Grattons LNR

Wildlife is all over my home town of Crawley, gold crests in my own garden, adders at Tilgate and kestrels at Buchan, but one place that I easily overlook is the Grattons local nature reserve, managed by Gatwick GreenSpace. It is not new, but in the last two years, it has had a transformation. It has now got a river meandering through a field, better paths and with it, more people.

A poster I made when there was lots of litter

The last time I did a post about the LNR, which was last July, I picked up litter that was in the river running through the field (see here). This time, there was a lot less litter, clearer and cleaner water, lots of pond weed (which is good), fish, deeper water and a more established ecosystem.

Today, I did a 30 minute bioblitz to see what species there were. I saw (or heard) :

Blackbird
Robin
Woodpigeon
Great tit
Greenfinch
Carrion crow (the common crow)
Magpie
Jackdaw
Wren
Grey wagtail
Blue tit
Some not ID fish

I didn't see any mammals, which is surprising, as there are rabbits, grey squirrels and foxes commonly seen there (it was too cold and wet for insects).

I hope to do more bioblitzes in the future. It is still establishing so I hope I will see more more wildlife in the future.