Rye Harbour Nature Reserve Wildlife Sightings: August 2025

David Bentley

Volunteer & Trustee of the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

August saw the fourth official heatwave of the summer of 2025, which has been confirmed as the hottest on record for the UK by the Met Office.

This is the month when autumn bird migration really kicks in. The numbers of birds present on the reserve ebbs and flows throughout the month as weather and other factors shape passage.

Wheatears were seen throughout the month, with Flat Beach and the main path down to the sea being the best places to look. There were at least 12 seen on the 2^nd. Generally just single Whinchat and Spotted Flycatcher were seen at several spots around the nature reserve. We only heard of one Common Redstart, in the scrub at the south end of Castle Water on the 28^th.

Sometimes a common bird seen at an unusual location can cause excitement, so a Treecreeper in the trees by Harbour Farm on the 3^rd was of note.

Castle Water is always a good place to look for migrating waders. Maximum numbers of selected species during August were four Green Sandpiper, four Common Sandpiper, one Wood Sandpiper, one Curlew Sandpiper, two Ruff and three Black-tailed Godwit.

Other interesting sightings at Castle Water included juvenile Cuckoo on the 10^th and the 21^st, Little Owl on the 12^th, Dartford Warbler on the 18^th and an impressive count of nine Great White Egret on the 19^th.

Flat Beach proved the best place for scarce waders this month with two Little Stint on the 11^th, a Curlew Sandpiper on the 12^th and five juvenile Wood Sandpiper on the 13^th, when there were also 110 Dunlin and 80 Ringed Plover. Five Greenshank on the 24^th was the best count of the month for this popular, graceful wader.

A Black-necked Grebe was at Ternery Pool on the 1^st and four Snipe were back at Barn Pool West on the 2^nd.

Autumn Garganey can be easily overlooked without their breeding plumage. Look for a small duck with a striped head pattern and a pale blob at the base of the bill. One was seen on Barn Pool West on the 12^th and another at Ternery Pool on the last day of the month.

We can look forward to more spectacular autumn sightings of Osprey as the UK breeding population continues to grow. One was seen over the Discovery Centre on the 2^nd and another on the 25^th . There were several sightings of a single Hobby and the first Merlin of the autumn was recorded on the 28^th. There were several counts of over 500 Sandwich Terns at Flat Beach during the month. A few late Swifts were feeding over Nook Meadows on the 30^th.

Several Bee-wolf wasps were seen near the Marsh Mallow 'forest' at Castle Water early in the month. The enormous Large Conehead bush cricket, Ruspolia nitidula, has taken a foothold on the nature reserve in the last couple of years and was seen at a new location near Harbour Road, Castle Water on the 12^th. Small Coppers were in flight nearby towards the end of the month.

Plants in flower during August included Least Lettuce, Dwarf Mallow, Strawberry Clover and a few Autumn Lady's-tresses at Castle Water.

The moth trap continued to attract large numbers, including a Swallow Prominent, Rosy Wave, Frosted Orange, Large Thorn and a Starwort. There were also two occasions when a Great Silver Water Beetle was an unexpected discovery. 

Thanks go to all the visitors whose observations contribute to the monthly sighting reports. If you have spotted something interesting on the reserve, please do make a record via iRecord, and if you think it is particularly significant, please let us know at [email protected].