28th March With things to do the poor weather at least enabled me to have a go at some of them however a short visit to the seafront produced Rossi standing on the groyne, again only a couple of metres from the footpath. Little else bird wise was noted today.
21st March With not many visits to the tip left now this winter today saw far fewer birds present than last weekend. In addition today was also not primarily a birding day but first-winter Iceland and Glaucous Gulls were seen along with the tatty third-winter Caspian Gull still around. A second-winter Yellow-legged Gull was outshone by the 9 Med. Gulls that were here which included two adult pairs.
Nearby Bowers Marsh still had the four Whooper Swans, a Green Sandpiper and a fly over Buzzard which headed west. Despite lower gull numbers there was still quality to be found and the fine weather added to the enjoyment.
14th March Today's efforts at the tip were better than last week with the birds far less jumpy. The best tipping areas could be easily viewed from the main tip track and the flat area on the top also provided some excellent views. Again Pete and I spent over seven hours up here today and for our efforts we had 1st winter Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull and the leucistic type first-winter Herring Gull, two first-winter Caspian gulls, both seemed to be new birds, as well as the tatty third-winter bird still around and 5+ adult Mediterranean Gulls all looking splendid with their hoods. A couple of interesting hybrids were seen today, an adult Black-headedxCommon Gull on the road looked pretty much like a Black-headed until it spread its wings to show completely black wing tips with two large 'mirrors' and a second winter presumed Herring x Glaucous Gull which really had me going for some time in being something altogether better.
After packing up at 3.30pm, we had to leave as the tip was packing up, I headed to Two Tree Island where two Short-eared Owls were seen in the fading evening light, splendid day.
8th March Despite the bright conditions the strong wind today made the two hour visit to Paglesham Lagoon less than enjoyable with few birds of note seen. The highlights were 15 Pintail, 7 Goldeneye, 7 Greylag Geese and 4 Little Egrets.
7th March The usual visit to the tip today was primarily a ringing one though we did have two Caspian Gulls prior to the netting. These were the poor condition third-winter still here and a new second-winter. Neither of these birds was seen again after 10am which was a little disappointing as we were here till 4pm. Other birds included at least 10 or more Mediterranean Gulls, all bar one were adults. There was the leucistic first-winter Herring Gull again plus a leucistic adult Black-headed Gull and a third-winter 'omissus' type Herring Gull, this bird had very bright yellow legs.
On Bowers Marsh the four adult Whooper Swans were still present.