Lesser Redpoll

As I still hadn't seen a Redpoll along the south coast, or at least not one close enough to photograph, I decided to make a return trip to Warnham. They were still being reported from there but it wouldn't be long before they were heading northwards to their breeding grounds.

I had no trouble finding them with three or four regularly attending the feeders. It was nice to get a record shot  but I have taken better. I was really hoping for a male showing more breeding plumage and a bright red breast or even better a Mealy Redpoll.

Redpoll

I often praise Warnham because of the opportunities to get good pictures of the birds but it does at times start to feel a bit like a zoo with very little skill needed to get the pictures of what are very nearly captive birds.

Having said that I failed to get a picture of my next target, a Marsh Tit. One was (occasionally) visible from the Bullfinch hide but it had a habit of grabbing a seed from the feeder and then disappearing into cover to eat it and it did not stay near the feeders for long.

I did take a picture of a Blue Tit. It's not a bird that I photograph that often but fluffed up against the cold, as it was, it makes one of those nice chocolate box pictures that seem to appeal to so many people.

Blue Tit

And lots of pictures of the usual birds around the feeders.

Nuthatch

Reed Bunting

Siskin

The Bullfinch made one appearance for me. On my last visit it was one show at the Woodpecker hide, this time it was one show at the appropriately named Bullfinch Hide. It didn't make it as far as the feeders this time, being spooked by the sudden movement of some of the other birds there. It took flight and headed out over the golf course never to be seen again.

 

Bullfinch

A strangely disappointing visit. I managed to see a Redpoll and Marsh Tit which were my targets and I came away with some other reasonable pictures. However, the light during the day proved to be a lot duller than I had been expecting. Which means slower shutter speeds, less sharp shots, and no real show stopper pictures. There was also the felling that the area around the hides was very busy for a Monday morning and was turning it into more of a zoo than a nature reserve. For me the reserve actually seems to be, becoming a victim of it's own success by attracting too many people. However, I am sure that for the reserve the increased cash flow and raised profile for nature make it all justified.

Having said that, once you leave the area around the visitors centre and the hides the people soon thin out. I did a circuit of the rest of the reserve and can only remember seeing one other person during the walk. I have a solution, open it at 8am for the birders rather than the current 10am which seems to be more targeted at the "somewhere to go for a short walk and cup of coffee" brigade.