Recent sightings 16/06/2017 - thanks to volunteer Phil for his photos and report
At Pulborough Brooks in the summer very often our wildlife attention turns to minibeasts such as butterflies and dragonflies while the typical wintering wildfowl is away in the north raising young. However on this occasion I was surprised just how much birding interest there was.
For the last fortnight a group of black-tailed godwits had been occupying the pool on the South Brooks seen from Hail’s View, but on this day they had been replaced by 24 lapwings, a sizeable count for summer. Unfortunately they were just too distant to work out whether any were juveniles. We closely monitor the progress of our breeding waders as a measure of how well the Brooks are being managed and early indications are that this year will see an increase in breeding success in our lapwing and redshank population.
Eight redshanks could also be seen on the pool as well as 7 prominent grey herons – a sufficient number of the latter to make me think that there might have been an influx of juveniles from a nearby heronry.
Out on the South Brooks 2 red kites were circling and one passed directly overhead at Hail’s View.
At Black Pond I had been hoping to find the spotted flycatchers which have been seen there recently, however I was surprised instead to see a grey wagtail.
These birds are more often associated with fast running water but its not unknown to see them by our ponds in the summer. The lack of white markings around its face suggests it is a juvenile
Shortly afterwards my colleague John found one of the spotted flycatchers perched on a branch above the pond, my first of the year.
These scarce summer visitors can more often be found passing through on the Autumn migration, but this is at least 2 consecutive summers we have had spotted flycatchers taking up residence near Black Pond.
I was further surprised to have a visitor report seeing avocets on the North Brooks. Arriving at The Hanger I was quickly able to find 2 avocets on the farther of the main pools which can be made out in this distant photo.
Avocets are usually to be found on estuaries and coastal lagoons. They only rarely come inland and I recall seeing them at Pulborough on just one previous occasion 2 years ago.
From the Hanger it became clear that the black-tailed godwits previously seen on the South Brooks had not deserted us, as a party was clearly in view on the main North Brooks pool. This species, a regular winter visitor here, breeds only in small numbers in the UK. However there is no evidence of them breeding here so their presence in the summer is unusual and leads me to wonder if they are last year’s brood not yet ready to find a mate.
At Winpenny an extremely pale buzzard could be seen on a distant fencepost and a flock of over 100 starlings were moving around with some cattle, no doubt feeding on invertebrates stirred up by the hooves.
At West Mead a grey heron was rather unusually in the middle of the pool. The lack of white on its crown marks it out as a juvenile, supporting my hypothesis of a nearby heronry.
Also a little egret was very prominent at the edge of the pool.
It is common for both these species to nest in the same group of trees so it is possible they both came from the same heronry.
The Egyptian geese and goslings reported last week were still present, but another surprise came in the shape of 4 small lapwing chicks on the far side of the pool – one keeping out of sight for much of the afternoon. I first assumed these must have come from a nest seen over the last few weeks near the bund to the right of the pool, but a check revealed that an adult lapwing was still apparently sitting there on and off. So it seems there must have been another nest nearby, hidden away behind some of the long rushes.
Later a recently fledged lapwing appeared on one of the islands showing typical scruffy face markings and practising wing flapping. The number of these fledged birds observed out on the reserve is steadily increasing. This photo taken 2 years ago shows characteristic pale edges to the wing feather giving a scalloped effect and note that the crest is not fully developed.
I didn’t have a chance to look at Fattengates Courtyard but 2 of our regular Friday visitors reported seeing foraging nightingales there as per last week so it looks as if the process of feeding young is continuing.
Despite the unexpected focus on birdlife there was plenty of other interest. In Black Wood I noticed that foxgloves seem now to be out in force. This one had attracted a hoverfly.
More large skipper butterflies were out, this one seen nectaring on newly opened thistle flowers.
I also came across my first ringlet butterfly of the season.
There was plenty of dragonfly activity including my first adult emperors of the season at the highest pond on the heathland and the Visitor Centre Pond. I thought I glimpsed one at Black Pond but it didn’t come close enough to identify. By far the most dominant species there at the moment is the four spotted chaser. The four spots referred are the ones in the middle of front of each wing which are not present in other UK species and can be seen clearly in this photo.
Most species have spots on the leading edge near the end of each wing and these are also present in the four spotted chaser, which rather confusingly has 8 wing spots.
Finally I can report my first sighting for the year of a banded demoiselle. These striking damselflies of slow flowing water, are typically seen near the riverbank but will sometimes move away and can be seen in smaller numbers in the summer around the lower areas of the main trail. The surprise about this individual, seen between Winpenny and Redstart Corner, is its perch which made it stand out in a very non-aesthetic way!