See little egrets at dusk before we switch to earlier closing
This entry is the text from Paul Steven’s Wildlife Sightings column for Oct 29 edition in the Chichester Observer, Littlehampton Gazette and the Worthing Herald.
Last week the clocks went back an hour. For the rest of this week visitors have opportunity to see more wildfowl come into roost at Arundel Wetland Centre as it gets dark. Next week on Nov 2 the reserve switches to winter hours, closing at 4:30 pm. each day.
At dusk look out for the little egrets roosting in the tree to the far right of the Ramsar hide. We have counted as many as seven some evenings. The bright white egrets are easier to pick out in the gloom. If you stay until closing you will see large numbers of greylag and Canada geese come into the reserve to spend the night. On your way out you may see some pipistrelle bats along the hedgerows and trees in the car park.
The slight dip in temperatures last week has ushered more autumn birds into the reserve. A male pintail duck has been sighted over the past week. Three wigeon ducks have been showing well from the Sand Martin hide. We think there are a few more tucked around the corner in a blind spot between the hides.
Teal numbers have really jumped. On Monday morning we counted over 100+ teal ducks with some visible from every hide. These small ducks are looking really good now in their breeding plummage. The green eye patches and chesnut heads of the males look vibrant in the autumn light. Gadwall numbers are back up to 70+ as well.
Other highlights on the reserve are sightings of the kingfishers everyday, especially at the Scrape hide and on the boat safari. A little grebe has can be seen fishing and sunny his powderpuff tail near the boat jetty as well. Look out for green woodpeckers on the ground searching for insects in the wet meadows. The water rails are squealing in the reed bed and making the occasional appearance.
The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust is once again the host of Autumnwatch (next Monday 2 - Thursday 5 November on BBC2). This year Autumnwatch will be broadcast live from our sister centre WWT Caerlaverock on the shores of the Solway Firth, against a splendid backdrop of sunset skies filled with barnacle geese and whooper swans.
