Thanks to volunteer Phil for this report and for all his hard work surveying dragonflies & damselflies at our Arun Valley reserves this year.

I first became aware of willow emerald damselflies about 7 years ago when some naturalist friends were considering a trip to East Anglia to find this relatively new species for the UK which had spread from Europe, maybe as a result of climate change.   A little research established…

Secrets of the Heath: Wonders of Wiggonholt

Saturday 21 August 2021, 11am-4pm

Wiggonholt Heath, RSPB Pulborough Brooks nature reserve

Join Heathlands Reunited and RSPB Pulborough Brooks for an exciting day exploring the heathland at Wiggonholt.

Follow the heathland superheroes trail, go on a bug hunt, discover heathland history, listen to a tale or two, create your own heathland critter, meet a reptile, and have a Stone…

Many of you who visit us in the summer months will enjoy the butterflies and dragonflies that you can see around the nature trail, but how many of you have been on a bee hunt?

Start off in the car park and look for the volcano-like mounds of sandy soil on the banked edges…these are the nests of Pantaloon bees (Dasypoda hirtipes). Pantaloon bees get their name from the females’ oversized orange pollen brushes on…

Redshank chick by Graham Osborne

As our regular visitors will know, for the past 5 years or so we have spent a significant amount of time each spring putting up temporary anti-predator fences on the South Brooks.  This followed on from nest monitoring studies which showed a high level of nest predation and that the majority of nest predation was mammalian (primarily fox, occasionally badger). Our wardens set up a 2 km…

The British Dragonfly Society certainly picked a good week for 'Dragonfly Week' this year with lots of dragonflies and damselflies emerging, perching and hunting around the ponds and ditches on the reserve.  

We can also announce a new species for Pulborough Brooks - a Southern Migrant Hawker dragonfly, found and photographed by Graham who is one of our volunteers.

Southern migrant hawker by Graham Osborne

This…

Gatekeeper butterfly - photo by Gareth Hughes

Welcome back! As restrictions have eased further in England, we’re excited to continue to have many of our facilities OPEN for your visit! Here’s a summary of what’s available  

Open daily, dawn til dusk:

• Car park
• Nature reserve trails 
•  Hides - all 4 of our hides are now open

 Open daily 10 am – 4 pm 

• Outdoor, staffed Welcome Point 
• Toilets 
• Café - take…

We have a busy few months ahead out on the wet grassland with two significant projects being delivered on top of the annual habitat management work.   Whilst this work is being undertaken there will inevitably be some disturbance so we thought you’d like to know what we’re up to…

Our first project the ‘wetland enhancement’ project will kick off next week and has been designed to improve the wet grassland…

I'm not going to write much this morning but will simply let you indulge in this lovely series of photos from our volunteer Graham Osborne...

Enjoy 

Avocet chasing off redshank

Avocet chasing off mallard

And this is why the avocet is being rather over-protective!

Our avocet pair have 3 chicks who are getting bolder as they explore West Mead pool, but who do still retreat for cover and warmth.

Joining the West…

Would you or someone you know like to be a warden at Pulborough Brooks nature reserve?

The RSPB team in Sussex are seeking a dynamic, resourceful and motivated warden to join a reserves team managing four natures reserves totalling over 500 hectares of nature reserves in the South Downs National Park, including Pulborough Brooks, one of the most visited RSPB reserves in the UK. These diverse nature reserves comprise of…

We'll be closing our car park and nature trails at 7 pm on the evenings when we are holding night-time safari events. This is to ensure that numbers are limited to those who have booked places and so that social distancing can be maintained at our key viewpoints. 

If you are visiting the reserve on these dates please make sure that you are off site by 7 pm as the gate will be closed to all visitors other than event…

Four-spotted chaser dragonfly by Graham Osborne

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 debris, they are well camouflaged hiding…

I am delighted to report that we've had a great year for nightingales on the reserve with at least 10 males singing around the nature trails.

Our first nightingale was reported very early on 4 April ( I usually predict they will arrive between the 10th and the 12th) but there was very little singing for the first couple of weeks.  Perhaps the males who had arrived first realised that the females would be unlikely to…

An introduction to one of our prettiest spring flowers – Greater Stitchwort

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

Greater Stitchwort by Chris Prince

The plant’s name ‘Stitchwort’ refers to it ability to cure the pain associated with runners stitch. However there are many more documented…

Nightingale by Graham Osborne

We’re excited to be able to open some of our hides again for your visit! Here’s a summary:

Winpenny hide and Nettley’s hide will be open from Monday (17 May) from 10 am. West Mead hide and Little Hanger hide remain closed for now.

You’ll notice we’ve made a few changes to keep everyone safe:

• Seating is spaced out at 2m intervals, to allow for social distancing…

Treecreeper nest building by Graham Osborne

In line with Government guidance the following facilities are OPEN

Car park: dawn-dusk

Trails: dawn-dusk (Entry charges apply)

Toilets: 10 am – 4 pm daily

Playground: open daily

Shop: 10 am - 4 pm Wednesday – Sunday

*Change in opening arrangements*

Café takeaway: 10 am - 4 pm Wednesday - Sunday

Our shop and cafe are both closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but…

Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report and photos

In 2010 on an annual holiday to the Scottish Highlands I was walking with friends near the coast of Wester Ross when we saw a very large bird of prey drifting into to land in a conifer tree.  The bird was head on in silhouette and left a powerful impression on my memory.  We wondered what this could be, with discussion centring on golden eagle and osprey, but without more…

Our Visitor Experience Officer Paula introduces you to gorse; one of the key plant species on our heathland.

This green, spiny, evergreen densely packed shrub from the pea family thrives well on the sandy soils of our heath. Its bright yellow flowers appear early in the year, but there is normally some gorse in bloom every month of the year, hence the saying ‘when gorse is in bloom, kissing’s in fashion’.…

 I must admit to being a little bit scared of spiders, so finding out that there was a creature who actively seeks them out filled me with awe. I was keen to see one of these brave and fearless insects so took to the sunny, sandy slopes on the heath.

The spider-hunting wasp is a long-legged restless insect that spends much of the time running over the sand, antennae constantly twitching as they explore any holes and…

Our two 'tramper' mobility vehicles have been fully serviced and are now ready for use again!

Pre-booking is essential - this is to ensure that a member of our team is available to sanitise the vehicle and get everything prepared for you.

To book one of our vehicles, please get in touch by email to pulborough.brooks@b.org.uk at least couple of days in advance, and let us know when you would like to borrow the…

Listening to the dawn chorus is a truly incredible experience and we'll be opening up early over two weekends to help you enjoy it.

Saturday 24 April & Sunday 25 April from 5 am

Saturday 1 May & Sunday 2 May from 5 am

Come along and enjoy the dawn chorus at Pulborough Brooks. We’ll be hoping that our premier songster, the nightingale, will be joined by a choir of brilliant birds as the sun rises.  Whilst…

Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report and photos.

In days gone by on summer family holidays in Wales I sometimes came across pied flycatchers in the woodlands where they breed but I have never seen one since. And yet in most years there is at least one report at Pulborough Brooks and all the ones I’ve heard about have been in the autumn when birds are more likely to linger as there is no imperative to find a mate and…

Blackcap by Gareth Hughes

It has been lovely to see and hear some new arrivals on the reserve this last week; blackcaps are now singing from every blackthorn bush on the reserve, swallows and sand martins have been seen dashing overhead and our first nightingale has been heard.

Our lapwings are on nests and we have 6 avocets on the North Brooks. The avocets bred here for the first time in 2020 so we are hoping for a…