Pulborough Brooks 13 October 2024

Fourteen members of the group had an enjoyable morning walk round the RSPB’s Pulborough Brooks reserve in West Sussex on what turned out to be a cool, slightly cloudy but rain-free day.

We started outside the visitor centre, looking over Upperton’s Field towards West Mead and beyond to the River Arun and South Downs. A Kestrel was perched on a dead tree and a Sparrowhawk flew over the field.

Next stop, Fattengates Courtyard. Here we saw a range of garden birds such as Blue and Great Tits, House Sparrow, Robin, Dunnock, Chiffchaff and Chaffinch, no doubt encouraged by the sunflower seeds that had helpfully been scattered just before our arrival. We also heard Green and Greater Spotted Woodpecker and, just as we left, a flock of about 20 Long-tailed Tits flew over.

Next, we headed for the hairpin viewpoint overlooking the North Brooks. Here we saw good numbers of Teal, Lapwing and Canada Goose, with Greylag and Egyptian Goose, Mute Swan, Shoveler (many still partially in eclipse), Mallard and Black-tailed Godwit amongst them. A solitary Ruff was feeding at the water’s edge and a few Swallows and House Martins were still flying.

We then walked to Hanger View to look over the southern part of the North Brooks. Here we found more Teal with smaller numbers of Wigeon.

From Winpenny hide, the main excitement was provided by very active Marsh Harrier flying low over the marsh and at least three Buzzards.  There were also several Gadwall and a Snipe, the latter well camouflaged in the reeds at the edge of the water. Among the cows was a juvenile Cattle Egret.

The view from West Mead hide included many more Canada Geese, as well as a solitary Shelduck amongst the other duck species.

In the afternoon, the walk leaders headed to the viewpoint at Rackham, overlooking Amberley Wild Brooks, where we were rewarded with good views of a young White-tailed Eagle perched in the “eagle tree”. A Raven flew over and a Bullfinch was perched in the shrubs in front of the viewpoint.

The overall total for the walk at Pulborough was a respectable 50 species.

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