Icy ponds & frozen mud makes hungry birds bolder
Paul Stevens' Wildlife Sightings column appears every Thursday in the Chichester Observer newspaper.
IT’S ANOTHER cold and bright Monday morning. The sun is warming the thatch roof on the Outlook In building and waking up the insects within the straw. A pied wagtail is running the roof looking for its breakfast.
The water is frozen in many spots. Teal and shoveller ducks are moving off during the day to dabble in unfrozen spots along the Arun River to return at night to roost. Grey herons and kingfishers are easier to spot made bolder in their desperation for food and less spots to fish. Already this morning I have seen kingfishers in the reedbed and at the Scrape hide.
I see a grey heron wading in the channels near the boat jetty. It usually hunts the secluded back waterways in Wetland Discovery. On Sunday evening while walking the reserve at closing I startled a grey heron who had been fishing in the ditch directly beside the long path down from the Reedbed hide.
The Reedbed hide is the snipe hotspot at the moment as I see one there most mornings. The frozen mud makes it difficult for snipe to fine invertabrates to eat but it must thaw quickly here in the morning sun.
At the Ramsar hide a small crowd with cameras is excited as a kingfisher lands on the nearby willow. He dives for fish and emerges to perch directly in front of the hide window! I also see another grey heron here, this one gliding along serenely in silhouette with its reflection mirrored on the surface.
There are lots of lovely little birds feeding in the chilly morning. A bullfinch is nipping willow buds in the carr woodland. A water rail is nibbling cast offs from the bird feeders at the Woodland Lodge. A flock of goldfinch flee the feeders in the Wildlife garden on my approach. A lovely flock of long-tailed tits flutter about the viburnum by the hand feeding bay.
Last week’s highlights include guide-in-the-hide Dave sighting a hen harrier over the reserve on Saturday. Grounds volunteer Brian saw some wax wings along the path to the Lapwing hide. Also great views of kingfishers on the hand rails of the Outlook In.
