Moorhen chicks a sign of spring
On the wet grassland we now have 5 pairs of lapwing sitting on eggs. Other signs of spring include the newly hatched nest of moorhens on the Lakes & Forest exhibit. A pair of greylag geese have hatched 5 goslings along the channels of the Wetland Discovery area.
From the Ramsar hide there are 200 plus black-headed gulls with Mediterranean, common, herring, and lesser black-backed and great black-backed gulls mixed in. Most of these gulls are loafing before heading off to other breeding sites. Some of the black-headed gulls will stay and nest here.
This week’s warm spring sunshine has brought out more buff-tailed bumblebees and brimstone, red admiral and peacock butterflies.
Last Thursday I watched a pair of kingfishers excavating a nest burrow on the artificial nesting bank on the Arun Riverlife lagoon. We built the nesting banks with sand filled tubes seven years ago as part of the project to redo the area to match the floodplain of the Arun River valley. I have seen kingfishers perching near it, on it and flying past it but it’s the first time they have taken an interest in nesting there. Fingers crossed! They will have a lot of privacy to nest as we had to close Arundel Wetland Centre to visitors last weekend. Our wildlife wardens and collection keepers are still working behind the scenes, caring for wildlife and managing the wetland habitats for conservation.
