I’m glad we’ve been able to share so much of our wildlife with people here and on social media since March, but it was good to be able to show people wildlife in the flesh again.

Dr Barry Yates

Dr Barry Yates, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve Manager tells us about the first guided walk in many months that took place on Sunday

Our first guided walk set out along the shore on World Shorebirds Day on Sunday. 

We took the path beside the river because of the road closure at the Discovery Centre and had good views of Redshank, Turnstone, Kingfisher, Little Egret and a Harbour Seal. 

Then on to the shore with the tide coming we saw many Oystercatchers, Ringed Plovers and Dunlin gathering to fly into the roost inside our fences – with them was a single Sanderling which came close to us.

Heading inland to the new saltmarsh we saw about 100 Curlew come into roost, with a single, distant Bar-tailed Godwit. 

But as we walked back towards the village there was a very confiding group of Dunlin with a single Bar-tailed Godwit preening in the pool next to the footpath, oblivious to the walkers, cyclists and dogs.

I’m glad we’ve been able to share so much of our wildlife with people here and on social media since March, but it was good to be able to show people wildlife in the flesh again.

Sussex Wildlife Trust is now delivering some small-scale events for members, school children, volunteers and the public. We are prioritising being able to deliver these in a way that is safe for participants and our staff. We have not returned to our full events calendar yet, please see the individual events for more details. For more information, see here.

Main picture shows Oystercatchers flying to roost.