Wintery weather with some spring behaviours
It’s been very wintery week with snow and very low temperatures on the reserve, especially last Monday. The cold has brought many birds to the feeders in the Wood Loop especially now that other sources of food are running low. Nonetheless subtle spring behaviours are in evidence elsewhere onsite with teals, tufties and shovelers pairing up, Cetti’s warblers singing against each other for territory and a drumming woodpecker.
Wed 10 Feb
Arun Riverlife: 1 male pochard
Ramsar and Sand Martin hides: 20 shelducks, 8 grey herons, 10 snipe
Scarpe hide: 4 snipe
Woodloop: 1 great spotted woodpecker drumming
Reedbed: 2 Cetti’s warblers singing for territory
Tues 9 Feb
Ramsar and Sand Martin hides: 8 grey herons, 4 snipe, 4 Canada geese, 15 shelducks, 1 cormorant, 12 greylag geese, 12 teal (8 male 4 female), 8 shovelers (6 male 2 female), 3 black-headed gulls, 5 mallards (3 male 3 female)
Wood Loop: 2 chaffinches, 4 blue tits, 4 great tits, 3 woodpigeon.
Mon 8 Feb
Ramsar and Sand martin hide: 9 shelducks, (6 males, 3 females), 9 gadwall (7 male 2 female), 14 shoveler ducks (10 male 4 female), 14 teal (10 male 4 female), 2 male wigeon, 26 lapwings
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 4 pochards.
Sun 7 Feb
Wetland Dscovery: 7 tufted ducks (4 male 3 female), 1 pochard, 22 mallards (14 male 8 female), 1 moorhen, 1 pheasant, 4 Canada Geese, 2 coots, 1 kingfisher
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 8 pochard (5 male 3 female), 3 little egrets
Long path ditches: 1 pochard
Tranquil Trail: 1 green woodpecker
Sat 6 Feb
Wetland Discovery: 6 pochards (2 male female)
Ramsar hide: 6 shoveler (3 male 3 female), 1 lapwing, 11 teal (6 male 5 female)
Sand Martin hide: 16 lapwing, 16 shoveler (10 male 6 female), 27 teal (20 male 7 female)
Arun Riverlife: 1 lapwing, 21 mallards, 2 pochards (2 male), 24 greylag geese, 7 Canada geese, 2 moorhen, 1 coot
Fri 5 Feb
Wood Loop: 1 dunnock, 3 chaffinches, 2 wood pigeon, 1 robin, 2 marsh tits, 1 coal tit, 4 great tits, 4 blue tits, 5 longtailed tits, 1 goldcrest, 2 moorhens.
Lapwing hide: 6 teal (3 male, 3 female)
Ramsar and sand martin hides: 1 oystercatcher, 6 teal (3 male, 3 female), 4 shovelers, (2 male, 2 female), 6 shelducks, 1 cormorant, 4 tufted ducks (2 male, 2 female), 10 snipe, 2 gadwal (1 male, 1 female), 14 lapwing, 3 mute swans (juveniles).
Scrape hide: 1 grey heron, 1 kingfishers, 9 teal (6 male, 3 female), 1 little grebe, 2 snipe, 2 shoveler (1 male, 1 female),, 2 gadwall (1 male, 1 female).
Sussex screen on long path: 2 mandarins, 1 kingfisher.
