My World Of Wildlife

Today I went to Lancing Beach in West Sussex, which I normally visit every year. I don't normally look along the beach for nature but today I decided to.  The first thing I saw was this. Cuttlebone  This is in fact a Cuttlebone, also known as a Cuttlefish bone. Here is a few facts about Cuttlefish: The Cuttlebone is it's internal shell. Despite their name they are molluscs not fish. When they are alive they have the ability to change pattern for different purposes.  From www.allthesea.com The second thing I found was this. These are egg cases or otherwise know as mermaids purses. This is where the embryo grows and exits into the ocean. There are different types and can come from sharks, skate and rays. These I think are from a Spotted Ray. (Please tell me If I am wrong!)  The last thing I found was this. I am really not sure what this is. All I know is that it looks and feels like a bone. Please l et me know if...

Although it was raining, today I visited Warnham Local Nature Reserve in Horsham. Every year a pair of Common Terms breed at Warnham and normally produce about 3 young. Today I saw that there was 3 young being fed by the adults and you can see that there adult plumage is coming through.  You can just about see the three chicks to the left of the photo When I was just about to leave the hide a Kingfisher whizzed past. In the Woodpecker Hide, which has feeding stations, most of the birds I saw where juvenile Blue Tits and Great Tits as well as the occasional Chaffinch. In the last hide that looks over the lake, one of the terns sat on a perch.    Two swans were chasing after another all around the lake, it was quite funny to watch because the swan that was getting chased wouldn't go away. After a while of being chased all around the lake it left. 

Yesterday I started my volunteer work at RSPB Pulborough Brooks. It consists of mostly practical work which benefits the habitats of the reserve which is what I wanted to do. I got there at 9:30 and was took around the visitor centre (most of it I had seen before!) including upstairs were the public can't go. Another good thing about doing volunteering is that I get to work in areas of the reserve that normally you wouldn't be able to go. A group of 9 of us went down the road and stopped next to a river. This was were the invasive Himalayan Balsam was growing in a enormous amount. We had to pull and cut as much as we could of it. It took us nearly 5 hours to make a dent in the amount that was growing there. Hopefully this will decrease the amount of it there as hopefully we got it just before it was going to seed. During the time I saw a Green Woodpecker, Cinnabar Moth, a group of Swifts, 1 House Martin, a Kestrel and a Buzzard. We heard a Chiffchaff, Blackcap and as we wo...