With thanks to volunteer Graham Osborne for his report and photos.
Although the weather forecast was for thundery showers it stayed dry (and very warm) for most of the day.
Soon after starting out I came across a confiding Great Tit.
As I made my way down the zigzag path the birds were keeping their distance, so I found an easier target - a group of Teasel heads.
At Fattengates Courtyard the evidence of earlier rain could be seen on some Lesser Stitchwort.
I stopped briefly at West Mead Hide before continuing along the trail. By the path beyond Redstart Corner I was watching a family of feeding Swallows and a pair of Reed Buntings with some visitors when we were caught up by the visiting RSPB Medway Group accompanied by Assistant Warden Joe. One of the group spotted a Whinchat, and Joe advised me that the White-tailed Eagle had flown into its favoured large tree across the river. When I reached Winpenny Hide I looked for the eagle. It was still in the tree, but largely obscured from view.
I continued on to the North Brooks, where I share scoped views of the wildfowl and waders with visitors from the viewpoints before making a visit to Nettley’s Hide. A pair of Migrant Hawker dragonflies in tandem flew in to perch right in front of the hide.
After leaving the hide I took my time walking back up the path to see numerous Tretragnatha spiders among the scrub spinning their webs or lying in wait for prey.
A Nettle-tap moth (Anthophila fabriciana) fluttered from leaf to leaf.
After a brief and fruitless visit to the ditch dipping ponds I returned to the path between Winpenny Hide and Redstart Corner to see if any of the passerine birds in the vicinity would come within photographic range. I was in luck. One particular perch was serially favoured by a pair of Stonechats
and a female Reed Bunting posed nicely among some seasonally coloured leaves.
Best of all, a Whinchat visited just long enough for me to get few shots of it.
Content with my day’s photographic efforts I began the return walk to the Visitor Centre. As I approached the turning to Fattengates Courtyard I came across what was obviously a ‘twitch’ in progress. A large contingent of the Medway Group, as well as some other regular visitors and Assistant Warden Joe were intently focused on something along the courtyard path. The ’something’ turned out to be a Nightjar perched on a low branch in the tall conifers.
This superb finale turned a very good day into a really great day at Pulborough Brooks.
great day then