Having seen some pretty impressive images of Redpolls, Siskins and Bramblings on Facebook, we decided to head to Warnham LNR near Horsham today. Margie was especially pleased as it doesn't open til 10AM affording her a well deserved lay-in, although despite this we still managed to get away late and not arrive until 10 past 10!! I don't think she does it on purpose to wind me up but I'm considering the possibility 😁😂!!
We haven't been to Warnham since before Lockdown, some big changes with a new discovery center and hide at the start and possibly a couple of extra hides around the trails, though this maybe my memory playing tricks, it is quite a small reserve with a nice walk around with some nice boardwalked areas through wet woodland, a large lake and some good areas of Reeds and Reedmace but the main attraction are the feeding stations which have a large amount of food put out, I'm always quite surprised at the quantity of food they must get through and not really sure about the conservation effect it must have on the balance of species, but also not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth!! My one complaint about the main photography hide is the height of the windows which seem to be just exactly at the wrong height for me causing mucho neck ache if only I was 6 foot 1 or 5 ft 11 instead of exactly 6 foot!!!
From the reception area, only 3 quid each as well, which is pretty good value for money, we headed out through the discovery center and out onto the reserve, couple of new ponds here as well I think although as before the memory ain't great, all looked very good and imagine kids would get a lot from a visit, a Golf Course runs adjacent to the reserve and the first birds of interest were running about on there, a couple of Mistle Thrushes also on the other side of us a Little Egret on the lake, wasn't much on the lake today a few Gulls, some Tufted Duck, Mallards, Cormorants and a couple of Herons flew about, no sign of any Kingfishers or Water Rails though in it's defence we did put much effort into it!
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| Little Egret |
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| Mistle Thrush |
We reached the first feeding station, pretty sure this wasn't here when we came last time, but could be wrong!! Nice Reed Bunting showed well and Siskins and a Redpoll visited the feeder a few times. Margie disgraced herself taking pictures of Pheasants, she won't be told, likes the colours apparently!
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| Siskin |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Lesser Redpoll, not a fan of feeder shots but wouldn't sit still in the trees! |
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| Siskin |
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| Pheasant by Margie |
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| And again! |
We headed on, Margie found some sheep and the Hide on the Lake had views of another Little Egret.
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| Little Egret |
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| Ram by Margie |
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| Reedmace by Margie |
We now reached the main feeding station and squeezed in, it is a bit zoo like but does give you great, close views of some quality birds, notably today Brambling, Lesser Redpoll, Siskin, Long-tailed Tits as well as the more common residents, some pictures below I tried to get as many natural shots as possible, it's a fun experience with birds coming in left, right and center as said above it's quite awkward positioning as well! Also many thanks to the Gent (I think a regular there) who swapped seats with me halfway through to give me a better angle at the action, much appreciated!
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| Blue Tit |
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| Wren running about at the bottom of the stumps for ages and this is the best pic I got!! |
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| Great Tit |
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| Brambling |
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| Lesser Redpoll, finally got a natural shot! |
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| Siskin |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Long-tailed Tit, typically hard to get pics of even when they right in front of you! |
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| Brambling |
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| Lesser Redpoll, yes I know it's on a feeder but it was the only shot I got of a male in decent plumage! |
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| Brambling |
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| Male Brambling a real stunner, probably the best one I've ever seen close, oh for a bit of sunshine! |
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| Yeah there are going to be a few pics of this I'm afraid😂 |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Siskin |
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| Goldfinch, yes I know feeders, I have no shame! |
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| Yep she's still at it Pheasant by Margie |
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| Rat by Margie |
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| Blackbird by Margie |
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| Fungi by Margie |
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| And again at least I hope it's Fungi! |
So with Margie heading for Hypothermia, bit nippy out today, we headed around the rest of the reserve, bit quiet birdwise small flock of very flighty Redwings, a few Tits and Robins, heard a Nuthatch, brief views of Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Jay but to quick for pics, Margie found quite a few bits of interest.
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| Redwing |
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| Robin |
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| Home for Bats apparently,by Margie |
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| Fungi inside a fallen log |
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| Fungi by Margie |
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| Sign of Spring by Margie |
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| Sculpture by Margie (the picture not the sculpture) |
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| Fungi by Margie |
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| Fungi by Margie |
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| and again |
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| Iron Rocks by Margie, something to do with the history of the site (Margie reads the blurbs and tells me what I need to know!) |
So we did the loop around, it was quite peaceful away from the hides, it's a real oasis of calm. We arrived back at the big hide, rather than go in I stood on the far end in the hope of catching the birds in the trees above the feeders trying to get some more natural shots, with mixed results!!
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Siskin |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
The smaller feeding station, had a couple of Greenfinch, we'd seen a few but none had posed.
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| Greenfinch |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Greenfinch |
So we headed back to the visitor centre, last bird of note was a Great Crested Grebe on the lake, nice cup of Hot Chocolate and an Eccles Cake in the café, purely to warm up you understand, finished the visit off nicely!!
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| Great Crested Grebe |
Was a very pleasant walk around, the set up gives great views of the small birds and even though it was quite busy today it did seem quite peaceful!
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