Pulborough Brooks Nature Reserve, West Sussex (rspb.org.uk)
This is a lovely place. I visited for the first time last weekend. The volunteers were charming, friendly and informative to a fault. I was off to a head start because one, Janet, is a friend I had met on a safari in Kenya a few years ago. The visitor centre, shop and café are all well appointed and Janet and I had a coffee on the terrace before I set off to explore. Just a short distance away from us was this extremely relaxed hare, probably rather exhausted in the heat.
One part of the reserve comprises heathland and woodland and affords stunning views of the Arun Valley and the South Downs, one of them from the top of a Bronze Age barrow, and there are dragonflies at Black Pond.
There was also this curious sculpture. I am not sure whether I liked it particularly, but here it is.
There are patterns and textures everywhere in nature if you are open to seeing them:
I stopped for a while to watch ants busily scurrying about.
Then I met up with Janet again who was kind enough to show me around the rest of the reserve, the Wetland. I need to time my reserve visits better – early afternoon in the heat is not the best time to see birds and the light is terrible for photography. In spite of an impressive list of species seen that day on a whiteboard at the Visitor Centre, to my unobservant eye there were not that many birds to be seen. Nevertheless, I saw Canada Geese, swans, a Shelduck, a Mandarin Duck (good to see one in the wild having helped look after one at the wildlife rescue last year), Shoveller, Gadwall, Avocets, Mallard (I was shocked to learn that these are now Orange Listed) and Black-headed Gulls. We were lucky that an ornithologist in one of the hides was happy to share his knowledge and point birds out to us. We spent time in each of the hides and each had a different feel to it. The whole place has a happy and peaceful vibe.
Mandarin Duck and Canada Goose
Shelduck
Birds seen by other that day were Common Sandpiper, Great White Egret, Little Ringed Plovers, Garden Warbler, Bullfinch, Knot, Common Whitethroat, Cuckoo, Common Snipe, Oystercatcher, Tufted Duck, Hobby, Redshank, Buzzard, Egyptian Goose, Red Kite, Linnet, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Teal, Wigeon, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Cetti’s Warbler, Nightingale, White-tailed Eagle, Kestrel, Blackcap, Marsh Harrier and Tree Creeper – and six species of dragonfly.
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