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Sussex Scrapbook ~ Nature walks throughout the year

Monday 19^th May 2008
Pulborough brooks

Today I set out alone with the intention of conducting a cuckoo hunt. They had been taunting us for the past few weeks and had even flown right over our heads without being seen, and now enough was enough.
As soon as I set foot on the reserve I was surrounded by a feeding maelstrom of swallows, swifts and house martins. I stood there mesmerised by them for ages before my cuckoo shot through, still calling whilst on the wing. I followed it up past the Little hanger hide and was rewarded with a sparrowhawk gliding very low overhead.
 

There it goes, hacking through the centre of the picture

I then set off to the Hanger where whitethroat and nightingale were battling it out for who could sing the loudest. No sign of the Common Cranes spotted out on the North Brooks lately, but there was a single Greenshank and one Common Sandpiper. Suddenly the cuckoo was sitting on a branch to the left of the viewpoint before flying to the large tree in front of us. Perfect time to get a bit of video of it calling you would think. But no, a man with a very loud voice thought that that would be an ideal time to talk to us all about little egrets. So instead of the sound of the cuckoo I got the sound of his voice. The cuckoo then flew away. Thank you fellow birdwatcher!

 
The best picture I could get of the cuckoo today

Little Egret fishing. Very nice, but not as hard to see in these parts as cuckoos!

Yes, yes, the christmas card auditions are over, thank you!

Highlight of the day also came from The hanger at 2:45pm when a solitary Red Kite soared over in an easterly direction. Apparently this one has been travelling up and down the Arun valley for a couple of weeks. It was a real thrill to see it and here's hoping that kites, which were once extinct in England, will decide to live in Sussex again soon.
Pulborough Brooks is a fantastic place to relax, unwind and view all types of wildlife, but the real wonder of the place is the hot chocolate sponge pudding and custard that they sell in the visitors centre eatery. If you go to PB, then take my advice and try it. Be very careful though as it is very hot. But it is also very chocolatey comfort food of the highest degree. No visit is complete without it!