With thanks to volunteer Graham for his report and photos.
Although it was windy at Pulborough Brooks on Sunday it stayed dry, and there were plenty of visitors on the wetland trail throughout the day. At the top of the zigzag path at least two Adders could be seen, and I shared scoped views with some visitors.
As I approached Pipe Pond I heard my first brief burst of Nightingale song of the year. A little further on I stopped briefly to admire some Greater Stitchwort by the side of the path, and I spotted a flowerhead occupied by a small beetle.
There was standing room only in West Mead Hide, so, after checking that the occupiers had noticed two Snipe on the near bank, I moved on, taking the left hand path. I had only walked about 20 metres when I spotted at least three Speckled Wood butterflies.
At Winpenny Hide there was no sign of the Garganey seen the day before, but a Redshank was calling loudly,
and a pair of Oystercatchers were also on view.
The pointed bill of this individual suggests that it specialises in probing for Lugworms rather than hammering shells.
In Adder Alley a Dark-edged Bee-fly was nectaring on the Primroses.
At Hanger View a pair of Linnets posed nicely, the female being serenaded by the male.
I made my way to Nettley’s Hide where a regular visitor (Paul) pointed out a single distant Black-tailed Godwit. Paul then spotted another wader at slightly closer range that I was able to identify as a Greenshank.
After a while I was joined by two fellow Hides & Trails Volunteers, first Martin, and then a bit later Philip. Martin mentioned that he had noticed some large fish breaking the water surface in the shallows in front of the hairpin viewpoint. We went back there for a closer look, and I concluded that the fish appeared to be Common Carp. Martin then spotted a White Stork flying in, which landed in the middle distance.
We were able to share scoped views of the stork with a few visitors, and also enjoyed brief views of a couple of Sand Martins, before heading back to the Visitor Centre.