Very little at Church Norton this afternoon although a cuckoo gave good views, flying out of woodland around Norton Priory and settling in a bush on the spit.

At the end of a very enjoyable circuit around inland West Sussex, Chris Brown and I were overlooking Waltham Brooks when we were fortunate enough to have superb views of a Honey Buzzard as it flew low over our heads while attempting to evade the unwelcome attention of a Corvid. An unexpected and very welcome addition to the day list showing off very clearly all the necessary features.

At 9am this morning near the Horse Bridge behind Wartling I watched one then two then four Hobbies hawking for insects over the Wallers Haven. They were on show for nearly half an hour before drifting away towards Boreham St. Apart from Denge Marsh that's the best show I've seen from these amazing birds.

On the way down, just before the Aldingbourne level crossing, I noticed a colony of house martins on some cream-rendered cottages (SU 938047). The Breech Pool, Pagham Harbour is now well flooded thereby putting pay to the nesting little ringed plovers but here was a shelduck with her remnant brood of four ducklings. Out beyond the Old Jetty were, side by side for a while, single summer-plumaged male black-tailed godwit and male bar-tailed godwit (pic attached, the former with long legs on the right). At the Harbour mouth were at least three little terns including a pair of which one (the female?) was given a sprat by the other (male?).

A visit to a Common in West Sussex this morning proved very rewarding. The songs of Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Chaffinch greeted us and we soon heard and saw the first of several Yellowhammers. A Tree Pipit was taking food to the nest near a family of Spotted Flycatchers. Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were in vocal evidence. A family of Stonechats - both adults and four young - added to the entertainment as did a group of Linnets. The highlight was a posing male Dartford Warbler with a singing Woodlark not far behind. Although a number of day-flying moths were seen not one butterfly made an appearance.

Mixed bag of birds today with the weather not warm and a light sea mist off Selsey Bill where Owen Mitchell was keeping the log. We noted an unusual flock of 18 Gadwall moving W and around 20 Sandwich Terns offshore plus a couple of Fulmars that slipped by in the gloom. Church Norton: very few waders noted - just five Turnstone but a good count of 102 Sandwich, ten Common and four Little Terns feeding around the southern end of the harbour. Sidlesham Ferry: 22 Avocets busy feeding and making plenty of noise with 24 Teal and a single Green Sandpiper. On Drayton Pit,  Chichester Dave Smith found a very odd looking Aythya duck which looked like a Scaup, although it rapidly disappeared before we all got on to it. It may have been a hybrid? (Bernie Forbes, Dave Smith & Dorian Mason).

Turtle Dove heard at Broadwater Warren at 10.30 this morning in sweet chestnut coppice in the south-west of the reserve.

Spotted Flycatcher in my garden this evening.

What a difference a warm, sultry morning makes. Having failed to record any turtle doves in the Lower Barn area of the Knepp Estate this year (a previously reliable spot for this species), there were definitely two and probably three singing males there today. Not sure if these are the same birds are recorded elsewhere on the estate last week. Also a newly fledged juvenile cuckoo.

Two hobbies giving prolonged views over the area late morning, seen catching several dragonflies.

I've just noticed that the SOS sponsored cuckoo "Sussex" is already in France. Follow here http://www.sos.org.uk/follow-sussex-on-his-journey.html

Two greenshanks at the Creek this morning on a lowering tide but no Med gulls. Just a note that the little gull that was photographed by L Prevost is a first-summer (2cy) bird.

A rather battered looking Red Kite drifted low over us in Church Lane, Oving at lunchtime today.

I joined Dave Smith at the shelter on Worthing beach this morning - with a grey sky the viewing conditions were excellent. However, there was little on the move but at least we got two Bonxies and two Arctic Skuas. There was a steady passage of Gannets and some in very strange plumages. Two individuals looked like Pomarine clones with the brown markings perfect for the unwary! Fortunately with sustained views we could exclude that species but it is an identification trap which everyone should be aware of. Eight Common Scoters moved east and a couple of Fulmars made up the list. Two Linnets on the shore land vegetation were a bit of a surprise - failed breeders?

Having seen the recent reports of an Osprey at Weir Wood I thought I would pop over to the west end of the reservoir and sit in the hide to see what would show up. On arrival there was a Reed Warbler singing away in front of the hide but it chose not to be seen, within 5 minutes of arriving a Kingfisher flew across the front of the hide heading E. On the water there were plenty of Great Crested Grebes, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese along with Swans and Mallards, I had missed the Mandarin family (four chicks) that had swam right past me but the other guy in the hide saw them which made his day. The Common Terns from the raft were very actively fishing but with the northeasterly wind the water was quite choppy so it was hard work for them. Plenty of the usual Heron and Cormorant activity and at one stage a lovely Whitethroat settled right in front of the hide looking for insects amongst the plants. I was there from 10.00 to 13.00 and sadly no Osprey today. Not a lot of human activity at the hide either, just myself the gent already mentioned and one other birder all the time I was there. It was good though to share birding tales while we sat and watched the activities outside the hide.

Not the greatest day but I had to mention the three Lapwings on the north bank with the Little Ringed Plovers for company. These were the first Lapwing I'd seen here this year, I find this quite amazing. That, I suppose, is birding for you. Also of note were two juv' Grey Wagtails being tended by one parent on the dam where plenty of Pieds juv's were picking food from the water's edge. Over the dam there were a dozen or more House Martins, whilst in the car park Treecreeper, Blackcaps and Song Thrush were noted. A stop off at the west end revealed a few young Grey Herons wing-stretching in the nests, also four or five Swifts, the Common Terns, plus two Reed Warblers and a Kingfisher, much the same as Shane I see.

17.30 - 19.30: STORM PETREL 1E @ 19.08 (in front of the mile basket line), Peregrine 1N, Shag 1o/s drifted off W, Gannet 24E 42W, auk sp. 1W, Curlew 1W, and Lesser Black-backed Gull 1o/s - only my 3rd record of this species here since March 26th totalling just four birds (GH, SR). To add to the Sunday sightings two Med gulls were o/s just before I left at 11.00.

Thought birders in Sussex might benefit from this American decision-making chart! http://www.thebirdist.com/2013/06/is-this-bird-aba-countable.html

This time last year I lamented the absence of roding Woodcock at the National Trust car park on Blackdown. Six consecutive nights observation produced no birds at this previously very reliable spot. I feared the heavy-handed clearance of rhododendrons there had frightened away all the Woodcock. Well I'm very pleased to report that last night we had a roding Woodcock over our house (opposite the car park) just as it was getting dark around 9.30pm. A welcome return!

Selsey Bill, 05.30 to 09.45, SW4 cloudy: Storm Petrel - 1W at 08.35, 1os briefly at 08.55, Pomarine Skua - 1E at 06.50, Black-throated Diver - 1E, Gannet - 37E, 51W, Fulmar - 16W, Common Scoter - 97E, 1W, Curlew - 1W, Kittiwake - 1E, Sandwich Tern - c20os, Common Tern - 17os, Razorbill - 5W, Guillemot -1W and auk sp - 1E, 3W. (J. Atkinson, S. Hill, P. Bowley et al).