Jack snipe at Ramsar & kingfishers courting
A pair of kingfishers have been very active on Arun Riverlife lagoon this week. They have been investigating holes on the nesting bank, perching in front of it and in the trees around the lagoon and on the roof of the visitor centre.
The pair have been calling to each other and the male was spotted wood offering the female a fish while sitting in the dogwood just outside the Warden’s and Keeper’s office. We are asking visitors to help us monitor kingfisher behaviour again this year by recording their observations on cards available in the visitor centre.
We are also monitoring the behaviour of lapwings on the same Wildlife Observation cards. A pair have been seen at the Lapwing hide and we had 12 lapwing break off from a larger passing flock to land on the new islands near the Ramsar hide yesterday. We hope to see at least 8 pairs end up nesting on our wet grassland this year. Look for more lapwing arriving and their display flights to begin, with swooping and diving displays and slide whistle pee-wit calls.
Some snipe have returned to the fen cut at the Ramsar hide. Our media volunteer Andy Burns photographed 2 common snipe and a jack snipe there on Wednesday afternoon.
Wed 16 Feb
Arun Riverlife: 4 pochard (2 pairs)
Wetland Discovery: 2 pochard (1 pair)
Lapwing hide: 2 lapwing
Ramsar hide: 1 jacksnipe, 2 common snipe, 12 lapwing (afternoon)
Wed 15 Feb
Ramsar/Sand martin hides: 2 shelducks, 51 black-headed gulls, 10 herring gull, 2 Mediterranean gulls, 4 male and 2 female mallards, 1 greylag goose, 2 Canada geese, 1 pair teal, 1 water rail
Pelican Cove: 1 pair of pochard
Wetland Discovery: 1 male and 2 female pochards
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 1 male pochard
Reedbed hide: 1 little grebe
Reedbed hide: 1 marsh harrier at 11.50 am
Tues 14 Feb
Lapwing hide: 1 coot, 1 Cetti’s warbler, 2 moorhens, 2 shelducks, 2 Canada geese
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 2 kingfishers -very active, calling, feeding behaviour.
Mon 13 Feb
Pelican Cove: 5 pochard (2 pairs)
Arun Riverlife: 2 pochard (1 pair)
Wetland Discovery: 1 pochard, 2 coots, 1 pheasant, 8 mallards, 4 Canada geese, 1 moorhen, 1 green woodpecker
Ramsar and sand Martin hides: 51 common gull
Sun 12 Feb
Arun Riverlife: 25 Canada geese, 4 coots, 7 tufted ducks, 1 shoveler, 9 mallards, 40 black0headed gulls, 2 kingfishers calling and active
Ramsar hide: 2 lapwings, 1 lesser black-backed gull, and 10 common gull
Wetland Discovery: 2 pochards
Sat 11 Feb
Poplars by the lapwing hide: 7 goldfinches
Scrape hide: 1 snipe
Sussex screen: 1 bullfinch
Arun Riverlife: 2 kingfishers active and calling
Wood loop: 1 water rail, 4 pheasants, 2 moorhen, 7 blue tits, 1 long tailed tit, 4 dunnock, 5 chaffinch, 1 goldfinch
Fri 10 Feb
Wood Loop: 5 chaffinch, 2 goldfinch, 1 bullfinch, 12 blue tits
Arun Riverlife: 4 pochards, 4 shelducks, 3 pairs of tufted ducks, 2 kingfishers investigate hole five
