Whilst thermalling my hang glider above Truleigh Hill late on Sunday morning, I was joined by, at first two Red kites and eventually the total was four. We climbed to about 3000 ft. before they flew off. This is the most I have seen in Sussex at any one time.

A visit to the Weald & Downland Museum at Singleton today produced a spotted flycatcher, the first I've seen this year, two great spotted woodpeckers (with young), treecreeper, nuthatch, five swifts, 12 swallows and four house martins.

A Skylark graced the skies welcoming us to work this morning. The Kestrel was a regular sight throughout the day whereas only one Buzzard was seen briefly. A pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers was busy collecting food, as was the female Green Woodpecker probing the farm house lawn for ants. Over in the Nature Area, numerous juvenile Siskins which have been visiting regularly and posing in front of the hide were joined by the first young Goldfinches of the year, as well as numerous Greenfinches. The House Martins and Swifts were also making the most of the weather, before, topping the day off, a male Yellowhammer sat atop the barn doing his 'little bit of bread and no cheese'.

My second Hobby in two days - this time, this Hobby was over Southwater Country Park.

Red Kite drifting east over Rowan Avenue, Hove 11.55a.m.

Marsh Harrier foraging over the Little Deep this morning and the Osprey was roosting on the east side of the Great Deep during the high tide period.

Unusual sighting today whilst walking along the beach from Langney Point, Eastbourne towards Pevensey Bay at 4.55pm. A Black Swan flying just offshore heading SW. Maybe five minutes later the bird appeared again this time flying E much further out to sea being harassed by a Herring Gull. The gull soon desisted and the swan landed on the sea where it was tricky to spot between the troughs of the waves. It remained on the sea as we continued our walk.

Not a great deal to report today, another sunny day along the coast although the north easterly wind had a bite to it. Selsey Bill: very little noted with just a few Gannets offshore and 20 Sandwich and Common Terns feeding to the west. Church Norton: at least 40 Sandwich Terns and ten Common Terns in the harbour and around the island with a few seen copulating. Only two Little Terns noted offshore! Single Whimbrel and three Bar-tailed Godwits. West Dean Woods area: no sign of any Spotted Flycatchers in old sites. Pair of Firecrests with two advanced juveniles in tow. Two pairs of Marsh Tits. (Bernie Forbes, Dave Smith & Dorian Mason).

Whilst out with dog this evening ca. 40 House Martins hawking insects around the copse at the top of Applesham Farm. Had a male Kestrel hovering over the garden this afternoon, causing chicks to run for mum. White phase Common Buzzard sitting on fence post on drive.

Single Osprey flying N up Bosham Harbour (Chichester) at 4.15pm

A single Hobby flew over Chuck Hatch Lane today near Newbridge.

Went for a long circular walk along the Ouse floodplain near Rodmell, first thing of note was a Cuckoo which flew in front of us, then plenty of Reed Warblers singing in the ditches, Linnet, Kestrel, Swifts, Reed Buntings, Lapwings, Mute Swans, Coot and Marsh Frogs croaking!

Easy viewing of a pair of mistle thrushes feeding two noisy youngsters on the lawn of Preston Manor, Brighton. Also I noticed a blue tit going in and out of a hole on the Preston Church tower.

At 10.10 this morning a male Hen Harrier drifted up the Rife and out across to Park Barn ruins. Although I phoned some others no one else saw it before it moved on north. Good numbers of Swift recently, a few Swallows and five House Martins yesterday - a rarity here this spring. Reed Warbler and Reed Bunting singing well. Common Whitethroat common and very vocal. Both male and female Sparrowhawk soaring over the valley. Common Buzzard seen every day particularly towards East Preston.

Fifteen of us gathered in pleasant sunshine and warmth - away from a cooling onshore breeze at least - to be admirably led around Rye Harbour NR once more by Chris Bentley. It was the Avocet that featured so dominantly on the walk - there were around 27 breeding pairs after all - that it would have been easy to have become blase to what a few years ago would have been a local rarity. Much scarcer were Little Tern, unless one counted the dummies, but there were at least four real birds sitting on nests elsewhere. Much commoner of course were breeding Black-headed Gulls and Common and Sandwich Terns. Few Mediterranean Gulls were found this year with only two adults and a first-year type. A look at the shore added a couple of Sanderling and Ringed Plover and a distant plover that had to be a Grey Plover but was 'odd' in the heat haze and could easily have been transmogrified into something far rarer such as a sandplover but sadly didn't on closer examination and especially after an obliging exposure of a black 'armpit'. (A plover that gave more definite views was a Little Ringed Plover in the new workings where other waders included Lapwing, Redshank and a single Curlew.) Along the beach road Chris pointed out the hairy striped caterpillar of the nationally scarce Grass Egger Moth. The Cuckoo, with at least two in evidence during the walk and being more obliging towards the end, is reported to eat such caterpillar where many stick to less hairy or naked caterpillar. Other notable birds for the walk included a favourite of Chris': a Peregrine Falcon which provided good views near the visitor centre, and Wheatear, with a very busy pair presumably tending to young in a thoughtfully provided pipe. The walk back on the Harbour Farm track added, amongst others, Reed Warbler and near the housing estate House Martin, Swallow and Swift. In all most would have included around 45 birds to any outing list with little effort.

An Osprey was circling low over Ardingly Reservoir and Balcombe Lake for at least 15 minutes from 11.15 this morning.

Red Kite flying around over South Downs, near Wepham.

Having seen only two Swifts in the past weeks suddenly ca. 200 flew over Cuckoo's Corner with about three House Martins in amongst them. Have noticed 6 or 7 Corn Buntings in a mini flock feeding around the cattle feed racks, and several nesting Whitethroats present.

I'm pretty sure two White Storks drifted over our farm in Oving at 4pm on Sunday afternoon. However, as is usually the case in these circumstances I couldn't get to my bins in time to make a positive ID - looked good to the naked eye though and two were reported over Southampton later on so maybe....

Alerted by the gulls, I was able to watch a HONEY-BUZZARD flying N low over Peacehaven at about 2.30pm. It got soundly harassed by Jackdaws and Crows, which it had to duck and dodge as it tried to gain height, using its tail as a rudder as it twisted, eventually rising higher than the eye could see before drifting north.