Siskins enjoying the cafe almost as much as the visitors. |
The cafe and visitor centre are not to be missed as it offers a great chance to enjoy a range of birds which flock to the feeders and are almost guaranteed to have Siskin on them. Two Lesser Redpoll also visited as well as the usual suspects which were all present - Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Robin, Blue and Great Tit etc.
A walk down into Padley Gorge followed, in search of the cafe (yes, I'm a big fan of cafe's when it comes to birding and walking) at the bottom. My family had heard that this mythical place did chip butty's the size of dinner plates and the proof that this was more reality than myth has made it a ritual stop whenever we visit the area. The ground was still covered in snow (pretty deep at times) from a couple of weeks ago but only seemed to add to the beauty of the woodland and moors.
I came across the first nest of wood ants I've ever found on the way to the gorge after I took a handful of the leaves and soil from the surface of a mound which I thought looked ant nesty. Before I knew it ants were exploding from the nest, covering the entire surface in seconds and leaving me to furiously brush them off my clothes as I was attacked by the insect onslaught.

My sole experience of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker beforehand was furiously trying to pick one out in a leaf covered tree on a bird walk. It was one of those typical group birding scenarios, everyone can see it except you. There was great excitement within the group at seeing this increasingly rare bird but in the end I left empty handed. But at least now I'd heard one.
We then set about putting the nets up along a shrub thicket dripping in bird feeders, with the woodpecker's drumming getting ever closer. It had moved into a Larch tree behind us and was moving about at the very top and now it was getting lighter. I eventually located it, finding a small bird, about Greenfinch size, moving woodpecker style up a small branch. I couldn't see any colour or detail but I had finally seen a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. But the show wasn't over there.
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Blackbird with unusual plumage pattern |
The ringing itself didn't turn up anything special (but was still enjoyable as always) with a pair of Bullfinches being the highlight of the morning as well as a first year Blackbird with unusual plumage patterns on its body.
Come Tuesday I had decided to go back for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker with my binoculars and a camera to try and get a better view. By quarter past 8 that morning I had arrived with my Grandad (who also wanted to see the bird) to find it drumming in exactly the same small tree as it had been on Sunday morning. The perfect twitch. We watched it and took photos before going to explore the area further. We both got our first views of a Chiffchaff for this year and watched the Pterodactyl-esque Grey Herons flying around, and displaying on, an island Heronry.
All in all a great way to spend a Tuesday morning, and a terrific way of rounding off a wild few days.
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