Category: Sighting

West End:- 64 Greylag Geese, 3 Lapwings, 1 Pied Wagtail, 3 pairs of Common Terns, 4 Cormorants on nest including one with 2 young, 2 Mandarins, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff.

WeBS for the Nature Reserve.
All Reservoir
56 Great Crested Grebe some nesting has now started at West End, 13 Cormorant with at least 3 nests at West End and 1 chick seen, 13 Grey Heron, 39 Mallard,  4 Lapwing, 5 Swallow, 7 House Martin.
Dam End:- 4 + 6 juv Canada Geese, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Black-headed Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Herring Gull, Green & Great Spotted Woodpeckers heard, 2 Grey Wagtail, 4 Pied Wagtail, 1 Song Thrush, 2 Blackcap
West End:- 67 Greylag, 7 + 1 juv Mandarin, 3 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Moorhen, 7 Common Tern (3 pairs on Rafts), 1 Reed Warbler, 6 juv Long-tailed Tit  (See pic).
Whillets:- 3 Reed Warbler, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Whitethroat, 1 Willow Warbler heard, 3 juv Goldfinch; also 1 Fox.
Butterflies:- 14 Meadow Brown, 5 Small Skipper, 1 Common Blue (See pic) also a Cinnabar & Burnet Companion day flying moths.
At Whillet’s Pool a rarer grass for Sussex the “Orange Foxtail”  is thriving

and currently flowering (See pics).

Red Kite approached from the Dam End quartering the margins and passed over the hide towards Willet’s (11:40).

West End:- Common Terns on each raft, 42 Great Crested Grebes, Tufted Drake, Common Whitethroat with nest material in front of lookout bench and Reed Warbler singing at edge. 3 Roe Deer and Red Admiral on north bank while I was checking a nest box.

Whillet’s Meadow:- Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly and Drinker Moth Caterpillar – photos by Bob Johnson.

Broad-bodied Chaser 01-06-17

Whillet’s:- Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Reed Bunting, Garden Warbler and Whitethroats.
6 Common Blue Butterflies, 2 Blue-Tail Damselflies,1 Silver Y Moth.

In the course of the Work Party tasks; a Common Lizard was found and a female Mandarin Duck was ringed.

Common Lizard 30-05-17

West End:-  Still 4 Cormorant nests, 3 pairs of Common Terns on rafts, 4 Greylag, 1 Buzzard, 1 Lapwing, 3 Swallow, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Blue-tailed Damselfly.
Whillet’s:- 1 Kestrel. Stock Dove, Song Thrush, Reed Bunting, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff & Willow Warbler all heard. Butterflies 3 Common Blue, 1 Small Copper, 1 Painted Lady. Also Azure Damselflies and Beautiful Demoiselle.

On Saturday night (27/5/17) I put out a moth box in the meadows. Among the moths was a micro moth that I photographed for later identification. Going through the ID books it appeared to be Agonopterix Pallorella (see pic) a Nationally Scarce B listed species. I sent a photo to the Sussex County Moth Recorder for identification – and it was confirmed. Apparently the last time this species was seen in Northern Sussex was in Tilgate Forest in 1870.  It has been recorded along the Sussex Coat with occasional recent sightings. It’s food plant is the roots of Knapweed. This moth is small – it’s forewing length is only 9-11mm.
The other moths recorded that night were all macro moths:- 4 Brown Silver-Line, 1 Buff Ermine, 3 Clouded Border, 1 Common Swift,  4 Flame Shoulder, 7 Green Carpet, 2 Ingrailed Clay (see pic), 2 Light Emerald, 1 Maidens Blush, 1 Marbled Brown, 1 Marbled White Spot (See pic), 2 May Highflyer, 6 Pale Oak Beauty (see pic), 1 Pale Tussock, 2 Poplar Hawk Moth,  2 Setaceous Hebrew Character, 4 Silver Ground Carpet, 2 Treble Lines, 18 White Ermine.
Recently I also had another new moth species for the reserve, although it is not particularly rare, a Poplar Lutestring. (see pic).

West End:- 6 Common Tern, 1 Kingfisher. A Little Owl was seen very briefly sitting on wires along Legsheath Lane near Old Lane at around 21:00.