Pintails and Wigeon
On Tuesday afternoon we were in the Ramsar hide hoping to see the cattle egrets coming in for the roost. We only saw 5 cattle egrets while we were there but we did count 6 wigeon on the far side between the Scrape and Sand Martin hides. A kingfisher shot by, the little grebes showed up, as did a handful of teal, half a dozen common gulls (mostly juveniles) and we were there long enough to watch 3 marsh harriers coming into the reedbeds over by the Scrape hide.
On Monday there was 80 lapwing between Ramsar and Sand Martin in the morning. We've had a ragtag assortment of geese in with some Egyptians, some cackling and a few barnacle crosses in addition to the greylags and Canadas.
Lots of shelduck around and good numbers of shovelers too. We've also seen a pair of pintail a few times last week, thanks Graham Simonds for his shot (above) from January 13. The barn owl is still being spotted by visitors and we recorded it on Monday.
On Wednesday afternoon a kestrel (Kevin) flew close to the Visitor Centre's front office windows to snatch prey from the reeds, before flying off across the front reedbed.
Wed 22 Jan
Ramsar and Sand Martin hide large lagoon: 1 little egret, 4 pochard, 53 lapwing, 1 kingfisher, 1 wigeon
Scrape hide: 121 Canada geese, 19 shoveler, 17 mallard, 2 gadwall, 2 shelducks, 1 great tit.
Tues 21 Jan
Ramsar and Sand Martin hide large lagoon: 1 pheasant, 6 coots, 3 moorhen, 3 pigeon, 1 carrion crow, 1 little grebe, 1 kingfisher, 40 black-headed gulls, 18 common gulls, 1 herring gulls, 4 cormorants, 5 Canada geese, 3 Egyptian geese, 20 shelducks, 24 gadwall, 6 wigeon, 17 shoveler, 24 mallards, 1 teal, 46.
Tranquil trail hedge: 1 bullfinch
Scrape hide: 1 shoveler
Mon 20 Jan
Lapwing hide: 3 mallards, 1 carrion crow, 1 robin, 1 wren
Ramsar hide: 7 cattle egrets, 80 lapwing, 5 wigeon, 5 cackling geese, 2 cackling X barnacle, 1 cackling X Canada goose, 3 pochards, 20 shelducks
Scrape hide: 1 wigeon
Pelican Cove: 2 pochards.
Sun 19 Jan
Wetland Discovery area: 1 coots, 14 mallards, 2 cormorants, 1 grey heron, 3 Canada geese, 2 greylag geese, 1 tufted duck, 2 blackbirds, 1 robin, 1 barn owl.
Ramsar and Sand martin hides: 8 Egyptian geese, 1 snipe, 6 pochards, 15 gadwall, 24 shelducks, 1 cattle egret
Scrape hide: 2 shelducks , 1 kingfisher
Sat 18 Jan
Ramsar and Sand Martin hide: 6 pochards, 84 lapwing, 13 gadwall, 24 shelducks, 1 little grebe, 1 sparrow hawk
Scrape hide: 1 pochard, 1 mute swan
Long path: 2 kingfishers
Willow sphere: 1 kingfisher
Arun Riverlife Lagoon: 1 kingfisher, 1 cormorant, 11 Canada geese, 8 greylag geese, 32 mallards, 3 coot, 2 mute swans.
Fri 17 Jan
Woodland Loop: 6 mallards, 1 blackbird, 2 robins, 1 chaffinch, 1 greenfinch, 8 blue tits, 5 great tits
Ramsar and Sand martin hide: 6 pochard, 21 shelducks, 17 lapwing.
Thurs 16 Jan
Ramsar and Sand Martin hide: 1 marsh harrier, 1 kingfisher, 22 shelducks, 3 pochards, 30 lapwing
Scrape hide: 2 pochards
Reedbed: 1 chaffinch, 1 great tit, 2 moorhens, 36 mallards, 2 coots, 1 gadwall, 7 graylag geese,, 1 kestrel, 4 blue tits, 2 snipe, 1 robin, 2 long-tailed tits.
