Little grebes, soprano pips & stonechats

Despite some colder temps his week we haven’t had a real cold snap required to drive big numbers of teal and shelduck onto the site. This mild weather has helped the insects stay active which has kept bats in our boxes – a quick check of two of the more accessible bat boxes showed a soprano pipistrelle in each!

Recent heavy rains have provide many feeding spots in the Arun Valley for shovelers yet we are seeing good numbers from the Sand Martin hide, 25 on Tuesday and 27 today.

Ramsar/Sand Martin hide
27 shoveler
10 snipe
2 lapwing
6 cormorants (drying wings after feeding)
1 kingfisher – in willow to left of Ramsar hide
Water rail – squealing – territorial calls for its feeding ground
17 teal
Couple of shelducks

Scrape Hide
Cetti’s warbler singing
Green woodpecker – flew from back trees across water

Arun Rverlife
2 little grebes, toerating eah other in winter plumage, fluffed up against the chill.

Outlook in Boat jetty
Juvenile grey heron perched on the rail near the boats. Also seen in front entry reed bed area in the mornings.

Around the site:
Stonechats – perch often on scrub between short flights to hunt insects below
Barn owl – signs in Lapwing hide and Wetland Secrets