With thanks to volunteer Graham for his report and photos
As forecast it was raining when I started out on the wetland trail at Pulborough Brooks on Sunday. As a result I quickly made my way to west Mead Hide, where I found a number of sheltering visitors. Shortly after I arrived I enquired if anyone had spotted a Snipe, and almost immediately a visitor opened a hide window, causing two Snipe to flush from the near bank to land conveniently on the the largest island close to the hide. I later counted a total of five Snipe on the same island.
A sizeable group of Lapwings could be seen in the rushy area beyond the main pool, and on checking these out with my scope I found two Golden Plovers amongst them. A regular visitor (Paul) then spotted a more distant Black-tailed Godwit, and I then counted seven of them in the vicinity. After I had shared scoped views of the waders with a number of visitors a clay pigeon shoot started up, and this put up most of the nearby resting birds and these dispersed further from the hide. Fellow volunteer Gary visited briefly with a small group before moving on during a dry spell. This pause did not last very long and it was soon raining heavily again. As usual the ducks, such as this Shoveler, seemed largely oblivious to the weather conditions.
When the rain finally relented for a while I took the opportunity to move on, deciding to head straight for Nettley’s Hide via Green Lane. On arrival I noticed that the ditch in front of the hide had been transformed into a lake that stretched all the way to Pulborough! Most of the birds (including Mallard and Coot) were keeping their distance,
but a Moorhen swam in a bit closer.
There was just a single visitor in the hide, a volunteer at Titchfield Haven NNR. He asked me if a Peregrine was frequenting the tall Willow these days. I had briefly (and unsuccessfully) checked the Willow on my arrival, but his question prompted me to look again. This time I saw that an adult Peregrine was perched in the Willow and we shared a satisfying view of it through my scope. I presume that this was the male bird that has been visiting regularly in recent weeks. At the end of another heavy shower the visitor left, although he must have got wet as the heavy rain promptly restarted shortly afterwards. When that shower was over the sky looked a bit clearer, and I decided to see if I could get a clear view (and a photo) of the Peregrine from Hanger View. Arriving at Hanger View I could just about see the Peregrine through a gap between the branches, but there were numerous thin twigs in the way. Making my way down the path I eventually found a spot, a bit off the path, where I could get an almost completely unobstructed view of the Peregrine, which appeared to be staring straight back at me.
Whilst it remained dry I continued on to Winpenny Hide. As I approached the hide, a large group of visitors were departing. They were on their way to the North Brooks, so I advised them of the best angles to view the Peregrine. Still in the hide was fellow Hides & Trails volunteer Nick. Nick mentioned that he had earlier spotted a Dunlin. After staying a short while, I decided that I might see more at West Mead so I left Nick in Winpenny to finish his lunch. Back in West Mead Hide with a number of visitors, not only did the weather stay largely dry, it also brightened up, and for just a few minutes the sun came out, providing better light for some shots of Teal,
Wigeon
and Lapwing.
I managed to spot a single distant Dunlin, which I assumed was the same bird that Nick had seen earlier. But then I spotted a few more Dunlin in the same area, and I eventually counted eight of them. A visitor came into the hide to inform us that a Red Kite had just flown into the dead tree to the south of the hide.
I shared scoped views of it with a couple of visitors before it was seen off by a Carrion Crow. As the cloud cover increased and the light grew dim I took advantage of a remaining shaft of sunlight to capture my final image of the day.