Happy New Year!

5 January 2022

Swans and ducks took last week's spring-like weather to heart and engaged in territory battles and mating behaviours. The cold weather this week has cooled things down a bit with birds back focused on feeding and staying warm.

Listed here are recent sightings by WWT staff who survey a different area of our site each day. Sightings listed are a snapshot of what is in the area at the time:

Wed 5 Jan

Arun Riverlife: 4 pochard

Scrape hide: 1 kingfisher, 1 blue tit, 1 wren, 1 grey heron, 1 water rail, 2 shelducks, 1 teal, 11 Canada geese, 29 mallards, 13 shoveler, 2 greylag, 1 coot

Tues 4 Jan

Ramsar & Sand martin hides: 4 moorhens, 1 black-headed gull, 29 teal, 4 mallards, 2 shelducks, 1 Cetti’s warbler.

Mon 3 Jan

Lapwing hide: 5 male and 3 female mallards, 1 male and 2 female teal

Reedbed hide: 1 Cetti’s warbler

Arun Riverlife: 1 male and 3 female pochards.

Sun 2 Jan

Arun Riverlife: 3 pochards

Wetland Discovery: 14 mallards, 6 coots,3 blackbirds, 3 goldfinch, 1 song thrush, 2 Canada geese, 1 kingfisher, 3 redwings, 1 dunnock, 1 bullfinch, 1 robin

Sat 1 Jan

Arun Riverlife: 13 black-headed gull, 12 greylag geese, 25 Canada geese, 13 tufted ducks, 1 pochard,4 shelducks, 6 moorhen, 10 coots, 1 little grebe, 41 mallards, 1 grey heron, 1 gadwall

Scrape hide: 1 wigeon. 34 Canada geese, 1 nuthatch