A pair of Swallows over Twineham - not seen any over here for a long time. Also good thrush numbers - Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush and Blackbird in good numbers on the cricket pitch.

For the last week or so we have had a Turtle Dove singing on and off (and seen briefly on a couple of occasions). A day or so ago we had two juvenile Nuthatches. Yesterday we had a male Bullfinch on our seed feeder. Today we had a juvenile Siskin on its own coming to our seed feeder. A very unusual sighting indeed!

Just to add to my previous observation about the stork - I am sure this was a BLACK STORK over Brighton as I watched it through bins from my office!!  Possibly the same bird that appeared near Lewes a little later on....

At 13.45 today a very large bird with long broad wings and a slow wingbeat was seen flying northeast over Mt Caburn. I spotted it from the train going into Lewes so no further identification was possible. My only thoughts are White Stork. I know one was seen on Ashdown Forest at 13.43 so probably not the same bird. Just curious if anyone else saw this bird.

A Common Buzzard soaring high above Falmer village this morning.

I'm seeing Swifts entering the nestbox on my house every day now, and today for the first time I heard the tiny sounds of the young when an adult arrived with food. The adults enter the box incredibly "swiftly" and silently, and are easily missed.

The gulls alerted me to the presence of another visitor over the city - a stork circling for some time and trying to avoid the gulls eventually gaining height and flying off towards the East. A very large bird with broad wings and pronounced fingers at the tips. Time of sighting was approx 10.30.

A single adult Turtle Dove, accompanied by a Collared Dove, landed on our lawn on Sunday morning. The Collared Dove stood still and watched very intently whilst the Turtle Dove explored the lawn and patio. There were two Wood Pigeons under our seed feeders and the Turtle Dove kept well away from them and so did not feed. We watched for 5 minutes from no more than 5 metres distance. My wife referred to the neck markings as "go faster stripes", they were very distinct. When it eventually flushed, it raced away side by side with the Collared Dove as though they were a pair. This behaviour struck me as most odd and is why I am making this record and questioning if anyone else has seen anything similar? Could this be a Turtle Dove that cannot find a mate?

The juvenile male Hen Harrier is still around the Washington area being seen twice on Sunday for a total of 10mins as it was flying overhead before landing in a dead elm. I do have a couple of blurred record shots where you can see its white rump and a cream banded tail. A real raptor day with soaring Common Buzzard, hovering Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk being seen on my walk. A Bullfinch being chased off by a male Chaffinch was an interesting sight. Also as I was sitting at the base of a tree a Treecreeper landed about 2 foot above my head and proceeded to spiral upwards catching insects, it seemed oblivious of me.

A Siskin singing at Arundel Arboretum on Sunday morning. Are there more Siskins around Sussex this summer? Or is this a regular breeding spot for them anyway?

Three possibly 4 Dartford Warblers at Old Lodge, extremely tame and got within 5 feet of them. Also a single Woodcock, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Long-tailed Tits, Stonechat and Goldcrests. No Nightjars though...

The male RED-BACKED SHRIKE was still at Shopham Bridge this evening. A Grey Wagtail provided a support act in the stable's puddles!

A Lttle Egret at Bewl Water this afternoon trying to feed along the banks of the reservoir but frequently disturbed. Two Common Terns also there.

This evening was a really calm and beautiful evening down on the levels. Birds of interest included 9 Avocets, 6 Teal, a handful of Lapwing, 2 Black-tailed Godwits in flight and a really good view of a Marsh Harrier.

Strolling around Heyshott Common this afternoon seemed to coincide with a peak in bird activity - two maybe three Tree Pipits were in song as were up to six Dartford Warblers and a couple of Wood Larks heralding from the tops of pines. A pair of Stonechats were calling and zipping about frantically feeding their fledglings and then a flock of some 50+ Crossbills got up with multiple chip calls and were mobile and seen feeding in pines on both Ambersham Common and Heyshott - a welcome sight as this species has had a dearth of records lately.

A picture of the Red-backed Shrike (click above) taken at Shopham Bridge on 14 June.

Another Spotted Flycatcher near Robertsbridge, along Fontridge Lane.

Well after the excitement of the Black Stork, which incidentally was seen the day before at Hindleap Warren, things have certainly got back to a normal quiet. Breeding successes have been quite good though, even Mute Swans have five young cygnets. The Grey Herons have done very well, estimating numbers is not easy although ca. 25 nests were active. Reed Warblers have bred, and there are juveniles of Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap and Garden Warbler with the tits seemingly doing very well with newly fledged Coal, Marsh, Blue and Great all over. House Martins and Swallows are still busy raising young and good numbers of Swifts presumably from St. Swithun's Church tower have been congregating, their throat pouches full of food. No Willow Warblers this year, plenty of Chiffchaffs though. Finches, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, all the corvids and wagtails seem to have done well. Mandarin and Mallard also have young, as do Stock Doves. It's nice to see so many young birds.