Latest sightings
Common gulls on spring passage & toads on the move
Big numbers of common gulls have been moving through the reserve with spring passage underway. Wardens counted 200 common gulls last Friday, 110 today with nine Mediterranean gulls mixed in. Individual male lapwings have been breaking off the main flock
4 February 2021
Flock of siskins in hedgerow
On Monday a flock of 27 siskins was spotted in the hedge opposite Pelican Cove exhibit. No doubt they were after the seeds from the tiny alder cones to eat. Siskin are more common at garden bird feeders these days too, especially in late winter. The mal
29 January 2021
Bewick's in the valley & big lapwing count
Wardens counted 210 lapwing at Arundel during the Wetland Birds Survey (WeBS) on Sunday 17 Jan. We had word that there are 11 Bewick's swans in the Arun Valley. We are keeping an eye out in the late afternoons, hoping they may come in to roost here if it
21 January 2021
Green & greater spotted woodpeckers
The weather has warmed up from a chilly -6 degrees last Sunday morning but we are still are seeing a larger numbers of birds than in previous years coming in for the evening roost, like the 84 lapwing counted on Tuesday at 4pm. On Tuesday we spotted a
14 January 2021
Icy days bring in over 200 roosting lapwing
Frozen Friday had 40 wigeon visible from the Sand Martin hide. This week the cold weather has formed ice on shallow water throughout the Arun Valley so we are seeing greater numbers of shovelers (80 on Sat 2 Jan), wigeon, and shelducks. We had a record nu
9 January 2021
Icy mornings increase wildfowl numbers
Cold weather has increased the numbers of wildfowl onsite. We counted over 100 lapwing on the back island from the Sand Martin hide on Tuesday 29 Dec and Wed 30 Dec. Tues 29 Dec Ramsar & Sand Martin hide: 40 greylag geese, 21 teal, 2 grey heron, 34 sho
30 December 2020
Lots of lapwing from Ramsar & Sand martin hides
Lapwing have been coming into the deeper scrape between the Ramsar and Sand martin hides with the count peaking at 80 lapwing last Friday.Kingfishers have been showing on Arun Riverlife lagoon and at several hides. We recorded kingfisher activity in and
22 December 2020
Red wings on the long path this week
The lagoon between the Ramsar hide and the Sand martin hide is THE spot for snipe now with 19 recorded there on Tuesday morning. Teal numbers remain strong and a handful of lapwing are showing up on site each day. Look out for stonechats, redwings and gol
12 December 2020
First firecrest & cold temps bring in the ducks
Cooler temperature this past week have driven duck numbers up. Lots of lapwing have been dropping in as well. Birds of prey are active - in after the smaller birds that are feeding more in the cold weather. We had our first firecrest sighting on Sunday
6 December 2020
Great egret, wigeon and pintails
I spotted a great egret last Sunday from the Scrape hide. This heron-sized egret is much larger than the little egret and has a yellow bill, like the smaller cattle egrets. Members of the Collection Team and our Reserve Team have spotted the great egret a
25 November 2020
Evening roost of harriers, egrets and wagtails
Heavy rains and high winds were lashing last Sunday when Warden Suzi Lanaway attempted the monthly Harrier Survey. Hoping for better results I watched the reedbeds this Monday. While waiting for the marsh harriers to come in I saw 100+ pied wagtails gathe
18 November 2020
Jack snipe, sparrow hawk & cheeky shrews
While working on cutting and clearing what the cattle didn’t eat this summer on the Wet Grassland between Lapwing hide and the Sand Martin hide I watched a pair of stonechats perching up then swooping down to pick up insects from our fresh cutting. We a
14 November 2020
Little grebes, soprano pips & stonechats
Despite some colder temps his week we haven’t had a real cold snap required to drive big numbers of teal and shelduck onto the site. This mild weather has helped the insects stay active which has kept bats in our boxes – a quick check of two of the mo
4 November 2020
Kestrel and kingfishers
A female kestrel has taken up residence in our newest owl box on Wetlands Discovery. She can be spotted hovering above the islands hunting the abundant bank and field voles. She has also been spotted in car park perching on the wooden lighting pole near
17 October 2020
Sand Martins start moving through
Monday morning I was greeted by the spectacle of approximately 400 house and sand martins swirling around a dark, moody sky, a truly fantastic sight. These fabulous aerobats are starting to gather before their epic migration to sub-Saharan Africa for the
4 September 2020