Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report and photos - Friday 29th January
This was to prove a difficult day for birding as the southern flank of Storm Gertrude hit with a vengeance bringing low cloud, heavy drizzle, high winds and poor visibility. West Mead and Winpenny Hides were most affected as they were facing the south westerly wind, and birding was very difficult from there. However I drew the long straw with my colleagues and set out for the relatively sheltered Jupps View and Nettley’s Hide.
Despite the shelter the wind was still very noticeable to the left of the hide and whereas this has been a very productive spot for small birds as per last week only a female stonechat ventured out perching on the twigs a few yards away.
However despite the poor conditions this was to prove one of those special days that the reserve is so good at providing. On arrival at Jupps View I was immediately treated to a spectacle that I had only faintly contemplated for the first time the previous week when for just a few seconds something like a murmuration in a cloud of black tailed godwits started. However on this day there was no doubting the idea of a murmuration as a much larger number of birds swirled around for more than 5 minutes – enough time for me admire the spectacle, decide to take my camera out of my rucksack, shoot a 90 second video sequence, and then several still shots.
Initially there were 2 distinct clouds of birds.
Eventually the clouds merged and after some more swirling the birds all descended into one area along a not quite fully submerged bar going across the brooks – all packed very tightly in a long line.
This gave me an opportunity to estimate the number of birds which after a couple of attempts I put at somewhere in the region of 1200. This would most likely be the largest number here since records began. The official WeBS count figure from the previous week was 950.
The spectacle was so mesmerising that I deliberately decided not to look for the cause of the commotion which I assumed to be the young peregrine that has taken up residence and has been seen many times in recent weeks flying low over the brooks.
I have seen a huge starling murmuration on the Somerset Levels and nothing about our godwits can beat the sheer scale of this, but I’d never even come across the idea of a godwit murmuration before, and these birds have something that starlings cannot match. This is the brilliant white underparts which suddenly become visible when the birds wheel. If you’re lucky enough to catch this on a sunny day they look particularly spectacular. Even on a poor day they were quite noticeable.
Over the course of the next couple of hours I and a few lucky visitors who had braved the weather were treated to a few more murmurations and when the birds came closer to the hide they seemed to fill the whole sky.
At one point I could see a resemblance to a large squadron of WWII fighter planes.
Eventually we discovered the peregrine on its usual low level flights and twice it perched in its favourite willow tree.
As the wind became stronger towards lunchtime the peregrine disappeared and the birds hunkered down more. We then had to content ourselves with the usual ducks – wigeon, teal, shoveler pintail, mallard, shelduck. There were also a large number of lapwings but much more scattered than the godwits. We also noted a pair of tufted ducks which are unusual at Pulborough, their presence indicating that the water levels are still high.
After a futile attempt at seeing anything in Winpenny and West Mead hides I returned to the Visitor Centre rather early, but still feeling invigorated by the morning spectacle.