Rye Harbour Nature Reserve Wildlife Sightings: October 2024

David Bentley

Volunteer and member of the Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

The month started unsettled and wet, but ended with a spell of calm and dry weather. Overall, it was a fairly typical October, although with less sunshine hours than average.

A Black-necked Grebe was seen throughout the month at Ternery Pool, raising hopes that it may linger throughout the winter. There were maximum counts of at least three Spoonbill and seven Great White Egret and on the morning of the 5^th, 24 Cattle Egret were counted leaving the Castle Water roost.

It was wonderful to see around 300 Golden Plover at Flat Beach on the 23^rd. It was a poor winter for them here last year, so it’s hoped that these numbers will grow in coming months. While the autumn wader passage has thinned out, there were sightings of up to three Greenshank and two Ruff. At least one Spotted Redshank has been seen at Salt Pool, where one over-wintered last year. Compared to the numerous Common Redshank, this beautifully elegant species appears ghostly pale, displaying longer legs and a longer beak that has a very subtle down-turn at its end.

A wildfowl highlight was a count of 38 Pintail on Castle Water on the 7^th. There is still the occasional sighting of Sandwich Tern and the first returning Common Gull were back on the sheep fields by Castle Water by the middle of the month.

The bird of the month was an active Yellow-browed Warbler on the 2^nd, found within a ‘super-flock’ of small birds between Harbour Farm Barns and Watch Cottages. The flock contained dozens of tits and Chiffchaff, small numbers of Blackcap and Whitethroat and single Lesser Whitethroat and Treecreeper. This tiny bird breeds in Siberia and is a very scarce autumn visitor to the UK, usually seen in coastal scrub and trees, but sightings have increased in recent years. It was last recorded on the reserve in 2014.

The first Dartford Warbler of the autumn and winter period was seen on the 13^th at the southern end of Beach Road. Look out for more of these delightful birds in low bramble and gorse around the reserve. A Merlin was seen throughout the month in the Flat Beach area, with another at Castle Farm on the 12^th. Barn Owl and a late Hobby were spotted from the re-opened viewpoint at Castle Water on the 19^th.

October is a good month to see Bearded Tit as they indulge in their odd ‘high-flying’, when birds climb as high as 50 metres above the reedbeds. This behaviour might be a prelude to dispersal to new areas. It’s also possible to see them away from their usual reedbed habitats at this time of year. So it was that two were seen on the 2^nd , close to the River Brede in the extreme north-west corner of the reserve.

A Willow Emerald damselfly was recorded at Castle Water on the 4^th  and a stunning Black Slip Wasp, Pimpla rufipes, was seen at Watch Cottages on the 19^th.

The pick of the bunch from the Discovery Centre moth trap were single Radford’s Flame Shoulder on two nights and four Gems on the 17^th. Both species are scarce migrants from the continent, mostly recorded on the south coast.

On the shingle, Viper's Bugloss and Yellow Horned-poppy were still in flower at the end of the month.

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