Birdwatch

WHO said lightning does not strike twice? Almost exactly a year ago, you may remember, Pulborough Brooks was graced by the presence of one, then two, common cranes (Grus grus) for a few days.

This week we have been delighted by three cranes spending a night on the reserve; they arrived on Tuesday afternoon and departed just before 9am the next morning, heading high to the south east, before drifting west and disappearing into a clear blue sky.

Whether any of these three birds are the same as last year's pair, we can only speculate, but it would be nice to think that one of them at least remembered last April's stopover and decided to call in again.

As last year's crane reappeared several times over the following two weeks, it will be interesting to see whether this group does the same. While here, the three birds spent most of their time feeding in the shallow flood and damp grassland of the north brooks, looking quite relaxed and at home among the groups of greylag geese and displaying lapwings.

Other more usual migrants that have appeared on the reserve in the last two weeks have been the first chiffchaffs and a single singing blackcap, a couple of wheatears, a few groups of sand martins and two little ringed plovers. All these species are exactly as one would expect, and are a typical list of the first migrants of the spring here.

One bird that is missing from that group is the garganey '“ several of these stunning ducks have appeared along the Sussex coast in the last week and we have been eagerly awaiting the first to appear here.

Despite the rather cool weather, other signs of the early spring here have all been in order. Adders have been out quietly basking in the sunshine, woodpeckers have been drumming out their territorial statements on dead oak branches, toads have been croaking in the edges of the ditches and primroses are flowering in the hedge bottoms.

One notable difference from last spring has been the lack of early butterflies on the wing here. More in keeping with the low temperatures have been large numbers of wintering teal, wigeon and shoveler still present on the brooks. These birds will be mostly gone in the next month, heading as far a field as Iceland.

Rooks have been very busy in the local rookery, and I expect there will have been a lot of nest-rebuilding work to be done after the gales of last week.

Although rooks are very early nesting birds, judging by the many 'paired-up' rooks still feeding in the local fields, it looks like the birds have not laid eggs yet. Once the eggs are laid, those pairs will turn to singles, as the other half will be occupied on the nest, and this is a good indicator of how the breeding cycle is progressing.

Happily, it looks as though there will have been minimal disruption to their breeding season during the bad weather.

This first appeared in the West Sussex Gazette of March 26. To read it first, buy the West Sussex Gazette every Wednesday.