how to miss birds in sussex

 so off we headed from mytholmroyd to brighton (29th april) down the M6 heading for a site below coventry......lovely site next to the river 

it felt quite different just being a bit further from home yellow wagtails whitethroats and a lesser whitethroat singing not a bird im used to seeing now, as the day drew on a little egret flew over yellow wags calling good veiws of kingfisher on the riverbank 

sunday we headed to seaford for the white-crowned sparrow but news felt bad and by the time we stopped at warwick services to dry off gear it was negative, so my hopes of seeing another white-crowned sparrow were put to bed 

newhaven west beach 

stopped here last year it has a strange atmosphere with people just driving up then going, fishermen just heading for the pier, but a nice evening fire on the beach 

fulmar 8 

rock pipit 2

monday 

after breakfast in seaford we chilled out at newhaven tide mills

i liked this place even though its a wasteland  had a feel of spurn point just scrub land but great birding 3 wheatears popped up on the bushes along with stonechat lesser whitethroat ( i love the little sub-song) cetties warbler a few very showy song thrushes and not forgetting ringed plover and little egret. 

walked towards seaford  past the reedbeds sedge and reed warblers singing 

yes tide mills was lovely 

brighton campsite 

at the foot of the sheepcote valley its a great place to stay but its a vast area and on my walk it seemed to go on forever  just bushes fields but a great walk over the 4 days here i saw 

lesser whitethroat 1

whitethroat nc

cetties warbler 2 

sedge warbler 2 

blackcap 4 

green woodpecker 2 

great spotted woodpecker 1

kestrel 2 

sparrowhawk 2

buzzard 3

peregrine 2

swift 8

house martin 2

swallow 10 

thursday 

cuckmere haven 

nice walk to the beach on the eastern side 

little egret 8

whimbrel 3 in off the sea

lesser whitethroat 

ringed plover 2

fulmar 4

friday

the 4 days in sussex was drawing to an end, as we packed up to head home 8 swifts spent the morning feeding over the west side of sheepcote valley and headed to hove to say goodbye to the boy and girl 

as we got to the M25 news broke of the Iberian Chiffchaff..........oh well 

the evening was spent overnight in bedfordshire in the delightful kingfisher pub a great riverside location so watching common terns with a pint was good