Saturday I decided to go to Warnham Nature reserve near Horsham, the main driver of this was oversleeping and as it doesn't open til 10 AM all was good! Margie decided to stay at home as the "washing doesn't do itself" ! Well neither does the Birdwatching!! If it wasn't for me we'd hardly do any Birding at all😂! The other reason for heading to Warnham was Kingfishers, having seen some quality pics online I decided to head over and see if I could see one! I arrived at 10.03AM and £4.50 later was in a hide waiting for a Kingfisher, there were a few others in with me, while we waited we were entertained by some Dragonflies! Eventually one of the Kingfishers, decided to pay a visit, according to the locals there are four knocking about the place!! Unfortunately instead on landing on the perfectly positioned fishing stick in front of the hide it buried itself in the tree next to the hide, where it sat for the next 10 minutes. Although obscured by foliage I was able to get a few shots, relying on manual focus and trying to anticipate the wind blowing the various leaves and branches out of the way! It was also an awkward angle and a lot of contortions were required!! Judging by the grunts, groans and noises of frustration all around others were having similar issues!
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| About 45% of a Kingfisher |
Just as my neck, shoulders, lower back and left knee were about to fail, the Kingfisher promptly dived into the water,caught a fish and landed on the Fishing Stick provided!!! Hurrah!! Mass panic as every one went back to autofocus, it didn't give us long but I managed about 10 shots before it was off across the lake!!
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| They really are crackers when you can see all of them! |
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| I reckon in terms of length of fish to body size of the Kingfisher, this would be the equivalent of me eating a three foot long Swiss roll in one go! So about right really!! Gluten Free Swiss roll obvs😁 |
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| Well chuffed to be honest! |
A few pics of the other critters seen from the hide, below
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| This was on the way to the hide just out from the visitor center, Willow Emerald possibly |
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| Swan |
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| Grey Heron a few dotted about, none came close |
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| Dragonfly, Keeled Skimmer possibly! Only got 3 wings! |
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| Buzzard, opposite the hide |
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| Woody on the Kingfisher perch |
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| Think this one maybe a male Common Darter |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Dragonfly in flight,whoop! Not sure what sort! |
After all the Kingfisher excitement I went for a wander around the reserve, they have taken the feeders down from the hide, so small birds were few and far between, did hear several Nuthatch,a Great Spotted Woodpecker, brief glimpse of a Marsh Tit and a small flock of Blue Tits! Went back to the hide but although a Kingfisher did return it stayed over the other side of the lake!
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| Swan family |
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| Great Crested Grebe with a fish that was a bit big for it! |
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| Couldn't get it down so in the end gave it to a youngster |
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| Young Grebe which after a bit of a struggle manage to get it down! |
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| Going for a digest |
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| Little Egret flypast |
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| Possibly a female Common Darter |
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| Another male |
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| Kingfisher, further away but at least we can see all of it! |
I headed back to the visitor center, in the last hide there were a few Little Egrets giving great views oh and another distant Kingfisher!!
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| Damselfly |
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| Little Egret |
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| Optimistically eyeing up Duck for dinner! |
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| Another distant Kingy |
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| Quick flypast the Gulls |
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| looks like the Emeralds found a friend by the visitor center! |
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| Painted Lady |
Very enjoyable couple of hours, one more Kingfisher shot below!
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| Technically the same shot, just edited different, what a beauty! |
