A race day up in Coventry, but with not needing to be there till 12:30 gave me a shot at catching up with the Lesser Pecker that has been seen quite regularly at RSPB Nagshead in the Forest of Dean, particularly as the forecast was for a dry morning.
As I neared Lydney, the rain started, which reminded me that I had forgotten to bring my wellies!!. Never mind, its muddy shoes for the rest of the day.. Arriving at Nagshead just after 6:30 I made my way to the lower part of the short trail, passing a singing Firecrest on the way. I'd been in the woods for about 10 minutes when, half hidden by a singing Nuthatch, the Lesser Pecker could be heard singing (honest, it is a song). The unfortunate part was I couldn't see anything as one of my contact lenses was giving me grief and causing my eye to stream. A quick check and clean of the lens and vison was fine, but the pecker had decided to shut up!Despite a lot of scanning and waiting, there was no further sight or sound of it before I left at 11.
The morning wasn't a complete write of as apart from the Firecrest a pair of Hawfinches were seen several times - OK, the views are usually not as good, but there is something more satisfying in finding you own birds away from feeding stations. A male Gos' flew over low twice, whilst a female Sprawk had a try at one of the many Grey Squirrels.
In reality the paths were not to bad, only a few short sections were particularly muddy, so shoes not all that muddy when I left. And the rain stopped about 7:30.
As I neared Lydney, the rain started, which reminded me that I had forgotten to bring my wellies!!. Never mind, its muddy shoes for the rest of the day.. Arriving at Nagshead just after 6:30 I made my way to the lower part of the short trail, passing a singing Firecrest on the way. I'd been in the woods for about 10 minutes when, half hidden by a singing Nuthatch, the Lesser Pecker could be heard singing (honest, it is a song). The unfortunate part was I couldn't see anything as one of my contact lenses was giving me grief and causing my eye to stream. A quick check and clean of the lens and vison was fine, but the pecker had decided to shut up!Despite a lot of scanning and waiting, there was no further sight or sound of it before I left at 11.
The morning wasn't a complete write of as apart from the Firecrest a pair of Hawfinches were seen several times - OK, the views are usually not as good, but there is something more satisfying in finding you own birds away from feeding stations. A male Gos' flew over low twice, whilst a female Sprawk had a try at one of the many Grey Squirrels.
In reality the paths were not to bad, only a few short sections were particularly muddy, so shoes not all that muddy when I left. And the rain stopped about 7:30.
So close and yet so far and hard lucky martin .
ReplyDelete