Volunteer Graham Osborne recounts the wildlife highlights from a visit over the weekend - thanks Graham for your report and wonderful photos!

After three Sundays off I returned to hides & trails duties at Pulborough Brooks yesterday.

The morning started nicely with views of four cattle egrets on the South Brooks from the Visitor Centre where I was joined by Neil and some visitors. Scanning Upperton’s Field revealed…

Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report, photos and reflections on the new dragonfly species arriving at Pulborough Brooks...

I am currently sitting at my computer sheltering from the hot weather as the UK bakes in another heatwave and the land is feeling the effects of a drought. It is becoming easier to link the greater prevalence of events like this to a changing climate. However, while these somewhat worrying heatwaves…

With thanks to volunteer Graham for his report and photos.

It was a breezy day at Pulborough Brooks on Sunday, mostly dry, with just a few spots of very light rain for a short while. Bird-wise it was mostly fairly subdued, but there were reasonable numbers of the commoner butterflies about. However, dragonflies and damselflies were in extremely short supply, and I only saw three species all day (azure & blue-tailed damsels…

I suspect that my first encounter with the wonderful world of Lepidoptera – butterflies & moths – might well have been a childhood reading of Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Since then I have always admired butterflies; the splendidly colourful peacock nectaring on the wildflowers and the glorious silver-washed fritillary gliding powerfully through a sunshine-dappled woodland glade.

Silver…

Find out more about some of our special butterflies from Lydia's (our Visitor Experience Officer) blog...

It’s that time of the year, the sun is shining, and the butterflies are fluttering. Here at Pulborough Brooks we have recorded 33 out of the 60 butterfly species found in the UK. Our mosaic heathland, woodland, hedgerows and meadow habitats makes it a great home for some star species including 4 out of 5 species…

The wildflowers are blooming, butterflies are fluttering over the meadows and dragonflies are darting over the ditches – Big Wild Summer has started at Pulborough Brooks! Summer is a fantastic time to explore the great outdoors and we’ve got some amazing wildlife here in West Sussex.

Small copper butterfly by Graham Osborne

Wonderful wildflowers

Visitors can follow our ‘wonderful wildflowers trail’ and find…

Find out where to see some great night-time wildlife with the RSPB this summer

I'm delighted to report that the cafe refurbishment is on schedule and we'll be re-opening on Friday (8 July). Our cafe team are looking forward to welcoming you back.

Pop in for a breakfast bap, light lunch or a slice of cake. We'll also be serving cream teas - enjoy scones, jam and cream whilst sitting on the tea terrace admiring one of the loveliest views in West Sussex!

Cafe and tea terrace open 10 -…

Thanks to volunteer Graham for his sightings review and wonderful photos.

A breezy day at Pulborough Brooks did not deter either the wildlife or a reasonable number of visitors from putting in an appearance.

 I had walked no more than about 75 metres from the VC when I came across a female beautiful demoiselle perched by the side of the path.

At the the zigzag path a male kestrel provided a hovering display to a number…

Thanks to our fantastic volunteer Graham for his report and photos from Sunday's 'hides & trails':

Although there were a few showers it was mostly dry at PB yesterday. There were a good number of visitors and plenty of wildlife highlights.

At Fattengates Courtyard I met Mark, one of our regular visitors. He showed me a photo of a golden-ringed dragonfly that he had taken last Wednesday from the path near…

Over the past couple of months we’ve have been enjoying brilliant song and dazzling displays from our birds. But they’ve now moved on to the serious business of raising a family, and we are welcoming new arrivals. Eggs will have hatched and young birds will be making demands of their busy and harried parents!

We’ve had reports of nightingales, lesser whitethroat, garden warbler and blackcaps feeding young…

The café will be closed from Thursday 16 June 2022 for up to 3 weeks for a refurbishment.

Whilst the café is closed, hot & cold drinks and a small range of pre-packed snacks such as sandwiches, crisps, chocolate bars and brownies will be available to purchase from the shop.

The tea terrace will be open but there will be no indoor seating.

The refurbishment will enable us to create a safe working environment…

Our Visitor Experience Officer, Lydia, wrote this blog inspired by all of the nest-building that is happening on the reserve right now.

When walking around Pulborough Brooks and its different habitats you start to see different species favouring certain areas; whether this is the woodlark on the heathland, waders on the wetland or treecreepers in the woodland. But why is this?

Animals have adapted over thousands of years…

This is the perfect time of year to look for chaser dragonflies around our heathland pools.

Much of the four-spotted chaser’s life is spent hidden in the murky depths of the heathland pond. Around four weeks the after the female has laid her eggs the larvae hatch taking a minimum of two years in larval form to complete their development. The larvae are ambush predators; covered in numerous hair-like structures which trap…

Over the past few years we’ve been welcoming a very special creature to the heathland at Pulborough Brooks...the field cricket.

Field cricket by Pete Hughes

This chunky cricket is a mixture of brown and black with striking yellow wing bases.  The fine veins on the wings resemble wrought-iron work and it is the modified veins on these wings that form the ‘harp’ that enables the male to make a melodious but penetrating…

With thanks to volunteer Graham for his account and stunning photos.

Although it was windy at PB yesterday, the sun was out and the wildlife did not disappoint. Whilst the singing nightingales continue to hide from my lens, there were plenty of other species on show around the reserve.

West Mead Hide continues to be a hotspot for visitors, particularly because of our breeding waders. At least two young lapwing broods…

An introduction to one of our prettiest spring flowers – greater stitchwort.

Greater stitchwort by Anna Allum

This pretty starry white springtime flower that grows to calf height is often found thriving alongside red campion and bluebells on our woodland floors and grass verges.

The plant’s name ‘stitchwort’ refers to its alleged ability to cure the pain associated with runners stitch. However there are many more…

Thanks to volunteer Phil for his article and photos. We're expecting a sunny weekend and there are plenty of butterflies to be seen out around the nature trails.

This article was first written for the Staff and Volunteer Newsletter in the first weeks of Lockdown 1 in 2020. With all the recent fine weather bringing out plenty of butterflies I thought it would be appropriate to revisit this for the blog. Two years ago…

Volunteer John recounts an enjoyable morning on the reserve leading one of our 'birding for beginners' events.

We met on the terrace where over a cup of coffee we explained how to adjust your binoculars and which bird guides to get ( RSPB British Birds and Collins). As we chatted a red kite cruised by followed by a buzzard. A nice start.

 

Buzzard by Graham Osborne

At the Yurt  we got acquainted with blue and great…

Volunteer John, recounts his enjoyable day in the sunshine at Pulborough Brooks.

It was so therapeutic to get away from all the doom and gloom and enjoy the warm sunshine today. And the nature on show was wonderful!

There were so many uplifting moments I don't know where to start. Let's deal with the butterflies first - A peacock sunning itself on the path, a brimstone wandering by, a speckled wood seeing off intruders…

Whilst I’m generally talking about birds at this time of year, reserving my enthusiasm for invertebrates until the summer months, there are some incredible invertebrates out and about even in the earlier months.

I couldn’t resist gently rolling a few of the logs on the wooded edge of the heath to admire the woodlice, centipedes and beetles. I was thrilled to see one of these:

 

Violet ground beetle by Carey…

Thank you to volunteer Phil for his article and stunning photos.

Most readers will be familiar with the concept of a starling murmuration even if they haven’t actually seen one. These gatherings of anything from a few hundred to many hundreds of thousands of starlings are formed shortly before they go to roost for the night. The birds swirl around in remarkable synchronicity sometimes forming interesting shapes in the…

Tawny owl by Graham Osborne

The sun is low over the western horizon and the sky painted with the glorious pink and orange hues of sunset. Dark silhouettes fly overheard calling ‘jack, jack’; the jackdaws and rooks are heading to bed. As the light fades further you can hear the noisy blackbirds – not the mellow song of the morning but the harsher ‘chink, chink’ calls that signal dusk. And then it becomes twilight and…

If you're planning a visit over the weekend here's a sneak preview of the wildlife you could see.

Hen harrier & marsh harrier at the top of the list but a flock of 30 goldfinches adds to the charm.

Goldfinch by Anne Harwood

Goldcrest by Chris Prince

One of my favourite birds to look and listen out for on the wooded heath is the goldcrest. This tiny bird is continually on the move, foraging amongst the tree branches for its invertebrate prey and performing its high-pitched reeling song.

Whilst goldcrests can be seen here year round we do get an influx of them in winter. These tiny birds, weighing no more than a 20 pence piece, make the tricky…