A Mixed Birding Week.

A mixed week weather wise with dull overcast skies and the occasional sunny period. So here are just a few of the species that found their way in front of the lens.

Following on from my earlier post 'Visit to Warnham L.N.R.' a few more species seen that day including one of the many Blue Tits.

A female Chaffinch.

Mrs Pheasant strutting her stuff! (I have some close-ups of the feather patterns that I'll share in a future post.)

Later in the week I took a quiet stroll around the ponds at Bookham Common which played host to 10 Gadwall who were disturbed by other walkers before I could get any shots, but two of the 6 Tufted Ducks were more obliging.

Don't I look smart?  Male and female Tufted Duck.

A pair of Mute Swans enjoying time together.

Nesting time has begun. The local Grey Herons were flying back and forth about every five minutes collecting appropriate material. It will be interesting to see how many nests are occupied during the breeding season.

And finally a Robin in our garden letting the opposition know that it has taken up residence.

On Sunday, weather permitting, I hope to visit the coast to see some over-wintering waders and my favourite geese, the Black-bellied Brent.  FAB.

Linking to Saturday's Critters.

Visit to Warnham L.N.R.

On Monday morning with no obvious threat of rain I decided to pay a return visit to Warnham L.N.R. Beneath the dull overcast sky the pond hosted hundreds of noisy Black-headed Gulls and a few Herring Gulls with three perched on the tern raft.

A small flotilla of Tufted Ducks drifted past the hide. After scanning around and spotting Moorhen, Coot, Cormorant fishing, Mallard lazing around and a Grey Heron carrying nesting material I headed to the hide overlooking the various feeders to check out the activity.

Lots of colourful Goldfinch using the feeders.

A female Great Spotted Woodpecker made a couple of appearances to obtain a snack from holes drilled into an old tree trunk that had been filled with fat.

A male Reed Bunting taking advantage of the seed larder.

In addition to this male Chaffinch I also watched Blue, Coal, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Nuthatch, Dunnock, Bullfinch, Magpie, Pheasant, Moorhen, Blackbird, Robin plus Wren and Treecreeper elsewhere on the reserve. Fortunately the clouds dispersed and the sun eventually shined so after two hours plus I have a few images in reserve for future posts. FAB.

Linking to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY hosted by Stewart.

S.B.C. Fieldtrip to Pulborough Brooks.

Anita and I spent a very enjoyable and sunny day at Pulborough Brooks RSPB Reserve today in the company of members of the Surrey Bird Club (SBC). I personally logged 48 species and added a few to my year list including Avocet (4), Garganey, Nightingale (5), Swallow and Marsh Harrier (2).

Chiffchaff

Chaffinch

Dunnock

After our lunch break we headed over the heath to the watch point overlooking the South Brooks where we managed scoped views of a male Garganey, a single Redshank and a few more Lapwing plus soaring Common Buzzards and a pair of hunting Marsh Harriers. 

Common Buzzard

On the return journey to the car park a Red Kite drifted overhead but I only managed a quick shot taken through a gap in the branches. After cropping I noticed that it was looking down at us as it flew over!

Red Kite

 Peacock butterflies were fairly numerous plus Brimstone and Orange Tip were also seen.

Peacock Butterfly

Peacock Butterfly

Tomorrow we are driving into Kent to meet up with friends for a walk somewhere so who knows what wildlife sightings hold in store for us.  FAB.

UK Tribute for WBW.

As a tribute to Stewart who has so ably hosted Wild Bird Wednesday for the past year I thought I would share some images from my blog archives of just a few UK species I'm sure he was well acquainted with before he travelled down-under.

 Skylark.

 Blue Tits.

 Robin.

 Chaffinch.

Little Grebe.

Great Crested Grebe.

Reed Bunting.

Congratulations on the 1st Anniversary of Wild Bird Wednesday and long may we continue to appreciate all the species shared from around the globe. If you haven't previously participated why not click the above link and join in.   FAB.

Songsters and Flutters.

The early morning sunshine didn't last very long today before the rain clouds drifted through producing localised heavy downpours and even hail! I took a gamble and headed over to Bookham Common mid morning and was rewarded with plenty of bird song and my first sighting this year of several newly arrived Common Whitethroats.

The most common songsters where Chiffchaffs but every time I raised the camera they stopped singing!

 A male Chaffinch showed off his fresh colours as the sun peeked through the clouds.

 As soon as the clouds rolled in again the little Jenny Wren also stopped singing.

The other songster that eluded the camera (so what's new!) was the Nightingale but I did locate three separate territories around the common. While listening to the glorious outpourings of one male for over 20 minutes  I had a close shave with a Sparrowhawk that dashed past my shoulder and dived into the tangled mass of undergrowth and silenced everything for quite some time. I didn't see the Sprawk exit but the Nightingale wasn't harmed as it had moved to another hidden perch and continued to sing until the next rain shower dampend every ones efforts. You can follow this link to listen to a recording of this beautiful songster.

Once again with the changeable weather the only flutters I saw were this single Speckled Wood plus a high flying Holly Blue while trying to chase down one of the many Orange Tips that were on the wing today.

Eventually one male Orange Tip alighted for a lengthy rest but would only sit with its wings closed as usual. The image above was taken with my compact Canon Powershot and provided a much clearer outcome than the image below taken with the 70-300 lens!

Wherever you are I hope you have a glorious wildlife watching weekend ..... FAB.

Warnham LNR Revisited.

After a gap of around 20 years and prompted by images posted on Mike's blog I recently decided it was time I made a return visit to Warnham Local Nature Reserve  situated on the outskirts of Horsham in West Sussex. (You can click these links for more information and of course view Mike's superb wildlife images.)

Dunnock  (Prunella modularis)

By way of background this 92 acre site, comprises a 17 acre millpond (which was originally created as part of the Sussex iron working industry), marshland, reedbeds, grassland and mixed woodland so an abundance of flora and fauna can be seen throughout the seasons. There are 3 hides, plus boardwalks through the wetland areas leading to the woodland walks with various 'birdie' signs to indicate good photo or wildlife watching points around the site.

I started by spending a while in the Tern Hide watching the distant Grey Herons and a small variety of ducks, Greylag and Canada Geese while an obliging Dunnock perched outside.

Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)

As many of my readers will know most of my birding is carried out in locations that do not have bird hides so it was a different experience for me to sit and wait to see what might come in range of my small lens.


The Woodpecker Hide overlooks an area littered with various feeding stations and perches so I waited in anticipation and it wasn't long before a Lesser Redpoll perched briefly on a distant feeder but it was to get much better ......

A closer view of a male Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis).

 Then two for the price of one ... a Goldfinch and the Lesser Redpoll.

Chaffinch  (Fringilla coelebs)

This next shot of a male Chaffinch revealed that this individual had warty growths on both legs and feet.


These growths may vary in size from small nodules to larger warts that engulf the whole leg. The warty growths  (Fringilla papillomavirus) aparently develop slowly over a long period and affected individuals, like this one, may otherwise appear quite healthy. Some individuals, of course, may become lame or lose the affected digits.

Finally, two common garden species that I don't often get the opportunity to get such close up views ...............

Great Tit  (Parus major)

Blue Tit  (Cyanites caeruleus)

I'm not sure who this tiny fellow had its eyes on .... could it be me?

Of course these weren't the only species seen so I have saved a few more images for a follow up post.   FAB.

For more images from around the globe ... check out WORLD BIRD WEDNESDAY. 

Pulborough Brooks RSPB.

With a reasonable weather forecast I drove southwards to Pulborough Brooks RSPB Reserve this morning. During the drive the clouds darkened and there was the hint of rain in the air but within an hour of my arrival the sun was peeking through and the temperature was very comfortable. My first stop was 'Fattengates' where I joined a few other birders hoping to catch sight of a Firecrest but only a handful of Goldcrests showed themselves as they flitted throughout the pines. I wasn't particularly upset as I had seen one on a 'Patchwalk' at Epsom Common just about a week ago. 

As I headed for West Mead hide a Robin provided a lovely serenade. Other sightings within the first 30 minutes included Kestrel, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Skylark, Fieldfare, Redwing, Wren, Green Woodpecker and Jay.

From the hide I added Canada Geese, Pintail, Gadwall, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Lapwing, Starling, Woodpigeon, and a distant soaring Common Buzzard. The hide was quite busy and I was soon joined by a young family with their son and daughter endeavoring to identify everything they could see. As usual  it wasn't long before I offered some help and it was great to witness the enthusiasm of the children as they ticked off each species on their handouts.

Outside the hide we enjoyed views of a male Chaffinch busily preening after having taken a recent bath plus a few Long-tailed Tits feeding high in the overhead branches. Further along the trail a couple of very smart looking Bullfinches where feeding in the hedgerow but regretfully didn't want to pose in the open for a photo. As usual the fields where occupied by reasonable numbers of corvids, including Magpie, Jackdaw and Carrion Crows.

 As I headed onwards towards the 'The Hanger' a male Blackbird kept close company with me for a while. 

This was the view from 'The Hanger' with everything a long way away so no close up photos but I was able to spot Little Egret, Grey Herons, Shelduck, Black-headed and Common Gulls, Pied Wagtail, Coot plus a number of Ruff amongst large flocks of Lapwing when they were disturbed  into the air by an overflying microlight. Just as I was thinking of moving on the star bird of the day appeared ........

A female Peregrine Falcon took up her usual perch overlooking the Brooks spying out her next likely prey. She has been a regular here for about five years but I think this is only the second time I have seen her on numerous visits. Her perch was a bit distant for my lens so I have cropped the original shot.

 Another Robin kept me company when I stopped for to devour my packed lunch. 

With the warmer temperatures it wasn't surprising to find this youngish Adder (Vipera berus) basking at the foot of the hedgerow. One passerby got quite agitated when another photographer explained what he was looking at. Despite us explaining that our only venomous viper species is not naturally aggressive unless provoked she moved on very quickly! Also on the wing today where a few Red Admirals, awakened from their winter hibernation.

Today's tally was 46 species and may have been more if I had bothered to carry the scope with me.   FAB.