Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report and photos - Recent Sightings Friday 10 March
After a short holiday I returned for my normal duties on Friday and opening the car door was immediately aware that air was filled with birdsong. I picked out the sounds of robins, dunnocks, great tits and a few short snatches of blackbird song. Down the Zigzag Path I could also hear blue tits, greenfinches and goldfinches, and later near Redstart Corner a wren was calling loudly.
With spring very much in the air despite the grey misty weather I felt slightly sad to be saying goodbye to our familiar winter visitors. However, a flock of about 30 thrushes flew past the Visitor Centre and I was able to identify them as fieldfares and a solitary redwing so we clearly had some of our winter birds left.
Arriving at the Hanger however there was barely a lapwing to be seen and it was clear that the huge flocks (c4400 birds recorded in December) that have enthralled us over the winter had all gone. A closer look revealed a small handful of lapwings which have probably arrived recently for the breeding season, now doing their loopy display flights and “peewit” calls as a prelude to mating. Later in the day at West Mead one male was performing a different form of display where it lifts its wings a little to show its tail feathers and dips its breast as if to scrape the ground to make a hollow in which a female can lay eggs. This gives a rather odd looking pose.
From Nettley’s Hide I spotted a pair of mute swans in the classic heart shaped pose where they face each other and touch beaks. However, as I reached for my camera, a water vole appeared in the ditch just to the left of the hide and all thoughts of photographing swans disappeared.
There is an old expression “as dull as ditch water” but on this day it proved anything but dull. It turned out there were actually 2 rather busy water voles frequently crossing the ditch or swimming alongside the banks for about 20 minutes. Given the time of year it seemed natural to hope that in due course there might be a few small voles appearing. These animals have been seen quite a lot just here in the last month since I first reported seeing one a month ago. If they are not out in the open water it is worth having a close look at the edge of the bank to see if a sudden movement in the vegetation might reveal their presence.
Some visitors reported that there were also several common toads visible in the ditch some of which were showing a close interest in each other. Sure enough I soon noticed something much smaller than the water vole moving across the ditch. It turned out to be a pair of eyes!
Shortly afterwards a pair of toads crossed the ditch, one closely following the other.
Out on the brooks we still have good numbers of our wintering ducks, with several hundred wigeon still here and shovelers very prominent. Pintails were still to be seen, the elegant males giving their presence away while up-ending when their long “pin” tail sticks up in the air very prominently. Teal, mallard and shelduck were also present. Canada goose numbers appeared to be well down.
A snipe was present in the brown short reeds in front of Nettley’s Hide. This seems to be a good place for them just now but with their superb camouflage you need to have your eye in to find them. Several visitors had great difficulty picking this one out even in my scope.
To the left of the hide the brambles near the edge of the ditch had stonechat and reed bunting while to the right a goldcrest flitted busily around the bushes. These tiny birds are so mobile that they are notoriously difficult to photograph, but this time I managed a slightly better one than usual.
In view of the dull misty weather it was not surprising that there were no snakes to be seen in Adder Alley but adders and grass snakes have been seen here recently on sunny days.
Eventually arriving at West Mead there were a few more lapwings to be seen in display flight along with several meadow pipits and pied wagtails, and the pool still had plenty of ducks.
Also on view here were 2 peregrines perched in the line of trees to the left of the hide beyond the pool and the adjoining field. These birds have been seen frequently here in the last few weeks and may be pairing up. With many winter ducks still on the reserve there is still food for them, but the nearest suitable nest sites are disused quarries near Amberley Station a few miles away, and with the numbers of ducks and lapwings dropping we may see less of them soon. Elsewhere on the reserve kestrel, buzzard, sparrowhawk and red kite were seen.
Finally there is now blossom on some of the bushes and primroses are appearing by the paths giving the reserve a much more spring like appearance.