Thursday 22nd November 2007
Pulborough Brooks
A very wet night and a drizzly
morning didn't put us off getting to the brooks for dawn. Once there, the skies
cleared for us and it turned into a beautiful day. The Arun had burst its banks
a bit and had spread out on the flood plain, which is no problem, as that is
just what it is supposed to do, unfortunately it also prevented us from crossing
the bridge on the public footpath. That just meant we had to walk further to get
to the reserve, which didn't really bother us too much, especially as it
involved going via a particularly muddy route.
A really good days
birding today with nearly 50 species seen, including sparrowhawk, bullfinch,
black-tailed godwit and our first kingfisher at Nettley's. We had
just finished saying that we had never seen one there before, despite lots of
people doing so! We immediately started talking about the fact that we hadn't
ever seen an osprey. Well, you can hope, can't you.
Gill had a very allergic reaction to a horse when she was a child and so has
always given them a wide berth. Lately however we have been carrying latex
gloves with us so that she can stroke them too when we come across them on our
walks. Today she impetuously decided upon a very brave and very risky scientific
experiment. She stroked two horses whilst remaining entirely gloveless! I
patiently waited camera in hand for her to start coming out in horrible skin
swellings, but nothing happened. Nothing continued to happen and it is still
happening.
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The river Arun has flooded a bit and we couldn't get over the bridge
The alternative route allowed Gill to do some much needed wallowing
