Pied wagtail roost and beardies spotted again!
Nov. 12: Last Tuesday evening I took a walk around all the pathways of the reserve before we closed for the day. As I approached the reedbed boardwalk I noticed large numbers of pied wagtails gathering in the tops of the willow scrub around the reedbed. I watched as 100-150 pied wagtails descended into the reeds to roost for the night. My colleague Sam saw the birds roost again on Wednesday evening.
We have had starling roosts at WWT Arundel in the recent past. Indede I did see 8 starlings and 40 reed buntings sprinkled in with the pied wagtails. Birds roost together to find safety in numbers. The water below the reeds also keeps ground predators away.
On Wednesday morning I spotted 2 wigeon from the Sand Martin hide. Wigeon breed in northern Scotland and England but the numbers in the UK increase in winter as migrants arrive from Russia, Scandinavia and Iceland.
A regular WWT visitor photographed a male bearded tit by the Reedbed hide last Friday. I hope the bird was checking out the grit table near the hide. He was reportedly calling to another bearded tit - fingers crossed these are the same birds I first sighted two weeks ago.
Cetti’s warblers, gold crests and long-tailed tits have been seen all around the reserve and a small flock of redpoll was moving through.
At the Scrape hide we are still getting up to 20 snipe at a time. One snipe is making regular appearances in front of the hide, right below the windows, always when I don’t have a camera.
On Wednesday afternoon I saw a migrant hawker dragonfly in the reedbed. I thought the frost we had on the following Saturday morning would end the dragonfly season but the common darter I saw out on Sunday was a nice surprise.
Kingfishers have begun perching in the trees to the left of the gallery windows on Arun Riverlife again. This was a favourite kingfisher spot before work started on the project. In winter delighted visitors would watch the vibrant birds from the comfort of the cafe tables.
Cetti’s warblers, gold crests and long-tailed tits have been seen all around the reserve and a small flock of redpoll was moving through.
Paul Steven’s weekly Wildlife Sightings column appears in the Chichester Observer, the Littlehampton Gazette, the Bognor Regis Observer, the Shoreham Herald and the Worthing Herald.
