Icy days bring in over 200 roosting lapwing
Frozen Friday had 40 wigeon visible from the Sand Martin hide. This week the cold weather has formed ice on shallow water throughout the Arun Valley so we are seeing greater numbers of shovelers (80 on Sat 2 Jan), wigeon, and shelducks. We had a record number of 210 lapwings to roost last Wednesday (sighted at 4 pm).
Wildfowl need open water to feed whether they are dabblers or divers and the larger numbers on the water the prevent it from freezing up overnight. All water birds are wary of four-footed predators who can walk across ice - here deeper water that doesn’t freeze, with greater numbers of bird provides safety in numbers as well.
Fri 8 Jan
Ramsar hide (Frozen water): 1 grey heron, 1 barn owl, 2 egrets, 8 greylag geese.
Sand Martin hide: 32 lapwings, 3 greylag geese, 11 shelducks, 40 wigeon, 40 lapwing, 1 shoveler, 9 teal.
Scrape hide: 4 mallards, 3 snipe, 1 teal, 1 kingfisher, 1 Great spotted woodpecker (heard)
Trumpeter Swan pen: 1 water rail
Woodland Loop: 1 marsh tit, 11 blue tits, 2 chaffinches, 3 great tits, 1 water rail, 3 dunnocks, 1 coal tit, 1 robin
Thurs 7 Jan
Arun Riverlife: 40 snipe (flushed up by staff working in the area.)Ramsar hide: 18 shelducks
Reedbed: 1 coot, 12 mallards, 1 long-tailed tit.
Wed 6 Jan
Arun Riverlife: 3 pochards
Ramsar & Sand Martin hides: 70 lapwings
Scrape hide: 6 Canada geese, 9 greylag geese, 2 shelducks, 17 mallards, 2 little egrets at 4 pm, 2 cattle egrets at 4 pm, and 210 lapwings at 4 pm
Tues 5 Jan
Arun Riverlife: 3 lapwing, 7 pochards,
Ramsar & Sand martin hides: 21 shelducks, 4 teal, 7 tufted ducks, 13 mallards, 4 gadwall, 5 coots, 2 moorhens, 12 Canada geese, 4 greylag gees, 9 black-headed gulls, 4 cormorants, 20 lapwing.
Mon 4 Jan
Ramsar & Sand Martin hides; 16 snipe, 82 lapwing, 13 shelducks, 30 shovelers
Wetland Discovery: 2 pochards, 1 kingfisher,
Lapwing hide: 2 moorhens, 2 pheasants
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 4 pochards
Sun 3 Jan
Arun riverlife: 2 pochards.
Wetland Discovery: 6 Canada geese, 1 kingfisher, 29 mallards, 1 moorhen, 2 coots, 12 tufted ducks, 4 pheasants, 1 wren, 1 robin, 3 teal, 3 goldfinches, 1 blackbird.
Ramsar and Sand martin hide: 1 pochard, 44 shoveler.
Sat 2 Jan
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 36 mallards, 1 coot, 2 moorhen, 1 pochard, 1 cormorant, 4 greylag geese, 8 Canada geese, 1, grey heron.
Ramsar and Sand Martin hide: 28 snipe, 70 Lapwing, 80 shoveler ducks.
Fri 1 Jan
Woodland Loop: 16 blue tits, 5 great tits, 1 robin, 2 chaffinches, 1 water rail, 1 dunnock, 3 moorhens, and 1 marsh tit.
Scrape hide: 41 teal
Ramsar & Sand martin hides: 49 teal, 12 lapwing, 40 shoveler, 58 greylag geese, 18 snipe, 2 wigeon.
Outlook In gate: 1 kestrel
Thurs 31 Dec
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 5 little egrets, 3 pochards
Reedbed: 24 mallards, 3 wren, 2 blue tits, 1 kingfisher, 2 mandarins, 1 water rail, 1 wood pigeon.
Ramsar & Sand Martin hide: 15 shelduck, 89 lapwing, and 42 shoveler.
Wetland Discovery: 1 barn owl
Wed 30 Dec
Ramsar & Sand Martin hide: 37 shoveler
Scrape hide: 7 teal, 2 shelducks, 5 gadwall, 8 mallard, 1 little grebe, 1 kingfisher
- Suzi Lanaway, Senior Reserve Warden
