With thanks to volunteer Graham for his report and photographs
It was dry and warm at Pulborough Brooks on Sunday.
As I walked down the zigzag path I found a Leiobunum rotundum Harvestman
and a Common Scorpionfly.
At Fattengates Courtyard a Greenfinch briefly flew down to the pond for a drink.
At West Mead Hide the lack of water meant that there were very few birds to be seen at close range. However, I was able to spot three Wheatears feeding on the ground. These were too distant for a a photo but a few visitors enjoyed reasonable views of them in my scope.
I soon made my way to Winpenny Hide, from where I had a view of a Grey Heron waiting patiently in a nearby ditch containing a small patch of water. After a few minutes it made a strike and caught a good-sized fish. The shape of the tail fin suggests to me that this is a Tench.
At the Ditch Dipping Ponds there was very little damselfly and dragonfly activity, and I could initially only find single specimens of Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly and Brown Hawker. A Brimstone butterfly landed on a spike of Purple Loosestrife to provide a welcome distraction.
Then, just as I was considering moving on, a single Willow Emerald Damselfly emerged and perched conveniently on the end of a Willow leaf.
I moved on to Hanger View where some visitors were watching a White Stork on the North Brooks. After I had set up my scope to provide a closer view of the stork and a couple of Green Sandpipers, the stork took to the air and circled in front of us before flying off towards the South Brooks.
I paid a quick visit to the field viewpoint behind Hanger View, where I found a Dock Bug nymph on a leaf.
At Hairstreak Corner a good selection of butterflies were flitting between the heads of Common Fleabane in the afternoon sun, including a very smart looking Brown Hairstreak.
From time to time a Common Blue
took off to have an aerial battle with a Brown Argus.
I was joined at this point by fellow Hides and Trails Volunteer Nick. After showing some visitors the butterflies in this area we moved on to the corner viewpoint as Nick had been informed that the White Stork had returned to the North Brooks. We shared scoped views of the stork with a number of visitors, and then continued on to Nettley’s Hide. There was not a lot to be seen from the hide, so we decided to go back to Hairstreak Corner. Soon after arriving we found a Green-Veined White, which provided my final photo before our return to the Visitor Centre.