Weekend Round-up

Dotted Chestnut - Warnham Local Nature Reserve

A busy weekend around all the sites meant that there was lots of fantastic wildlife reported. Starting off with the moth trap at Warnham Local Nature Reserve which has finally started to get some results after the Beast From The East part 2 hit us last week! The best moth of the weekend was the Dotted Chestnut (Conistra rubiginea) which is nationally scarce and always nice to see in the traps. It is one of the few moths that hibernate after first being on the wing in October/November before reappearing in the spring. The second moth of note which we don't trap very regularly at Warnham is the Grey Shoulder-knot (Lithophane ornitopus) which can be seen below. It is quite similar to the more common Early Grey (Xylocampa areola) but the former is generally paler with the dark antler marks at the head end helping with identification. This is also an interesting moth as its larvae have a tendency to be cannibals!

Grey Shoulder-knot - Warnham Local Nature Reserve

The ringing has been very quiet at Warnham lately and there have been very few opportunities to actually get any of the nets up on the Reserve either due to windy conditions or flooding so it was nice to be able to catch a few birds this weekend. The highlight was this Greenfinch which was the first of 2018. They have been very few and far between in recent years which is a theme carried out nationwide sadly as many of the Greenfinches seem to be struggling to beat some of the avian diseases found in the UK.

Greenfinch - Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Meanwhile at Chesworth Farm I added a new fly to the species list when I found the larval mine of Chromatomyia ramosa on Teasel. This is part of the agromizid fly family, all of which mine leaves of various plants. The adults are very difficult to identify and most of them need genitalia examination to be sure of their identity but many of the leaf mines are quite simple to recognise. In the picture below you can see the light coloured markings which are moving away from the central vein. These are caused by the larvae of the fly eating the leaf from within the leaf structure itself.

Chromatomyia ramosa on Teasel - Chesworth Farm

Finally at Southwater Country Park a quick check of the oldest stand of Blackthorn on the site produced a number of the scarce Brown Hairstreak eggs. They are absolutely tiny so I make no apology for how bad the picture is! This is the second site we have found the eggs at this winter after the Friends of Chesworth Farm found some earlier in the month when carrying out a hedgerow survey on the Farm.

Brown Hairstreak Egg - Southwater Quarry

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Sightings from today:

Little Egret 1, Moorhen 3, Tufted Duck 17, Cormorant 3, Mallard 43, Coot 6, Little Grebe 3, Great Tit 4, Blue Tit 7, Reed Bunting 1, Robin 3, Long-tailed Tit 2, Chaffinch 1, Carrion Crow 1, Sparrowhawk 1, Woodpigeon 150+, Magpie 2, Greylag Goose 30+, Kingfisher 1, Shoveler 1, Teal 1, Grey Heron 1, Siskin 1, Nuthatch 1

Owlbeech Woods

Mike Ayling carried out a survey at Owlbeech Woods this weekend which produced the following:

Black-headed Gull 3, Blue Tit 4, Common Buzzard 2, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Herring Gull 7, Magpie 2, Robin 1, Tawny Owl 1, Wren 1, Blackbird 2, Bullfinch 2, Carrion Crow 3, Great Tit 2, Jackdaw 1, Nuthatch 1, Song Thrush 3, Woodpigeon 12

Grey Squirrel 2

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Greylag Goose - D. Verrall

A murky day greeted us on the Reserve this morning however it was to be an excellent day for sightings. First of all there was a decent increase in Tufted Duck numbers which was pretty unexpected. Several Redwing were bombing around Mill Meadow eating the bevvy of worms on the damp grass and a flyover Great White Egret at c11.45am was the undoubted highlight but sadly it did not make landfall onto the Reserve turf. The final highlight of the day was a total of 10 Common Snipe feeding on the northern edge of the Swan Island which is best viewed from the Aston Trelford Hide.

Below is a list of the species noted today on the Reserve:

GREAT WHITE EGRET 1, COMMON SNIPE 10, Little Grebe 1, Cormorant 5, Little Egret 2, Grey Heron 1, Greylag Goose 30+, Mallard 40+, Shoveler 1, Tufted Duck 29, Sparrowhawk 1, Pheasant 2, Moorhen 2, Coot 6, Black-headed Gull 100+, Herring Gull 10+, Woodpigeon 150+, Green Woodpecker 1, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Wren 3, Dunnock 2, Robin 4, Blackbird 7, Song Thrush 2, Redwing 6, Coal Tit 5, Great Tit 20+, Blue Tit 20+, Nuthatch 3, Magpie 15, Jackdaw 20+, Carrion Crow 2, Goldfinch 10+, Lesser Redpoll 1

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Beautiful Day at Warnham Local Nature Reserve

A busy day on the Reserve with plenty of people visiting and lots of bits and pieces to keep everybody entertained. The best sighting of the day was out first butterfly of the year when I stumbled across a Red Admiral basking in Walnut Tree Plantation.

Also of note it appears that the Siskin have finalyl found the feeders and a small group is now mixing in with the Goldfinch flock so keep your eyes peeled as hopefully numbers will stat to build until the end of Feb. David Verrall was again on hand to get a nice picture of this female from the Woodpecker Hide.

Siskin - D. Verrall

A summary of species seen today can be seen below:

Little Grebe 4, Cormorant 3, Little Egret 1, Grey Heron 1, Greylag Goose 30+, Teal 3, Mallard 39, Tufted Duck 19, Common Buzzard 1, Sparrowhawk 1, Pheasant 1, Moorhen 2, Coot 4, Black-headed Gull 100+, Herring Gull 30+, Stock Dove 1, Woodpigeon 40+, Green Woodpecker 1, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Wren 3, Dunnock 2, Robin 9, Blackbird 5, Song Thrush 3, Redwing 1, Mistle Thrush 1, Goldcrest 1, Long-tailed Tit 1, Coal Tit 7, Blue Tit 20+, Great Tit 20+, Nuthatch 4, Jay 2, Magpie 6, Jackdaw 60+, Carrion Crow 4, Chaffinch 9, Goldfinch 5, Siskin 2

Roe Deer 1, Grey Squirrel 7, Rabbit 1

Red Admiral 1

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Goosander - I Redman

Late on Sunday afternoon visitors may well have had the fortune of seeing the Reserves 11th record of a Goosander. This stunning male Goosander was photographed by Ian Redman as it spent c15 minutes on the millpond in the late afternoon sunshine before departing in a northerly direction. Ian was sat in the Heron Hide when at 2.50pm the bird appeared to fly in from the south when it landed and drifted around on the lake looking nervous until it eventually flew off at 3.05pm.

Goosander - I. Redman

Goosander - I. Redman

The Goosander is a medium-sized duck and part of  the group known as the 'sawbills' after their long, narrow bills with saw-like 'teeth' which are good for gripping fish. The Goosander is perfectly shaped for swimming underwater after fish due to it having a long and streamlined bodyshape. The male Goosander has a dark green head, a black back and a long, red bill with a hook at the tip and white sides and breast which sometimes have a pink glow. The female is grey with a gingery or rufous brown head and a white throat.

Goosander - I. Redman

Other sightings from today included:

GOOSANDER 1 (Male), Grey Heron 2, Coot 3, Cormorant 4, Shoveler 1, Tufted Duck 21, Carrion Crow 7, Red Kite 1, Redwing 7, Little Grebe 1, Wren 2, Treecreeper 2, Sparrowhawk 1, Pheasant 3, Blue Tit 8, Great Tit 5, Egyptian Goose 2, Nuthatch 2, Blackbird 4, Lesser Black-backed Gull 2, Black-headed Gull 40+, Herring Gull 20+, Kingfisher 1, Robin 2, Great Spotted Woodpecker 2

Chesworth Farm

Stonechat - D. Verrall

Stonechat - D. Verrall

Ryan managed to find a Stonechat or possibly two a week or so ago when leading a GreenGym task at the Farm. But despite a few looks whilst checking the livestock in the proceeding days I couldn't seem to find them. However today in the pouring rain when checking the cows in Parlour Mead Field this little beauty popped up right in front of me and showed down to about 20ft which was fantastic. Unfortunately I did not have a camera to hand but David Verrall once again came up with the goods and managed to photograph the bird later that day.

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

A very cold night with temperatures reaching -5°C meant that three-quarters of the millpond had frozen solid. This meant only one thing...gulls! With last nights influx it was no surprise when I was greeted by over a thousand mixed gulls on my arrival into work. I wandered down to Aston Trelford Hide as this is the best hide to view the gulls from and started to scan through the ever-growing flock. After about an hour I was getting a bit cold and thinking about a cup of tea when I caught a glimpse of a white-winged gull in the flock. Eventually it came into full view and wow!!! It was the Reserve's second record of an ICELAND GULL...after a few quick phone calls to anyone I thought might be interested I set about getting a few photos just in case it decided to depart.

Iceland Gull - 1st Winter

Iceland Gulls breed in the Arctic and then generally move south for the winter but are not usually found this far south. In Sussex we normally have three or four records a year so this was a very welcome sighting. The only other record on the Reserve was in 2008 by previous warden Sam Bayley who had a brief sighting of one on the millpond.
The bird today was much more well behaved and stayed on the ice until about 12.45pm when it flew off towards the tip and sadly had not returned by the end of the day. I would imagine that this bird had been feeding on the tip early morning and then came to the millpond with the rest of the gulls for a brush up on the ice.

The most obvious identifying feature of this bird was it's wonderful white-wings rather than the dark wings of a Herring or Lesser Black-backed. The bird also has a short-stubby beak and very rounded head shape which gives the impression of looking a little dove-like. The bird was slightly smaller than a Herring Gull which rules out the other white-winged gull we see in Britain which is called a Glaucous Gull. 

Iceland Gull - 2nd Record for Warnham LNR

The bird above can be aged as a first-winter.  This means it was definitely born this year, the mottled cream colouration of the bird, the dark eye, pink bill-base and mottled head are all indicators of the birds age. When the wings are closed at rest you can hardly see the extent of the white in the wing but when it flight it is at its most obvious.

Continuing the gull theme there were also several other species of laridae present. These included Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull and the biggest of them all, the Great Black-backed Gull. The latter is an uncommon visitor to us at Warnham and is only ever found during the winter months. This particular species is much more coastal in its habits and has not yet spread inland as the other species have done. Below is a picture of one of the nine Great Black-backed Gulls seen on the Reserve today.

Great Black-backed Gull - Warnham LNR

Lastly on the gull front today, several of the lads who had come to see the Iceland Gull gave me a ring late morning to say they think there might have been a second Iceland Gull out on the lake. So I quickly grabbed my scope and camera and popped out to have a look at the bird. It stuck out like a sore thumb but it did not look right structurally for another Iceland Gull. It was strong-billed and the same size as the Herring Gulls but not big enough to be a Glaucous Gull. It turned out, on closer inspection to be a totally white Herring Gull which is something I have never seen before but it certainly makes you look twice!

Leucistic Herring Gull - Warnham LNR

After all the excitement of the gulls there was little time to count much else but the other highlight was six Water Rails skating around early morning, the male Bullfinch was again showing nicely from Woodpecker Hide and there were still plenty of Redwing around the site.

Redwing - Warnham LNR

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Mill Meadow - P. Shergold

Another frosty start greeted the Reserve and once again made everything slightly more photogenic than usual. The cold snap also brought plenty of birds into the feeding station and it was no surprise when our first Brambling was seen with the ever growing Chaffinch flock. Ian Redman and Jim Glover managed to get some fantastic photos of the bird which is a male and they can be seen below.

Brambling - I. Redman

Brambling - J. Glover

Duck numbers continue to build as the water level rises and the temperatures drop and the two drake Shoveler seem to be a regular feature now and hopefully they will winter with the Mallard flock. We are still waiting for any Wigeon or Gadwall to join the group but fingers crossed as the winter progresses they will. Paul Shergold carried out a full bird count around the Reserve which can be found below as well as a photo of one of the drake Shoveler. Other visitors also added some species to the list so apologies if your name is not attributed to the list.

Brambling 1 (♂), Woodpigeon 60, Green Woodpecker 2, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Grey Heron 6, Cormorant 7, Robin 15, Little Grebe 5, Great Crested Grebe 1, Mallard 38, Kingfisher 3, Goldfinch 40+, Common Buzzard 5, Red Kite 1, Mandarin 2, Shoveler 2, Egyptian Goose 2, Black-headed Gull 60+, Herring Gull 40+, Water Rail 1, Grey Wagtail 1.

Red Fox 1, Roe Deer 4

Shoveler - P. Shergold

Chesworth Farm

Meadow Pipit - M. Ayling

Mike Ayling carried out a bird survey of the Farm today which produced the following list of species:
Blackbird 6, Bullfinch 2, Dunnock 2, Goldfinch 20, Great Tit 3, House Sparrow 2, Magpie 3, Nuthatch 1, Song Thrush 3, Woodpigeon 17, Blue Tit 4, Carrion Crow 3, Fieldfare 1, Great Spotted Woodpecker 2, Herring Gull 20, Jackdaw 4, Meadow Pipit 5, Robin 7, Stock Dove 1, Wren 1

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Sparrowhawk - L. Lockyer

Not much coverage of the Reserve today due to lots of meetings and the volunteer group working down at the Country Park but Liza Lockyer did manage to get this excellent photo of the male Sparrowhawk which is regularly seen hunting in front of the Woodpecker Hide. Unfortunately he hardly ever perches for long enough to get a photograph, so well done Liza for putting so many hours in to finally grab a snap!

Of interest you might have noted this bird has a ring on his right leg, it was in fact trapped and ringed at Warnham on the 8th March 2017. It is great to see that it is still on the Reserve and using its old winter haunts in which to hunt from. This bird also bred on site this year and raised three young successfully however all of the young have now been chased off by the resident pair. Below is a photo of when the bird was ringed.

Other birds noted around the Reserve today can be found below:

Cormorant 2, Pochard 1, Little Grebe 5, Great Black-backed Gull 1, Grey Heron 2, Herring Gull 100+, Tufted Duck 2, Mallard 27, Long-tailed Tit 5, Goldfinch 2, Coal Tit 1, Pheasant 4, Dunnock 1, Moorhen 2, Lesser Black-backed Gull 2 (Judith Alford & Neil Henry)

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Please check this Core count species list Site Name: Warnham Local Nature Reserve  Date: Sun, 19 Nov, 2017 Time: 08:30 - 10:00   Species counted Count Comment Points to check Black-headed Gull 31     Buzzard 1     Coot 1     Cormorant 4     Egyptian Goose 2     Grey Heron 2     Herring Gull 132   Kingfisher 3     Little Grebe 3     Mallard 33     Moorhen 3     Mute Swan 2     Shoveler 2     Tufted Duck 4     Total number of species: 14 Individuals: 223