MEGA Birds at Warnham LNR

Goldeneye - Warnham LNR

On Thursday I was out doing the hide rounds first thing in the morning and was just scanning through the Tufted Duck flock counting them as I went thinking how strange it was that there were quite a few more than on Wednesday when I clocked eyes on this stunning 1st summer drake GOLDENEYE. This was a first for me at Warnham LNR but I know there have been several other records in the past. Still it was as stunning looking duck which showed nicely all day even displaying to female Tufted Ducks on occasions.

Goldeneye - Warnham LNR

Goldeneye - Warnham LNR

After this excitement I was pretty much satisfied for the spring! At Warnham LNR we are far enough inland that we very rarely get much by way of really exciting passage birds such as Goldeneye, Black-necked Grebes or any waders so this really was a dream inland bird.

Avocet - Warnham LNR (1st for Reserve)

What happened on Saturday morning was even more amazing...Stuart was doing a birdwatching course early on Saturday in which he discovered a pair of Avocets which dropped in shortly after 9.30am and finally departed at c3.00pm. It was a truly unbelievable sight and one I hope I see again whilst working at the Reserve. Both birds did a lot of sleeping but it was fantastic to see them wake up and actually feeding using their unique upturned bills. The pair of Avocet represent the first record for Warnham LNR and I believe for the Horsham area too.

Common Tern - Warnham LNR

On Tuesday morning we heard the familiar call of the Common Tern and sure enough Stuart then clapped eyes onto the first returning bird of the spring. It soon settled down onto the goal post in front of Tern Hide and even made a few forays over to the new Tern Raft to check it out for size!

Common Tern Inspecting the Nesting Raft

The final surprise of the mad period was the arrival of a Redstart or quite possibly two Redstarts. The female type bird pictured below spent the evening hunting around Mill Meadow hopping from Bramble to Bramble avidly catching flies. A male was reported earlier in the day but sadly I could not relocate it in the evening.

Redstart - Warnham LNR

So this begs the question...will this be the end of the brilliant run of birds at Warnham or will it carry on. Other highlights over the period were a flyover Hobby, 6 Sand Martins and a flyover Linnet but more on these to come soon.