Thanks to volunteer Graham for his report and photos.
It was a sunny but breezy day at Pulborough Brooks. As I left the visitor centre a Garden Warbler was singing enthusiastically from one of the trees at the side of the path. At the bottom of the zigzag path a Nightingale made its presence known.
I carried on to West Mead Hide in the hope that the second pair of Avocets to nest on one of the nearby islands had stayed within photographic range after their brood had hatched. No such luck! They had followed the example of the first pair and relocated a good distance to the west. I stayed for a while, entertained by the Lapwings occasionally warding off other birds, and noticing that a pair of Coots had established a nest at close range in front of the hide.
After a while I decided to move on. I chose the left fork towards Redstart Corner with the aim of checking the Greater Stitchwort along this path for invertebrates, and I was not disappointed. A number of the flower heads had been occupied by 16-spot Ladybirds.
Other tenants included a Speckled Bush Cricket nymph.
I continued to Winpenny Hide, and I ended up staying there for some time. There was a lot to see and a steady stream of visitors. We enjoyed brief views of one of the regular White-tailed Eagles and a fairly close-flying Hobby.
Five Black-tailed Godwits were viewable at some distance, and, after searching for some time, I was eventually able to spot one Avocet chick. The bird of the day however was a Grey Plover, in full breeding plumage.
Apart from looking exceedingly smart it also participated in some exciting action when it strayed a bit too close to the area being defended by the Avocet parents.