Many of you will remember that one of our star birds throughout last winter was the water rail, nicknamed Wally, who would appear in front of the visitor centre window almost to order with the bribe of a handful of mealworms. As he arrived late in October last year (for the second year running) we’re all eagerly awaiting his return. Staff and volunteers have even entered a friendly sweepstake competition predicting his arrival date – sadly, I have already lost having predicted he’d arrive last Sunday.
This fabulous bird is renowned for being elusive so we’ll be thrilled to have him back and parading in full view! We’ll keep you posted, but do remember to keep a look-out for him when you next visit.
There’s a lot more water here now and the number of wigeon, teal, pintail and shoveler continue to increase. I love the gentle whistling of the wigeon as they graze on the wetlands, although it’s often been punctuated by the sound of panic and chaos of late as our female peregrine has returned and is keeping them on their toes. You could also see the graceful marsh harrier coasting low over the ditches in search of prey.
Around the hedgerows and woodlands, you should listen out for squeaky goldcrests flashing their yellow Mohicans, pretty pink bullfinches calling softly, and redwings and fieldfares making the most of our bumper crop of berries.
Bullfinch photo from Chris (one of our volunteers)
Which brings me on to our first weekly wildlife challenge...
Pulborough Brooks reserve lies within our newest National Park – the South Downs – a stunning area for wildlife. The RSPB is working together with partners across the park to encourage landscape scale conservation as part of our South Downs Futurescape. So each week, I’ll be issuing a challenge for you to seek out one of the very special creatures that you can see at Pulborough Brooks and elsewhere in the National Park. I’d love to hear where you’ve seen them.
So, our first challenge is to spot one of the heralds of winter - the fieldfare. This beautiful thrush is a winter visitor to the UK who comes to raid our hedgerows for berries and scour the pasture fields for insects. Listen out for their loud ‘chack-chack-chack’ calls and the flash of silvery underwings as they take off.
If we get very cold weather they will venture into gardens, as they did a couple of winters ago when one of our volunteers (thanks - Ted) took this lovely photo.
If you’re handy with a camera and manage to snap a photo then you can take part in our free to enter photography competition. There are several categories and the aim is to highlight this very special place by capturing its beauty and diversity. You can find out more about the competition here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/futurescapes/southdowns/photo-competition.aspx