BIRDWATCH AT RSPB PULBOROUGH BROOKS WITH PETER HUGHES

THE last two summers will be remembered for the hot, dry periods that caused us and many others a great deal of problems due to lack of water.

Keeping a wetland wet, in July and August, in the south east of England, during summers such as those is proving increasingly challenging. Not so, this summer.

Last Friday, we recorded 49mm of rain in around five hours, not as much as some areas of the county, but a spectacular downpour nonetheless. This summer, for the first time since 2002, we have let water off the site during the mid-summer period '“ yes, like everyone else, we have too much of the stuff.

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July is often a rather quiet time for birds on the reserve. Most of the songbirds have finished breeding and are quietly feeding in leafy woodland that makes them difficult to see. Many of the ducks have yet to arrive here for the autumn and winter, and those that breed here are undergoing their late summer moult, during which they tend to keep a low profile.

Fortunately, because of the wet summer, we have water on the site, and with water, you will always get a few passage waders during July and August, stopping off on their migration south.

We have had a sprinkling of green sandpipers and common sandpipers and one wood sandpiper. (I'm not sure 'sprinkling' is the correct term for sandpipers, but you get the idea.)

There has been a constant presence of a few black-tailed godwits, mainly still in their fine rusty-red summer plumage. An avocet also stopped by, spending over a week with us.

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We very rarely encounter avocets here outside the early spring and autumn (typically March and then late September and October), and they rarely stay around very long, so it was good to have this one for an extended stay.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette Aug 1