Barn owl & little grebes
Lovely little grebes are been spotted on Arun Riverlife lagoon and on Pelican cove. From the Discovery hide on Arun Riverlife look for them down and to the left, along the shrubs at the water's edge.
We are seeing a barn owl occasionally when we walk around clearing the site before closing. It leaves owl boxes and heads over the wet grassland towards the river and fields to hunt. The owls use the lapwing hide at night as a roost between hunts. We find their whitewash and pellets in the morning.
On the Wet Grassland we are doing works to remove silt and clear vegetation on the ditch running from the large lagoon to the culvert at our gate 4 (Black Rabbit end of the reserve). This will be finished by the end of December. This works is an important part of maintaining suitable habitat for some of our key species whilst improving water flow control which is key to our flood management.
Wed 13 Dec
Arun Riverlife: 1 little grebe
Pelican Cove 1 little grebe
Scrape hide: 5 snipe, 26 shovelers, 1 marsh harriers (morning) 2 coots, 3 teal, 30 mallards, 2 Canada geese, 1 magpie, 1 bullfinch, 5 goldfinches, 2 robins,1 wren, 3 blue tits,1 great tit, 1 jackdaw
San martin hide: 10 shelducks, 6 tufted ducks, 2 gadwall, teal 33, 2 gadwall, 33 teal, 58 Canada geese, 35 lapwing, 2 greylag, 4 cormorants, 6 snipe
Wet grassland: 1 grey heron.
Tues 12 Dec
Ramsar and Sand martin hides: 64 mallards, 72 teal, 33 lapwing, 37 gadwall, 32 shoveler, 12 shelducks, 4 greylag geese, 38 Canada geese, 15 snipe, 4 coots, 2 moorhens, 2 cormorants, 32 black-headed gulls, 12 tufted ducks, 2 Cetti’s warblers, 2 herring gulls
Wetland Discovery: 1 jay
Lapwing hide: 1 redwing
Scrape hide: 2 bullfinches, 1 water rail, 7 snipe
Wildlife garden: 1 firecrest, 2 redwings
Arun Riverlife: 3 pochards
Wet grassland: barn owl, late afternoon.
Mon 11 Dec
Wet grassland: 8 mallards, 1 water rail, 1 robin, 11 long-tailed tits, 1 grey wagtail, 13 black-headed gulls, 3 blackbirds, 2 stonechats, 1 wren
Scrape hide: 6 gadwall, 5 teal
Pelican cove: 1 little grebe
Arun Riverlife: 1 little grebe
Wetland Discovery: 1 peregrine overhead, 1 cormorant, 1 grey heron, 1 marsh harrier overhead
Ramsar and Sand martin hides: 32 greylag geese, 11 shelducks, 29 lapwings, 7 tufted ducks, 9 snipe, 5 redwing, 7 shoveler, 2 water rail, 5 water rail, 5 cormoramts, 2 gadwall, 103 black-headed gulls
Sun 10 Dec
Scrape hide: 2 pochards, 10 snipe
Long path: 1 chiffchaff
Pelican cove: little grebe
Arun Riverlife: 1 little grebe
Wetland Discovery: 1 cormorant, 1 grey heron, 3 tufted ducks, 10 malards, 1 mute swan, 1 Cetti’s warbler, 2 carrion crows, 1 robin, 1 blackbird
Ramsar hide: 29 lapwing, 11 shoveler, 6 she;ducks, 16 snipe
Sat 9 Dec
Arun Riverlife: 1 little grebe, 1 moorhen, 3 black-headed gull, 24 coots, 1 coromorants, 2 pochards, 3 mute swans, 14 tufted ducks, 32 mallards, 1 heron, 5 Canada geese.
Ramsar and Sand martin hide: 25 lapwing, 12 shelduck, 8 cackling geese, 4 cormorants, 8 pochard.
