Winter Bird Race 4th January 2009 - A Tawny Owl hooting in the garden was a superb start for the day as the Bald Eagles met up on their annual trek across West Sussex – it augured well for the day. The penetrating frost meant that conditions were not ideal for some species and so it proved throughout the day. Thorney Island at first light was amazing with numerous duck calling and the sight of three Barn Owls hunting over the fields was unprecedented. The usual Jack Snipe field was frozen and, as a result, only one Jack and one Common Snipe could be found, enough for the list, but a worrying sign. The mudflats were frozen too but we recorded both Bar-tailed and Black tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Grey Plover and a single Greenshank. Four Bearded Tits popped up close by and gave excellent views - always a favourite and often missed on a bird race. One Cetti’s Warbler, a couple of Water Rails and, unusually, a few Bullfinches ensured some of the difficult species were on the list, 65 species by 09.00 - an encouraging start. Ivy Lake, almost completely frozen, hosted a pair of WHOOPER SWANS (new to our winter list), Shoveler, Grey-lag Goose and Great Crested Grebe. Off to the coast. The sea off Selsey was like a millpond and so anything swimming could be picked up fairly easily and so two Great Northern Divers, 5 Red-throated Divers and Common Scoter were soon added to the list. Further out to sea a Razorbill was identified amongst the various auks flying past, a couple of Kittiwakes and the odd Gannet. Our first Pied Wagtail of the day was finally found to our relief – there are always some glaring omissions and today was to be no exception. Church Norton was alive with waders but some were in extremely short supply: only one Knot could be found on the flats. The wintering Whimbrel was located and offshore two Black-throated Divers, a single Eider and 15+ SlavonianGrebes were welcome additions. A Merlin was seen speeding out to sea and this was followed by two Peregrines coming in to cause mayhem across the harbour. One flushed a probable Short-eared Owl but as only one member of the team picked it up the record could not be accepted. In the main channel 3 Avocets were recorded along with Goldeneye and Mediterranean Gulls. No sign of the Golden Plover flock – a surprising miss for the day. One o’clock one hundred species - a pretty good start. The downs also provided a few surprises with 7 Hawfinches – a superb creature at the best of times but even more welcome on a bird race. The huge finch flock yielded a single Brambling and one Redpoll. The freezing conditions meant that birds were not wasting energy calling and this made our task even more difficult. Fortunately, a couple of Nuthatches did break the silence and a Marsh Tit joined in. No Sparrowhawk and no Yellowhammer - where were they? Fortunately the Little Owl was in its usual roosting site – although I have tried in vain on many recent occasions but that is the beauty of a bird race, it’s all a matter of luck and timing. The greyness of the day was beginning to take its toll as the light conditions were not at their best as we went to The Burgh – a couple of Grey Partridge, another Barn Owl and a flock of Bewick’s Swans to keep the list ticking over. The flood valley of the Arun was completely iced over and the large goose flock could not be located and so on to Burton for our last destination. Fortunately we managed to hear Coal Tit for the first time in the day, a few Mandarins came into roost and the star of the day, a Bittern, was expertly picked up by Tim Edwards who mockingly stated that he thought we should find our own birds! “Well there is another flying up the lake”, I replied, point taken, smiles all round. Two Bitterns in a day and another new bird for our ever-growing winter bird race list (144 species). In the gloom of the dusk we stood overlooking Waltham Brooks to record the fifth Barn Owl of the day to end an exceptional feat of endurance with a brilliant score of 118. Had there been time we could have seen Chiffchaff and perhaps Water Pipit. Sparrowhawk evaded us the whole day as did Yellowhammer, Golden Plover, Siskin, Hen Harrier, Guillemot and a few others which means that 125 species can be seen if lady luck stays with you throughout the day. It is this journey into the unknown every time you embark on a race that spurs us on and hopefully the Eagles will be soaring again next winter to prove it can be done. Not only is it a wonderful experience to be out all day, but one of my favourite species (the Swift) will reap the rewards of our frozen extremities when they return in late spring to find a new housing estate under a few eaves within the county for them to breed successfully once again. Congratulations to all the other teams and I hope we have raised enough money to ensure a large number of nest boxes can be provided for this enigmatic species. Happy new year to all. (Richard Ives, Dave Smith & Dorian Mason).

A totally unsuccessful day (or so I thought until leaving for home) at Rye Harbour today - no Dartford Warbler, no Long-Eared Owl, no Bittern at the viewpoint. Gloomily returning to the car park I tried for one last look for the Dartford. Didn't see it but saw a Song Thrush and then another bigger thrush with dark lines below its eye. Yeessss - a Mistle Thrush. Not exciting to many but as I was telling Paul James yesterday I haven't seen one of these since I was a little girl growing up on the Yorkshire Pennines. Kind regards to all and great birding in 2009.

A member living in Hove and who does not have transport at present would like to go on the SOS Dungeness outing on 17th Jan. Is there another member who can help by offering a lift? Please give me a ring - 01444 471358 - or email outings@sos.org.uk

The start of this year at Weir Wood has being largely frozen and the effect on the birds is noticeable. Firstly winter thrushes are seemingly nowhere to be found; the first few Lapwing of the year appeared today, three of them. Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails are also hard to find in any numbers. Thirty-five Teal were around yesterday, 9 Gadwall and the Ruddy Duck. Today these were joined by the Scaup again, all seen from the dam. The west end is virtually solidly frozen and even the dam end is largely frozen. The gull roost was interesting late afternoon, although the bitter north-easterly was none too pleasant. The highlight was a 3rd winter (not 2nd winter as reported on RBA) CASPIAN GULL, a very elegant bird; also an adult Yellow-legged Gull joined the 110+ Herring Gulls. A total of 1800 gulls had arrived by the time the cold and later the snowy conditions had driven me home. The tally included the now regular Mediterranean Gull, this time a 1st year bird, and several Lesser Black-backed Gulls among the Black-headed Gulls. The main attraction at the west end is the feeders, they remain busy as ever. For those wishing read up on Caspian Gull, try the surfbirds or berksbirds websites.

Male Blackcap in my garden in north Shoreham again. Then a circuit of local sites (my New Years resolution is to concentrate on my local patch rather travel further afield!) revealed 7 Wigeon on the Adur at the Toll Bridge, the Water Rail walking on the ice by the square tamarisk island at Widewater. Also 3 Teal and 2 Little Egrets here and a pair of Red- breasted Mergansers offshore. Finally a Purple Sandpiper at Shoreham Harbour mouth on the western arm.

There was a WAXWING (well, a light brown bird thrush-sized bird with a crest eating rowan berries which I took as a fair description of a waxwing) reported to us from a lady in Loxwood today - sorry no details of exactly where.

At Burton Mill Pond, a Bittern flew low across the partly-frozen lake at precisely 4.15pm, to the sheltered reeds on the left. Five minutes later it climbed the reeds to roost, showing quite well. A Kingfisher was present and a Water Rail also flew across.

After short glimpses of two Bitterns at the Castle Water viewpoint at duskdusk, we got an excellent view of one flying low over the reeds just before dark. Apologies to the two other birders who left shortly before this sighting! Also, two Water Rails next to the viewpoint.

Popped into Arlington Reservoir this afternoon and had pretty good views of the Red-throated Diver from the hide at 2.30pm. It gradually moved out towards the trout holding tank once I'd got the camera! Brilliant! Also of note, ca. 15 Teal, plenty of Wigeon, and a leucistic Coot which I have a few pics of. If anyone is interested please email me.

Very quiet at Pulborough Brooks RSPB between 11am and 3pm today with duck numbers down significantly and no Godwits seen. Presumably all have departed for less frozen habitat. On the plus side Snipe and Lapwing are coming right under West Mead and Winpenny Hides presenting excllent photographic opportunities. Only hint of quality was two Golden Plover calling and flying over the North Brooks. South at Greatham Bridge at dusk there was no sign of the Barn Owl but a ringtail Hen Harrier approached from the south, circled and headed back in the direction it came from.

A Grey Wagtail seen in the garden of my Littlehampton flat twice today. Once seen flying through the garden and then later on again on the lawn and path.

New Year fitness got off to a good start here with up to 10 Blackbirds doing circuit training around the garden and an orderly queue making good use of our stream to bathe. The latter was led by a Jay and followed by 12+ Starlings, said Blackbirds and 7 House Sparrows. The Coal Tits (2), Blue Tits (5), Great Tits (3), Long-tailed Tits (4) and Chaffinches (7) were ever present while 5 Lesser Redpolls, 7 Siskins and one Goldfinch made good use of the niger feeder. Our Crow, as ever, watched from afar.

Visited Widewater Lagoon which was partially frozen. No sign of the Water Rail this week although we did see 4 pairs of Wigeon close to the pedestrian bridge - a first for us.

(I too visited Widewater today late afternoon - no sign of the Water Rail or Wigeon though 5 Teal (all females), 2 Little Egrets, 3 Redshank, 3 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover and a few Gannets out to sea right on the horizon - Paul James).

The sprinkling of snow and ice held promise of some nice views this morning so Mum and I headed out to Cocking and walked up the South Downs Way at Cocking Down. We were rewarded for our effort by wonderful views of two Red Kites. They hung around for about 10 minutes before they dropped below the tree line out of sight. Five minutes later we got almost to the top of the hill and they reappeared in more or less the same place. One of the birds appeared to have picked up what I suppose was a rabbit bone which it was chewing and showing off to the other birds whilst it flew. A flock of 40+ Fieldfares were feeding in the stubble. We turned left back down through the woods in quite a blizzard where many Pheasants were hiding and feeding in some of the lower fields. A few Song Thrushes flew up from a field before we rejoined the main path where we saw another Red Kite, presumably one of the previous pair soaring in the now pleasant sunshine. A couple of Bullfinches in the hedges on the way down hill and two Meadow Pipits at the farm finished the walk off nicely. Now rather cold we went back home for hot chocolate and coffee!!

Adult Mediterranean Gull on the shoreline at Horse Pond, West Itchenor this morning at 8.45am.

The cold spell has brought in 24 adult Bewick's Swans to roost over night, the highest count of the winter so far. They took flight around 8am and headed up the valley to the north. The frozen areas of water have also had an affect on a Water Rail which was desperately feeding in front of the main gallery window this morning, giving excellent views of this mostly shy and retiring bird.

First Siskin (male)of the winter was seen in my garden in Crawley, West Sussex on 4th January. Having looked at my BTO Garden Birdwatch records, this sighting is 5 weeks earlier than usual. My records go back to 2005.

I have a blog but it is more photography based. It will hopefully be updated weekly this year http://sussexbirdphotography.blogspot.com/ (Liam James Pauling - Hurstpierpoint College).

A fantastic day in the Rye Bay area yesterday despite the very cold weather. First stop was Pett Level - ca. 20 White-fronted Geese (with the Canadas and Greylags), male Marsh Harrier, 2 Peregrines, adult Mediterranean Gull, 2 Barn Owls and 2 Water Pipits, one of which showed very well skating on the ice on the pool nearest the road. Out to sea several large rafts of Great Crested Grebes, 3 Red-throated Divers and 4 Common Scoter. The Long-eared Owl did not appear to be in its usual roost at the Narrow Pit, indeed the only birds of note we saw at Rye Harbour were a pair of Goldeneye on the largely iced over Long Pit. A Marsh Harrier and lots of wildfowl at Scotney including 60+ Barnacle Geese. Could some of these be wild given the current extreme weather conditions in Holland? The RSPB reserve at Dungeness produced some excellent birds including at least 2 Bitterns which showed several times in flight, Black-necked and Slavonian Grebes, male Red-crested Pochard, 4 Smew (2 adult males), 6 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Marsh Harriers, Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff,  and 2 Tree Sparrows in the garden of the house at the entrance to the reserve. From Robin Hood Lane at Lydd were ca. 60 Bewick's and a single adult Whooper Swan while to the NW of the village from Dennes Road we saw 4 Tundra Bean, up to 100 White-fronted and ca. 20 Barnacle Geese. Our final stop on Walland Marsh produced 5 Marsh Harriers in the air together, 2 Common Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk and, just as we were about to give up and go home, an adult male and a ringtail Hen Harrier that flew in and roosted in the reedbed. (Paul James - Sussex Wildlife Walks).