Warnham Nature Reserve (5 February 2025)
Thirteen of us spent a very pleasant short day at Warnham Local Nature Reserve near Horsham. Spring was in the air with sunshine and birds proclaiming their territories energetically. Song Thrushes, Nuthatches, Robins, Blue Tits, Great Tits, the strange wheezy scratch of Siskin and a hammering Great Spotted Woodpecker stood out. A Robin sat at the top of a tree in full song not just skulking in the bushes and singing quietly as they do in winter. Nuthatches seemed to be calling from every direction.
Warnham is renowned for its good views of woodland birds on and around feeders and is therefore a magnet for photographers. Here we ticked off Chaffinch, Blackbird, 3 Redwing, Dunnock, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Goldfinch, Siskin, Reed Bunting, Robin, a female Bullfinch that might have had a foot problem, (John also saw a pair of Bullfinch fly over near the visitor centre) Greenfinch, Long-tailed Tit, unusually seen feeding from the ground, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Siskin, Wren and Magpie. A few people saw a couple of Marsh Tits fly in and 4 Redpoll at Woodpecker Hide. I missed the Redpoll because a male Sparrowhawk bombed past me and over the hide as I returned after lunch. I just saw all the Woodpigeon fly up and when I entered the hide was told that the Redpoll had just left along with every other bird! We waited a while, but the Redpoll didn’t return. The Sparrowhawks use the feeders as a good place to catch unwary birds.
The feeders had also attracted other wildlife feeding from seed on the ground including large numbers of Woodpigeon, Pheasants, a Stock Dove, at least 2 Bank Voles endearingly popping in and out from holes under a log and Brown Rats!
Away from the feeders the Water Rail spotted by Fiona on the opposite bank of the Mill Pond from ‘Water Rail Screen’ was a highlight. We watched it for ages as it was oblivious to the fact that we could see it hunting for food amongst the fallen logs and dead leaves. It obviously felt safe! Our only Teal of the day passed it by as 2 of them also skulked along the water’s edge. At this point a couple of us were convinced that we could see 2 Water Rails!
From Heron hide we had good views of a Little Egret resting in the sunshine with one leg tucked in and then a Kingfisher shot past. It landed to our right, slightly hidden by bushes but could be seen fishing low in the reedbed.
In the huge conifer trees up in Millpond Plantation we had Coal Tit and Goldcrest. A couple of Grey Herons were seen flying towards the heronry which is somewhere behind here but no longer visible. They’ve gradually moved back into the woods away from the lakeside over the years. On the Mill Pond itself we had a group of about half a dozen Pochard, Herring and Black-headed Gulls, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck and Cormorant, some of which had developed the rather bizarre looking white patches of their breeding plumage.
We rounded off our morning with a late picnic lunch in the sunshine outside the visitor centre although some of us then went back for one last look at the feeders! In addition to the birds mentioned above we also saw Jackdaw and Carrion Crow and a handsome white Feral Pigeon near the picnic tables. I noted down 40 species but other people probably saw more things.
by Rebecca Dunne