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.

Nuthatch.

Something from the recent archives to keep the bird photography content ticking over .....  

(Eurasian) Nuthatch (Sitta europaea).

In Britain our resident birds (ssp. caesia) have a warm rusty-buff breast and belly. Whilst the sexes are very similar the vent on the males is usually a much darker red-brown.  

All images were shot at Warnham Nature Reserve using the EF 70-300mm lens.   FAB.

More from Warnham LNR.

I didn't get any wildlife watching in yesterday as we were waiting on a plumber to call and repair our hot water system that failed last Sunday so as a follow up to my previous post about Warnham LNR, here are a few more images from my day out in Sussex.

 Magpie (Pica pica)

 Male Reed Bunting  (Emberzia schoenichus)

This species is a resident breeder occupying around 185,000 UK territories during the summer. Its main habitat being reedbeds and riverine scrub which was only a hop and skip away from this feeding station.

 Next up is the much stripier female Reed Bunting.

Titbit: Over 50% of Reed Bunting chicks are not fathered by the pair mate but result from an adulterous liaison .... probably the highest recorded of any bird!

Most of the Nuthatches (Sitta europaea ssp. caesia) that I normally see are high up in the woodland canopy so it was a pleasure to see this individual, however briefly, much closer to the lens even though it didn't want to sit still!   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.