“Ooh, it’s a wonderful place. I used to live there, we took the (school) kids there for days out, even before it was a reserve. There’s a wonderful cafe – people often go there just for the cafe . . . ” Trixie was gushing, she had been a teacher in the village school, and now that I’d mentioned I had been there, she was really selling it to me all over again.
The reserve covers 256 ha of wet grassland, woodland, hedgerows, meadow and heath and is located within the South Downs National Park. The wet grassland has SSSI and Ramsar status and is part of the Arun Valley SPA and SAC in recognition of the important populations of overwintering wildfowl, and the specialist plants and invertebrates in the ditches.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) bought the land in 1989, thanks to a generous bequest from a member who had lived in the area. Winifred Smith Wright wanted the brooks to be restored to the wildlife-rich landscape she remembered from her childhood, and the RSPB has been working towards that end ever since.
The meadowland had been drained for farming, but the RSPB has now blocked the drains, realigned the watercourses from straight narrow drains to shallow meandering ‘grips’ (streams) and pools, and now controls the overall water levels to suit the waders and wildfowl that are there from autumn to spring – with a few remaining to breed in the summer.
But the RSPB isn’t just about birds. Under the slogan Give Nature a Home, they make provision for other wildlife too. The water vole above was photographed in this grip in front of Nettley’s Hide. And meadows, scrub and woodland provide habitat for a host of plants and invertebrates.
About the Water Vole Arvicola amphibious
The water vole is widely accepted as the fastest declining mammal in Britain. Population estimates were around 8 million in the 1960s, 2.3 million in 1990, and probably less than a quarter of a million now.
Reasons for the decline include unsympathetic management of waterways, water pollution, changes in farming practices, and the depredations of the American mink. Populations of the latter have grown since their escape/release from fur farms in the 1960s and 1970s, and their habits make them difficult to eradicate.
But there is hope. Water vole populations are increasing in some areas – canals around cities seem unattractive to mink. Increasing otter populations also seem to help – otters will prey on mink. They will also take water voles, but unlike the mink, are too big to follow the voles into their bank-side tunnels. And there are re-introduction projects in areas where the habitat is now considered suitable for them – particularly on nature reserves.
The water vole is found across Europe, though Russia to Lake Baikal, and from north of the Arctic Circle to parts of the eastern Mediterranean. It is an adaptable species, found in rivers, streams and marshes in both lowlands and mountains. In some areas, they live away from watercourses during the winter months. They are mainly vegetarian, feeding of lush vegetation in summer, and roots and bulbs in the winter, but they also take some insects, molluscs and small fish.
On the continent, the water vole has a different set of problems. It co-evolved with the European Mink, and does not suffer the same depredation as where there American mink has been introduced. However, it does face competition for food and space from the introduced American musk rat. In some areas it has even been considered an agricultural pest, for example in the rice fields of Macedonia in the 1980s.
While it seems unlikely it will become common again in Britain in the near future, efforts to conserve and expand the existing populations should help it survive here in the long term.
Human visitors are well-catered for. As well as the cafe (which was as good as Trixie said), there is a circular trail of about 3.5km (2 miles) which takes in views across the pools, stops at four hides, and several seats where you can just sit and soak in the atmosphere, as well as the other habitats. Children’s playgrounds and educational trails, a visitor centre, a program of activities and events, all make this a popular spot.
And anywhere along the trails, you are likely to come across these small signs with information about a plant, insect, bird etc that is likely to be seen nearby.
There is relatively little bird activity at Pulborough (or anywhere else) in July – midsummer is when youngsters are finding their feet/wings and the adults are keeping their heads down while they are in moult (they can’t fly so efficiently when they are missing a few feathers). But that doesn’t mean there is nothing to see.
The beetle above is a hornet longhorn beetle Leptura aurulenta. The first impression you get of it buzzing around is that it is a hornet. Once it settled, however, it is clearly a beetle with long antennea. This species is widespread in central and southern Europe, but in Britain is confined to the south, and is considered Nationally Notable A, which basically means it is pretty scarce. It can easily be confused with the much more common and widespread four-spotted longhorn Leptura quadrifasciata which has black legs and antennae. The larva develops in the cambial layer (the layer just under the bark) of large sections of freshly dead broad-leaved trees. The adult is usually found on oaks, and rarely occurs on flowers – though the individual in the photo obviously hadn’t read the book because it was flying around a wildflower meadow, and photographed while it explored a ragwort plant.
The marbled white butterfly Melanargia galathea is a much more common and widespread species, occurring as far north as Yorkshire. But for some reason it is rarely seen in my home area of west Wales. So it was a delight to see and photograph at Pulborough. In Britain there is a single species of marbled white, which also occurs across central Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. In northern Spain there are four species, plus this one which is found only in the western Pyrenees there. The adults, which fly in June-July in Britain, show a liking for the nectar of blue and purple flowers, such as this creeping thistle Cirsium arvense.
The bright orange upper-side of the Comma butterfly Polygonia c-album makes it easy to mistake for a fritillary species when in flight. In fact, it is related to the tortoiseshells, red admirals and painted ladies. You can just about see the comma-shaped white mark on the underwing here. Although in recent years it has been abundant and widespread, fifty years ago it underwent a massive decline. It overwinters as an adult, and probably the relatively mild winters of the past twenty years have helped its recovery.
Oh, yes, this IS a bird reserve. And on this particular visit we did see 40 species – nothing special or spectacular, but a steady selection of the birds we’d expect to see in July at a wetland site.
What’s nearby?
As Pulborough Brooks is only a 45 minute drive from Gatwick Airport, it can be a handy stop en route to elsewhere.
It’s also only a 20-minute drive from the Wildfowl and Wetlands reserve at Arundel, just a few miles downstream.
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Something new for me! I have not heard of this place but will now add it to my list when in UK. We have become a bit of amateur bird watchers, and other wildlife too, so always looking for that. Thanks.
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Thanks. I like to find good places reasonably close to those airports I use most frequently.
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I will have to share this with my ornithologist daughter. I am sure she would love to visit RSPB Pulborough Brooks one day in search of birds. But I can see there is much else to see too. I might just settle into one of the stops and soak in the atmosphere why she searches!
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Thanks. That sounds like a good thing to do!
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This sounds like a marvellous place to visit – one I’d never heard of before. A lovely post introducing me to it – thank you!
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You must be patient when watching wildlife, but if you are, you get great rewards. It looks like a place well worth visiting. Thanks for sharing!
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My mother often said – Patience is a virtue, posses it if you can. Found seldom in a woman and never in a man. I must have taken that to heart! Yes, patience is a great help when watching and photographing wildlife.
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