Friday 20th February 2026: Warnham nature reserve

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 With an Sdos outing coming up in the next few weeks and work ongoing around the boardwalk, we decided to do a ‘recce’ visit to Warnham reserve. The weather started fine, but mizzle gradually drifted in, reducing visibility. Nevertheless we had an enjoyable morning with a couple of new annual ticks as an added bonus.

Looking out over the pool, there were small flocks of Tufted Duck and Pochard, with an interesting hybrid Pochard looking rather striking. A single Great-crested Grebe swam at the back of the lake together with a few Coots. A Lesser Black- backed Gull loafed amongst the usual species.

Continuing on to Bullfinch Hide, the sound of twittering Siskins as we approached was unmistakeable. There were good numbers in the treetops, as well as birds making use of the feeders and gathering seed from the ground. A lovely Bullfinch came to the feeders too, together with regular finches and tits, Nuthatch and a nice male Reed Bunting, transitioning into breeding plumage.

Bullfinch

Siskin

We bumped into Nisar at the next hide, who kindly informed us that a Mandarin Duck was in the dipping ponds, and took us to show where he had seen it. Luckily it was still present, although rather skulking and reluctant to pose for photos!

Moving on to Woodpecker hide, there were similar birds on display, but here Goldfinches and Greenfinches were present in decent numbers, and a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers flew in too.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, m

Greenfinch

We continued along the track and were very pleased to find our first Treecreeper of the year. We heard some noisy squawking Jays too, but didn’t manage to spot these.

A final tally of 36 species was fairly respectable, although we were surprised not to encounter either Heron or Little Egret. We rounded off the trip with tea and cake in the cafe!


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