Common Summer Migrant Arrivals at Warnham LNR

Swallow - 1st of the year (1/4/15)

As the warmer (in theory!) weather starts to roll into Britain so do migrant birds of all shapes and sizes. So far at Warnham we have already had a steady trickle of Chiffchaffs as well as a couple of days of Meadow Pipit passage of which the best day was 23rd March. In just 20 mins from the Tern Hide I counted 109 Meadow Pipits all heading NW following a similar route from start to finish.

This year I have decided to use the records that we collect each year to produce a summary of the last five years arrival dates for some of the common species we see at Warnham LNR to give a comparison for whether species are turning up on time, early or even late. I aim to fill each of these in as we go along but I will start with Chiffchaff and Swallow as we have seen both of them already in 2015.

As you can see from the above stats both of the species which have arrived first at Warnham LNR are about in the middle of the range of the last five years respectively. The current weather systems we have at the moment is a large high pressure system which is causing the unusual strong gusty winds which is ultimately holding many of the migrating birds on the north French coast. They are simply waiting for a more conducive wind to make their final hope to Britain and to their breeding grounds further north.

As new migrants birds start to appear at the Reserve I will post the updated lists for species such as Swift, House and Sand Martins, Common Tern, Blackcap etc so keep your eyes peeled on this page to see the overall picture in terms of our summer visitors arrival times at Warnham.

Red Kite - Distant record shot (25/3/15)

Also of note over the past 10-days or so we have started to notice an ever increasing number of raptors on the move in particular Common Buzzards and Red Kites. On the 25th March we had a total of 17 Common Buzzard, 1 Red Kite and 3 Sparrowhawk all move in a roughly SW direction over the Reserve (Well done Wes for picking up the Red Kite). We have also seen other signs of spring movement with a Jack Snipe seen briefly on the 28th March on the muddy edge of the Swan Island.

Tufted x Pochard Hybrid - Warnham LNR

Lastly we have seen good numbers of Tufted Duck still present on the Reserve which I am hopeful may mean that we have a few breeding pairs like in 2013. The Tufted Ducks however are continually coming and going and on the morning of the 25th of March Jo and Sam noticed an odd looking Scaup-like bird in amongst the 25+ Tufted Ducks. I eventually got to see the bird late morning after finishing meetings and deduced that it was in fact a hybrid Tufted Duck x Pochard. It gave off the impression of looking similar to that of a Lesser Scaup in fact but several features didn't sit well with me. Firstly the nail (black tip to bill) was extensive and covered the whole end of the beak. In Scaup or Lesser Scaup the nail is very small and only covers the very centre of the beak.

Tufted Duck x Pochard (Note bill tip pattern)

The second feature was that the 'grey' back to the bird was not vermiculated at all but a smooth pale grey colour which contrasted well with the cleaner white sides and jet black tail and breast. Again on Scaup and Lesser Scaup the scapulars (back) of the bird would be a very smart pale grey with black vermiculation across the whole pale area.

Tufted Duck x Pochard (Note extensive peak at back of head)

Finally the head of the bird was most akin to that of Lesser Scaup however when view the very maroon/rust tones were evident and the shape was more peaked at the read of the head that one would expect with Lesser Scaup. It was indeed an eye-catching bird and it certainly has never been at the Reserve before so I wonder where it has been hiding!