10.00 - 11.30: Great Northern Diver 5os, Red-throated Diver 1E, Common Scoter 44E, Teal 5E, Red-breasted Merganser 2W, Bonxie 1W 1S, Kittiwake 4W, auk sp 1W, Gannet 3E 3W, Sandwich Tern 12W, Meadow Pipit 23N, Black Redstart (imm male) 1N on to wall.

Dave Smith and I sat in the Worthing shelter on a grey, bleak morning but at least there was some reward. A Little Ringed Plover flew off the beach calling - a sign of spring. There was not much moving apart from the odd Sandwich Tern and small groups of Common Scoter. Slowly the passerines began to appear with over 50 Meadow Pipits coming ashore and finally one Swallow to round the morning off.

Heard a cuckoo at half past six this morning. The earliest date in six years.

Chichester RSPB Local Group. Thursday 12th April. Indoor meeting. Talk by Pete Charleston 'The Thin Green Line', policing wildlife in North Wales Time: 7.30pm at Newell Centre, Tozer Way, Chichester Price: £2 members, £3 non-members. Call 01243 527757 for details.

Osprey resting in the woods to the left of the Gurka Suspension Bridge, North Stoke. Visible from the top road and footpath.

Selsey Bill, 06.15 - 10.00, SW3/4 rain at first: Arctic Skua - 1E, Great Skua - 1E, Sandwich Tern - 8E, 6os, Gannet - 83os, Brent Goose - 94E, 4W, Med Gull - 2E, 3os, Kittiwake - 1E, Great Northern Diver - 5os, Red-breasted Merganser - 2E, Meadow Pipit - 19N, Red-throated Diver - 3E, Mute Swan - 1W, auk sp - 3W, Common Scoter - 21E, 14W, Fulmar - 1W, Common Gull - 13os and Shag - 2os. Also ca. 10 Bottle-nosed Dolphins.

With reference to the postings re long-eared owls, I found one dead in Ashington in winter 2011. It was very emaciated .

Male Cuckoo calling at 06.00 at Sedlescombe.

I wonder whether there are other factors that could also be attributing to the apparent decline in long-eared owls? At two downland sites close to me where LEOs have likely bred in recent years, there has been extensive scrub clearance to the extent that the dense thickets they used to inhabit are now much reduced in area.

Two COMMON CRANES over The Burgh at 3.30pm.

A female Marsh Harrier was over the west side of the harbour at 5.45pm today before drifting off northwards. Also a House Martin over Church Norton this morning.

Beautiful closeup views of half a dozen yellowhammers at Falmer Pond, in the shrubs just inside the church walls and on the pond verge itself. Also on the trees by the pond at the north end of Stanmer village...two large cockatiels!!

Rather than a sighting this is actually a comment on the lack of Long-eared Owls we have been seeing. We have been making active efforts to record LEOs in Sussex now for more than six years, concentrating on the Downland populations. When we first started recording LEOs they were fairly numerous. When we made the effort to visit suitable habitat on the Downs in March and April around dusk we invariably recorded this species, and found populations in at least 14 areas. Over the last few years we have concentrated on other birds and species groups. However, after the run of recent winters with cold temperatures and sustained snow cover, we decided to put a little more effort in over the last six months to see how the population has coped. One of the factors that encouraged us to do this is that we failed to 'bump into' any LEOs during all of our night time Downland survey work for other species in 2011. As of today, having spent a significant amount of time in suitable habitat and at known sites we have only managed to record one LEO in the last six months. This suggests to us that the species may have suffered significantly from the adverse weather in recent winters, and we would be very interested to hear from anyone who has recorded this species in recent years. There is obviously a significant amount of potential prey around as shown by the number of immigrant SEOs which have wintered in Sussex, but we believe that the vast majority of LEOs seen in Sussex are sedentary birds, and perhaps their numbers have been severely dented.

(If you do have any relevant information (which will be treated in confidence) please email Dave & Pen. Please feel free to comment on this forum on the presence/absence of LEOs though it would be best if specific sites were not named - Ed).

Not a very spring-like day today with mostly cloud and a chilly wind. The odd Swallow and House Martin were passing through. Plenty of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps but I could only manage a miserly two Willow Warblers. A lone male Wheatear from Winpenny hide and a Little Ringed Plover on the Brooks were the best of the rest. The female Peregrine was in her usual tree and there were three Barnacle Geese together with the Pink-footed Goose in amongst a small flock of Canadas. A pair of Bullfinches at Redstart Corner gathering nesting material brightened up the walk back to the car.

Two tawny owls calling in and around Withdean woods (Brighton) last night, one present in the woods and then another flying over the pub!

I've viewed Red Kites in West Sussex for a few years now, but this afternoon's experience is worth a mention. First a single Red Kite flew northward over the hilltop giving me exceptional near views. As this bird moved away, I glanced back to the hilltop to see a further four Red Kites flying over the hill in loose formation. As the birds slowly moved in a northeast direction, a Buzzard stooped down from on high at one of the Kites. After a couple of passes the Kites moved on and the Buzzard disappeared into the trees. Next a distant Buzzard was seen carrying some form of carcass upwards to get above the now circling Kites. Certaining a afternoon to remember.

Large bird flew across road in front of us so we did a quick "U" turn parked and pursued it into the wood. Good sightings as it flew through the wood and perched in a tree where it was mobbed by a Magpie and flew off. Later consulted our bird guide and identified it as Rough-legged Buzzard, no mistaking the pale tail. This was at about 3.20pm on Janes lane leading up to Ditchling Common. Nice to see that someone else saw the bird later at Wivelsfield.

Two red kites crossing A259 heading north just outside Bersted (twixt Chichester & Bognor Regis on coastal plain/agriculture land).

Atop a 15m pine at Ambersham Common a male crossbill (pic attached) for say 20min calling persistently, not the usual metallic 'chip chip' but a softer 'chew chew' and we wondered it might be calling to youngsters but the only nearby bird we saw was a drop-in male siskin; otherwise we saw a cuckoo which was silent.

Three Little Ringed Plovers at The Hanger viewpoint today at about 12.30. Plus the female Peregrine at 'Redstart Corner' flying over. Also three House Martins flying about the reserve.