Wildflower peak and cattle egrets
The fabulous display of wildflowers this month include meadow cranesbill, purple loosestrife, great burnet, bird’s-foot trefoil, meadow vetchling, tufted vetch, black knapweed and hemp agrimony. Meadowsweet is growing in abundance across the reserve – look out for lumps on the leaves, caused by the gall midge Dasineura ulmaria. Yellow loosestrife is also flowering now – look out for yellow loosestrife bees foraging for pollen and the flower oils from this plant. Yellow loosestrife bees are rare and reliant on wetlands. They are the only UK species that collect flower oils, and use it to waterproof their nest chambers and to mix with pollen to feed their larvae.
Cattle egrets are still showing at the hides this week as well as cormorants and grey heron. Sand martins are active at the nesting bank at Sand martin hide still as is a kingfisher at the bank on Arun Riverlife lagoon.
Mallards and many other ducks are in summer eclipse moult and all looking very drab and brown when they can be spotted as many are in hiding. Still there is alot to see with smaller birds about and stunning summer wildflowers reaching their peak.
This week's highlights are a (juvenile?) marsh harrier in the reedbed and catching a barn owl roosting in a hide.
Wed 24 July
Pelican cove: 1 tufted duck
Lakes & Forest exhibit: 1 mandarin duck
Wood Loop: 4 mandarin ducks, 4 goldcrests, 1 nuthatch
Willow Sphere: 1 tufted duck, 1 gadwall
Scrape hide: 1 great spotted woodpecker, 1 goldfinch, 2 gadwall, 4 wood pigeons, 4 tufted ducks, 1 blue tit, 1 reed warbler, 5 juvenile shoveler ducks, 10 mallards, 2 sand martins, 1 coot, 3 greenfinches, 1 moorhen, 2 sand martins, 30 gadwall.
Martin hide: c 30 sand martins, 3 cattle egrets, 1 stock dove, 1 house martin
Ramsar hide: 17 cattle egrets, 3 cormorants, 8 gadwall, 1 teal
Willow arbour path: 1 grass snake
Tues 23 July
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 45 greylag geese, 1 mute swan, 1 kingfisher
Scrape hide: 6 sand martins
Ramsar and Sand Martin hide: 33 greylag gees, 15 mallards, 1 kingfisher, 25 gadwall, 1 tufted ducks, 2 mandarins, 26 black-headed gulls, 1 moorhen, 4 coots, 1 goldfinch, 20 sand martins, 8 Canada geese, 1 cattle egret, 1 cormorant, 2 teal.
Mon 22 July
Arun Riverlife: 20 cattle egrets
Sun 21 July
Wetland Discovery: 2 pied wagtails
Ramsar & Sand martin hides: 25 sand martins
Woodland loop: 1 great spotted woodpecker
Sat 20 July
Arun Riverlife: 38 greylag geese, 2 Canada geese, 1 grey heron, 5 black-headed gulls, 1 chiff chaff, 5 tufted ducks, 6 mallards, 2 blue tits, 1 kingfisher, 12 gadwall, 1 mandarin duck, c 30 sand martins, 1 cormorant, 1 pochard
Pelican Cove: 2 grey wagtails
Lapwing hide: 1 barn owl roosting in the hide, 1 grey heron.
Fri 19 July
Woodland Loop: 1 herring gull, 5 mandarin ducks, 3 long-tailed tits, 4 tufted ducks, 3 mallards, 3 great tits, 1 wren, 1 blackbird, 1 blackcap, 2 robins, 1 song thrush
Scrape hide: 1 oystercatcher flying over, 1 juvenile marsh harrier leaving the reedbed
Thurs 18 July
Ramsar and Sand martin hides: 2 cormorants, 2 carrion crows
Car park: 2 oystercatchers flying overhead
Reedbed & Willow sphere: 3 moorhens, 6 blue tits, 2 reed warblers, 6 goldfinches, 66 mallards, 2 gadwall, 1 Canada goose, 1 male marsh harrier
Scrape hide: 1 song thrush, 1 grey heron, 2 large lagoon, 15 sand martins
Wednesday 17 July
Arun Riverlife: 5 tufted ducks, 1 pochard, 2 gadwall
Woodland loop: 4 mandarin ducks, 4 moorhen
Reedbed carr woodland: 1 water rail
Long path: 4 mute swans 2 adults with 2 cygnets
Willow Sphere: 3 tufted duck
Scrape hide: 1 reed warbler, 1 Cetti’s warbler, 2 greylag geese, 1 coot, 2 wood pigeons, 6 mallard ducks, 4 tufted ducks, 1 moorhen, 1 gadwall, 1 greenfinch, 1 goldfinch, 1 shoveler, 1 teal
Sand martin hide: 4 gadwall, 1 kingfisher, 1 oystercatcher, c 40 sand martins, 2 mandarin ducks, 1 house martin
Ramsar hide: 2 cormorants, 2 little egrets, 1 mandarin duck, 7 gadwall, 2 tufted ducks, 2 teal
