By Sussex Wildlife Trust volunteer David Bentley
April brought little meaningful rainfall and generally warm and sunny weather prevailed. At the end of the month high pressure over the north of the UK led to a period of stiff easterly winds along the East Sussex coast.
A month for wader-lovers to relish kicked off with two Little Ringed Plover at West Nook Meadows and two more at Salt Pool on 1st.
The first Common Sandpiper of the spring was seen on 20th. They'll still be passing through into May. Look out for their distinctive bow-winged, stiff, shallow flight which is hard to mistake for any other wader.
17 Black-tailed Godwit - striking birds in flight with white rumps and broad white wing-bars - were seen heading east on 5th.
17 Ruff, with barrel-chests and pin-heads, were at Flat Beach on 17th.
Bird of the month goes to a Kentish Plover at Flat Beach on 20th. This is a very scarce visitor to the reserve, even though they are frequent on the other side of the Channel. It only stayed long enough for one person to see and photograph it. Those that came in hope of re-finding the bird had the consolation prize a Little Stint which had the decency to linger until at least 22nd.
The over-wintering Spotted Redshank was last seen on 23rd, so seems to have departed on exactly the same day as last year!
A Wood Sandpiper was seen in a non-public part of Castle Water on 27th.
April is famed for the passage of two charismatic wader species - Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit - with numbers of both species peaking towards the end of the month. High counts were 50+ of the former on 28th and 80+ of the latter on 29th.
In addition. 50+ Whimbrel and 50+ Bar-tailed Godwit, along with 15 Grey Plover, were seen passing east over the Discovery Centre on the last day of the month. Visible migration, accompanied by coffee and cake.
The Guide in a Hide visitors enjoyed the first Little Tern (five) and Common Tern (one) of spring on 8th and four Greenshank on 18th, all from the Gooders Hide. Two Little Gulls were reported on 29th, one at Castle Water and one at Ternery Pool.
Last month’s Green-winged Teal was seen at Salt Pool on 1st, but not thereafter. A Common Scoter, rare away from the sea here, was at Castle Water from 13th to 17th at least. Two Garganey were on Barn Pool East on 25th and 26th.
A booming Bittern was heard at Castle Water on 6th and the acoustic monitoring around Castle Water has regularly picked out nocturnal flight calls. The first Cuckoo of the year was heard at the same place on 27th. Cattle Egret are now regular at Castle Water, with a peak count of 25 on 13th.
The first lemon-drop Yellow Wagtail of spring was seen at Flat Beach on 8th and ten more were counted at Castle Water on 18th.
The first Swift (our most iconic spring bird?) was seen on 20th.
First spring dates for our returning warblers were Sedge (1st), Reed (8th), Common and Lesser Whitethroat (both 9th). An unusual springtime record for the reserve was of a Garden Warbler at the Castle Water Viewpoint on 19th.
The first adult St Mark's Flies were seen on 14th, 11 days earlier than St Mark's Day when they traditionally emerge.
Sea Kale started to flower around 17th and soon a sweet honey aroma will hang over the shingle. Other plants in flower during April included Red Valerian and Ivy-leaved Toadflax.
This post is also available on Sussex Wildlife Trust website
