Hooded Crow

Having spent the morning over the border in Kent carrying out an uneventful and largely birdless wintering bird survey, I was keen to get home but, as we were passing Polegate Services, the chance to stop and have another look for the Hooded Crow seemed too good to miss. At first there was no sign but after about 10 minutes it flew in and landed in its favoured tree between McDonald's and the ambulance station. Perhaps it was hoping for a discarded Big Mac!


In recent years there seems to have been a bit of an upsurge in Hooded Crow records in Sussex with 12 records this century. Where are they coming from - are they Scottish birds or could they be from Eastern Europe? 

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