Chesworth Farm - Bird Log

Mike Ayling carried our his regular bird count which produced the following:

Barn Owl 2, Blue Tit 8, Carrion Crow 5, Dunnock 1, Great Tit 1, Jackdaw 4, Moorhen 2, Swallow 8, Wren 3, Blackbird 1, Bullfinch 4, Chiffchaff 8, Goldfinch 28, Herring Gull 4, Magpie 1, Robin 2, Woodpigeon 6

Warnham LNR - Summer Holiday Pond Dipping

Saturday 19th August - Quekett Microscopical Club visit to Warnham LNR

Brilliant Emerald on the wing at Warnham LNR

Brilliant Emerald - D. Pinguey

An unidentified 'Emerald' species of dragonfly was reported to the volunteers in the Visitor Centre at Warnham LNR on Wednesday and luckily one of our regular visitors was around to go and check it out. Damian Pinguey was very pleased to give us a call to confirm it was our first Brilliant Emerald of the year on our sites. Damian also managed to get a stunning photo of this beautiful dragonfly. It is nationally scarce in Britain so it is excellent to confirm this species on site once more.

Warnham Great Easter Trail

February Half-term Fun at Warnham LNR

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!

Latest News from Southwater & Warnham LNR

Slow-worm - S. Cocker

Slow-worm - S. Cocker

Slow-worm - S. Cocker

Now the kids have gone back to school the weather starts to play its nasty trick and come out sunny again. It seems to happy every September that as soon as the autumn term start the Indian summer arrives and baths us and the wildlife in warm sunshine. Sue Cocker made the most of the last of the summer weather when she came across this lovely Slow-worm at Southwater Quarry.

Wasp Spider - Warnham LNR

Exciting news came through at the weekend when a single female Wasp Spider was found on Mill Meadow at Warnham. This is brilliant news for us as there has not been a sighting since the 1st August 2006. We have no idea where she has come from but fingers crossed it might be the start of another colony, especially as the colony at Southwater now seems to have all but died out.



Staying at Warnham it is nearly time that the five British White Cattle are to move to pasture new at Chesworth Farm where they will play a vital role there in aftermath grazing the hay cut. As you might have guessed from the dumper trucks in the background we have been busy once again at the Sandpiper Scrape and have carried out some more of the wetland restoration scrapes in front of the Sandpiper Hide. Once this has been completed I will do another post to bring everyone up to date.

Friends of Warnham LNR ~ I-spy Nature Day

Friends of Warnham LNR - Creepy Crawly Day

Warnham LNR - Love is in the air

Mallard Duckling - Warnham LNR

Spring has truely sprung and young of many species are either starting to show in the case of the Mallard duckling above or are being eagerly awaited. A quick check of some of the nest boxes with Kevin showed that many of the boxes are being used and most of them are at incubation stage. Several of the Grey Heron nests have fledged already as to have the Grey Wagtails which were nesting on camera in the sluice.

Grey Wagtail Chicks - Warnham LNR

Grey Wagtail Fledgling - Warnham LNR

Other birds which have been mating, laying eggs, incubating or nest building include Great Crested Grebe, Mute Swan, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Robin, Dunnock, Mandarin, Stock Dove and Bullfinch but hopefully more of that to come in the next few weeks.

Whilst on the breeding front it is not only the birds that have been busy. This week I also noticed a female Brimstone flitting around the Alder Buckthorn in the garden. Sure enough on inspection I found several eggs on the underside of the new leaf buds. It is worth checking any Alder Buckthorn to see if you can find any too. Below it what you are looking for:

Brimstone Egg on Alder Buckthorn

Close-up of Brimstone Egg

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.

Warnham LNR - A Busy Weekend

A very busy week at Warnham LNR with plenty of new bits for you to come and look at. The bird nesting season is in full swing and we already have some little balls of fluff running around! At the top end of the Reserve on the new Scrape which is viewable form the 2nd Boardwalk or the new Sandpiper Hide Mrs Mallard has been proudly showing off her 11 little ducklings.

We have also had a couple of other visitors to the new Scrape which should start to slowly drop in water level as the year progresses. The first of the new visitors was this stunning male Shoveler. I am pretty sure it is the male which has spent the winter on the millpond relocating but he certainly seems to be happy there as is regularly heard calling to attract a mate.

Shoveler - Sandpiper Hide

Shoveler - Sandpiper Hide

This morning there was also a Stock Dove drinking from the edge of the stream as well as pair of Mandarin which were mating on the island. A flyover Common Buzzard sent the Mallard ducklings scattering for cover but they soon reappeared to carry on feeding on the emergent weeds.

Stock Dove - Warnham LNR

We have also had a pair of Grey Wagtails which seem to be finding plenty to eat along the edges of the muddy scrape. Whilst on the subject of Grey Wagtails we seem to be blessed with three pairs this year and our recorder Jo Glossop managed to take this stunning image last week.

Grey Wagtail - J. Glossop

We have also had a number of migrant birds arriving with two White Wagtails flying over on Saturday morning as well as numerous Chiffchaff's spread all around the Reserve. On Friday we heard our first Blackcap of this spring followed by another on Saturday morning in the Courtyard.

Chiffchaff - Warnham LNR

What will this week bring...well hopefully some baby Grey Heron's on the nest camera. The first egg is due to hatch on Weds or Thurs of this week so our fingers are firmly crossed. We are also still awaiting out first hirundine of the spring so maybe that will be this week too.

Warnham LNR - Tern Raft

After several attempts at trying to locate the Tern Rafts after the flooding this winter we finally bit the bullet and accepted that one of the rafts had be washed downstream. After looking on the internet and getting a few quotes from potential contractors we decided to get Peter at BEL Signs to try and build a custom model. Soon enough the raft had arrived and it looked amazing! It had drainage, multiple anchor points, mink-proof sides and a huge slab of high-density foam.

The next step was to get the raft down to the water so it could be loaded with pea-shingle which forms the nesting substrate for the Common Terns. This proved to be quite a challenge as it was incredibly heavy which then rang alarm bells for me that it might not float!

Back's straight! - N. Henry

Getting ready for the launch - N. Henry

After plenty of To me, To you jokes we arrived at the waters edge and it was make or break time for the raft...would it float?!

Phew...!

Luckily for all involved it was lowered down into the water and gracefully rose out of the water demonstration that floating was not a problem! The next job was left to Sarah, Chris and Ryan which was loading the shingle onto the base. This was a bit of a challenge too as the edge of the reedbed was very silty and quickly sucked any slow feet!

Chris & Ryan Loading Shingle - N. Henry

Gradually the raft began to find its level as the shingle was loaded carefully to avoid damaging the clear perspex sides. After a bit of a tea break a plan was hatched to get the raft out into the lake. We decided on a pulley system which worked brilliantly. The only problem was the now stiffening breeze which caused a few issues with boat direction!

Attaching the anchors - N. Henry

Finally the anchors were dropped and the high-water line attached and we were ready to reTERN to dry land. Pardon the pun...I couldn't resist getting one in somewhere. Many thanks to Chris, Lyn, Neil, Ryan and the Wardens for all their help and to Peter and his team at BEL Signs who made the whole project a success. All we need now is the Common Terns to make it back safely from Africa and find our little raft to their liking.

Mission Accomplished - N. Henry