Warnham LNR

Garden Warbler

After a nice holiday I have returned home to the reserve being swamped by sunshine and a real feeling of spring arriving and swiftly moving into a more summer-like feel. There were plenty of surprises as I wandered round with the Common Tern's already back and staking a claim to one of the rafts.

Around the dipping ponds the reedbeds and willows were alive with Blackcap, Reed Warbler and Chiffchaff as well as a single Garden Warbler. They are quite often hard to get good views of but this particular bird (above & below) was a bit of a show-off!

Garden Warbler

There were a small number of Swallow's moving through all morning as well as a single House Martin. Presumably most of the Mandarin females are sat on eggs as there were only males seen today with eight in total.

The lovely warm sunshine also brought out a few butterflies with Brimstone, Orange-tip, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Common Blue all being seen around the reserve today. The Common Blue was of particular note.