27th - 28th February 2025

Friday, 28th February: A bright, clear morning, cold enough for a touch of frost, with just a light NW breeze and prolonged sunshine through the day.

Elmer Rocks: An interesting morning with a bit of variety and a fair number of waders, on the late morning high tide. At least 18 Red-breasted Mergansers were offshore, with some displaying to each other, whilst three Red-throated Divers were also on the sea, eventually heading off east, followed by a fourth bird. Two Sandwich Terns then went steadily east; most likely they were from the small wintering population present on the Selsey Peninsula, although somehow they had that spring migration feel! Wader numbers built up as birds flew in to roost on the rock islands and surrounding beach, with peak total as follows: Turnstone - 120, Sanderling - 85, Oystercatcher - 24 and Grey Plover - 1.

Behind the beach it was nice to hear a couple of Skylarks singing over the fields in the almost spring-like weather and three different Green Woodpeckers were also seen. Then a Stonechat popped up along the lower path and telegraph wires near Poole Place, to be joined briefly by a surprise Black Redstart. A lady walker close by flushed both birds as she passed and although the Stonechat soon re-appeared, the Black Red flew over to the large pile of rocks and was then lost to view, not showing again before I departed.

Stonechat (above) Turnstones on the rocks and Red-breasted Merganser (bottom)

Thursday, 27th February: A dry, bright and fairly cool day, with sunny spells at times and a light-moderate NW breeze.

Climping Gap: An evening visit as dusk approached produced a Barn Owl, and possibly a second bird present in one area, whilst nearby on flooded fields a Lesser Black-backed Gull was amongst about 150 Herring Gulls and several Mallards. My thermal imager was put to good use later on, but there were few avian highlights, and a few Foxes and a couple of Badgers were the only sightings of interest.