63 species were seen in the Alcossebre area in March 2017. No new species were added to the Alcossebre list. Arctic Skua was a first record for March. There were first of the year records for Mallard, Greater Flamingo and Raven. There were first spring records for Black - crowned Night Heron, Black Kite, Short-toed Eagle, Woodchat Shrike, Sand Martins, Willow Warblers and Subalpine Warblers. Winter visitors - last date seen. Stonechat and Grey Wagtail 8th March. Skylark 9th March. Chaffinch 12th March. Dartford Warbler 15th March. Robin, Black Redstart, and Song Thrush 23rd March. Linnet 24th March. Common Buzzard and Common Chiffchaff 25th March. Other interesting records were :- Apart from up to eight local Greater Cormorants seen along the coast, there was a total of 1185 birds seen on passage. Biggest flock 250 on the 15th March - quite a sight! Two Red-legged Partridge on the 8th March. 15 Glossy Ibis flew east over the sea on the 22nd March. Thanks to my friend David Williams for this evocative of Glossy Ibis against the sunset. Six Marsh Harrier´s passed through this month - four female´s and two males. Up to three pairs of Great Spotted Cuckoo´s were still searching out Common Magpie´s nests to lay their eggs in. There was an improvement in Little Owl numbers with up to three seen daily. Hoopoe numbers were good too, with a maximum of 10 seen daily. Up to 14 Barn Swallows had returned to their breeding places in Alcossebre this month. Passage birds totalled 181 birds for the month. House Martins numbers were lower in both local birds -four, and passage birds - just two birds. Wintering Blackcap´s were still with us up to the end of the month. Most were feeding on Jacaranda tree berries. Corn Bunting numbers built up from two birds on the 6th March to 34 birds by the 27th March. This is yearly happening, but only three or four birds remain to breed. The rest seem to disperse to other areas outwith Alcossebre. They have a strange song - like someone jangling a bunch of keys! Alcossebre Weather in March 2017.
A fairly settled month with more sunshine than cloud. There were six days with rain. Winds were mainly light or gentle. The first week in March started off well with two days fine and sunny. 3rd March was overcast with some heavy rain. The 4th started off with overnight rain, but soon cleared to sunny with high thin cloud. The last three days were were fine and sunny, but tempered by a moderate north east wind. Night temperatures were 2c under average. Day temperatures were average (18C). The second week in March was mainly settled with five and a half days of fine, sunny weather. We had light rain on the 12th and 13th with moderate winds. Temperatures were 2C above the average night, and 4C above the average day. The third week in March was very settled, with fine and sunny weather through out. Winds were gentle, mainly north east in the morning and east or south east in the afternoon. A thick sea mist was a noticeable feature on the 20th and 21st. Temperatures were 4C lower than average by night, but average by day. The fourth week in March was mixed. Mainly sunny, but with a couple of days dull and overcast. Light rain fell on the 27th. Winds were variable, but mainly from the east. Temperatures were 2C below the night and day average. The last three days in March were settled with fine and sunny weather, with above average temperatures. Average day temperature was 19C (66F). Average night temperature was 8C (46F). Highest day temperature was 23C (73F). Highest night temperature was 15C (59F) on the 8th. Lowest day temperature was 12C (53F) on the 24th. Lowest night temperature was 5C (41F) on the5th, 16th,17th and19th. Total rainfall was 3 inches (76mm) over six days.. Months average is 4.8 inches.
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