Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report and photos - Recent Sightings Friday 2nd February
It has been just a few weeks since the New Year, but spring is now less than a month away. There are a few hints of it already around the reserve with daffodils out in the Visitor Centre garden and bluebell shoots coming up in Black Wood. This means that there are only a few weeks left to enjoy the best of our wintering wildfowl and waders.
Visitors to the North Brooks on Friday who were hardy enough to brave the fierce wind chill from the north will have been treated to some of the best the reserve can offer in birdwatching. Some areas of the brooks were packed with birds as in this photo taken from Jupps View.
In this relatively small section of the North Brooks I can count 527 birds and several distinct species including wigeon, teal, pintail, shelduck, shoveler, Canada goose, lapwing, and black tailed godwit. Zooming in it is just possible to identify a few dunlin in the distance and maybe even a ruff.
Every now and again a peregrine flew over causing various sorts of pandemonium. Hundreds of lapwings took to the air in their distinctive rather slow flapping flight when it is easy to see how they acquired their descriptive name. However many of the other birds such as wigeon, teal and black tailed godwits flew around at great speed while twisting and turning.
When present in large numbers flying black tailed godwits present a superb spectacle, exhibiting much the same behaviour as a starling murmuration, doubtless designed to confuse predators in the same way, They can often be seen in a dense mass and here is one such group with the sun catching the brilliant white underwings as seen from the Hanger.
Sometimes the group will start to string out as in this photo from Jupps View
The flock will sometimes break up into smaller groups but will usually coalesce back into one bigger one before eventually landing. This photo shows black tailed godwits shortly before landing and the light is now catching the white bars on the upper wings.
The whole performance can take several minutes, just like a starling murmuration. One of my friends argues that the word murmuration can only be applied to starlings but in my view it says something more about the behaviour than the bird itself so it should be applicable to any species that flies like this. The usage of words often changes with time, so perhaps I will start a trend.
On my way to the Hanger earlier a large flock of starlings, at least 300 strong, could be found on the field behind the tree line seen from the right-hand gate at the top of Green Lane. Our Highland cattle are currently occupying the field and are churning up the wet ground, presenting the birds with a good feeding opportunity. Just a few minutes earlier a large group of redwings was also taking advantage of this field in the same way.
The Temminck’s stint is still with us, occupying the muddy areas of the North Brooks. On Friday it was first seen on the near edge of the prominent east to west bar that divides the 2 main flood pools. Later it returned to its favourite mud patches on the left of the prominent ditch seen from the Hanger going away towards Pulborough village past a large mound of earth.
Eventually the Temminck’s stint should fly north to connect with other birds returning from Africa to their Arctic tundra breeding grounds but it could still be some time before this happens. The peak time for observing these birds in the UK on their spring passage north is actually May. On the other hand one of only 2 previous UK records of a wintering Temminck’s stint was in Sussex at Thorney Island in 1975-6 and this bird moved away in mid-February. In reality there is no way of predicting how long our current bird will stay and we will keep looking out for it until it disappears.
Attempting a brisk walk up from Nettley’s Hide to restore some much needed circulation my progress was arrested by a splendid kestrel hovering above the path.
I fared no better in Adder Alley, spotting a pair of meadow pipits in the field to the left.
This field seems to regularly attract meadow pipits in winter.
While literally “chilling out” but enjoying the spectacle on the North Brooks, others were in more sheltered climes enjoying raptors on the South Brooks. These included 2 peregrines, 2 red kites, a marsh harrier and several buzzards. Most of the raptor activity had subsided by the time I reached Winpenny Hide in the afternoon, but I did manage to spot a marsh harrier on a distant post.
You can make out the cream coloured crown indicating a female or juvenile
Also on the South Brooks one of our volunteers reported seeing a flight of about 50 golden plovers which frustratingly landed out of sight. This reminded me of the lapwings on the January South Brooks WeBS count when my team painstakingly counted about 200 lapwings in the most southerly area of the reserve, mostly on the ground. However an hour or so into the count a peregrine flew across causing an enormous cloud of some 800 lapwings to take to the air from exactly the same area, so there must have been about 600 lapwings hiding out of sight earlier! We picked up 18 golden plovers in flight on the WeBS count so it is clearly worth checking for this species just now.
At West Mead the colourful wigeon were back to feeding on the nearby grass.
And 3 upending pintails demonstrated beautifully why they are so called.
Just before returning to the Visitor Centre for a much needed pot of tea, a kestrel perched in a nearby tree to the right affording a great view and an excellent end to my day.
Finally, hawfinches are still being seen, but most of the sightings now appear to be just off the reserve around Wiggonholt Church which has some of the favoured yew trees. This is easy enough to reach on public footpaths either direct from the car park, or by taking a right turn from the main trail when going anticlockwise at the bottom of Green Lane and going behind Fattengates Courtyard. Any visitors not sure of the way and hoping to check this out should ask for directions at reception or from one of our Hides and Trails volunteers out on the reserve.