Gary's report from a Tuesday at Pulborough Brooks
"At a grey and overcast Pulborough Brooks today the most notable feature was the number of canada geese on view from the Hanger; I got to 550 when wave after wave of even more came in from the South Brooks. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a thousand of them. They seemed to be attracted to the new mud created by the digger which is ditch clearing and re-profiling the islands. Several green sandpipers flew into view occasionally but mostly kept out of sight.
Just two of the many Canada geese (Photo by Chris Prince)
Generally quite quiet around the trail but mixed in with the usual roving flocks of tits were chiffchaff, willow warbler, blackcap and whitethroat. Nuthatch, treecreeper, goldcrest, bullfinch, kestrel, great spotted and green woodpecker also put in an appearance, but probably the best of the bunch was a reed warbler and lesser whitethroat.
Fungi are starting to appear around the reserve, but I must admit that they are a bit of a mystery to me; I must join one of the upcoming walks devoted to fungi – maybe I will learn what that sulphur yellow blob on the side of a tree was!"
A message from Anna - I'm going to encourage Gary to come along on one of the fungi walks but would suggest in the meantime that he checks out 'Yellow brain' or 'Chicken of the Woods' for his mystery fungus. Both are bright yellow and grow out of tree branches - the former is a jelly- like fungus whose form resembles a brain, the latter is a more solid affair; one of the bracket fungi that grows in a series of 'shelves'.