Here's a summary of wildlife sightings at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve in August 2025, from the Sussex Wildlife Trust website. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #birds

Extolling the virtues of Ivy as a super-supporter of wildlife, in Rye News. #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #UKplants @bsbibotany.bsky.social @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

I pay close attention to each passing Swallow because this elegant flow will soon become a trickle and then they'll be gone, but for a memory of sleek, blue-glossed transcendence. #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #birds @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

Castle Water today: 11 Glossy Ibis, 100s Swallow & Sand Martin (N), 500+ Meadow Pipit, c100 Pied Wagtail, 18 Siskin, c10 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Cattle & 10 Great White Egret, 120 Wigeon, Hobby, Peregrine, loadsa Chiffchaff etc @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @sussexornitholo.bsky.social #UKwildlife #birds

10 Glossy Ibis over Camber Castle, Rye Harbour NR, then heading north... might've landed towards northern end of Castle Water. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @sussexornitholo.bsky.social #UKwildlife #birds

Wild bird numbers continue to fall in UK with some species in ‘dramatic freefall’

Spoonbill and 2 Great White Egret on the new intertidal habitat created as part of ongoing River Rother flood defence works, viewed distantly from Monkbretton Bridge, Rye. A 'scope might pick out some interesting waders... #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #birds @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

A Field Digger Wasp or similar species at Castle Water, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve today. #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #wasps

At the Sussex WT/Friends of RHNR 'Guide in a Hide' we love showing the birds to visitors. Today that included Glossy Ibis, Greenshank, Knot, Wheatear, Yellow Wagtail and - my favourite - 42 Golden Plover that dropped in as we watched. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #birds

Pied Flycatcher at Playden, near Rye - elusive, but viewable from public footpath that runs roughly West-East at TQ9266 2236 and then look NW towards the hedge that runs North-South. #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #birds @sussexornitholo.bsky.social

Cycled home with 100s & 100s of Swallows passing over me - a joyful journey. Got back and suddenly streams of House Martins dominate the flow. Then the baton passes to the gulls, for the dusk shift... and I just can't wait for the morning... #UKwildlife #UKbirds @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

Quick whizz around Castle Water, Rye Harbour NR this afternoon: 1 Black Tern, c850 Sand Martin, 2 Hobby, 4 Cattle Egret, 2 Great White Egret, 2 Common Sandpiper and 1 Kingfisher. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #birds

The BBC are telling me - with wide smiles - that Trump will meet some Royals, eat some food and have some war machines fly over his head... when will they tell me that he's the most damaging, self-serving 'leader' who should NEVER be welcomed here.

In tribute to our common or garden species... a bluebottle on ivy. #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #insects #flowers

The fleshy leaves and daisy-like flowers of Sea Aster at the saltmarsh, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, this morning. 💜 @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife

Just when it felt like the last knockings of the insect season, Ivy comes into flower and things are buzzzzzin' again. Here with one of many Ivy Bees around Rye today. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #wildflowerhour #favouriteplant #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife

This tiny, shiny Iridescent Centurion survived the downpours and is warming up nicely in our Rye garden. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #insects

Dungeness this afternoon, an Arctic Skua passing the Fishing Boats. #birds #birding #kentbirding #ukbirding

Fantastic natural things were enjoyed at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve in August 2025. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social rye.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/rye-har...

A male Redstart was filling up on berries from this Dogwood in a hedge near our house. Supercharging it's energy resources before the big journey south. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #birds #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Dozens of Ivy Bees in a Rye garden. They time their emergence to coincide with the autumn flowering of Ivy. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #bees

Sat with my mum, in her garden, with her 'new' eyes (cataract operations) and 'new' ears (hearing aids) pointing out common birds, seeing her smile, and thinking THIS is proper birding. #UKwildlife #birds

Rye - Camber #WeBS 10 Wheatear 2 Whinchat 3 Spotted Flycatcher 1 Redstart 18 Yellow Wagtail 1000s Swallow (E) 100s Sand Martin (E) 78 Redshank 2 Greenshank 3 Common Sandpiper 3 Great White Egret 1 Peregrine @btobirds.bsky.social @sussexornitholo.bsky.social @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife

A tiny Red Malachite Beetle, Anthocomus rufus, lurking in the reedbed at Castle Water, Rye Harbour NR, this morning. Nearby were 4 Hobby, 12 Wheatear, 3 species of egret, plenty of Sand Martin and a Swift. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #invertebrates #birds

Loadsa Yellow Wagtails from the cycle path between Northpoint near Rye and Camber, East Sussex. An absolute minimum of 65, but likely approaching 100, this afternoon. I love Yellow Wagtails, me. 💛 #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #birds @sussexornitholo.bsky.social

Humming-bird Hawk-moths look very different with their orange hindwings hidden. This one is quite well camouflaged, avoiding wind and showers in our Rye garden. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #mothsmatter #invertebrates

I think this is White-zoned Furrow Bee, Lasioglossum leucozonium, or similar, but the star is upstage... Fleabane, a flower that just keeps flowering and giving; here at Castle Water, Rye Harbour NR. 💛 @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social #UKwildlife

This hedge 'traps' so many more migrants than other superficially similar ones locally. In the last week there's been 12+ ever-present Spotted and a Pied Flycatcher, today a Restart and much more. I think I know why, but it might also be that I stare at it a lot! #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #birds

Walked from home to East Guldeford Level and back: 10 Spotted Flycatcher, c75 Yellow Wagtail (in four feeding flocks), 2 Wheatear, 1 Hobby, 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 45 Curlew, 1 Whimbrel, OK nos of three hirundines 58sp. #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #birds @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

A few of the many balletic Swallows owning the skies above the Oxney Organic Estate, near Rye, East Sussex. #UKwildlife #UKbirds #Sussexwildlife @oxney.bsky.social

12 Spotted Flycatcher in one tree. Fit, upright, perfectly-postured, waiting for the team photo, flicking wings to keep warm. A whistle blows and they break away in graceful sprints and twists. Star birds. Far more elegant than the sum of their parts. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #birds

Just found a new (to me at least) colony of Autumn Lady's-tresses near Camber, East Sussex and so today is a Good Day. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #orchids

I'm looking forward to the time when those that hate all immigration realise that climate change will soon be its biggest driver and they'll all wanna join the Green Party. I have membership forms ready. @greenparty.org.uk

I used to see one, two, maybe three Humming-bird Hawk Moths in our garden each summer. This year they've been ever-present since early July, with up to five here at a time. I'm super-appreciative, but conflicted. #insects #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

The media used to fill the August 'silly-season' with pieces on daft topiary and jellyfish sightings. Now they use it to platform far-right politicians and then report on the stories that THEIR platforming has generated. The media is complicit in what will follow. #BBC #politics

I like the 'his' and 'hers' heads of this pair of Fever Flies. His head is massive. Her head is teeny-tiny. At Castle Water, Rye Harbour NR. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #insects

Absolute unit. The amazing wasp-mimic hoverfly 'Wasp Plumehorn', Volucella inanis, at Castle Water, Rye Harbour NR, this afternoon. #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #insects @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

This Small Copper butterfly has been on Yarrow in the garden all afternoon, waiting for a potential mate, and battering any other insect - however large - that dares to enter its personal space. INSECT ACTION!! #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #insects @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

Keeping it local paid off today, with a lovely female-type Pied Flycatcher in amongst around ten Spotted Flycatcher just north of Rye at TQ 926 225, viewed from public footpath coming south from St Michael's school. #UKbirding #Sussexwildlife @sussexornitholo.bsky.social

A pretty spiral of Autumn Lady's-tresses flowers at Castle Water, Rye Harbour NR. Nearby: 5 Great White & 2 Cattle Egret, 2 Greenshank, 2 Ruff, 2 Common Sandpiper and 2 Spotted Flycatcher. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife

Morning walk, going no more than 500m from Rye home, saw 10+ Spotted Flycatcher, Hobby, Willow Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Raven and nice numbers of 3 x hirundines. Wish I'd had longer... @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @sussexornitholo.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #UKbirds

Insect-magnet Fleabane photo-bombed by hornet mimic hoverfly, Volucella zonaria, at Castle Water, East Sussex.💛 #DaisyFamily @bsbibotany.bsky.social @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #wildflowerhour #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife

It would honour our VJ and WWII heroes more if the media reminded people what fascism was - and is - and cut out the seemingly inexorable drift to the acceptance of far-right rubbish that they enable. #overtonwindow

Leaf, flower and extraordinary pinky 'pom-poms' - the fruity-fruiting heads of Strawberry Clover, by the water's edge at Castle Water, Rye Harbour NR. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflowerhour #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife.

Four Humming-bird Hawk Moths on a single Mexican hydrangea in our Rye garden just now. Two, at least, are in this video. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #mothsmatter #invertebrates

In a landscape where nature was cared for, Red Bartsia would be ubiquitous; but I hardly ever see it around here. These few nodding spikes of flowers were along a rough track just west of Rye. #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social

2/2 Battle of the bruiser bush-crickets at Castle Water, Rye Harbour NR. Built like a heavily-armoured tank - the Dark Bush Cricket, Pholidoptera griseoaptera. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #orthoptera

1/2 Battle of the bruiser bush-crickets at Castle Water, Rye Harbour NR. Over 2 inches long and a very recent colonist - the Large Conehead, Rupolia nitidula. @sussexwildlife.bsky.social #UKwildlife #Sussexwildlife #orthoptera

Morning. Lovely morning.

Rye - Camber: 77 Redshank, 5 Whimbrel, 7 Common & 1 Green Sandpiper, 38 Lapwing, 3 x sp of egret, Kingfisher, 6 Wheatear, 4 Whinchat, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 38 Sandwich Tern, hirundines etc #WeBS #UKwildlife #birds @btobirds.bsky.social @sussexornitholo.bsky.social @sussexwildlife.bsky.social