Bittern is back at the Scrape hide
Last Friday a visitor spotted a bittern from Scrape hide and our Warden Megan saw it again Monday morning
Last Friday a visitor spotted a bittern from Scrape hide and our Warden Megan saw it again Monday morning, landing in the reeds at the back. It moved over the the pond on the approach to the Scrape hide, where it surprised our staff by taking to the air when the team drove th tractor just before we closed for the day.
We had some great sightings of two bitterns last January, like in the above pic by Mike Jerome.
Lots of kingfisher sightings at the Scrape hide recently. Only a few egrets around during the day currently but we have seen 20+ roosting in the tree opposite Sand Martin hide in the late afternoon some days.
For you water rail fans, we hear them squealing in the reedbed along the entrance boardwalk as you approach the centre.
Thurs 12 Dec
Large Lagoon (Ramsar & Sand Martin hides): 2 shelducks, 19 lapwings, 2 pochards, 11 snipe, 2 mandarin ducks
Scrape Hide: 2 shelducks
Long path: 1 green woodpecker
Wildlife garden: 2 kingfishers
Arun Riverlife: 3 shelducks
Willow Sphere: 16 mallards, 2 coots, 3 gadwalls
Reedbed Boardwalk: 1 blue tit, 2 moorhen, 1 wood pigeon
Wed 11 Dec
Large Lagoon (Ramsar & Sand Martin hides): 26 lapwings, 6 shelducks
Wetland Discovery: 1 grey heron, 1 green woodpecker
Scrape hide: 1 kingfisher, 2 shelducks,1 moorhen, 9 Canada geese, 28 mallards,1 wren, 1 robin.
Tues 10 Dec
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 1 kingfisher
Trumpeters exhibit: 1 green woodpecker
Scrape hide: 20 shelducks,
Large Lagoon (Ramsar & Sand Martin hides): 1 kingfisher, 28 Canada geese, 11 greylag geese, 5 cackling geese, 2 cackling X barnacle geese, 1 grey heron, 1 pheasant, 56 lapwing, 5 cormorant, 3 shelducks, 2 moorhens, 8 teal (7 male 1 female), 64 mallards(41 M 23 F), 2 gadwall, 3 coots, 1 carrion crow, 2 herring gulls.
Scrape hide: 1 bittern - in the morning at back in the reeds, late afternoon in the pond approaching the hide.
Mon 9 Dec
Large Lagoon (Ramsar & Sand Martin hides): 56 lapwings, 6 shelducks, 3 snipe, 5 cackling geese, 2 cackling X barnacle geese, 1 grey wagtail
Scrape hide: 1 bittern – visitor sighting
Arun Riverlife: 1 pochard, 3 shelducks, 1 little egret, 2 kingfisher
Sun 8 Dec
Large Lagoon (Ramsar & Sand Martin hides): 7 Lapwing, 1 wigeon, 1 great white egret, 1 little egret
Waterside Walk: 1 pochard
Long path ditches: 3 pochards
Meadow Maze: 1 green woodpecker
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 6 shelducks
Sat 7 Dec
Large Lagoon (Ramsar & Sand Martin hides): 5 cackling geese, 2 cackling X barnacle geese, 5 lapwings.
Arun Riverlife: 35 Canada geese, 4 pochard, 22 mallards, 7 tufted ducks
Fri 6 Dec
Large Lagoon (Ramsar & Sand Martin hides): 1 little egret, 1 cattle egret, 3 wigeons, 20 lapwings, 1 kingfisher
Woodland Loop: 8 mallards, 3 wood pigeons, 2 robins, 2 blackbirds, 2 moorhen, 3 great tits, 2 long tailed tits
Scrape hide: 1 bittern – visitor sighting
Offham hangar: 1 hobby
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 2 pochard,
Long path ditches: 1 pochard juvenile
Bewick’s Swan exhibit: 1 pochard juvenile.
Scrape hide: 2 shelducks, 1 kingfisher
Thurs 5 Dec
Large Lagoon (Ramsar & Sand Martin hides): 18 lapwings, 1 pochard, 3 snipe, 16 teal, 5 cackling geese, 2 cackling X barnacle geese, 3 shelducks
Waterside walk: 1 kingfisher
Long path: 1 pochard
Willow sphere: 46 mallards, 2 gadwalls, 2 coots
Reedbed boardwalk: 1 magpie, 1 moorhen, 2 mallards, 2 wrens, 2 blue tits
