Latest sightings
Sea eagle, great crested grebe & teal
Its been a week of wild, rainy and windy weather! We sighted one of the white tailed eagles again on Mon 7 Nov, flying over the reserve from the Offham Hangar. On Saturday and Monday a juvenile great crested grebe was onsite seen from the Ramsar hide. A l
9 November 2022
White Tailed eagle sightings
Two white-tailed eagles, also known as sea eagles have been spotted over our site since daily last Sun 30 Oct. Red kites have also been spotted near the eagles, and sometimes it is just a solo eagle. We have been seeing the eagles off and on all month.
1 November 2022
Great egret around all week
A great egret has been onsite all week, moving between the lagoon at Ramsar and Sand martin hides and the water at Scrape hide. We are getting up to 14 little egrets in to roost at the end of the day. Visitor Martin Watson took this photo of the great egr
19 October 2022
Visit the Scrape hide to look for snipe
The number of snipe onsite have increased. The Scrape hide seems to be the hot spot for picking them out on the edges of the main island. The stripey markings of the snipe's feathers help them blend into the reeds and grasses. A family of Egyptian gees
12 October 2022
Kestrel, egyptian geese and kingfishers
On Tuesday a staff member on a lunchtime walk came across a cluster of visitors on the long path. They were watching a kestrel perching on the Wetland Secrets building. The kesterel then moved onto the Reedbed hide roof between spots of hovering for prey.
6 October 2022
Snipe, kingfishers and cormorants
Regular snipe sightings especially from the Scrape hide now. There's at least one cormorant and one grey heron between Sand Martin & Ramsar hides. Regular kingfisher sightings continue including at the Lapwing hide. We have been seeing a good array of dra
25 September 2022
Herons, bullfinches and house martins
Reports of kingfishers sightings daily and visitors are still sending in their shots so chances are you'll spot one at the Scrape hide, Arun Riverlife lagoon or on the large lagoon between the Ramsar & Sand martin hides.Looks like the oystercatcher pair n
28 August 2022
Kingfishers fledge & martins move through
The juvenile kingfishers seem to have fledged this week – as a result we have been seeing a lot of kingfisher air traffic at the Sand martin hide and on the Arun Riverlife lagoon. Visitors are reporting 3-4 sightings during their stops in at Sand Marti
18 August 2022
Kingfishers & cattle egrets
The Sand martin hide kingfisher pair are still feeding young, although judging by the size of fish being taken into the nest hole, this second brood should be nearly fledged. The nesting sand martins have all but disappeared, but it was only last month th
11 August 2022
Both kingfisher pairs are trying for second broods
Both pairs of kingfishers have already hatched out youngsters that have left the nest but both pairs are trying for second broods in the nesting banks. Breeding kingfishers are very territorial. When the chicks are grown and can fly they must find t
3 July 2022
Fledglings, dragonflies and butterflies
The hot weather has accelerated the wildflowers onsite. As the cowslip and ragged robin start to disappear, common valerian, various umbellifers and bird’s-foot trefoil appear in abundance, with southern marsh and common spotted orchids flourishing on t
22 June 2022
Oystercatcher chick and juvenile kingfisher
On Sunday Reserve Warden Suzi Lanaway spotted two fledged lapwing chicks with their parents across from the Ramsar hide. This was good news because we hadn’t had a chick sighting for weeks. That isn’t unusual when the vegetation gets tall - it's diffi
9 June 2022
Mandarin ducklings, great egret & sand martin sightings
This week’s highlights include a marsh harrier sighting over the reedbeds at 1pm on Monday. Could they be nesting there? We also had a great white egret in on Wednesday at the Scrape hide. Kingfishers continue to pop in and out of nest hole number 5 on
19 May 2022
Damsels & dragons emerging
Damselflies are starting to emerge in earnest, with large red (pictured), common blue and blue-tailed damselflies flitting about. Hairy dragonflies are also emerging now. Warblers are singing all over the place, including sedge, reed, willow and Cett
12 May 2022
Singing and nesting around the reserve
Sand martins and kingfishers continue to show at the Sand martin hide. A pair of oystercatchers have been frequenting the fresh cobble islands out front (photo).Between Ramsar and Sand martin hides look out for lapwing and chicks, common gulls, Med gulls,
5 May 2022