Although things got off to a cracking start with a Night Heron (sound-recorded over Hastings in the early hours of Monday) it was generally quiet with few birds of note. Gale force southerly winds towards the end of the week produced some worthwhile conditions for seawatching though: Manx Shearwaters were noted off Beachy Head and Selsey Bill and Balearic Shearwaters, flying west, appeared off Seaford on 4th and Selsey Bill on 6th. Selsey also recorded a Storm Petrel offshore on 6th.
There was an intriguing report of a Jackdaw-sized bird with a red beak flying over Helen Gardens, close to Beachy Head (Eastbourne) on 5th; this could possibly relate to a wandering Chough from the reintroduced population at Dover?
The Osprey at Arlington Res was still present on 1st.
Worthy of a mention is the successful breeding of Red-crested Pochards at Chichester Gravel Pits – they were seen again and photographed (attached, by Andrew House) on 3rd.
A Roseate Tern was seen at Church Norton again on 4th and another was at Rye Hbr on 1st. At Selsey Bill two Black Terns flew east on 6th and a Little Gull went west on 4th.
The Glossy Ibis was noted again from the North Wall at Pagham Hbr on 5th.
