Whilst staying at my Dad’s house which is situated deep in the countryside between Trispen and Ladock in Cornwall, I saw for the first time, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
I had to wait a long time to see it as my wife had spotted it the previous day eating nuts from the bird food hangers, but by the time she told me, it had flown up into a nearby tree. So I went close to the tree and spent ages trying to see it as apparently it flew to it and then climbed up towards the top. I can only assume it had a nest or was hunting for insects, but it had disappeared. I had to give up on it that day but early the next morning I checked the birds that were eating and saw the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker eating as well. So I got my binoculars out and spent a few minutes watching it until it flew back up to a nearby tree (which happened to be a different tree to the one it flew to the day before). It was great to watch and the red patch on its head was clearly visible, though it was much smaller than I imagined it to be. The bright red patch on its head meant that it was a male and I am quite sure that it wasn’t a Great Spotted Woodpecker as the red patch was on the top of the head and not the back of the head. In any case, it was great to see for the first time!
On a recent visit to see family in Weymouth, we had a lovely walk through Lodmoor Nature Reserve, which is on the outskirts of Weymouth itself. It was a lovely walk through with good, solid paths to walk or push a buggy along, and we saw and heard lots of birds.
We mainly saw ducks (Mallards), Coots, Canada Geese, Crows, Black-headed Gulls and heard lots of Warblers amongst the bushes although we weren’t able to spot any of those which was a shame. But the best of all was a little Dunnock that popped out of the hedges whilst we were feeding the ducks. It was very close to us, scratching around on the path and didn’t seem very afraid of us at all. This was the first time I had seen a Dunnock (well…the first time I knew that the bird was a Dunnock) and was amazed at how similar it looked to a Sparrow. The only differences (that I could see) were that it was a bit smaller and had different markings on its back. I have an App on my phone that plays certain bird calls and songs, so out of interest, I played the call of a Dunnock and the little bird stopped and cocked its head to listen. It then flew up into a branch which was very close to us and listened there for a long time. It was there, and still, long enough for me to take a photo using my normal digital camera. If my camera had a decent zoom, it would have been a great photograph! After spending a while enjoying watching it, we moved on through the reserve and to the adjoining park area.
I would recommend anyone to go for a walk there as we only went along one side of the reserve. There were other paths to walk along which would take you all around the area and there would probably be lots more birds to hear and sing around the place. Added to that, it is right next to the sea and a lovely park with a few attractions such as a Train and Crazy Golf.
Here is a photo of a Dunnock from the RSPB website.
I saw my first Swallows of the year at Cadover Bridge on Dartmoor on the 27th March. Two of them were flying around together, looking like they were enjoying themselves. This was earlier than last year and may have been due to the warmer March weather that we had, but is a sign that Summer is just around the corner!
My family and I went to Lopwell Dam for a picnic in the car on 18th December at about 12:30pm and we were amazed at the number of birds we saw during our hour stay! We have been there several times before, but have never seen anything other than some Ducks, Swans and Canada Geese. However, this time we were overwhelmed with birds and at one point we just didn’t know where to aim our binoculars.
In the time we were there, we saw the following –
1 Kingfisher, 1 Shag, 1 Cormorant, 1 Heron, 1 Buzzard, 2 Swans, 1 Pheasant, various ducks and little birds, and an (as yet) unidentified big white bird which was similar to a Swan but was definitely not a Swan.
Heron, copyright RSPB
Shag, copyright RSPB
Kingfisher, copyright RSPB
Cormorant, copyright RSPB
Undoubtedly for me, the highlight was the Kingfisher as I had never seen one like this before. It was brilliant and we were totally lucky to spot it fly on to a branch fairly close to where the car was parked. I think we even found where it nested as a couple of times it flew across the water and disappeared by the banks to the left of the car park if you are parked up facing the water. My son and I had a walk round opposite the bank to see if we could spot it, but we couldn’t although there were several ideal places for its nest to be. A little while later, whilst sat in the car again, my wife spotted the Kingfisher fishing from a branch on the bank slightly around the corner from where we were. Through the binoculars we could see the gorgeous bird clear as a bell, and when the sun shone briefly, it made its colourings sparkle wonderfully! It was a truly amazing sight and we watched it fishing for a long while before it flew off further around the bank.
The Heron was also great as it suddenly appeared from amongst the trees opposite us and then did a large poo! 😉 whilst circling round and then flying up and over the Dam and on into Dartmoor. My son especially thought that was funny!
The unidentified white bird was a strange one. My wife thought it was a Swan to start with, but it definitely wasn’t as the neck and colourings were different. The neck wasn’t long at all in flight, but kind of squashed up with it having long white legs and orange feet. When it landed, it was fairly tall with a long neck but that was all we could determine from the where we were. It may have even looked a bit like a Goose, but it wasn’t. If anyone reads this and they have seen a large white bird at Lopwell Dam, please can you comment and let me know what it was! It would be much appreciated.
All in all, it was a great hour or so and we will definitely be going back again soon to see if we can see that Kingfisher again! 😉
On the 27th August at about 2pm my family and I were at home when my wife heard a strange noise outside. She went to have a look and spotted a rather large bird sat on the roof of a house just down the road. I had a look as well and took a photo of the bird (see below).
Juvenile Buzzard
After consulting our birding book, we found that the bird was a Juvenile Buzzard as it still had white patches on its front and a white head. It looked like it had a slightly damaged wing and the noise it was making was obviously to try and get the attention of its parents. It was sat on the roof calling for a long time – so long that we ended up going inside. We did check again several minutes later and it had gone so hopefully it flew off with its parents without any issues. Here is a picture of an adult Buzzard.
Adult Buzzard, RSPB Website
Over the preceding months, we had seen and heard lots of Buzzards in the area, so they are very common around where we live in Woolwell, Plymouth. We are surrounded by open farm land and fields, and small patches of woodland, which makes the area ideal for these birds. So I guess it was only a matter of time before we saw a Juvenile nearby. It was great to see as we had never seen a Juvenile this close before. Suffice it to say, we are keeping our eyes open even more now! 😉
