Kestrel, egyptian geese and kingfishers
On Tuesday a staff member on a lunchtime walk came across a cluster of visitors on the long path. They were watching a kestrel perching on the Wetland Secrets building.
The kesterel then moved onto the Reedbed hide roof between spots of hovering for prey. The kestrel didn’t catch anything but it didn’t seem to mind having an audience. At one point it was hovering directly above the people on the pathway!
Plenty of kingfisher sightings for visitors but they aren’t as close to the hides now that nesting is finished but you may see them fishing on Arun Riverlife lagoon or Sand matrtin and Ramsar hides.
We have six Egyptian geese onsite - seems our earlier pair may be back with their juveniles. Look for them on the gravel island from the Sand Martin hide.There is also good numbers of gadwall, tufted ducks and shoveler there too
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.
Wed 5 Oct
Ramsar hide & Sand Martin hide: 6 little egrets, 6 Egyptian geese
Scrape hide: 1 kingfisher, 4 gadwall, 3 snipe, 16 mallards.
Woodloop: 1 tree ceeper
Tues 4 Oct
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 28 Canada geese, 14 tufted ducks
Wet;and Discovery: 1 kingfisher, 1 pochard
Scrape hide: 7 shoveler, 6 snipe
Black Rabbit Triangle:1 common frog
Ramsar & Sand Martin hides: 1 little egret, 27 wood pigeon, 6 shoveler, 5 Egyptiam Geese, 4 Canada geese, 7 Greylag geese, 8 tufted ducks, 4 pochards, 3 moorhen, 2 coots, 15 black-heded gulls, 09 gadwall, 5 mallards
Mon 3 Oct
Arun Riverlife: 2 kingfishers
Ramsar hide & Sand Martin hide: 1 kingfisher, 1 little egret, 2 teal, 3 shoveler, 5 egyptian geese
Wetland Discovery: 9 tufted ducks, 1 pochard
Scrape hide: 7 shoveler, 2 teal, 3 snipe
Sun 2 Oct
Wetland Discovery: 2 pochards, 3 tufted ducks, 1 mallard, 2 gadwall
Willow screen: 1 mandarin
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 1 pochard, 1 kingfisher, 1 snipe
Scrape hide: 1 snipe
Sand Martin hide: 1 black swan, 1 pochard, 1 little egret
Sat 1 Oct
Arun Riverlife: 21 coots, 1 gadwall, 2 moorhens, 1 little grebe, 8 tufted ducks, 16 mallards
Scrape hide: 7 shoveler, 1 grey heron, 2 snipe
Ramsar & Sand martin hides: 1 kingfisher, 1 cormorant, 3 pochard, 1 little egret
Willow screen: 2 kingfishers lots of calling
Wetland Discovery: 1 pochard
Woodland Lodge hide: 1 great spotted woodpecker.
