Sorry, but due to staff shortages, the cafe will be closed on Wednesday 3 April.  We are very sorry for any disappointment that this may cause.

We will be setting up self-service tea, coffee and water within the main area of the Visitor Centre.

Thank you

Lapwing by Chris Prince

Regular visitors may find this a rather strange title having been used to seeing flocks of several thousand lapwings during the winter months.  However, every year in March these large flocks return to their normal breeding grounds in Europe having come to the UK in the autumn to take advantage of our milder climate. 

When gone, these birds are replaced by a much smaller number of lapwings returning…

Nightingale at Pulborough Brooks by Chris & Juliet Moore (not from this year - they've not arrived yet despite the unseasonal temperatures and sunshine!)

Our annual Nightingale Festival takes place over the May Bank Holiday weekend (Saturday 4 - Monday 6 May) and this year, as well as our night-time safaris, not quite dawn chorus and hot-spot guides, we'll be welcoming some exciting guests...

Over the weekend…

Enhance your nature watching experience with a new pair of RSPB binoculars or a telescope...and we're offering a 10% discount on all of our RSPB branded optics from Wednesday 27 February to Tuesday 19 March.

We have a great range starting with our RSPB 'Puffin' binoculars - perfect for youngsters who are just getting interested in wildlife watching - through to our fantastic 'HDX' binoculars.

There…

For those of you who read my National Nestbox week themed blog last week, I focused on the 'garden' birds who might benefit from finding a nestbox carefully positioned in your garden, but of course not all birds nest in boxes, or even up in trees....

For some birds, very little construction work takes place. Wading birds like lapwings simply make a small dent or scrape in the mud in which to lay eggs. They incubate…

Starting tomorrow, Wednesday 13 February, we're offering a 30% discount off our 12.75 kg sacks of bird food. 

This offer is for one week only, ending on 19 February 2019 so be sure to stock up on sunflower seeds, peanuts and other tasty food for your birds.

(Please note, the offer excludes 12.75kg buggy nibbles and 12.75kg high energy sprinkles.)

We’re just starting to see a few early signs of spring… the first queen bee of the year buzzes past your ear, woodpeckers are drumming and you can hear the first few notes of bird song.

As we approach Valentine’s Day and are thinking about romance, so too are the birds, who are sensing the onset of spring and are thinking about finding a mate, setting up a home and raising a family. National Nest Box Week…

Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report and photos....

Recent Sightings Friday February 9th – Wild Sussex Weather

Regular visitors may be familiar with the big sign on the entrance drive in which Pulborough Brooks proclaims that it is “Wild Sussex at its best”.  On Friday morning having driven through patchy rain under leaden skies, and with a strengthening wind all caused by Storm Erik, I passed this…

Recent Sightings  Friday 25^th January 'Kestrel takes a bath'

Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report and photos - sounds like a lovely wildlife moment!

 The very wet area in front of West Mead Hide has been a brilliant place for spotting snipe and black tailed godwits at close quarters in recent weeks.

The very soft ground has been ideal for foraging for these long billed waders.

On Friday this area provided a…

Join Hurtigruten, the RSPB’s partners in saving species like the Albatross, as they host a photography workshop with ‘Nature’s Home’ columnist and award-winning photographer Ben Andrew at RSPB Pulborough Brooks.

You’ll be in a small group of up to 15, and as well as receiving 1:1 tuition from Ben on making the best use of your camera and how to compose beautiful and creative photographs, you’ll…

Thanks to volunteer Phil firstly for getting up early to help with our Wetland Bird Survey, and secondly for sending us this report and photos! 

I arrived for the monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) at 8am with the car thermometer reading a chilly -5 degrees.  Having been allocated to the South Brooks team it was no surprise to reach Hail’s View and find the floodwater pools completely frozen,and a distinct lack of wetland…

Over the next month or so our primary focus in terms of habitat management will be the management of hedgerow and scrub around the nature trail and in particular along adder alley.

 Although adder alley has been a nightingale (as well as a reptile) hotspot, the scrub on this area of the trail has become less suitable for nightingales (and other scrub warblers) in the past couple of years and we had no nightingale territories…

Please be aware that the visitor centre will be closing at 2 pm on Tuesday 22 January to allow for staff training. The shop, cafe and toilets will be unavailable after this time so do make sure you plan your visit accordingly to avoid any disappointment. There will be normal access to the nature trail via the small side gate in the courtyard.

The centre will be open as normal on Wednesday 23 January.

We apologise for…

Just a reminder to say that both the Visitor Centre and nature trails shut at 4 pm every Thursday during the winter months. 

Other than that, we're now back open as normal every day of the week including New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Happy New Year everyone!

One of my previous blogs mentioned that the numbers of black-tailed godwits had started to increase, and their arrivals have continued with counts in excess of 500 busy feeding and squabbling on the North Brooks. I also mentioned on particular black-tailed godwit ‘WY-YX’ who has become a bit of a Pulborough Brooks regular over the last few years…

Well the good news is that amongst this pantheon of godwits…

On Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 December, we're holding the last 'Binocular and Telescope Weekend' of 2018 - but this is a weekend with a difference...

The full range of binoculars and telescopes that we offer will be available for you to try out, and our usual team of optics experts will be on hand to answer any questions you have about the products. 

This weekend is particularly special because, as part of…

From 3-9 December 2018, we are opening our doors for free to National Lottery players.

We’ll be offering free nature trail entry to National Lottery players during the week of 3-9 December 2018. We are one of hundreds of participating National Lottery-funded visitor attractions across the UK saying ‘thanks’ to people who have raised money for good causes by buying a lottery ticket.

The idea is simple…

It was suitably wintery for our 'Wild Winter' weekend, although not the bright frosty kind of weather we'd have liked the most! But some of our wonderful volunteers ventured out and showed our visitors some lovely wildlife.

We've been seeing a few black tailed godwits who have made their way here from their breeding grounds in Iceland. We've not seen him yet this year but we'll be looking out for a particular…

Just thought I'd share these stunning photos of one of our short eared owls. Well done and thank you to Howard Kearley (www.howardkearley.com) for letting us use his wonderful pictures. 

So far I've just managed a distant view in fading light from the Visitor Centre.  I'm hoping to get out and about on our Wild Winter Weekend over the 24 & 25 November for a closer look.  If you'd like to join in, we…

Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report and photos

Recent Sightings Friday 16^th November

Arriving at the Hanger in mid-morning a regular visitor reported seeing what he thought was a red breaster merganser from Jupps View earlier. Being very surprised by this, as I usually think of this species as coastal, I quizzed him and discovered that it was of the female type colouring, light grey with a light red -brown and somewhat…

It's been a particularly good week at Pulborough Brooks for sightings of owls and raptors with both barn owls and short eared owls out hunting in the late afternoon. 

Yesterday, Winpenny Hide was the best place to be with a barn owl quartering on the South Brooks and a short eared owl sitting on a fence post close in to the hide before flying off onto the river bank - lovely.

Barn owl photo taken by volunteer Graham…

Observing birds nest building and raising young can be fascinating and very rewarding – especially if they have selected a home that you have put up for them. But nesting happens in spring, so why am I writing about it now?

You’ll often be more successful in attracting nesting birds into your garden if you start early, giving the birds more time to find your nest box, investigate it and assess its suitability.…

Starting on Thursday 1 November , the Visitor centre and wetland nature trail will be shutting at 4pm every Thursday during the winter.  This is to enable us to carry out essential management work.

We're asking visitors who are going out onto the trail to ensure they are back by this time and last orders in the cafe will be taken at 3.45 pm.  We'll be open as normal on Friday morning, including access for those 'early…

During the autumn we will be undertaking essential habitat management work on the wooded heathland site at Wiggonholt Heath.

This site is part of the ‘Heathlands Reunited’ project which is a partnership of 11 like-minded organisations, led by the South Downs National Park Authority, working together to create bigger, better, joined up heathlands backed up by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant. Heathland is a rare and special…