Woodland Birding Trip Report, Guided Birdwatching 12th Oct 2019

Woodland birdwatching can prove quite difficult, and with plenty of leaves still on the trees I could barely believe how forthcoming the birds were on a guided session in mid-October around a local wood.

We started at a likely spot with relatively open views into the tops of some large trees. After a short time two hawfinches flew in from right to left and out of sight. A few seconds later the pair of hawfinches flew back towards the right, and we could see their distinctive shape in flight and large white patches on the wings and stubby tail.

Further along we had fantastic views of the hawfinches perched up, however they never stayed in one spot for long! Over the course of the outing we had in excess of 10 sightings of hawfinches. The largest single flock seen contained 7 birds, and the total number seen was likely a few more than this.

Hawfinch

In the same area there was a flurry of avian activity with many different species in an area of no more than a 150 m square. The most obvious of these were the thrushes. There was a curiously high number of blackbirds contained in a few bushes, but the large autumnal group of mistle thrushes stole the show. There was a yew tree laden with berries that the mistle thrushes were feeding on. They were making a great deal of noise but it took a while before one revealed itself. They gradually dispersed and, with their woodpecker-esque flight, made their way into the tops of some distant trees.

Whilst scanning through the hawfinches (how often do you get to say that!?) a redwing appeared in view. This was a great bird to see and my first one of this autumn/ winter.

Nuthatches were a consistent feature, with them calling throughout our few hours stay. We managed a couple of views of these, although being stuck to the trunks behind the leaves made spotting them tricky. On the tree-gripping theme a great spotted woodpecker and 2 treecreepers were also seen.

Moving down in size we were delighted to see not only the diminutive goldcrest, but also its jazzed-up relative the firecrest. There were quite a number of goldcrests and we had a few sightings of firecrest. The goldcrest, at 5.5 grams, is the proud record holder as the smallest bird found in Britain. The firecrest is just a tiny bit bigger and is no doubt one of our most colourful and attractive birds.

Goldcrest

With many species of small birds present there was a good opportunity to compare the subtle differences between the sounds of the ones that make a high-pitched ‘seep’. Goldcrest, firecrest, treecreeper and long-tailed tit all make vocalisations that sound similar however there are differences in pitch, note duration, volume and the ‘hardness’ of the sound.

I tend to say you hear more birds in woodland than you see; so getting to grips with the sounds is a real boon. This area of woods contains a phenomenal amount of woodpigeons however, so I’m quite sure we saw more individual birds than we heard!

Even in October you can see some summer visitors. There were a number of chiffchaffs mixed in with the other small passerines, and several house martins were still flying around the fields. It is quite nice at this time of year when you can have summer visitors, and winter visitors (such as the redwing), in close proximity. In total there were 37 species of birds seen and heard throughout the morning.

Check out the ‘Events’ page to see information about upcoming small-group outings. You can email me at baggaleyhugh@gmail.com for any further information or questions.

Hugh Baggaley