A hungry harvest mouse and one hundred teal
Look out for Paul Stevens' weekly wildlife sightings column appearing in the Chichester Observer and other local weekly newspaper of the Johnson Press.
A few days before last week’s soggy snowfall, we spotted a harvest mouse feeding on weathered blackberries in the hedgerow on the trail to the Lapwing hide. Harvest mice don’t hibernate but they are nocturnal so it was unusual to see one out during the day. The afternoon was quite dark so maybe hunger made him mistake the time and overruled fear of predators once he was exposed.
The great egret can still be seen most afternoons coming into roost. This large white heron has remained on the reserve all day during bouts of rainy weather last week. The grey herons seem annoyed at the great egret’s success at fishing in the area. At least two marsh harriers are still coming in to roost each afternoon. A male and a female came in at 4.40 pm on Sunday - a bit too late for visitors to see as we close at 4.30 pm. Cloudy murky days meant less raptors were visible last week. On Sunday Guide in the hide Dave did see the peregrine perched in the Offham hangar and one Sparrowhawk, one Buzzard and a Red Kite.
Bewicks Swans are periodically coming in to stay the night on the open water at the Sand Martin on cold nights when the Arun Valley freezes up. Their last appearance was last Tuesday when six Bewick swan arrived. WWT Arundel staff are going out to the hides to swan watch most evenings. When there are no swans they enjoy the spectacle of 30+ common snipe taking to the air for evening feeds in the Arun valley under cover of darkness.
A little grebe was seen on Wetlands Discovery starting last Tuesday and has been showing daily ever since. We also are seeing one later in the day at the Scrape hide – could be the same bird.
Over 100 teal on Scrape hide last Monday. Numbers fluctuated throughout the week peaking again on Saturday morning with 150+ teal ducks in the morning at the Scrape hide. Teal can also been seen from the other hides but the highest concentration have been at the Scrape hide.
Kingfishers continue to show well, especially near the boat jetty were the water doesn’t freeze. The cold weather makes them hungrier and bolder as they have to fish more often and in open water.
