Male lapwing display includes dive bombing gulls
The number of lapwings on the wet grassland has increased and we are seeing the males tumbling display flights and hearing their ‘slide-whistle’ calls. At Arun Riverlife lagoon two lapwing were dive bombing black-headed gulls that also look for nesting spots on the gravel islands here.
Lapwing are also displaying above wet grassland across from the Ramsar hide and at the Lapwing hide. This habitat has become home to up to eight pairs of breeding lapwing every spring for the past 5 years.Lapwing make shallow scrape nests in the short vegetation here offering them good sightlines for predators. They lay four to five eggs mottled to look like small stones. All the adults team up to mob crows and other predators interested in eggs or their small chicks.
The feeder station in the Wood Loop has attracted lots of hungry, small birds and also the attention of a stalking sparrowhawk on Wednesday!
Fri 5 March
Wood Loop: 1 marsh tit, 18 blue tits, 1 wren, 1 robin, 2 wood pigeon, 1 chiff chaff, 3 great tits, 1 nuthatch, 6 chaffinches, 5 dunnocks, 1 tree creeper, 1 coal tit, 3 moorhens, 2 mallard ducks.
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 4 pochards, 2 lapwing (1 displaying), 1 willow warbler
Lapwing hide: 5 lapwing
Ramsar and Sand Martin hide: 2 wigeon, 4 Mediterranean gulls, 3 lapwings, 92 common gull.
Thurs 4 March
Ramsar & Sand Martin hide: 3 lapwing (2 displaying). 4 Mediterranean gulls, 1 lesser black-backed gulls, 5 cackling geese.
Sussex Willow screen: 8 mallards, 2 mandarins, 1 blue tits, 1 chaffinch
Arun Riverlife: 1 lapwing, 3 pochards (2 male 1 female)
Lapwing hide: 4 lapwing.
Wetlands Discovery: 3 pochards (1 male, 2 females)
Wed 3 March
Woodland Lodge feeders; 1 sparrowhawk.
Lapwing hide: 6 lapwing (1 male displaying)
Scrape hide: 11 mallards, 6 Canada geese, 5 greylag geese, 1 moorhen, 2 shelducks, 2 shoveler, 1 carrion crow, 5 black-headed gulls.
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 7 pochards (5 male, 2 female), 2 lapwing – circling and dive bombing black-neck gulls!
Tues 2 March
Lapwing hide: 5 mallards, 2 shelducks, 2 black-headed gulls, 1 coot, 2 Canada geese, 2 shoveler, 1 teal.
Ramsar hide: 245 black-headed gulls, 4 shelduck, 5 cackling geese, 5 Canada geese, 3 wigeon (1 male, 2 females) 3 teal, pair of mute swans mating, 1 lapwing, 5 shovelers.
Sand martin hide: 4 shelducks, 2 mallards, 1 cormorant, 4 tufted ducks.
Mon 1 March
Lapwing hide: 6 lapwings – 1 displaying, 2 teal (1 male, one female), 3 mallards, 2 shelducks, 4 greylag geese, 2 black-headed gulls, 1 moorhen, 1 coot, 2 gadwall.
Ramsar hide: 4 wigeon (1 male, 3 female)
Sand Martin hide: 1 lapwing.
Arun Riverlife: 10 pochards (7 males, 3 females), 1 lapwing.
