Woolmer Pond 11/07/25

 Please note, all my photos from Spain have been uploaded onto the blog now- please do go and check them out:)

With going to Spain in June, and a busy start to this month, I hadn't managed to get down to Woolmer for a long time, so a free afternoon was welcome, and I biked down. 

After making it to the pond, what was visibly noticeable was very much the same as at Pulborough- not much water. There was still a good bit right in the centre of the pond, but the level was way down, and the edges were dry.  A quick scan through the binoculars brought a mix of species I wasn't used to at Woolmer. About 10 Little Egrets were out along with a few Grey Herons, and best of all, Lapwings. And lots of them. Although I gather they are a common summer bird here, since I started birding the place last November, I have only ever seen one Lapwing on site. A deer of sorts was out with the birds, and a few Mallards and Little Grebes were swimming about. 

I moved on to the cottage, where a Green Woodpecker was calling, but everything else was very quiet. A few Blue Tits were behind the cottage, and with not much showing there I moved onto the woods near bordon to see if anything interesting was there. A family of Spotted Flycatchers were making a lot of noise, with some very cute juveniles showing well. Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Treecreepers, and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were showing in force, but after a while longer of biking about the area nothing else could be uncovered so I headed back towards the pond. 

The flags had been put down, so I started to do a circuit of the pond, and as I was around the back, a sandpiper flew out from the vegetation below the path. Knowing that whatever species, I really wanted to be able to tell what it was. I set out to scan where I thought it had flown to, and after a bit of a wait, there it was again, on the island in the middle. Although quite distant, after a good look through binos and a few photos, I was able to confidently say that this was a Common Sandpiper- bird #100 for my patch list! It was visible for a while, before moving out of view. Visible on this side of the pond were more Little Egrets, Lapwings, three Egyptian Geese, and a Green Woodpecker was calling before flying out of a tree. 

Reluctantly, I had to leave to go home and make dinner, Thai Red Curry- one of my favourites. It was great to have been back at Woolmer, and really great to get bird #100 for my patch list.