A blustery and changeable day, with a strong to near gale force S/SW wind 5-7 and heavy showers early on, followed by bright and breezy conditions through the morning, before more heavy showers later. Combined totals below. 

Great-crested Grebe - 1W 2 os
Great-northern Diver - 1W settled distantly os
Diver sp - 2E
Fulmar - 7W
Manx Shearwater - 4W (07:50 08:00 0935 0955)
Gannet - 50E 785W
Shelduck - 2W
Common Scooter - 13E
Shelduck - 2W
Whimbrel - 18 3W
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1
Little Tern - 2
Sandwich - 10E 15W
Great Skua - 2W 1os
Brent Geese - 27E
Little Egret - 1

Highlight of the morning was a good assortment of Skua's moving through the patch, although at times distant comparisons with others other seen at the time clinched the ID. Also a pod of Porpoise/Dolphin seen moving east. 

Combined totals below.
Pomarine Skua - 2E
Black-throated Diver - 2E
Artic Skua - 5E
Great Skua - 4 o/s 4E 1W
Gannet - c.100 mainly east
Little Tern - 2E
Sandwich Tern - 45E 15W
Brent Geese - 51E
Common Scoter - 34E
Whimbrel - 45 mainly east
Oystercatcher - 4E 2W
Ringed Plover - 4
Med Gull - 2E
Great-crested Grebe - 3 os
Little Egret - 5
Wheatear - 7
Reed Warbler - 9
Sedge Warbler - 6
Cetti's Warbler - 2 hrd
Lesser Whitethroat - 3
Whitethroat - 18
Blackcap - 10
Chiffchaff - 5
Willow Warbler - 3
Reed Bunting - 2
Song Thrush - 5
Buzzard - 2
Kestrel - 2
Swift - 2
Swallow - 15

Good coverage this morning although still fairly quite. The Hoopoe still insitu, a Whinchat and an increase in numbers of Lesser Whitethroat and Reed Warbler. Very quite offshore on a flat calm sea.

Whinchat - 1
Yellow Wagtail - 1
Wheatear - 3
Lesser Whitethroat - 6
Whitethroat - 22
Blackcap - 13
Chiffchaff - 5
Cetti's Warbler - 3
Sedge Warbler - 6
Reed Warbler - 9
Swift - 1
Swallow - 20
Pied Wagtail - 5
Skylark - 17
Reed Bunting - 3
Song Thrush - 5
Little Owl - 1
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1
Gannet - c.50 offshore 
Med Gull - 6W
Sandwich Tern - 8
Diver sp - 1 os
Great-crested Grebe - 6
Brent Geese - 15E
Shelduck - 2
Whimbrel - 40
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1E
Buzzard - 3
Kestrel - 1
Grey Heron - 2
Little Egret - 2
Grey Partridge - 2

Hoopoe

Whinchat

Common Pheasant

Sedge Warbler

Another Hoopoe around Climping this morning, this time in the patch area, found by (DB). Very slow again offshore with a Little Gull and a Greenshank east the only birds of note.

Great Skua - 2W 1E
Little Gull - 1 offshore
Common Scooter - 3E
Greenshank - 1E
Whimbrel - 11 gc 2W 6E
Ringed Plover - 2
Great-crested Grebe - 2
Gannet - 45 offshore 
Common Tern - 3E
Sandwich Tern - 11
Med Gull - 6W 4E
Little Egret - 2
Grey Heron - 2
Wheatear - 3
Lesser Whitethroat - 3
Whitethroat - 21
Blackcap - 17
Chiffchaff - 7
Willow Warbler - 1
Cetti's Warbler - 2 hrd
Reed Warbler - 8
Sedge Warbler - 2
Reed Bunting - 2
Stonechat - 2
Bullfinch - 1
Skylark - 15
Song Thrush - 4
Mistle Thrush - 2
Swallow - 15
Grey Partridge - 2
Buzzard - 3
Kestrel - 2

Chilly cloudy start to the day with a slight NE breeze, with the sun appearing by mid morning. 

Redstart - 1
Blackcap - 9
Cetti’s Warbler - 5 heard
Sedge Warbler - 4
Reed Warbler - 3
Buzzard - 1
Kestrel - 2
Wheatear - 3
Yellow Wagtail - 2
Chiffchaff - 3
Whitethroat - 14
Arctic Skua - 1 L/ph
Bonxie - 1 on sea then drifted East
Barwit - 1E
Whimbrel - 10 golf course 11E
Common Scoter - 3E
Sandwich Tern - 25E 5W
Common Tern - 4E
Swallow - 20
Sand Martin - 1N
Brent Geese - 10E
Shoveler - 2E
Shelduck - 3E then back the other way
Med Gull - 10E 6W
Gannet - c. 50 offshore
Little Egret - 2E
Grey Heron - 1
Grey Partridge - 1
G/C/Grebe - 3 offshore
Red-breasted Merganser - 2 offshore

Redstart Atherington Cottages

Barwit & Whimbrel golf course

Yet another fine, sunny and dry day, with a clear blue sky and just a light NE breeze. Very quite around the bushes and offshore .

Great Crested Grebe – 2 still o/s displaying
Gannet – 20 o/s
Brent Goose – 7E
Whimbrel – 13 4E 9 on golf course
Sandwich Tern – 20E
Mediterranean Gull – 32E
Common Scoter - 3
Swallow - 7
Cetti's Warbler - 2 hrd
Reed Warbler - 5
Sedge Warbler - 3
Willow Warbler - 1
Grey Plover - 1
Ringed Plover - 4
Oystercatcher - 1W
Grey Partridge - 2

Goldfinch

Greenfinch

Ringed Plover

Grey Plover

Almost identical weather to yesterday; sunny and dry with a cloudless blue sky and becoming very warm, with a light to moderate north-easterly breeze.

Climping Gap: Noticeably quiet for migrant passerines along the hedgerows, apart from the regular Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps apparently settling into breeding territories.

A sea-watch seemed the best bet and it was certainly more productive, the highlights being 2 Great White Egrets heading east, 2 eastbound drake Eiders which dropped onto the sea, an Arctic Skua and at least 2 Bonxies harassing gulls offshore. My log :-

Red-throated Diver – 1E

Fulmar – 1E, 1W

Gannet – c.30

Great White Egret – 2E (0822hrs)

Brent Goose – 30E

Shelduck – 3E

Eider – 2E settled o/s

Red-breasted Merganser – 1E

Whimbrel – 6E

Sandwich Tern – 25E

Mediterranean Gull – 45E

Arctic Skua – 1E (light morph)

Great Skua – 2+ offshore

Swallow – 5N

Eider offshore Climping Beach

Another fine morning with good variety around the golf course and beyound.

Lesser Whitethroat - 2
Whitethroat - 15
Blackcap - 17
Willow Warbler - 1
Chiffchaff - 3
Cetti's Warbler - 1 hrd
Reed Warbler - 3
Sedge Warbler - 2
Yellow Wagtail - 1
Wheatear - 1
Bullfinch - 1
Stonechat - 1
Reed Bunting - 4
Mistle Thrush - 1
Song Thrush - 3
Swallow - 19
Sand Martin - 1
Whimbrel - 28
Curlew - 1
Med Gull - 4
Grey Heron - 1
Little Egret - 2
Buzzard - 1
Gannet - present in small numers
Sandwich Tern - present in small numbers 
Great-crested Grebe - 1

Lesser Whitethroat

Wheatear

Whimbrel

22^nd April: More of the same with high pressure still dominating; sunny and dry with clear blue skies, a moderate NE breeze and becoming quite warm.

Elmer Rocks: I watched from 0710-0800hrs but there was remarkably little moving given the date in the third week of April. A Great Northern Diver showed well off Poole Place (having first been located off Atherington beach) but there was little else of note – Shelduck 3E, Whimbrel 3E, Sandwich Tern 15E, Little Egret 1W, Great Skua – 1W and a Ringed Plover on the beach. A Yellow Wagtail arrived from the sea as did several Swallows and a couple of other unidentified passerines. (OM)

Climping Gap – Atherington: Apart from the GND, the walk from Poole Place produced 2 Wheatears, c.10 Swallows, a couple of Chiffchaffs, 6+ Blackcaps and 8 Whitethroats.

Finally caught up with the Hoopoe seen in the Climping area since the 12th, seen further north.

Pretty quite offshore at Climping this morning, Bonxie numbers range from 2-5, a few Swallow and House Martin in off, c.40 Whimbrel east with 3 Bar-tailed Godwit. Gannets and Sandwich Tern present in smaller numbers from recent days,  single Fulmar, Diver sp west and Med Gull east.

Bar-tailed Godwit

Another fine bright morning but with a north east breeze, but with good numbers of birders around the patch this morning, obviously obersveing  the current self distancing rules a fairly good morning was had my all. First a Garganey flew east at 7:43 and later  a prompt phone call from PB alerted others watching the sea of a distant Manx Shearwater moving west. Combined totals below.

Med Gull - 75E
Garganey - 1E
Bonxie - 6 (2 on Sea – 1W 1E, 2E together)
Sandwich Tern - 35E
Common Tern - 3E
Little Tern - 1W
Whimbrel - 10
Red-throated Diver - 1E
Manx Shearwater - 1W
Brent Geese - 14E
Gannet -30E also 20 offshore following trawler
Fulmar - 1E
Common Scoter - 12E
Great-crested Grebe - 2 os
Oystercatcher - 4E 5W
Grey Partridge - 1 hrd
Meadow Pipit - 10
Swift - 2
Swallow - 10
House Martin - 4
Yellow Wagtail - 3
Wheatear – 3
Whitethroat – 10
Lesser Whitethroat – 1
Blackcap – 16
Willow Warbler – 6
Chiffchaff – 9
Reed Warbler - 2
Bullfinch - 2
Grey Heron - 1
Little Egret - 1
Skylark - 8
Mistle Thrush - 1
Song Thrush - 2
Buzzard - 3

Med Gull moving east in good numbers

Brent Geese

Blackcap

A few more firsts this morning, with a Nighingale heard from behind the golf course, also Whinchat and two Artic Skua flew east. 

Artic Skua - 2E
Fulmar - 6E 2W
Gannet - 70E 14W
Sandwich Tern - 45E
Common Tern - 75E 7W
Med Gull - 10E 2W
Common Scoter - 2E
Diver sp,- 1E
Great-crested Grebe - 1E 2os
Whimbrel - 23E
Bart-tailed Godwit - 1E
Dunlin - 22E
Ringed Plover - 6
Sanderling - 1E
Turnstone - 36E
Nightingale - 1 hrd
Whinchat - 1
Yellow Wagtail - 4
Wheatear - 2
Swallow - 6

A cold north easterly found good numbers of Gannets and Terns on the move this morning. Combined numbers below.

Great Skua - 2E 1W
Little Tern - 10E
Common Tern - 22E
Sandwich Tern - c.100E 15W
Gannet - 200E 15W
Brent Geese - 4E
Med Gull - 6E
Whimbrel - 7
Curlew - 1
Bar-tailed Godwit - 2W
Great-crested Grebe - 2 os
Ringed Plover - 6
Yellow Wagtail - 2
Whitethroat - 6
Reed Warbler - 2
Sedge Warbler - 2
Cetti's Warbler 1 hrd
Reed Bunting - 2
Swallow - 8
Willow Warbler - 3
Chiffchaff - 6
Blackcap - 14
Song Thrush - 8
Mistle Thrush - 1
Grey Partridge - 2
Stonechat - 1
Skylark - 8
Meadow Pipit - 17
Wheatear - 1
Kestrel - 1
Buzzard - 1
Little Egret - 1
Grey Heron - 2

Gannets

Sandwich Tern

A fine bright morning with a light easterly breeze, a sea mist flat calm sea produced plenty of variety this morning. Good coverage producing several firsts for the year, combined totals below.

Hobby - 1 

Red Kite - 1

Buzzard - 2

Kestrel - 2

Sparrowhawk - 1

Great Skua - 2E

Fulmar - 2E 1W

Little Tern - 1E

Sandwich Tern - 33E 8W

Med Gull - 30E

Gannet 5E 2W

Common Scoter - 21E

Great-crested Grebe - 2

Whimbrel - 7E

Curlew - 2

Dunlin - 1E

Ringed Plover - 4

Oystercatcher - 3W 1E
Common Sandpiper - 1 river

Shelduck - 2

Little Egret - 2

Grey Heron - 3

Yellow Wagtail - 1

Reed Warbler - 3

Sedge Warbler - 2

Willow Warbler - 5

Chiffchaff - 8

Cetti's Warbler - 3

Blackcap - 18

Whitethroat - 9

Reed Bunting - 4

Bullfinch - 1

Skylark - 9

Stock Dove - 5

Great-spotted Woodpecker - 2

Song Thrush - 7

Swallow - 3

Reed Warbler

Wren

Red Kite bottom of longwood

Shelduck  over the golf course

Great Skua

Fulmar

The highlight of the day was 4 White Stork circling over Rustington from Brookfield Park. On the patch the first Lesser Whitethroat put in appearance at the paddock, combined days totals below.

Buzzard - 3
Sparrowhawk - 1
Kestrel - 3
Oystercatcher - 2 river
Stonechat - 2
Grey Partridge - 2
Little Egret - 1
Curlew - 1
Whimbrel - 2
Med Gull 27 
Sandwich Tern - 12
Jay - 2
Stock Dove - 5
Song Thrush - 4
Blackcap - 9
Whitethroat - 4
Chiffchaff - 4
Cetti’s Warbler - 1
Reed Warbler - 3
Sedge Warbler - 2
Lesser Whitethroat - 1 
Wheatear - 1
Swallow - 4

More of the same really, still quiet, though there was a little more passage this morning -  including my first Bonxie and bizarrely a pair of Shoveler, a Whimbrel and 5 Oystercatchers all together in a tight flock……log below:(OM)

Great Crested Grebe – 3 o/s
Shoveler – 2E
Oystercatcher – 10E
Whimbrel – 14E
Sandwich Tern – 12E
Mediterranean Gull – 8E
Great Skua – 1E
Swallow – 1N

With the wind dropping considerably from yesterday but still with a chill still in the air, little of note on the move. A Twitter report of a Hoopoe for its second day in fields north of the A259, hopefully it will be seen again. Combined totals below.(BA,RP,PB)

Whitethroat - 6
Blackcap - 15
Willow Warbler - 1
Chiffchaff - 8
Song Thrush - 7
Grey Partridge - 3 (2 on the beach)
Black Redstart - 1 (Golf course)
Stonechat - 1 (Golf course)
Little Egret - 2
Stock Dove - 2
Sedge Warbler - 1
Reed Warbler - 1
Cetti's Warbler - 1 hrd
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 3
Green Woodpecker - 2
Great-crested Grebe - 1
Greylag Goose - 1E
Whimbrel - 2E
Curlew - 1
Oystercatcher - 6E 2W
Ringed Plover - 2
Sandwich Tern - 5
Med Gull - 7
Linnets - 50
Meadow Pipit - 15
Skylark - 7
Reed Bunting - 3
Pied Wagtail - 1
Swallow - 3

Greylag 

Chiffchaff

Blackcap

Meadow Pipit

Another fine morning with cloudy intervals and sea mist. Med Gulls flying in every direction, but migreant numbers still comparable from the last few days with the highlight being a Black Redstart on the golf course.

Black Redstart - 1
Wheatear - 2
White Wagtail - 1
Reed Warbler - 1
Cetti's Warbler - 2 hrd
Sedge Warbler - 1
Whitethroat - 11
Blackcap - 15
Chiffchaff - 5
Willow Warbler - 2
Stonechat - 1
Reed Bunting - 2
Linnet - c.70
Meadow Pipit - 13
Skylark - 12
Song Thrush - 3
Green Woodpecker - 3
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 2
Grey Partridge - 2
Swallow - 4
Kestrel - 2
Stock Dove - 2
Water Rail - 1 hrd
Grey Heron - 2
Little Egret - 1
Ringed Plover - 1
Sanderling - 23
Oystercatcher - 13
Med Gull - 25
Sandwich Tern - 2E
Gannet - 2
Great-crested Grebe - 3 os

Black Redstart

Sedge Warbler

Kestrel

Goldfinch

Stonechat

Reed Bunting