With thanks to volunteer Graham Osborne for his report and photos.
After a two-week break I was pleased to return to Pulborough Brooks on a beautifully warm and sunny day. As I walked down the zigzag path the early morning dew was still visible on grass stalks and on numerous spider’s webs.
At Fattengates Courtyard I put out some seed, which was appreciated by the visiting birds, including Blue Tit and Great Tit.
There was a good selection of wildfowl on the pond outside West Mead Hide, including Pintail and Shoveler.
More distantly, at least two Ruff could be seen periodically through my scope. After some time I also had the first of several views of a sub-adult male Marsh Harrier. Moving on to Winpenny Hide I had slightly closer views of the Ruff (now numbering three), though they were still too distant for a usable photo. A couple of Red Kites were in the vicinity, and one of them dropped in briefly for a half-hearted attempt at catching some prey.
A regular visitor and volunteer (Jackie) found a couple of Golden Plovers among a group of very distant lapwing. We eventually picked out a third. Viewing these against the light was quite a challenge. Shortly afterwards Jackie spotted a flying Great White Egret, but unfortunately this quickly landed and remained out of view. A group of Long-tailed Tits made a brief visit to the trees outside the west side of the hide. I managed to get a single unobstructed not very sharp picture of one of them.
Having heard from some visitors that there was not a lot of action on the North Brooks I decided to stay on the South Brooks, so I returned to West Mead Hide for the rest of the afternoon. The afternoon light provided the opportunity for some atmospheric photos of a Mallard and a pair of Shovelers.
After a while the previously seen Marsh Harrier flew past at a reasonably close distance to provide my final photo of the day.