Weekly Round-up

Jenny Clark from Sussex Bat Hospital

This weekend saw Jenny Clark from the Sussex Bat Hospital visit Warnham LNR for a drop-in session where you could meet some of Jenny's Display Team. The session only ran for a couple of hours but it was packed from start to finish with children and adults alike enjoying the stunning British bats on offer.

We hope that Jenny will come back next year and do the same type of event again as it drew a real crowd throughout the afternoon. Fingers crossed Jenny has even talked some people into carrying out bat surveys near where they live. This was the last Bat Event of the year at Warnham LNR but don't worry if you missed out. There will be several walks and evening session next year!

On Tuesday Damon Block and the Environment Agency visited the Quarry Lake at Southwater Country Park to carry out a fish health check. The weather was against us and didn't make it the easiest task but eventually we managed to catch some fish to send away for analysis. The constant rain meant the banks were incredibly slippery but luckily we all stayed upright!

Fish Survey at Southwater Quarry

The team used an electro-fishing technique which acts to stun the fish without harming them so they can be collected by net. They are then placed into holding tanks until the team has finished the survey, the aim of the day was to catch several species of fish in different age classes with the overall aim to relocate some of the fish stock to a local fishing lake. The first stage of this process is to get a health check on the fish to ensure they are not carrying any diseases or parasites which could be transferred to their new home. It will be a few weeks before we hear back as to the health of the fish but it was a very interesting day watching this survey technique.

Roach - The commonest fish on the survey

Perch - Being measured

Lastly a site visit to Chesworth Farm was combined with a bit of wildlife recording. There were not many birds around but I didn't expect much on an afternoon visit with the Farm being so busy with dog walkers. First bird of note however was a Meadow Pipit which was flushed by a dog in Great Horsham Hill Field and eventually landed in the relative peace of Back Field. The next bird to catch my eye was a Peregrine Falcon. An unmistakable bird with a powerful flight but Chesworth is a very unusual place to see one, especially at this time of year. After watching the bird for a while it suddenly dawned on me that the dangly bits below it weren't prey but were in fact jessies and it was on of the captive birds from Huxleys Bird of Prey Centre.

Vestal - J. Everitt

After feeling slightly stupid about the whole charade I continued on across Spring Barn Field when I spotted an interesting looking moth which flew weakly past me. Straight away I had an idea of what it was and I was proved to be spot on. It was in fact a Vestal, these are a scarce migrant moth which comes from the continent each year in varying numbers. As I bent down to have a closer look I noticed David Verrall and beckoned him over to show him what I had just found. There was also another migrant moth in the same field in the form of a single Rush Veneer. The full list of species seen can be found below:

Robin - 6

Magpie - 6

Goldfinch - 2

Woodpigeon - 23

Starling - 3

Meadow Pipit - 1

Blackbird - 1

Mallard - 3

Jackdaw - 6

Great Tit - 1

Chiffchaff - 1

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1

Whitethroat - 1

Carrion Crow - 5

Blue Tit - 2

Moorhen - 3

Herring Gull - 1

Common Buzzard - 1

Slow-worm - 2

Grass Snake - 4

Grey Squirrel - 1

Red Admiral - 2

Green-veined White - 2

Vestal - 1

Rush Veneer - 1