Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Lesser Redpoll - D. Verrall

A nice morning greeted us on the Reserve with the wintery sun doing its best to break through the clouds before it lost its battle in the afternoon and the rain set in for the rest of the day. Not too much different bird-wise seen on the Reserve except a gorgeous male Lesser Redpoll which was photographed by David Verrall from the Woodpecker Hide. We had a good number of Redpoll around in late October but most of them seemed to move on quickly which was a shame. Otherwise there was a good scattering of the usual suspects around. Several birds were ringed this morning including an impressive male Great-spotted Woodpecker which can be seen in the photograph below.

Today's sightings:

Great-spotted Woodpecker 2, Marsh Tit 1, Coal Tit 3, Lesser Redpoll 1, Sparrowhawk 1, Chaffinch 1, Long-tailed Tit 5+, Nuthatch 2, Dunnock 2, Blue Tit 10+, Great Tit 10+, Blackbird 3, Pheasant 2, Black-headed Gull 50+,  Tufted Duck 9, Woodpigeon 50+

Winter Moth 1

Great-spotted Woodpecker 

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Redwing - Warnham LNR

The Redwing were the main event at Warnham Local Nature Reserve today with up to ten birds stripping the berry bushes by the Visitor Centre. It is amazing to see these birds so close and this has now become an annual event at the Reserve as they slowly getting lower and lower in the tree as they feast on the bounty of berries. There are not many berries left as the Woodpigeons and Blackbirds also seemed to have sussed how nice they are to eat!

Elsewhere on the Reserve patient observers in the Woodpecker Hide might have noticed it was particularly quiet in there at the moment and this is down to the male Sparrowhawk I blogged about last week seems to have taken up residence in there at the moment. Today he managed to catch himself a Great Tit off one of the feeders so I am sure he will be back again tomorrow.

There were plenty of birds around the ringing area this morning mainly mixed in with the large roving Tit flock which seems to be doing circuits of the site at the moment. Of note was this Nuthacth which is not a common bird to catch on the Reserve despite them being seen on a daily basis around the feeders.

Nuthatch - Warnham LNR

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

Misty Morning at Warnham LNR

A very misty and autumnal morning greeted us this morning with another frost and no chance of seeing much by way of visible migration as we couldn't even see the millpond! The only bird seen was a Kingfisher in front of the Tern Hide as seen in the photo. Eventually the warm autumn sun burnt off the mist and immediately exposed lots of overhead migration with Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Redwing, Fieldfare, Starling, Chaffinch and Goldfinch all moving over in a westerly or south-westerly direction.

Wes noted a fly-over Hawfinch later afternoon and whilst locking up the gates in the evening a single Lapwing flew over calling heading northwards and a Tawny Owl was calling from the Millpond Plantation. The warm sunshine brought the raptors out in force with Red Kite, Common Buzzard and Sparrowhawk all putting appearances in during the day. It was a quiet day on the ringing front but always nice to catch a few Lesser Redpoll.

Lesser Redpoll

Totals from the day are below:

Mute Swan 1, Greylag Goose 122, Canada Goose 2, Teal 17, Mallard 37, Shoveler 2, Tufted Duck 8, Pheasant 2, Cormorant 7, Little Egret 1, Grey Heron 4, Little Grebe 3, GC Grebe 2, Red Kite 1, Sparrowhawk 2, Common Buzzard 2, Water Rail 1, Moorhen 4, Coot 1, LAPWING 1 (Over N at 6.15pm), BH Gull 30+, H Gull 40+, LBB Gull 1, Feral Pigeon 4, Stock Dove 9 (Over SW), Woodpigeon 1813 (Over SW), Tawny Owl 1, Kingfisher 2, Green Woodpecker 1, GS Woodpecker 1, Magpie 6, Jay 3, Carriow Crow 6, Jackdaw 121, Goldcrest 1, Blue Tit 20+, Great Tit 15+, Marsh Tit 1, Coal Tit 4, Long-tailed Tit 14, Wren 4, Starling 226 (Over SW), Blackbird 6, Fieldfare 27 (Over W), Redwing 83 (Over W), Song Thrush 14, Robin 7, Dunnock 3, Grey Wagtail 1, Chaffinch 8, HAWFINCH 1 (Over W per WA), Goldfinch 7, Greenfinch 2 and Lesser Redpoll 21.

Migrant Hawker 3, Common Darter 1

Red Admiral 3

Warnham Millpond at Dusk