Whilst we may be trying to find some shade from the summer sunshine, for some of our birds it is autumn already -  the breeding season is over, and it's time to be on the move again.

The North Brooks is the place to be as far as wading birds are concerned - the perfect blend of water and mud!  A variety of waders use the flood meadows and pools at Pulborough Brooks a bit like a service station, stopping off to rest…

A run of warm weather has seen the wetland areas of the reserve drying and pools shrinking, but even with the heat of high summer, there are still plenty of birds to be seen. Despite the dry conditions, North Brooks has been pretty good for waders over the last week or two. The stars of the show are the sandpipers, with common sandpipers, green sandpipers and a wood sandpiper being seen daily. They are accompanied by…

The sun is shining and the meadow is colourful with flashes of purple knapweed and yellow trefoil.  A smart peacock glides by, a couple of gatekeepers vie for the sunniest spot along the hedgerow and small skippers flit amongst the grasses.

Butterflies are certainly pretty, but they are also good indicators for health of our environment. Butterflies react quickly to changes in their habitat so declines in butterflies…

If you last visited us over winter when the entire site was underwater you would scarcely recognise the view now.  Looking out from the visitor centre windows you can barely see any water at all!

We are able to retain water on the north of the reserve for longer – the ground slopes downwards towards the hides on the North Brooks ensuring the pools and ditches in front of Nettley’s hide and Jupp’s view still have some…

Well here we are - nearly the end of June already!

The wildlife on the reserve is well into it's busy season now, with a multitude of fledgling and juvenile birds learning the lessons of life, whilst many pairs are attempting to rear second broods.  

We counted approximately 11 house sparrow nests around the Visitor Center building earlier this year, and the constant cheerful chirruping of these familiar characters…

This weekend our centre team will be joined by Steve Vickers from Viking optics who will be here to offer expert help and advice.  We stock a wide range of binoculars and telescopes so if you'd like help to find your first pair of binoculars or are looking to upgrade  your nature-watching equipment then do come along.

The optics event will also feature a special 1 off deal on a top of the range Kowa scope kit.  The…

On Sunday 23 March three fantastic families joined us for a day of volunteering.  This was part of a pilot scheme to encourage families to get closer to nature, learn new skills and make a genuine contribution to nature conservation through volunteering with the RSPB.

We planned a day with a number of tasks including willow weaving a screen for our secret family hide in the meadow, sowing some wildflower seeds and gathering…

A few waders have been taking advantage of the muddy edges created by receding water levels with redshank, little ringed plover (LRP) and green sandpiper all being seen over the past few days.  The LRPs and green sandpipers are showing well today from Jupp’s View.

If you would like to test whether the yellowhammer really does sing ‘a little bit of bread and no cheese’ you could try both the triangle on our heathland…

From 16-22 June people up and down the country are setting up camp in their gardens and spending a night under the stars for nature.

 Here at Pulborough Brooks we’ll be spending Saturday night searching for moths, bats, nightjars and glow worms before camping out (in our tents rather than under the stars!) But you don’t have to be booked into one of our reserve events to take part.

Here I am meeting a poplar…

The sunshine has certainly been  influencing the wildlife sightings here over the last few days with insects and reptiles competing with the birds for the 'star of show' award.

Take a wander down the heathland zig zags scanning the sandy areas for green tiger beetles and the path-side logs for basking common lizards.  

Pause by black pond and listen to the clash of dragonfly wings as dozens of four-spotted chasers…

...a great description of the nightjar from Stephen Moss and Brett Westwood in their book ‘Tweet of the Day’.

The nightjar is a heathland specialist and has been a beneficiary of the heathland restoration work that we’ve been doing here over recent years.

A master of camouflage during the day, this fabulous bird stays hidden, the mottled brown, black and buff feathers a perfect blend with the heathland…

Our big wild stock take is progressing well, although I must say that some sunshine wouldn’t go amiss – it would be nice to increase our tally of butterflies and dragonflies.

We are currently just shy of 80 species of birds with highlights of garganey, little ringed plover, nightingales, 8 species of warbler, yellow wagtail, peregrine, nightjar and tawny owl.

Almost matching this total is the ‘other wildlife…

Our Highland cattle are just about to go out onto the Brooks to begin their summer programme of being lawn mowers on our fields. Before we move them out there, we have to make sure they are in the best condition for the job! This year, we gave them a pedicure.

Cattle hooves are like our fingernails, made of keratin and grow continually throughout their life. Most of the time they become worn down from walking on hard…

I’m suffering a little bit from post-holiday blues, having spent the past week or so exploring Scotland, visiting some of our lovely RSPB reserves and searching (and in many cases finding) some great wildlife.

I have been cheered up however by a brief stroll through our newly planted meadow, and a report from one of our wardens...

Our RSPB Phoenix youth group has been working on our wildflower meadow – just beyond…

Pulborough Brooks has been loooking beautiful in the sunshine this week, between the heavy downpours and the dramatic clouds that have been rolling in from the downs.

The recent visiting spoonbill has left us now, but we have had reports of significant numbers of little ringed plovers and ringed plovers, dunlin, redshank and a male gargany. Some birds already have families, with shelduck and lapwings now supporting a number…

One of our lovely volunteers, Gary Trew, has just reported a spoonbill on the North Brooks, best seen from Hanger View ( @ 11.30 am).

3 garganey still on the North Brooks ( again viewable from Hanger View or Nettley's Hide).  Nightingales and a nice collection of warblers (garden, willow, sedge, lesser and common whitethroat, blackcap and chiffchaff) in fine voice on my early morning breeding bird survey.  Cuckoo heard…

We're holding one of our optics days this bank holiday Monday with a great range of binoculars and telescopes on display for you to try.  There will also be expert help on hand to help you choose the equipment that is right for you.

Whilst testing out the binoculars in the visitor centre you could spot swifts and swallows hunting for insects over the water.  Yesterday afternoon we saw 3 hobby hunting over the south…

Throughout May, our lovely café will be trying to tempt you with a rather splendid meal deal.

Buy a soup or sandwich, and a slice of cake and we’ll give you a cup of coffee on the house. Whilst I tend not to need an excuse to eat cake, if you feel you do, this is certainly a good one and it will also give you a chance to try our new bird friendly coffee.

Grown in the dappled shade in the Nicaraguan rainforest…

I spent another couple of hours 'manning' our nightingale watchpoint in Fattengates courtyard yesterday afternoon (tough job, I know!).

My willow warbler, lesser and common whitethroat, blackcap, chiffchaff and nightingales were all still going strong, but I also managed to add my first garden warbler to the list. The garden warbler is a little oddly named as it is unlikely to spend much time in a garden - it…

Despite a number of showers, I very much enjoyed spending a whole day out on the nature trail yesterday as part of our nightingale festival. 

I set up camp around the entrance to Fattengates courtyard and endeavoured to find everyone who passed by a nightingale.  There are 2 males singing in this area - one using the area of bramble and sallows to the left hand side of the path and the other in the courtyard itself. Both…

Follow the link below to watch a fabulous video clip of one of the Pulborough Brooks nightingales singing.

This clip was recorded this morning by Bill Brooks - thanks Bill!

 

Birdsong is certainly the highlight of a walk around the wetland trail at the moment. 

You can hear nightingale as soon as you step outside the visitor centre and onto the trail, with one singing from the top of the zig zags, another one or two from Fattengates courtyard and several more along Adder Alley. The short scratchy tune of the common whitethroat and the rattle of the lesser whitethroat can also be heard with…

Following on from our first nightingale sighting on Thursday, more of these great songsters have arrived and are serenading visitors from the usual spots - fattengates courtyard and adder alley.  Far from being the skulking fellows that they're renowned to be, we've been treated to some good views and I've had some lovely photos sent through.  Thanks to Gareth Hughes and Mick Davis for these ones:

Whilst…

A beautiful spring morning at Pulborough Brooks heralds the return of one our reserve highlights. The nightingales are back. And bang on time too. The 10th April has been a regular date for their spring performance to start each year, and they haven’t disappointed. Three singing males have been heard in the area of Little Hanger Hide and Adder Alley. If you have not heard this famous bird that is written of in song and…

Whilst we’re still awaiting the arrival of our first nightingale of the year, we’ve had plenty of other newcomers over the past few days.

The gentle descending tune of the willow warbler can be heard towards the bottom of the zig zags, chiffchaffs are chiff-chaffing seemingly from every tree and the beautiful song of the blackcap serenades you as you wander around the trails.

Swallows and sand martins have…