After being dropped off at the entrance I walked along the access road to the now reopened car park and I could hear chiffchaff, willow warbler and blackcap singing despite the bad weather and on reaching the car park I could also hear a pied flycatcher singing too. I headed up the main path into the woods and after hearing a few more pied flycatchers singing I eventually managed to see 2 males feeding low down in the bushes close together with a bedraggled looking marsh tit nearby.
I carried on up towards the heathland and managed brief views of another male pied flycatcher and also a male redstart while from the new hide overlooking the reservoir the only bird seen was a male mallard. The heathland was quiet too with a singing willow warbler and a male yellowhammer perched in the top of a pine tree the only birds seen in the mizzle and breeze and so I headed back into the shelter of the trees.
I could hear the drumming of a woodpecker from the tangle of trees in the fenced off area with no access and eventually heard the call of a lesser-spotted woodpecker too but despite searching I couldn't find it. With time marching on and with little time left before I was due to be picked up for the drive home I eventually found the bird drumming at the top of a tall, dead tree and had some great views. It was mobile and flighty amongst the trees but regularly returned to the same dead tree to drum before it moved off deeper into the woods and was lost from sight, just as I had to head down to the car park for my rendezvous. A great bird to see, my first at Yarner Wood too, and a very pleasant surprise.
Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, Yarner Wood
Lesser-spotted Woodpecker
Lesser-spotted Woodpecker
Lesser-spotted Woodpecker
Lesser-spotted Woodpecker
Lesser-spotted Woodpecker
No comments:
Post a Comment