With thanks to volunteer Graham for his wildlife sightings report and photos.
It was a bit of a shock to see the reserve completely flooded again.
After retrieving a lens hood from outside West Mead Hide for a regular visitor, and apologising to the other visitors in the hide for putting up the nearby Snipe (9 of them as counted by Mike, another regular visitor), I briefly enjoyed a distant view of one of the resident White-tailed Eagles in its favourite tree across the river. However, I fairly quickly noticed a small rucksack that had been left on the rear bench by a visitor. Having re-united the rucksack with its owner just past Redstart Corner I continued on to Winpenny Hide. I had hoped to get better views of the eagle from there but it had flown away before I arrived. As a consolation I did have a fairly good view of a Marsh Harrier in flight.
I decided to return to West Mead. By the path approaching Redstart Corner I spotted the regular pair of Stonechats on the fence.
I met fellow Hides & Trails volunteer Martin and his friend Richard as I approached West Mead. From the access path to the hide we shared scoped views of Fieldfares with some visitors, and Richard located a Raven flying in the company of two Buzzards. When I checked the hide it was fairly full so I decided to go on to Hanger View to survey the North Brooks.
From Hanger View various wildfowl could be seen scattered in groups across the vast expanse of floodwater on the North Brooks. I searched for some Tufted Ducks that had been reported and soon found a group of six. When I scanned the River Stor I noticed two ducks swim into view - a pair of Goldeneye. However, at a range of about half a mile they were more than a bit too distant for a photo! A bit later a rainbow formed over Pulborough, so my only photo from the Hanger on this occasion is an environmental shot.
I had searched for our now regular Peregrine in the Willows soon after I arrived at the viewpoint without success, but looking again a bit later I managed to spot her largely obscured by twigs. This individual does not seem to have a particular favourite perch in the Willows, and it is certainly worth carrying out a thorough search from various angles to avoid the risk of overlooking her. I shared scoped views with a number of visitors before the Peregrine flew off purposefully to the north, disappearing from view. Shortly afterwards a female Sparrowhawk flew past the viewpoint, giving a good view to a couple of visitors. A bit later Martin and Richard joined me, and after a while I left Martin to take over scope duty while I returned to West Mead Hide via Green Lane.
A good number of visitors were in West Mead Hide when I arrived. I soon located a Snipe at close range which the visitors next to me had not spotted with their binoculars. The afternoon light was against us but a good view of the Snipe was to be had once I had set up my scope. While I was busy helping some visitors see the Snipe another visitor pointed out a group of Dunlin within binocular range. I counted six of them and I soon had my scope trained on them for some satisfying views. They were even close enough for a reasonable photo.
Though mostly sitting still some of them were occasionally mobile, one of them straying a little too close to one of the Lapwings.
After a short but heavy shower, I returned to the Visitor Centre to return my radio. The sun had come out by this time and I decided to spend a bit of time at Upperton’s Pond before heading home in the hope of getting one or two more photos. A family were inspecting the pond when I arrived, so I asked them if they had discovered some early newt activity. They said that they had, so I focused my attention on the slightly murky water. During the next half hour I saw several newts come to or near the surface, and I managed to get a few unsharp photos of some of them, including a male Smooth Newt
and a male Palmate Newt.