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July 4: Arun South


It’s already hot in spite of the easterly breeze, and the river is sluggish after days without rain. The grass is parched yellow, even the reeds in the ditches wilting.

 The gull loaf is building up on the stone-lined sections of the river bank and 55 Herring Gulls and 78 Black-headed Gulls have been joined by two Great Black-backed Gulls and single Mediterranean, Common and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. All of them are inactive. Even the Great Black-backs make only occasional forays, scolded when they do so by a pair of vigilant Oystercatchers.

 A dozen Lapwings dot the muddy stretches of the river’s edge, standing stock still before indulging in seemingly inconsequential runs. Much more active are the seven Common Sandpipers, their numbers up from only three a few days ago, while a single Little Ringed Plover and a calling Greenshank may be harbingers of other less common passage waders in the weeks ahead.

 There are probably no passage passerines yet. Sedge Warblers and Reed Warblers are susurrating contentedly, comfortable in their summer quarters, and Reed Buntings still proclaim territory. But identifying these birds as they flick through the riverside vegetation is useful practice for the sterner challenges ahead, when silent birds on migration are glimpsed briefly by the path.

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