Latest sightings
Moth survey & butterfly eggs
The first moth survey of the season only attracted 3 moths and a female minotaur beetle, due to the cold temperatures. We did have a lovely emperor moth sitting on the access gate for staff to the Pelican Cove exhibit on Tues 23 on Monday morning. Cuckoo
24 April 2024
Warbler, martins and young ones
Summer migrants are returning, with the songs of sedge and reed warblers filling the reedbeds. Cetti’s warblers are around as well and several black caps and a lesser whitethroat seen over the past few days. The sand martins have return returned and
18 April 2024
Spring birds on the nest
A female mallard with 6 ducklings in tow was spotted on the Wet Grassland on Monday. Moorhen chicks have also been spotted on a ditch behind our duckery. A pair of pergrines have been spotted on the Offham hangar, likely the pair that annually nest on the
29 March 2024
Bittern, kingfishers, lapwings & oystercatchers
Reserve Supervisor Rosie flushed up a bittern about 5m away from the front of the Scrape hide this morning (Thurs 21 March) while working in the area. Kingfishers have been using the nest hole 5 in the Arun Riverlife nest bank again this year. There has b
21 March 2024
White tailed eagles and kingfishers
Two white tailed eagles have been back over the Reserve a few times this month. The pair were flying up and down the Offham hangar and over the car park and visitor centre on both March 2 and March 4. A kingfisher male has been very active on the nesting
11 March 2024
Oystercatchers are back and kingfisher nest hunting
A male kingfisher has been inspecting nest holes at the Kingfisher bank. Regular visitor Mike Jerome took these lovely photos. We recently removed some trees near the kingfisher nesting bank. Our Reserve team manage this wet grassland habitat at Arun Rive
28 February 2024
Camouflaged Snipe, Scraping Lapwings and arriving Oystercatchers
It has been great to see so many snipe back in the fen cut in front of the Ramsar hide this past week! A male kingfisher has been investigating the nesting holes on Kingfisher bank on Arun Riverlife, a pair were spotted feeding at Scrape hide Tuesday.
21 February 2024
Bittern was back on World Wetlands Day
A bittern flew across the reedbed channel in front of a boat safari trip on Fri 2 Feb - World Wetlands day - giving some of our visitors a real treat! We had our first oystercatcher of the season, spotted between Ramsar and Sand martin hides on Tues 6
7 February 2024
Lapwing, bitterns and a sea eagle
Our onsite bittern sightings from the Scrape hide peaked on Friday 19 January when a Reserve Warden spotted two bitterns, within just minutes of each other on opposite side of the reedbed there.A sea eagle (also known as a white tailed eagle) was spotted
24 January 2024
Bittern onsite
A bittern has been spotted regularly from the Scrape hide over the past week!The bittern was first spotted by reserve staff and a regular visitor last Fri 12 Jan. It has been seen at least once a day. It took to the air on Sat 13 Jan and was snapped by v
17 January 2024
Hen harriers in the late afternoon roost
We had visitors tell us they had seen hen harriers from the Scrape hide during the afternoon roost on the weekend. Our Reserve team knows there are three female hen harriers in the Arun Valley this winter but had no staff confirmed sightings of the birds
11 January 2024
Bewick's swans and Snipe
Five Bewick's swans were spotted on the Burpham loop, across the Arun River from the reserve, on Saturday 30 Dec. It great to have some swans in the Arun Valley again this winter. If we see any low temperatures that freezes ponds the swans could come into
2 January 2024
Snipe upswing, plus a kestrel
Lots of snipe about – our count showed 27 on Tuesday morning between the Ramsar and Sand Martin hide. On Sunday we spotted a kestrel hunting in front of Reedbed hide. Kingfisher has been showing at the Scrape hide and between Ramsar and Sand Martin hide
20 December 2023
Barn owl & little grebes
Lovely little grebes are been spotted on Arun Riverlife lagoon and on Pelican cove. From the Discovery hide on Arun Riverlife look for them down and to the left, along the shrubs at the water's edge. We are seeing a barn owl occasionally when we walk a
13 December 2023
Firecrests, gold crests and redwings
Current wildlife highlights include Lapwing numbers now exceeding 100 on the lagoon between the Ramsar and Sand martin hides most mornings. We are seeing shelduck re-appearing in double figures. Up to 10 marsh harriers and small flock of pied wagtails roo
6 December 2023