grebes and seven Razorbills.

2CY female Snow Bunting at Goring Gap

Arundel, Selsey Bill, Petworth Park and Burton Mill Pond

Feeling enthusiastic for tracking down some woodland species, I got to Arundel Park for dawn but the drizzly forecast held true and conditions were far from ideal. In just under an hour staking out the cricket pitch, I had two Treecreepers, two Buzzards, a Nuthatch, a Grey Wagtail and 140 Jackdaws of note.

An hour at Selsey Bill was a spectacular experience, with hundreds of Razorbills streaming by, many at quite close range. The odd Guillemot was mixed in with them while Kittiwakes and Gannets trickled by. Two Slavonian Grebes, a 2CY drake Eider, eight Common Scoters, four Turnstones, six Red-breasted Mergansers and two Mediterranean Gulls were logged. I paused briefly at the Sidlesham Ferry Pool, seeing a Chiffchaff in the car park an assortment of Lapwings, Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler on the pool.

At Petworth Park, I found a redhead Goosander on the larger lake, where other wildfowl included small numbers of Gadwall, Teal, Pochard and Shoveler, as well as two Egyptian Geese. A nice area of scrub and alders held a Chiffchaff, eight Siskins and two Bullfinches. A Treecreeper, two Stonechats, a Mistle Thrush, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and singles of Kestrel and Sparrowhawk also featured.

redhead Goosander at Petworth Park

Burton Mill Pond had two Firecrests, seven Pochards, a Kingfisher, two Treecreepers, three Little Grebes, a Water Rail, a Grey Wagtail, 20 roosting Pied Wagtails and 33 Cormorants.

Arundel, Offham, Church Norton, Medmerry RSPB, Goring Gap, Newhaven and Rodmell Brooks

A day out with Surrey birders Ed and Arjun started at The Black Rabbit, Arundel. Here at dawn we logged two Woodcocks, two Barn Owls, a Tawny Owl, a Kingfisher, a Firecrest, a Mandarin, four Marsh Harriers, a Brambling, a Reed Bunting, a Sparrowhawk, three Little Egrets, two Egyptian Geese, and, least expected, heard a Little Owl calling from behind us.

A flying visit to Offham had us viewing the 10 Bewick's Swans from a different angle to the norm! A flock of 41 Cormorants heading south was interesting.

Church Norton was disappointing for birds offshore, with only a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers and a few distant flocks of Razorbills, though a flock of 60 surely wild Barnacle Geese in-off and an adult male Peregrine feasting on a kill made the stop worthwhile.

Medmerry was gusty but provided two Black Redstarts, as well as the usual Common Scoter raft offshore.

Black Redstart at Medmerry

Goring Gap was quiet other than good numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers and Great Crested Grebes offshore and some of the usual waders on the beach, including around 40 Grey Plovers.

We visited Riverside Park, Newhaven, for the HUME'S WARBLER, which thankfully gave good, though brief, views in the end, and treated us to occasional bouts of incessant calling. Also on site was a Chiffchaff, a Cetti's Warbler, a Sparrowhawk, 20 Lapwings and a Redwing.

The East Pier at Newhaven held three Purple Sandpipers.

Rodmell Brooks held the two Pink-footed Geese amid the Mute Swan herd, while six Little Egrets flew through and a flock of Redwings contained a couple of Fieldfares.

Arundel, Selsey Bill, Pagham Harbour, Dell Quay, Climping and The Burgh

Today was a casual-mega day out with Nick and Garry. The natural starting point was The Black Rabbit at Arundel, where we arrived before first light to the sound of two Tawny Owls behind the car park. In the gloam we clocked the 10 Bewick's Swans leaving the reserve to spent the day feeding in nearby pastures, as well as two Barn Owls, three Mandarins, a Woodcock and four Marsh Harriers. A Firecrest showed nicely, two Egyptian Geese and three Little Egrets flew over. We also heard Water Rail, Cetti's Warbler, Mistle Thrush, Snipe, Chiffchaff and Reed Bunting.

Moving round the corner to Swanbourne Lake, a donder around added three Pochards, additional Firecrest and Mistle Thrush, a couple of Treecreepers and singles of Coal Tit, Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Next up was Selsey Bill, where the sea delivered two Great Northern Divers, an Eider, five Red-throated Divers, good numbers of Razorbills, a Guillemot and a few Red-breasted Mergansers. A Grey Wagtail flew over and a Mediterranean Gull was along the beach.

Church Norton rewarded with the wholly unexpected, but much appreciated, sight of a Black-throated Diver within the harbour. It was feeding actively well within the mouth but after one particular dive we lost sight of it entirely. A nice selection of common waders included Bar-tailed Godwits, Grey Plovers, Turnstones and Ringed Plovers, while seven Mediterranean Gulls formed a small group. Three Red-breasted Mergansers and three Goldeneyes were within the harbour and it was nice to see a tight flock of eight Little Grebes and a few Pintail distantly. On the sea we enjoyed 18 Slavonian Grebes and a distant pair of Velvet Scoters, as well as Red-throated Diver. A flying visit to nearby Marsh Farm added Cattle Egret - with at least 12 of the flock showing at close range but we couldn't stay long.

Black-throated Diver in Pagham Harbour at Church Norton

Slavonian Grebe off Church Norton

Cattle Egrets at Marsh Farm, Sidlesham

We flew by Drayon Pit, part of the Chichester Gravel Pits complex, adding the Great White Egret which Garry had seen there on New Year's Eve. This wonderfully undisturbed pit was full of wildfowl and looked ripe for a scarce duck or heron turning up. Worthy of regular checking... We then backtracked slightly, changing plan from a visit to Westdean Woods to instead stopping at Dell Quay. Highlights there included two Spotted Redshanks, a Greenshank, six Goldeneyes and a few Red-breasted Mergansers, nine Little Grebes and good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits, Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Grey Plovers, Pintail, Wigeon, Teal. etc.

Another short stop was made at Climping, where we hoped to bag the Red-necked Grebe reported earlier in the day. Despite the three of us scanning intently for 20 minutes, just after other observers had left, besides Great Crested Grebes we could 'only' find a Slavonian Grebe. Sanderling, however, was an addition to the day list, and several Red-breasted Mergansers were offshore.

We rounded the day off by spending the last couple of hours of light at The Burgh. Eventually we got eyes on two ringtail Hen Harriers and a Short-eared Owl quartering. Two Grey Partridges and a few Red-legged Partridges were logged, while one field held a mix of Fieldfares and Skylarks. A couple of respectable flocks of Linnets were bombing around, and two Marsh Harriers (including an adult male) and a small handful of Red Kites and Buzzards were logged.