Woodland Birding Trip Report, Guided Birdwatching 19th Oct 2019
One week later and another guided birdwatching trip to the
same local wood. It was interesting to compare the two outings, broadly similar
species were seen however the themes of the day were quite different.
Right at the start a tawny owl called but remained silent
thereafter. A group of 4 hawfinches flew around and landed up out of sight. And a chiffchaff was calling in a small orchard.
Heading towards the main track we were struck by a
brilliantly coloured male yellowhammer; one good thing about buntings is that
they tend to stay still long enough for the whole group to get a good look! A
red kite flew low close by and was perfectly lit in the bright sunlight, it
showed fabulous colours and we watched with glee as it quartered over the
field.
Slightly further along there was a hive of activity around a
large puddle that had formed following recent heavy rains. This was proving
popular with the finches - we saw chaffinches and greenfinches, as well as a
single hawfinch and a beautiful male bullfinch. The hawfinch was only seen
briefly but the bullfinch put in several appearances and we got some great
views. Several blackbirds keenly bathing caused larger disturbances in the
puddle. At one stage a small ridge obscured the puddle, but you could tell the
blackbirds were there by the plume of water emanating upwards from the
blackbirds beating wings.
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| Male Bullfinch. |
A few mistle thrushes remained from the previous week but
they were far quieter this time, a redwing was also still present. The
hawfinches behaved more typically than they had previously and proved elusive,
we did see a few perched up although they moved off quite quickly.
The real action proved to be up in the sky. With it being
such a sunny day the conditions were ideal for raptor watching. A number of red
kites were up and about as well as around half a dozen buzzards. A big group of
ravens were having a great time in the thermals and we got to seeing them
‘tumbling’, where they flip upside down whilst flying, and generally enjoying
themselves. As they approached closer we could easily see features that
separate them apart from their smaller corvid cousins. The tail is always worth
paying attention to as the central feathers protrude further out than the outer
feathers creating a wedge shape. The distant ravens provided us with the
opportunity to examine the features to look out for when viewing is difficult.
The fact that they were mixing in with buzzards emphasised the distinctive
shape and obvious dark plumage.
A regular feature throughout the day was the jays. It must
have been ideal acorn transporting conditions as wherever we went there were
one or two moving to and fro.
In one patch of trees a group of goldcrests slowly came out
of the woodwork. For some time they were directly above us, putting our belly
identifications skills to the test. We repositioned and ended up with nice
views of these delightful little birds.
Moving on to another section of woods immediately yielded
marsh tits and a couple of treecreepers. The treecreepers proved popular as
always, we watched their typical habit of working their way up the branches as
they forage.
Up at a clearing in the trees a peregrine falcon put in an
appearance. It was quite a sight as it flew directly towards us. The way the
peregrine was behaving was noteworthy, or it was a new behaviour to me at
least! The bird regularly flew right along the edge of the plantation of
conifer trees. It was hugging the tree line as it flew backwards and forwards
along this stretch. We assumed this behaviour must have been aimed at scaring
any unsuspecting woodpigeons off their perches and right into the grasp of the
peregrine.
In addition to all the bird life a small common lizard
walked across the path in front of us. Quite a selection of fungi was fruiting
and we saw some cracking specimens.
Hugh Baggaley
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