Latest sightings
Barn Owlets get leg rings
We've been watching the barn owls boxes and knew there were chicks inside one.Early Friday morning the Reserve Team checked the owl box with a Licensed ringer to discover 3 barn owlets. The owlets were rung with BTO leg rings, DARVIC bands, and colour rin
22 July 2025
74 moth species in the latest survey
We did a moth survey last week and recorded 74 species in the trap that as set on a warm, clear night. The biggest count we had of any one species was 33 clouded border moths followed by 19 common footman. Of the big boys we counted 11 elephant hawkmoths
14 July 2025
Common tern and egrets
A common tern was seen onsite on the afternoon of Thurs 3 July, fishing from a perch on the Arun Riverlife lagoon. The tern moved over to the Sand martin hide later and was seen by staff on the island opposite the hide.A tern was seen a few days previousl
8 July 2025
Sand martins success
Spend some time at the Sand Martin hide to watch the sand martins flying in and out of the burrows in both arms of the artificial nesting banks. Most afternoons there seems to be quite a few. You can see them in the air over the hide and over the water ha
30 June 2025
Oystercatcher youngsters looking grown up
There has been lots of egrets onsite this past week with at last 5 cattle egrets around the nesting trees to the right of the sand martin hide. Their orange breeding plumage on their head crests and chests is starting to come in. A great egret and a litt
23 June 2025
Cattle egrets in nesting & roosting trees
Cattle egrets have been roosting regularly and in the daytime we can hear them in the trees where they nested last autumn. Great white egrest have been around as well, including the male in breeding plumage. Friday the 13th was lucky for the Reserve team
16 June 2025
Tits, sand martins and greenfiches are fledging
This spring's weather this year was so much milder than last. As a result blue and great tits have had a much more successful breeding season, with many fledglings seen and heard flitting around trees. Last year we saw several failed nests, but every ne
10 June 2025
Lapwing and Gull chicks
Black-headed-gulls on Arun Riverlife lagoon have hatched at least 3 chicks from two of the nests on the island visible from the windows of the café seating in the visitor gallery. (well camoflauged chick in the foreground) The pair of oystercatchers ne
1 June 2025
Cuckoo, Barn Owl and sand martin chicks
We've been hearing and seeing a cuckoo this week. On Friday a cuckoo was heard and seen perched atop a tree near our perimeter fence opposite and right down from the Lapwing hide. On Sunday we heard it again at the back of the Scrape Hide area, where we h
26 May 2025
Birds of prey and great white egret
A few sightings of birds of prey on site this week from the Scrape hide. We are still seeing the marsh harrier there most days, thanks to Alec Pelling for this amazing photo above. A red kite was spotted on Tues 13 May, and a hobby was sighted on Wed 14 M
19 May 2025
Ducklings, Chicks and Cygnets
On Saturday afternoon, a female pochard swan out of the reeds on the Arun Riverlife lagoon with a duckling in tow, then another popped out of the reeds, and another, ... eventually eight ducklings emerged then hugged the reed edge tightly as their mother
10 May 2025
Sand pipers and Lapwing Chicks
One of the most exciting days so far this spring was 1st May when we saw a Wood Sandpiper and three Lapwing chicks from the Ramsar hide, an Osprey fly over the reserve, and the first sound of a Cuckoo. The wood sand piper sighting from the Ramsar hide was
4 May 2025
Flurries of sand martins
There is a lot of martin activity around the sand martin hide, with birds popping in and out of the burrows in the nesting bank "arms" surrounding the central viewing windows. Sand martins are hunting insects over the water and soaring in the skies abo
28 April 2025
Hatching and Nesting
Most mornings we see a male marsh harrier in the "Lost Reedbed". It rises up from the same section of the reedbed and heads off down the river (to hunt?). We have recorded a female marsh harrier as well, but we haven’t seen her recently. Could she be on
20 April 2025
Warblers returning
The numbers of resident warblers (Cetti's and chiffchaffs) have been boosted by migrants, all singing loudly! We are seeing (and hearing) blackcaps and a couple of sedge and willow warblers have been appearing over the last week. If you want to witness e
14 April 2025