Thanks to volunteer Graham for his report and photos.
After a cool start things warmed up nicely in the sun at Pulborough Brooks yesterday (Sunday). At Fattengates Courtyard a blue tit provided a welcome splash of colour
and a bank vole made a number of appearances.
From the gate at the bottom of Upperton’s Field a stonechat provided a fairly distant target.
In West Mead Hide at least three snipe were on the usual island, one providing some good views to a number of visitors. A couple of Common Buzzards flew quite close, including this boldly marked individual.
Neil had moved on to Winpenny Hide, outside of which he had located an adder. When I got there a group of visitors were searching for it amongst the brambles in the spot where it had been seen. I managed to spot it almost hidden from view. However, it was not long before the sunshine tempted it to come out more into the open, providing some better views. I am hoping that Anna or Rob might be able to identify this individual from the image.
Note from Anna: "We certainly can Graham. This is 'AA71' an adult male adder who we first saw back in March 2020. He puts in a regular appearance in early spring in the area around Winpenny."
After a while I made my way to Hanger View, where I showed a number of visitors the two avocets that were present as well as the various wildfowl. Several passerines made an appearance, including this dunnock.
Neil joined me in the afternoon and we decided to return to the South Brooks. When we got to Winpenny Hide we met Martin, who announced we should expect to see our two white-tailed eagles fly into their favourite tall tree at 3.00 pm precisely. At 3.00 pm on the dot one of the eagles flew into the tree, followed shortly afterwards by the second! After sitting on their perch for a short while they left the tree to provide some excellent views (both aerial and perched) to a number of visitors.