Sand martins in residence
Plenty of sand martins still active at the Sand martin hide, in and out of the holes on the left near the speaker box and on the right bank below the swallow nest cups. The kingfisher pair are still taking food into hole 5 on the Arun Riverlife lagoon nesting banks. Reserve Manager Suzi Lanaway swears the insects seem to know when the team are doing an insect survey because they go into hiding. The butterfly survey last Thursday only recorded 32 butterflies in total but Suzi saw twice that number of butterflies while doing the dragonfly survey!
The wetland wildflowers are shooting up and the current winner is meadowsweet – the most prolific this year and the tallest! The fragrance is lovely, a vanilla-ish scent. The yellow palette is on show this week: yellow loosestrife, fleabane just opening, ragwort, St Johns wort. Lots of purple too with purple loosestrife, vetch, knapweed. Lots of pinks like willow herb, hemp agrimony and valerian. Look out for lovely greater burnet with dark red lollipop heads.
Wildlife sights by WWT wardens - this is not a complete list of wildlife onsite.
Tues 20 July
Scrape hide: 1 teal, 2 shoveler
Ramsar and Sand Martin hides: 1 moorhen, 90 black-headed gulls, 11 herring gulls, 3 gadwall, 3 tufted ducks, 2 mallards, 1 Canada goose, 1 wood pigeon, 1 mandarin, 2 coots.
Reedbed boardwalk: grass snake sunning himself
Wood loop: Moorhens with juveniles, female mallard with duckling in Trumpeter pond
Mon 19 July
Wet grassland: 1 mallard, 1 yellowhammer singing in trees
Tranquil; Trail: green woodpecker, sedge warbler
Ramsar Hide: grey heron
Scrape hide: 2 little egrets
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 1 kingfisher going into hole 5
Sand martin hide: 10 sand martins
Sun 18 July
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 2 kingfishers in morning taking fish hole 5
Wood loop: moorhens, 2 families with juveniles
Offham Hangar: peregrines 1 adult and 2 juveniles
Sand martin hide: 10 sand martins
Sat 17 July
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 2 mute swans, 1 greylag goose, 8 Canada geese, 22 mallards, 12 black-headed gulls
Wood loop: 2 mandarins in Trumpeter pond
Fri 16 July
Wood loop:1 coal tit, 1 greenfinch, 6 chaffinches, 1 great tit, 1 dunnock, 5 mallards, 9 moorhens, 2 goldfinches
Reedbed: 2 bullfinches behind the duckery, 1 kingfisher flying over Reed swamp area.
Thurs 15 July
Reedbed boardwalk: 2 reed warblers, 1 Cetti’s warbler, 3 goldfinches
Sussex screen: 2 gadwall
Reedbed hide: 2 sedge warblers
Ramsar hide: 1 male marsh harrier flying over towards the river
Butterfly survey 11am-12.30pm - Total 32 of 5 species: 6 large whites, 9 red admirals, 4 commas, 1 gatekeeper, 12 meadow browns
Wed 14 July
Scrape hide: 16 mallards, 1 coot, 2 black-headed gulls, and 2 wood pigeon
Tues 13 July
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 1 kingfisher taking fish into hole 5
Wood loop: 1 greenfinch, 2 moorhen with 7 juveniles, 1 mallard with 4 half grown, half feathered ducklings
Scrape hide: 1 little grebe
Sand martin hide and Ramsar hide: 2 coots, 32 black-headed gulls, 16 mallards, 12 greylags including one with a white neck and one with a white wing, 6 tufted ducks, 10 sand martins, 1 shoveler, and 1 gadwall
Mon 12 July
Lapwing hide: 1 reed warbler, 1 sedge warbler
San martin: 20 sand martins
Scrape hide: 2 teal
Sun 11 July
Lapwing hide: 2 reed warblers, 1 sedge warbler, 4 goldfinches
Ramsar hide: 1 coot, 1 reed warbler, 3 mallards, 1 black-headed gulls, 1 Cetti’s warbler
Sand martin hide: 16 sand matins, 5 greylags, 1 coot, 30 black-headed gulls, 5 tufted ducks
Scrape hide: 2 little grebes, 5 tufted ducks, 3 mallards, 5 black-headed gulls, 3 moorhens.
