Latest sightings
Cuckoo calling in the reedbed
On Tuesday our Wardens heard a cuckoo calling from the back of reedbed along the Mill stream. Our boat drivers saw a cuckoo on the Wetland Discovery area at the end of the day. The cold and dry weather is impacting some wildlife onsite, especially lapwing
5 May 2021
Warblers singing & kingfishers still on nest
The kingfisher pair are still nesting in the bank on Arundel Riverlife lagoon. Last Friday our wardens spotted the female kingfisher on the perch to the left side of the nesting bank for a few moments before the male kingfisher emerged from hole #5 and jo
29 April 2021
Sand martins have returned
On Monday 5 April six sand martins were checking out the holes in the Sand martin hide nesting banks. House martins and a sprinkling of swallows have also started moving through the reserve. A pair of oystercatchers have nested on top of the hide and anot
8 April 2021
Spring mallard ducklings hatching out
Wardens spotted our first spring clutch of ten mallard ducklings swimming around the edge of the Arun Riverlife lagoon following their mother last Sunday. The kingfishers are still at the nesting bank here especially in holes 10 and 8! Arun Riverlife seem
30 March 2021
Kingerfisher pair persisting at nesting bank
The kingfisher pair continue to perch around and enter a hole in the nesting bank on Arun Riverlife lagoon. We have daily sightings of the pair in and outside of a nest hole. Lapwing are also displaying on the lagoon with a pair mating and nest scraping
14 March 2021
Male lapwing display includes dive bombing gulls
The number of lapwings on the wet grassland has increased and we are seeing the males tumbling display flights and hearing their ‘slide-whistle’ calls. At Arun Riverlife lagoon two lapwing were dive bombing black-headed gulls that also look for nestin
6 March 2021
Kingfisher pair trying out our nesting bank
We’ve got high hopes that a pair of kingfishers will settle down in our specially designed kingfisher nesting bank on the Arun Riverlife lagoon this year. We have been seeing our favourite fishing birds going into nesting holes.
28 February 2021
Spring is in the air
Spring is definitely springing, with the sound of great and blue tits, robins, blackbirds, chaffinch, greenfinch and Cetti’s warbler all singing madly. Dunnocks too, whilst displaying in their semaphore-like way! This long-tailed tit with nesting materi
24 February 2021
Winter survey count includes 14 Bewick's swans
The Wetland bird survey (WeBS) monitors the UK's internationally important non-breeding waterbirds. We count once per month, providing data for population and trends in abundance and distribution. Surveying inside our boundries we also survey the surround
16 February 2021
Wintery weather with some spring behaviours
It’s been very wintery week with snow and very low temperatures on the reserve, especially last Monday. The cold has brought many birds to the feeders in the Wood Loop especially now that other sources of food are running low. Nonetheless subtle spring
11 February 2021
Common gulls on spring passage & toads on the move
Big numbers of common gulls have been moving through the reserve with spring passage underway. Wardens counted 200 common gulls last Friday, 110 today with nine Mediterranean gulls mixed in. Individual male lapwings have been breaking off the main flock
4 February 2021
Flock of siskins in hedgerow
On Monday a flock of 27 siskins was spotted in the hedge opposite Pelican Cove exhibit. No doubt they were after the seeds from the tiny alder cones to eat. Siskin are more common at garden bird feeders these days too, especially in late winter. The mal
29 January 2021
Bewick's in the valley & big lapwing count
Wardens counted 210 lapwing at Arundel during the Wetland Birds Survey (WeBS) on Sunday 17 Jan. We had word that there are 11 Bewick's swans in the Arun Valley. We are keeping an eye out in the late afternoons, hoping they may come in to roost here if it
21 January 2021
Green & greater spotted woodpeckers
The weather has warmed up from a chilly -6 degrees last Sunday morning but we are still are seeing a larger numbers of birds than in previous years coming in for the evening roost, like the 84 lapwing counted on Tuesday at 4pm. On Tuesday we spotted a
14 January 2021
Icy days bring in over 200 roosting lapwing
Frozen Friday had 40 wigeon visible from the Sand Martin hide. This week the cold weather has formed ice on shallow water throughout the Arun Valley so we are seeing greater numbers of shovelers (80 on Sat 2 Jan), wigeon, and shelducks. We had a record nu
9 January 2021