Latest sightings

Goosander, stonechats and barn owls

The Arun lagoon project will be completed in the coming weeks and the Reserve team are cutting the Wet Grassland at the same time, with the aim of completing all works at that end of the reserve together. Coordinating these works should allow wintering wi

6 December 2021

Kestrel and Great white egret still around

Our favourite peregrine was posing nicely today one of our car park light poles today. Also still around site is the great white egret who has been popping up around different hides through the day. A black swan is still hanging around the site as well.

27 November 2021

Egrets & herons enjoying project mud

The water on the Arundel lagoon project has been drained down slowly, much to the delight of little, cattle and great white egrets who have been helping to de-fish the lake remnants!

8 November 2021

Great egret still onsite this week

A great egret has been onsite for the past week. The low water levels of the Arundel Lagoon project have lured the great egret to the Ramsar and sand martin hides during the day and it has been dropping into Arun Riverlife lagoon in the late afternoons. T

2 November 2021

Clouded yellows & migrant hawkers

With daytime temps still in the high teens, on sunny breaks we are seeing migrant hawker dragonflies and common darter dragonflies come out. Checking our Black Rabbit triangle area we spotted a pair of clouded yellow butterflies on Monday!The digger and p

20 October 2021

Bat surveys finishing soon as weather turns colder

Paul Stevens, our former Reserve Manager and licenced Batman, was on site last week to check all of our site bat boxes. In total we found 17 Soprano pipistrelles and one Brown long-eared bat - all roosting and producing a build up of droppings! Two ba

13 October 2021

Green woodpecker & house martins

Today’s sun brought another 50+ house martins through the site on their southward migration. A green woodpecker has been onsite this week as well, usually around Wetland Discovery and the old Tundra pen. A kingfisher has been showing best a Scrape hide

6 October 2021

Water rail, teal & gadwall sightings increase

Teal numbers are increasing with 22 spotted in the morning from the Scrape hide on Saturday. Water rail sightings are increasing this week with sightings on n Arun Riverlife, Wetlands Discovery and at the Scrape hide. (photo above by Romney Turner). Handf

29 September 2021

Kestrel is back, with black caps & warblers

A young male kestrel has been hanging around for the past couple of weeks. He has been spotted on the owl box on Wetlands Discovery, on the roofs of our thatched Outlook In building by the boat jetty and in the Woodland Loop, likely hunting small birds.

23 September 2021

Calm kestrel on Wetlands Discovery

Our Reserve team have been hammering away at the annual autumn cut on the Wetland Discovery area. This means they haven’t had much time for counting many birds this week. Last Wednesday during the mini-heatwave they got help from a great crew of volunte

15 September 2021

Martins moving through & sunny dragonflies

Teal numbers increasing along with the number of house martins (c200 Wednesday!) and sand martins moving through the site. On Monday 30 lapwing were flushed up staff checking the cattle. Our mooing mowers will be moved off the main wet grassland next wee

8 September 2021

Flycatchers & sand martins moving through

Sand martins have been moving through the reserve migrating south to winter in Africa. Over one hundreds sand martins were spotted Monday. Also on their autumn passage are 5 spotted flycatchers spotted on the islands of Wetland Discovery area over the

31 August 2021

August wildlife surveys

Dragonfly survey Wed 11 Aug – mid-late afternoon 6 species, 70 dragonflies 35 common darters4 brown hawkers14 blue-tailed damselflies1 red-eyed damselfly11 migrant hawkers5 southern hawkers Butterfly survey Wed 11 August in the morning

19 August 2021

Young families still about

Friday the thirteenth was a lucky day as we spotted three kingfishers all around the site throughout the day! This was likely the male and female from Arun Riverlife hole #5 in the nesting bank and their fledged youngsters. There are still young famil

18 August 2021

Scrape hide getting busier

This week we have noticed sightings picking up at the Scrape hide with little grebes, heron, tufted ducks and shovelers appearing regularly. The Scrape hide gets busier in autumn so the seaons may be starting to shift. A moth survey this morning recorded

10 August 2021