Tangmere - balmy March, Petersfield - wet April

March - summer comes early! Quick walk round Tangmere airfield and nursery complex failed to conjure up many sightings with most birds subdued in the midday heat! Saw Kestrel, Buzzard (heard), Blue Tit, Great Tit, Yellowhammer, Robin, Blackbird, Crow, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot, Moorhen, Little Grebe, House Sparrow, Hedge Sparrow, Chaffinch, Lapwing, Common Gull, Woodpigeon. Was interesting to find plenty of birds around the nursery site which has a couple of mini-reservoirs.

April - summer's over. Hosepipe ban is announced and almost immediately followed by constant rain. Great sighting of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker flying over the A27 on the approach to Bognor. A trip to the White Rose garage in Hill Brow, Petersfield led to a short walk in Durford Wood and a sighting of a Great Spotted Woodpecker.  On the drive up, along the B2141 towards Chilgrove, great sightings of a hare and pheasants and partridges. Narrowly avoided flattening a slow Red Legged Partridge crossing the road. First swallow of the year (April 21st).