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

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

Frosty Start

A wonderful freezing cold morning greeted us at Warnham Local Nature Reserve today and high hopes of decent numbers of gulls arriving with the frost did not come to fruition. I was hoping that the juvenile Iceland Gull from Sunday might make another appearance but for some reason gull numbers were low all day with a maximum of 200 or so on the ice. There were still a few Common Gulls mixed in but not many larger gulls around at all.

The feeders were a little busier once again which is to be expected as the cold weather takes a hold and makes the smaller birds more reliant on the regular food source provided at the Woodpecker Hide. All of the resident tit species were recorded at the feeders today including Marsh Tit which was nicely photographed by David Verrall on the Reserve yesterday.

Marsh Tit - D. Verrall

Other species of note seen around the Reserve today included:

Little Grebe 4, Cormorant 7, Grey Heron 3, Mute Swan 2, Greylag Goose 63, Mallard 45+, Tufted Duck 6, Pheasant 2, Water Rail 3, Moorhen 4, Coot 3, BH Gull 150+, Common Gull 3, Herring Gull 50+, Woodpigeon 300+, Kingfisher 1, GS Woodpecker 1, Grey Wagtail 1, Wren 6, Dunnock 3, Robin 11, Blackbird 22, Song Thrush 5, Redwing 14, Long-tailed Tit 10+, Marsh Tit 1, Coal Tit 7, Blue Tit 50+, Great Tit 50+, Nuthatch 2, Jay 1, Magpie 37, Carrion Crow 3, Chaffinch 7, Goldfinch 20+

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

Southwater Country Park

Cormorant 2, Mute Swan 5, Moorhen 2, Mallard 20+, Coot 2, Robin 1, Blackbird 1, Magpie 2, Jay 1, Black-headed Gull 10+

Rabbit 2 (Jo Glossop & Andrew Rodgers)

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

Southwater Country Park

Cripplegate Lake: Cormorant 6, Mute Swan 5, Black-headed Gull 60+, Coot 15+, Moorhen 10+, Mallard 25+, Herring Gull 4, Robin 2

Quarry Lake: Mistle Thrush 1

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Warnham Local Nature Reserve - M. Symonds

A wonderful wintery day weather-wise on the Reserve today with hardly a breath of wind which made for some beautiful views over the millpond such as the view captured by Margaret Symonds from the Tern Hide.

Horsham Green Gym were busy in the Millpond Plantation thinning out the Birch regeneration and also clearing some Hazel stands to make way for a new fence line which we hope to install in the spring. It is very important we keep on top the Silver Birch which left unmanaged would take over the woodland. The aim of the thinning is to remove most of the stunted or small Birch to make way for the larger trees to continue to flourish but also to allow sunlight to reach the forest floor which essential for the species which need dappled light such as Bluebells and Primroses. Lots of the timber is left on site with a small percentage used for fire wood and crafts.

Birch Thinning - R. Allison

Not much by way of sightings reported today as we were all busy but of note the Cetti's Warbler was again seen from the Tern Hide it seems to favour the reedbed in front and often flies between that and the reedbed in front of the dam wall. Below is a summary of the rest of the species noted:

Grey Heron 1, Cormorant 3, Mallard 24, Shoveler 2, Coot 2, Moorhen 1, Black-headed Gull 100+, Wren 1, Pheasant 4, Blue Tit 10+, Great Tit 10+, Coal Tit 1, Nuthatch 1, Redwing 1, Pied Wagtail 1, Grey Wagtail 1, Greylag Goose 160+, Tufted Duck 6, Goldfinch 12, Chaffinch 10+, Cetti's Warbler 1

Grey Squirrel 4

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

Chesworth Farm

Eddie Bew carried out his regular bird survey at the Farm which produced the following:
Robin 5, Goldfinch 7, Woodpigeon 30, Moorhen 4, Common Buzzard 2, Mallard 1, Blackbird 7, Song Thrush 1, Carrion Crow 6, Jay 2, Pheasant 1, Magpie 5, Jackdaw 6,  Green Woodpecker 1, Long-tailed Tit 2, Blue Tit 2, House Sparrow 2, Dunnock 1

Owlbeech Woods

Mike Ayling carried a bird survey at Owlbeech Woods which produced the following: Blackbird 2, Carrion Crow 2, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Green Woodpecker 1, Jackdaw 7, Nuthatch 1, Robin 3, Woodpigeon 11, Blue Tit 7, Goldcrest 3, Great Tit 3, Herring Gull 1, Magpie 3, Redwing 5, Stock Dove 2, Wren 2 (Mike Ayling)

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Cormorants - Warnham LNR

 A miserable start to the day was brightened up by a number of nice birds seen around the Reserve. The Cormorant numbers are slowly starting to build with up to seven being seen regularly now, the single drake Pochard from yesterday managed to attract two more males and a female for company today and the three Shoveler were seen once again. Redwing numbers were still strong with 77 seen heading over west and plenty feeding on the Reserve particularly around the Sandpiper Scrape. Chaffinch and Goldfinch were the only other birds moving in any numbers with 23 and 19 noted respectively, again moving west.

Mediterranean Gull - Adult

There were good numbers of gulls around this morning with Black-headed and Herring Gull in the main but also two Common Gull which were the first of the autumn, a single Great Black-backed Gull and two Mediterranean Gull (1 Adult/1 1st Winter). Also of note was our first colour-ringed gull in a long while. The bird below was ringed by the North Thames Gull Group at either Rainham or Pitsea landfill sites. I will post the details of the birds history when I hear back from the group, if any visitors to the Reserve see any colour-ringed birds then please do send the details in or leave any details with the cafe.

Herring Gull - K5GT 

There was no sign of yesterdays Cetti's Warbler sadly but unsurprisingly but it may well still be on site as they are always difficult to see especially if they are not calling. A decent sized flock of Siskin were seen in the Larch plantation at the north end of the Reserve today by one of our volunteers. Hopefully they will find the feeders soon so visitors get to see these wonderful finches up close like in previous cold winters. Water Rail were squealing from the reedbed next to the fallen tree and up to three Kingfisher were buzzing around all day.

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

View form the Trelford Hide at Warnham LNR - P. Shergold

Paul Shergold carried out his weekly bird survey today and summary of the highlights are below: Shoveler 3, Grey Heron 9, Cormorant 4, Coot 7, Moorhen 4, Green Woodpecker 2,  Water Rail 2, Little Grebe 3, Tufted Duck 4, Lesser Redpoll 15, Siskin 6, Chaffinch 15, Coal Tit 6, Mandarin 2, Mallard 37, Starling 350+ in to roost.

Roe Deer 2

Warnham Local Nature Reserve

Horsham Green Gym at Warnham LNR

Horsham Green Gym visited Warnham LNR today to carry out a task of woodland thinning and coppicing. Ryan led a group of c35 volunteers as we began to thin some of the overcrowded young Birch and Ash in the Millpond Plantation. The volunteers also made a start on the coppicing of the Hazel stands which will be used for hedge-laying later in the year.

Most of the interest on the bird front tin the first couple of hours of light this morning with the obvious highlight being another single Hawfinch over west at 7.40am. Good to see decent numbers of Redwing still moving over and the Mistle Thrush tally is slowly increasing with four birds feeding on Mill Meadow today. Again there was no sign on Sundays Great White Egret but the Little Egret was around all day. Totals from this morning are below:

Woodpigeon 242 (Over NE), Starling 47 (Over W), Redwing 226 (Over W), Fieldfare 20 (Over W), Stock Dove 9, Great Spotted Woodpecker 3, Goldfinch 9, Mistle Thrush 4, HAWFINCH 1 (Over W), Chaffinch 10, Feral Pigeon 2, Mallard 52, Coot 2, Great Crested Grebe 2, Blackbird 3, Song Thrush 5, Cormorant 7, Water Rail 3, Green Woodpecker 1, Jay 2, Little Egret 1, Greylag Goose 162, Moorhen 2.

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