July WIldlife Update
A summer of wildlife surveys, wildflowers and water voles!
In July our Reserve Wardens are busy with wildlife surveys for butterflies, dragonflies, bats, moths, water voles and dormice.
The successive heat waves have affected water levels on some parts of the site so the team are also challenged with moving water into areas that are drier than usual. This month we are welcoming volunteers from Aviva who helping reduce the amount of Hard Rush on our wet grassland.
Wildflowers
Warm weather with bouts of rain have made the summer flowers are so impressive this year. Yellow Loosestrife is very prolific, popping up in many more places than usual. This is good news for the Yellow Loosestrife Bee which uses the oils from this flower to line their nests to waterproof them. Meadowsweet is also flowering every and having a great summer. Marsh Mallow, Great Burnet, Common Fleabane and Hemp Agrimony are flowering now, adding to the abundance of, Meadow Cranesbill, Tufted Vetch and Black Knapweed on site. Ragweed, trefoils and St. Johns Wort add their yellow flowers to the palette.
Comma butterfly on hemp agrimony
Butterflies
On this summer's surveys we are seeing butterfly numbers have gone up from last year, which is not surprising given the amount of sun over the past month! Currently there are lots of Large Whites and Meadow Browns, as well as the usual Red Admiral, Peacock and second generations of Comma flitting around the pathways and meadows.
Dragonflies
The dragonflies have also enjoyed the sun, with Broad-bodied, Four-spotted and Scarce Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, Southern and Brown Hawker all on the wing. Pick-up a copy of our free Dragonfly & Damselfy Spotters Guide in the visitors centre to help you ID them. Sussex dragonfly recorder Simon Linington has agreed to do a talk on how to ID dragonflies and lead two Dragonfly walks at WWT Arundel, all on Thurs 7 August. The 30 minute talk is in the morning from 11:00 (first come first seated) and the walks are at 11:45 - 12:15 pm and 1:30 - 2 pm. Walks are free but you must sign up at the admissions desk.
A male broad bodied chaser dragonfly snapped at the picnic area on July 1st.
Toadlets
Despite the summer sun being enjoyed by most, the water levels across the site have been drawing down. We have been keeping an eye on the toadlets in the entrance pond, which has low water levels. Toadlets wait for warm damp weather to leave the ponds. We have only seen a few toadlets emerge, following a few wet nights, to brave the conditions to make their journey into woodland to mature.
Tiny toadlet after emerging from pond at WWT Arundel.
Water Voles in the reedbeds
Despite our monthly latrine surveys showing very little use, actual real live Water Voles have been seen in the reedbed! It has been a pleasure to watch these endearing animals swimming, feeding and gathering nest material. We have counted six - there are likely more. The photo at the top of this article was taken by regular visitor Alec Pelling.
Waterfowl
Most of the wildfowl are now in moult, although there are still several Mallard females appearing with young ducklings. Sand Martins are on second broods and the Oystercatcher pair with two chicks managed to get them to fledging. Sadly, the other Oystercatcher pair did not manage to hatch anything this year, with their eggs addling in the hot weather.
