Kestrel is back, with black caps & warblers
A young male kestrel has been hanging around for the past couple of weeks. He has been spotted on the owl box on Wetlands Discovery, on the roofs of our thatched Outlook In building by the boat jetty and in the Woodland Loop, likely hunting small birds.
There is a nice mix onsite now with birds like black caps, Cetti’s warblers and kingfishers around this week with winter migrants numbers growing like water rail, teal, gadwall and snipe.
The sunny weather has the migrant hawkers and common darter dragonflies out in force mating and egg laying. This is the last hurrah for the larger migrant hawkers but the common daters can last well into mid-October.
Wildlife Sightings
Thurs 23 September
Sussex Screen: 1 kingfisher
Woodland Loop: 3 mistle thrush
Reedbed Loop: 1 song thrush, 1 sedge warbler
Scrape hide: 1 marsh harrier – flew south at 8.50am
Wed 22 September
Scrape hide: 1 chiff chaff, 1 moorhen, 4 swallows, 1 black cap, 2 teal.
Sand martin hide: 3 gadwalls, 8 teal.
Ramsar hide: 8 shoveler – 2 males 6 female
Lapwing hide: 1 teal, 1 kestrel
Arun Riverlife: 3 grey wagtail, 2 pochards, 2 tufted ducks, 2 gadwall
Pelican Cove: 3 tufted ducks, 5 gadwall
Lakes & Forest: 5 Egyptian geese
Woodland Loop: 1 kestrel, 8 log tailed tits, 1 green woodpecker
Reed bed: 1 water rail, 1 great spotted woodpecker
Sussex Screen: 3 gadwall,
Scrape hide: 1 kingfisher, 1 great tit, 10 wood pigeon, 2 Cetti’s warbler, 15 tufted ducks, 2 Canada geese, 20 mallards, 5 gadwall.
Wetland Discovery: 1 kestrel on owl box
Butterfly Survey 10:30-11:40
- 2 large whites
- 2 small whites
- 7 red admiral
- 1 comma
- 1 gate keeper
- 1 meadow brown
Tues 21 September
Ramsar hide: 10 mallards, 3 Canada geese, 2 tufted ducks, 3 teal, 3 gadwall, 1 moorhen, and 1 coot
Sand martin hide: 5 greylag, 1 coot
Mon 20 September
Wet grassland: 4 teal, 1 pheasant.
Ramsar and Sand Martin hides: 1 kingfisher, 6 teal
Scrape hide: 9 teal
Sat 18 September
Ramsar hide: 1 little egret, 2 Canada geese, 3 black caps, 2 mute swans
Scrape hide: 8 mallards.
Arun Riverlife: 11 coots, 3 black caps.
Fri 17 September
Woodland Loop: 1 robin, 1 dunnock, 10 goldfinches, 4 blue tits, 6 mallards, 1 wood pigeon, 3 moorhen, 1 greenfinch, 3 chaffinch, 1 wren
Thurs 16 September
Sussex Screen: 5 gadwall, 1 grey wagtail
Reedbed Loop: 1 Cetti’s warbler, 2 chiff chaff, 1 reed warbler, 1 grey heron
Sand Martin hide: 50+ sand martins plus 1 leucosticte sand martin.
Butterfly survey 10:50-12:20
- 6 large whites
- 1 small whites
- 10 red admirals
- 3 commas
- 3 speckled wood
Wed 15 September
Arun Riverlife: 2 gadwall, 2 little grebes
Pelican Cove: 5 tufted ducks, 12 gadwall
Reed swamp exhibit: grey heron
Lakes & Forest exhibit: 5 Egyptian geese
Sussex Screen: 3 gadwall, 1 teal
Scrape hide: 5 Canada geese, 35 mallards, 4 teal, 1 moorhen, 1 coot, 1 Cettis’ warbler, 2 wood pigeons, 1 black cap, 1 greenfinch, 1 great tit
Long path ditch: 1 pike
Trumpet pen: 1 tufted duck, 1 gadwall
Sand martin hide: 1 grey heron, 2 tufted ducks, 6 gadwall
Ramsar hide: 6 shoveler, 1 common gull
Lapwing hide: 1 water rail
Wetland Discovery: 2 black caps, 1 water rail.
