Friday 4th December - Thanks to volunteers Phil and John for their report and to Phil for the photos.
I’m a firm believer that there is no such thing as a poor day at Pulborough Brooks, whatever the weather – only good days and special days. This was to be a special one.
The reserve can boast an impressive array of raptors, some of which can be seen frequently and others much less so. On a good day you might see 4 species, but today we picked up 8, including 2 that I’ve never seen before at Pulborough. With plenty of other recent sightings, it seems that the reserve may be more attractive than in previous years for raptors in the autumn and winter months.
The day started with glorious sunshine and my colleague John radioing from Hail’s View. In his words.
"I was pleased that the final approach to the view point is now far less muddy thanks to the efforts of the work party in building a new trail on higher ground. As soon as I set up the 'scope two kestrel appeared, quickly followed by a low flying sparrowhawk. A very pale buzzard perched on a post taking advantage of the full sun and then everything went up when a marsh harrier came into view scattering all the wigeon and lapwing before drifting off towards the North Brooks."
He forgets to mention reporting a visitor sighting of a brent goose seen from Hail’s among the Canada geese – an unusual spot as these tend to be coastal birds.
Stationed at West Mead I eventually picked up what were most likely the same raptors, and the barnacle goose that’s been seen several times throughout the autumn. Then John’s arrival in the hide seemed to be the catalyst for more raptor sightings. First, a red kite wheeled low over the grass beyond the pool showing its red tail and started to feed, only to be driven off by a crow. It then spent some time bathing and preening on the ground allowing for some close examination. Next, by the river bank, a ringtail hen harrier (female) appeared, my first ever at Pulborough Brooks, and turned upstream, banking to show its distinctive white rump. Then a visitor sighting in a similar direction turned out to be a marsh harrier with the cream coloured head of a juvenile, clearly a different bird from the one seen earlier.
Later, in Winpenny Hide, I discovered that the hen harrier had been seen by several visitors at other places on the reserve during the morning, and on the previous day, leading to some speculation that it could overwinter here. Lunch was interrupted by a commotion amongst the large flock of lapwings revealing a peregrine circling menacingly high above, after which a kestrel displayed its hovering skill, keeping its head absolutely still despite the strong breeze.
There are of course other types of bird to see and at The Hanger many people stopped to admire the fieldfares and redwings which have been present in recent weeks stripping berries from the bushes in front of the viewpoint. I tried to photograph these often flighty birds but did much better when an remarkably large fieldfare landing on one of the bushes turned out to be a jay!
The large black tailed godwit flock (200+) was well seen from here looking spectacular when in flight. In winter plumage on the ground they look quite plain but in flight beautiful flashes of white appear. The attached photo is from last winter.
Arriving at Nettley’s Hide in the full expectation of seeing snipe, they were nowhere to be seen but the disappointment was offset by another marsh harrier sighting. This quickly led the watchers to a short eared owl working the riverbank in the direction of Pulborough church – another first for me on the reserve, although there have been several sightings by other people in recent weeks. I radioed this to John, still near the Hanger, who was able to pick it up, later reporting that two owls were briefly seen in the same view from the higher vantage point before drifting apart. In the hide we most likely saw both without realising.
Shortly before 4pm another call from John demanded a hasty return to The Hanger where I was greeted by a truly splendid sight. Regular visitors will be familiar with the tall willow tree to the left from the viewpoint on the edge of the brooks.
This was famous for a female peregrine often to be seen perched there in winter, but who failed to re-appear last winter. However there on the same favoured branch of the tree was a very much alive peregrine, its youth given away by the browner plumage and streaked front which changes to barred in the adult. Most of the day’s raptors had been too distant to take an effective photograph but I attempted to capture this bird in the gathering gloom. Not surprisingly the photo did not come out so well, but I make no apology for including it here as the presence of such an iconic bird in an iconic tree deserves to be marked.
Whether it’s the start of a new era for the “Peregrine Willow” remains to be seen but nevertheless it seemed like a hopeful sign of nature’s regeneration
Back at the café over tea and cake John and I counted up our raptor tally and the only possible species we’d failed to spot were barn owl and merlin. These are only rarely seen at Pulborough, and just one of those would turn a good day into a special one. Maybe next time.