A Raven flew low S over my Warnham garden today at 13.30 calling all the way.

A Chiffchaff heard singing from houses backing onto my school this morning in the for once fine weather. There have been no Chiffchaffs wintering locally, they probably all got pushed off by the snow, so perhaps this is an early migrant? For more info see my blog.

A couple of White-fronted Geese with a mixed gaggle at Piddinghoe Pond in the afternoon (Les Bird, via Cuckmere-Ouse Bird Blog).

Yesterday morning (8.00 - 8.20am) the birds in my garden in Three Bridges, Crawley were behaving oddly. On two occasions they all completely panicked and disappeared from the area. Their reaction was far more extreme than was usual to that of the local Sparrowhawk being around. When I left for work at 8.20am I walked to the crossroads between Mill Road and Hazelwick Road and discovered the reason for the behaviour. A very large (suspect female) Peregrine was gliding eastwards down Hazelwick Road just above the roof of my house. It continued towards Blockbuster and then turned N along the main road. Great view and a garden tick I had been after for 5 years. Just a shame the camera was indoors.

Flooding at Pulborough Brooks is likely to cut off Winpenny hide and part of the trail later today (Wednesday) or tomorrow. Large numbers of waterfowl on site and throughout the valley - at Amberley Wildbrooks on Monday there were ca. 110 black-tailed godwits, ca. 2500 wigeon, ca. 550 teal and a ringtail hen harrier. Crossbills still present on the heathland restoration areas. Two peregrines have been regularly seen over the site.

Meeting of old friends at the Bill this morning with Mervyn Jones dusting off his bins and regaling tales of West Wales. Foreign parts to many of us!!! It was very cold and damp with a very fresh northeasterly wind that produced a few quality birds. At least 10 Slavonian Grebes were offshore, some lingering others moving E, and the same with parties of Red-throated Divers with at least 15 birds counted with Wigeon and Common Scoter close in. In the choppy seas possibly three Black-throated Divers offshore and a Sandwich Tern that battled east. Also noted were Fulmar and Kittiwake. Church Norton was very cold and exposed with only a Chiffchaff heard and a few Knot. Fishbourne: confiding Whimbrel and the regular Little Stint. West Dean Woods: again it was very wet and miserable and the constant drizzle made birding very difficult although a very obliging Firecrest gave the visitors a year tick as did 3 Crossbills flying over. Up in the woods many Chaffinches were logged and with them a good number of Bramblings. (Bernie Forbes, Dave Smith, Owen Mitchell, Mervyn Jones & Eric Soden).

I managed to get some pictures of the Starling roost at Chichester and it is likely that they are gong to be used in the Chi Observer along with a story. I would therefore like to thank Andy Jones for the original sighting he posted. See my blog for a selection of photos.

A Raven and 2 Bullfinches this afternoon.

Little Stint still at Fishborne sluice - best viewed on falling tide. Also Whimbrel further down towards Apuldram.

The speaker at this week's meeting will be David Cromack and his talk will be Wild West Birding. The meeting takes place in the Large Parish Hall, De La Warr Rd, East Grinstead. Admission is £3 for members & £3.50 for non members. All welcome, refreshments available and RSPB sales.

Brilliant scope views of the Tawny Owl as it slept in a birch tree near the old sweet chestnut trees this morning. A Nuthatch close by, also ca. 7 Redwings in the area - still looking for my 1st Treecreeper though!!

A suprising first for my Bognor Regis garden was a cock Pheasant sitting on our back garden wall at 17.00 today. Sat there for about 5 minutes or so then flew up into a nearby Magnolia tree and gave a couple of calls before disappearing into the gloom. Light not good enough for a photograph.

Hawfinch - 12 in a single flock, Bullfinch - 3  and Marsh Tit - 1 all just north of Stapleash Farm mid-afternoon.

Whilst doing my WeBS count this morning, the only bird of any note was an Egyptian Goose on Piddinghoe Pond for a short time before it flew south. No sign of the Crane.

Since the cold snap my bird feeders seem to have become famous! We have had up to 16 chaffinches at the same time. During the snow we had a brambling amongst them. Then a male blackcap started turning up on the peanut feeder. I haven't seen him for a couple about 10 days, but the last few days we've had a female blackcap and female great spotted woodpecker. So far this morning I've seen (max counts) 9 chaffinches; 5 greenfinches; 3 goldfinches; 1 female blackcap; 1 female great spotted woodpecker; 5 blue tits; 3 great tits; 2 dunnocks; 1 robin; 1 blackbird; and a pair of collared doves.

On east pier at Newhaven Harbour at about 2pm were 14 Purple Sandpipers, all on the weedy (Enteromorpha?) lower structures and seen by peering down on them, all tame and photogenic as ever while at sea a flock of 14 Common Scoter and 10 Kittiwakes flew W.

Two adult Bewick's Swans on Horse Eye Level this evening - different birds from those seen on the 13th as neither had a neck collar and there were no accompanying young birds. Also 1000+ Starlings and 400+ Fieldfares, 2 Marsh Harriers, Little Egret, and Little Owl. For those who are interested the neck collared bird of the 13th - and presumably the rest of the group - had spent most of the winter from 1/11/09 to 7/1/10 in the Netherlands where on the latter date they had been at Noorder Leidse vaart Hillegom. It is interesting to note that the wintering herd roosting at Arundel is the largest it has been for a number of years - perhaps numbers being swollen by a cold weather movement from the continent?

(Three separate reports from Pevensey Levels on the same day must be some kind of record! Birding here is not easy as the few paths are currently very muddy though perseverance will inevitably produce something good as these reports show - Ed).

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Now is the time of year when some scarce breeding birds show signs of nesting. Ravens for example are already on eggs and Wood Larks have started singing over areas of heathland. If you have reported any of the following species in the past few days - Red Kite, Peregrine, Wood Lark and Raven - it may be that your sighting has not been published on this website. This is in accordance with the Society's policy with regard to scarce breeding birds. We do however greatly value such records which should be sent to the Hon Recorder and marked confidential (if appropriate).

With the weather conditions as they were there was little choice but to stay on the beach and see what was on the move. The was a fairly good number of Fulmars on the move with 15 recorded in just over an hour. There was a fairly constant passage of Gannets with most sailing westwards. Six Brents moving eastwards was perhaps a sign that spring is not far away? The star bird of the morning was a Black-necked Grebe fishing just offshore - a real rarity on the coast but this may have been the bird which has been recorded regularly over the past three weeks. (R Ives, D Smith & D Mason).