News
Clouded yellows & migrant hawkers
With daytime temps still in the high teens, on sunny breaks we are seeing migrant hawker dragonflies and common darter dragonflies come out. Checking our Black Rabbit triangle area we spotted a pair of clouded yellow butterflies on Monday!The digger and p
20 October 2021
Bat surveys finishing soon as weather turns colder
Paul Stevens, our former Reserve Manager and licenced Batman, was on site last week to check all of our site bat boxes. In total we found 17 Soprano pipistrelles and one Brown long-eared bat - all roosting and producing a build up of droppings! Two ba
13 October 2021
Green woodpecker & house martins
Today’s sun brought another 50+ house martins through the site on their southward migration. A green woodpecker has been onsite this week as well, usually around Wetland Discovery and the old Tundra pen. A kingfisher has been showing best a Scrape hide
6 October 2021
Water rail, teal & gadwall sightings increase
Teal numbers are increasing with 22 spotted in the morning from the Scrape hide on Saturday. Water rail sightings are increasing this week with sightings on n Arun Riverlife, Wetlands Discovery and at the Scrape hide. (photo above by Romney Turner). Handf
29 September 2021
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.
23 September 2021
Calm kestrel on Wetlands Discovery
Our Reserve team have been hammering away at the annual autumn cut on the Wetland Discovery area. This means they haven’t had much time for counting many birds this week. Last Wednesday during the mini-heatwave they got help from a great crew of volunte
15 September 2021
Martins moving through & sunny dragonflies
Teal numbers increasing along with the number of house martins (c200 Wednesday!) and sand martins moving through the site. On Monday 30 lapwing were flushed up staff checking the cattle. Our mooing mowers will be moved off the main wet grassland next wee
8 September 2021
Flycatchers & sand martins moving through
Sand martins have been moving through the reserve migrating south to winter in Africa. Over one hundreds sand martins were spotted Monday. Also on their autumn passage are 5 spotted flycatchers spotted on the islands of Wetland Discovery area over the
31 August 2021
August wildlife surveys
Dragonfly survey Wed 11 Aug – mid-late afternoon 6 species, 70 dragonflies 35 common darters4 brown hawkers14 blue-tailed damselflies1 red-eyed damselfly11 migrant hawkers5 southern hawkers Butterfly survey Wed 11 August in the morning
19 August 2021
Young families still about
Friday the thirteenth was a lucky day as we spotted three kingfishers all around the site throughout the day! This was likely the male and female from Arun Riverlife hole #5 in the nesting bank and their fledged youngsters. There are still young famil
18 August 2021
Scrape hide getting busier
This week we have noticed sightings picking up at the Scrape hide with little grebes, heron, tufted ducks and shovelers appearing regularly. The Scrape hide gets busier in autumn so the seaons may be starting to shift. A moth survey this morning recorded
10 August 2021
Kingfisher sightings & moulting ducks
For the past week the kingfishers have been showing well down near the Lapwing hide and that end of the boat safari. This kingfisher photo was sent by visitor Susie Gander.
3 August 2021
Sand martins in residence
Plenty of sand martins still active at the Sand martin hide, in and out of the holes on the left near the speaker box and on the right bank below the swallow nest cups. The kingfisher pair are still taking food into hole 5 on the Arun Riverlife lagoon n
21 July 2021
Mostly meadow browns on butterfly survey
The butterfly survey on Thurs 8 July recorded seven species of butterfly onsite. The 90 minute survey recorded 27 butterflies including 15 meadow browns. Surveyor John also counted four red admirals, four ringlets and one each of large white, small copp
12 July 2021
Toadlets emerge and survey results
This warm, damp weather signalled to tiny toadlets to emerge from their birth ponds. We have had to rescue a few toadlets that found their way into the visitor centre on their search for a damp, shady to settle in. Toads take about two years to mature,
3 July 2021