Teal numbers increase
Thirty-four teal were on the water between the Ramsar and Sand martin hides on Tues 3 Jan, with 17 teal at the Lapwing hide on Mon 2 and 17 teal on the Scrape hide Sat 31 Dec.
On Fri 30 Dec our Grounds team counted five pochards on the Arun Riverlife lagoon.
The lapwing count has been as high as 172 birds on New Years Eve, with over 100 lapwing most days.
We are seeing a kingfisher most days, primarily on Arun Riverlife lagoon (like photo above by Andrew Burns) and on the long path.
With the days getting a bit brighter the marsh harriers are coming in to roost a bit later but on overcast days you should be able to see a few before closing. Little egrets are still roosting to the right of the Ramsar hide in good numbers.
The fen cut in front of the Ramsar hide and at the Scrape hide are still the best spots for snipe.
Below is not a list of all wildlife onsite. It is the recorded wildlife sightings by WWT staff noted on the morning walk around, with different areas recorded on different days.
Tues 3 Jan
Ramsar & Sand martin hides: 14 greylag geese, 35 Canada geese, 10 coots, 102 lapwing, 35 gadwall, 21 snipe, 34 teal, 13 tufted ducks, 4 pochards, 14 shoveler, 13 black-headed gulls, 15 shelducks, 5 woodpigeon, 2 grey herons, 4 cormorants, 35 mallards, 3 moorhens
Arun Riverlife Lagoon: 2 pochards
Long path: 1 kingfisher
Scrape hide: 9 snipe in the fen cut area
Woodland lodge: 1 coal tit
Mon 2 Jan
Lapwing hide: 15 teal, 1 male pheasant
Ramsar & sand martin hide: 11 snipe to right of hide, 57 lapwing, 5 wigeon, 2 grey herons
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 1 kingfisher, 5 pochard
Woodland Lodge: 1 water rail
Sun 1 Jan
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 7 pochards
Waterside Walk: 7 mallard ducklings
Wetland Discovery: 4 coots, 14 mallards, 3 long-tailed tits, 1 tufted duck, 2 Canada goose, 1 blackbird
Ramsar & and martin hide: 146 lapwing, 18 snipe, 2 wigeon, and 7 cormorants
Scrape hide: 42 shoveler, 4 snipe, 2 kingfisher
Sat 31 Dec
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 14 Canada geese, 1 grey heron, 43 mallards, 20 black-headed gulls, 2 gadwall, 9 coots, 1 moorhen, 2 pochard
Scrape hide: 17 teal, 22 shoveler, 10 snipe
Ramsar & Sand martin hides: 4 wigeon, 1 pochard, 3 Egyptian geese, 82 teal, 172 lapwing, 4 snipe, 14 shoveler, and 13 shelducks
Fri 30 Dec
Ramsar hide: 104 lapwing, 5 cormorants, 15 snipe, 62 teal, 1 pochard
Scrape hide: 5 teal, 9 snipe, 1 kingfisher
Wood Loop: 17 blue tits, 6 great tits, 4 chaffinch, 1 moorhen, 1 mallard, 1 pheasant, 2 goldfinches
Arun Riverlife: 12 pochard ducks
