Thanks to volunteer Graham for his report and photos.
The weather forecast for Sunday at Pulborough Brooks was for thundery showers. I decided to head straight for the North Brooks, thinking that I would find the highest number of birds there, and that I could shelter in Nettley’s Hide if it started to rain. From Hanger View I saw that there were good numbers of both Canada and Grey Lag Geese, as well as numerous Teal, plus some Mallard and a few Pintail. A further large group of Canada Geese noisily flew in from the South Brooks, and it was soon ‘standing room only’ on the main pond.
Waders were in short supply. Although there were several Lapwing to be seen, a single Common Sandpiper and a lone Snipe were the only others I could find. A couple of Hobbies were present, perching on fenceposts and making occasional short flights to hunt for dragonflies at low level. At closer range I had the briefest of views of an active male Blackcap, while a Chiffchaff stayed still long enough for me to get a photo.
I re-located to Jupp’s View where I joined Anna and some fellow volunteers who were leading a group of visitors on an autumn bird migration event. When the group moved on I went to Nettley’s Hide. My visit there and subsequent stays in Winpenny and then West Mead Hides were mostly notable for heavy rain showers and limited bird sightings. Anna had reported seeing a Wheatear from West Mead, and eventually, after sitting in the hide through a particularly long and heavy rain shower, I spotted first one and then a second Wheatear on the ground at moderately close range. One of them decided to take a bath in a puddle before they both flew closer to perch on the anti-predator fence, giving close views to a number of visitors through the glass window at the end of the hide.
A visitor then spotted a Whinchat. I shared some satisfying scoped views of this before taking advantage of a dry spell to make an early return to the Visitor Centre and to finish for the day.