After a promising start to March the wind swung around to the north, the temperature plummeted and suddenly it wasn’t so Spring like. It felt like February but there was still a few noteworthy arrivals to make the weekly summary.
After last weeks early Wheatear there were two more to report despite the blocking northerly winds, with a smart male found by Alex Rosenfield at Shoreham Fort on Tuesday 11 March and another male in the northern fields at Goring Gap found by Ralph Simpson the following day. These birds allowed some local birders to ease their annual Wheatear anxiety whilst for most the wait continues.
Goring Gap
Two Spoonbills flying east past the Gap were another excellent find by Ralph on Monday 10th March during a quiet Seawatch and with winds generally from the North, up channel movements of ducks and geese were reduced to a trickle during the week.
The only significant report was 585 Brents east on Wednesday 12th March, with 30+ Great Crested Grebes and 12 Red-breasted Merganser scattered across a flat sea.
Patching Pond
With the exception of Brooklands Lake there are only a few areas of fresh water in our local area so a pair of Mandarin at Patching Pond were noteworthy and generated some local interest on Friday 14th March. They had probably wandered from Swanbourne Lake, Arundel, but it is fun to speculate that the same two birds were seen heading east past Widewater on Monday 17th March !
