A grey gloomy and cold day greeted Mum, Dad and I as we set out on our New Year Bird Race yesterday morning. Undeterred by the weather however we got off to a good start with Bullfinch and Grey Wagtail, amongst many other garden birds, just beyond our back yard. The rest of the day’s highlights included a Red Kite at Cocking Hill, Pochard and Gadwall at Ivy Lake, large flocks of Pintail flying into Pagham Harbour over Ferry Pool, Ringed Plover at Church Norton, Common and Mediterranean Gulls at Selsey Bill and Goldeneye on Pagham Lagoon (a first ever for us!). After a brief stop for lunch, we headed off up to The Burgh at North Stoke. Here we were busy watching a Barn Owl that flew out from the empty barn near where we parked, when a ringtail Hen Harrier flew across in front of us. Shame the weather was too dark for photos, and boy didn’t they move fast! The day ended on a high note with both Kingfisher and Bittern at Burton Pond in the fast approaching dusk making a total of 71 species. My thanks to Dad for acting a chauffeur! Happy New Year everyone.

A loose and mobile flock of Mediterranean Gulls around Pagham this afternoon. Counted 29 on the Lagoon at 14.00 then watched them move to the beach. Counted 37 either on the beach or moving from the Lagoon to the beach around 14.45. Allowing for duplication there must have been 45+ in the Harbour. Also 4 Slavonian Grebes, 1 Red-throated Diver and 2 Great Crested Grebes on the sea.

At Selsey Bill this morning 2 Red-breasted Mergansers on the sea. Offshore from Church Norton 1 Slavonian Grebe and 12 Great Crested Grebes. At the North Wall we missed a fly through Hen Harrier by a couple of minutes.

The GREAT GREY SHRIKE was still present at Glynde Reach this morning. We had excellent views of it but it did spend a lot of time out of sight as well. Also a pair of Ravens were very conspicuous.

20+ Sanderling and 30+ Turnstones on the beach at Littlehampton yesterday.

Had a very close view of a Firecrest at High Salvington foraging in old man's beard shubbery. Got within 6ft of this lovely bird. Also 14 Long-tailed Tits were foraging through elm trees.

The Hawfinch was briefly in the poplars beside the footpath adjacent to West Park Nature Reserve, Burgess Hill at 08.30 this morning. It then flew towards the oak trees beside the alotments and the Rugby Club.

Wonderful afternoon wondering around the fringes of the harbour, along the North Wall in particular. Species included: Brent Goose, Shelduck, Mute Swan, Knot, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Turnstone, Redshank, Teal, Wigeon, Pintail, Mallard, Moorhen, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Curlew, Fieldfare, Robin, Blackbird, Rock Pipit, Buzzard, Kestrel, Peregrine, Kingfisher, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Little Grebe. I expect there were far more species on show, but I was enjoying just watching groups of geese and plover wheeling overhead!

The Barnacle Goose was with Canadas in front of Winpenny Hide early pm, and was later visible from the Visitor Centre through their megabins!

Stopped at Burpham on the way home from a New Years Eve gathering this morning and observed 18 adult Bewick's Swans together on the water meadows. Also of note were at least 10 Redwings with 2 Mistle Thrushes amongst them as a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew overhead. So here we go again - good birding and safe journeys to everyone.

On the watermeadows below the village of Pulborough, a Barnacle Goose feeding with many Canada Geese at 11.00 today.

2008 was a good year for me in West Sussex (I'm embarrassed to confess I never once made it across to the other half all year!) and I saw a total of 216 species, 3 behind my best ever year of 1997. Prompted by this I thought I'd have a look and compare the two years. Firstly there were 15 species that I saw in 2008 that I didn't see in 1997, including what I'd now almost consider regular birds like Cattle Egret, Spoonbill, Red Kite, Egyptian Goose, Pectoral Sandpiper and Raven. On the down side there was no Scaup or Smew, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Ring Ouzel, Wood Warbler or Tree Sparrow amongst the 18 species I saw in 1997 but not last year. All of these are becoming tougher, year on year, to find in the west of the county. The other startling revelation was how much further I had to travel to get my total; the number of birds I recorded in the core of my birdwatching world, Pagham Harbour LNR, fell from 189 species in 1997 to 150 last year. There is a depressingly long list of species that I would have expected - rather than hoped - to have seen each year, like Scaup, Hen Harrier, Grey Partridge, Water Rail, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Guillemot, Tree Pipit, Black Redstart, Ring Ouzel, Grasshopper Warbler, Treecreeper, Brambling, Redpoll, Snow Bunting and Corn Bunting that were all absent from my Pagham list in 2008 and likely to be again in the future. I know it is not scientific and some of the above I missed due to my own ineptitude, but I have consistently birded the reserve several times a week over the intervening years and I think it presents an interesting snapshot of the changing fortunes of the various species in West Sussex and the worrying decline in diversity of species (the above list being a mix of winter, migrant, summer and resident birds) present around Pagham Harbour.

A pleasing start to the year as a Raven showed well this morning on the north side of the Old Lodge reserve before heading off south. A ringtail Hen Harrier put in an all too brief appearance nearby. A Dartford Warbler called a few times but kept out of sight. Seven Crossbills were near the entrance of the reserve.

This morning at around 05.30 as I was driving east to work on the A27, about 450 yards after the Lancing Manor roundabout,on my left I saw a Barn Owl. The Barn Owl was sitting on a fence post. Not bad for the first sighting of the year.

New tick for my Coldwaltham garden was the frenetic Treecreeper I had in the Crack Willow tree. In fact the third I'd seen in the last week in various locations having not seen one for ages. Also end of year walk over at Waltham Brooks produced not only the usual Barn Owl but also my first ringtail Hen Harrier at my local patch, quietly floating over the central lake before disappearing off towards the sewage treatment works!

Early this afternoon we were watching a Barn Owl beside the road from Manor Farm to Greatham Bridge when we spotted a large looking buzzard species. The bird was hunting just south of the telephone box to the west of Manor Farm, and looked very good for a Rough-legged Buzzard. The bird showed a wholly white tail on its' upper side except for a dark band at the end and was very light on its' underside showing pronounced carpal patches and a dark trailing edge to the wing. We watched the bird for a few minutes until it flew south and was lost from view. Finally, at 4pm this afternoon we watched a ringtail Hen Harrier quartering the reedbeds at Waltham Brooks.

A walk along Bulverhythe beach and a look in at Filsham this morning. Two sightings of Marsh Harrier at the reedbeds, the first of a bird flushing three Teal. A Great Spotted Woodpecker by a caravan park nut feeder was a colourful distraction. Not too much offshore but arriving home at Hastings distinctly heard the call of a WAXWING three times from a Victorian wooded garden off Elphinstone Road. Will have a look around there tomorrow.

I started the year at West Dean and my first bird of note was a Red Kite over Crowshall Farm, Chilgrove from the car. Highlights around the Stapleash Farm area included 1 Firecrest, 2 Marsh Tits, 1 Yellowhammer and at least 40 Bramblings in with a big flock of Chaffinches. This afternoon I braved the cold easterly at Church Norton spit for highlights of at least 5 Red-throated Divers, 8 Slavonian Grebes and 20+ Mediterranean Gulls offshore and 6 Goldeneye in the harbour.

I expect that many of you have been out birdwatching in the RX area during the festive season, and I would be interested to know if there have been any sightings of Tree Sparrows. Please let me know of numbers and locations and I could draw up a map of the RX area - not to show exact locations, but just to indicate the 2 km square. Please e-mail me at yates@clara.net. (Barry Yates).

Nine Corn Buntings resting on wires with Starlings near the NE corner of the cement works quarry at Beeding Hill late afternoon.