As I have said many times, I am not a 'twitcher'. I'm quite content with patch bird watching and visiting favoured sites for any birds that I don't get on my patch.
But I have two good friends in Jonesy and her fella, Paul, who aren't 'twitchers' either, instead they concentrate on just a handful of birds that they will travel to see. Wrynecks are one of Paul's obsessions - he has now seen over 50 of them in England during his lifetime. It's cousin, the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is also a passion of his and Jonesy. They don't just 'twitch' them for a 'tick', they understand the bird, they know exactly the habitat it prefers, when to start looking out for the birds, the calls, even the distinction between the drumming of a LSW compared to a GSW. Every February Paul starts researching likely areas and is often 99% on track.
Me ? Until today I had never seen a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and I had almost hit the stage where I thought I would never see one as their numbers are seriously declining. Nobody can say for sure how many LSWs are still around the London area. Bushey Park used to be a good site for them but none were seen last year. Wimbledon Common may have a pair but that's unconfirmed. Richmond Park used to have three pairs but these birds are so small (just a tad smaller than a Great Tit) that trying to observe them and keep records is an almost impossibility, so again records are unconfirmed.
Paul and Jonesy knew that I was a LSW virgin and earlier this week they asked me if I would like to 'break my duck' and go and see one..........
Of course, I didn't say no.
So this morning at 7.30am we were in Richmond Park.
Paul had seen both male and female LSW there last week.
And within an hour Paul had found us a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
It was flighty, but it stopped a few times to 'drum' and 'call'. At one point we think we saw a female too but lost the bird before we could confirm it.
My photos are pure record shots, the male LSW rarely sat still long enough for me to focus on it and the weather wasn't exactly on our side.....
But I can safely, and very happily say, I have finally seen a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
My last visit to Richmond Park was for the rutting season last October (link to that days blog here) and I admit I concentrated only on the Red Deer, who rut so magnificently. I'm guilty in that I practically ignored the other deer residents of the park, the Fallow Deer, so here's a few photos of these little beauties today.....
Other birds that piqued my interest were a couple of calling Wrens....
a pair of Kestrel displaying, though I only got a photo of the female after she'd seen off a few Jackdaws that were getting on her nerves....
a pair of Stonechat (eight individuals were later reported on Wiki London Birders)....
There was also a reported sighting of a Dartford Warbler but we weren't fortunate enough to see it today. In Jonesy's own words it would have been 'gravy' on our day if we had.
So a complete success of a morning traipsing around Richmond Park. I cannot put in to words (but will try) on what it is like to see a LSW, one of England's most elusive birds. I was literally gobsmacked. It is so small, so un-seen by some, but when you get your bins on that stripy back and (in the case of the male) that wonderful red 'beret', it just takes your breath away. What a ducking dainty cracker !
And it really is all thanks to Paul. Without his expertise field knowledge, I would have not seen this very rarely seen bird today.
I could have happily ended my field trip after that. I'd 'broken my duck', was happy, content and had enough photos and sightings to fill my blog post.........but my Jonesy likes me to have full 'field trips' when I'm out with her and Paul. So after a toilet and coffee break, Paul scanned through the recent bird alerts on the internet and came across another bird that was in a fairly driveable location, that I had never seen before. A Long-eared Owl has been at RSPB Dungeness for some weeks now, and today two were reported. A couple of hours later I was looking at my very first LEO.
However by this time, the weather had seriously changed from this mornings calm, dry, and often sunny, skies. Now the wind was howling, it was raining but it was so windy that the rain was horizontal and barely touched us. After a bit of guidance from a couple who were already on site, we located the first LEO. Sadly the hooley winds had pushed the bird back in to the scrub, but I managed a couple of half decent record shots....
After Paul set up his scope, we spotted the second LEO, less than a metre away from the first, but it had its back to us which is probably why we didn't spot it straight away. The camouflage on these beautiful birds is outstanding and really shows why so many are unreported - they honestly just don't get seen. Even in my two pics below, the first owl can be seen fairly clearly, but the second owl can only be seen if you know where to look.....
It is just NWW of the first LEO, just a couple of branches to it's left......
We still had an hour or so of day light left so scanned the Dennis's Hide for the recently seen male Smew. We never did find it, despite visiting the other nearest hides, but we did find a lovely 1st winter female red head instead....
The weather got worse whilst we were there. Visibility was poor. The waters were choppy.
Two female Goldeneyes were just visible.....
Some Shovelers were trying to 'shovel'...
a lone Great Crested Grebe was sleeping....
plenty of Pochard were bobbing around...
and the very under-stated Gadwalls were mainly in pairs....
This is a dreadful photo below. I was trying to capture the highness of the water, along with the brutal winds that was making 'white horses' break against the shore, and also to high-light the number of Cormorants that were attempting to roost in the tree tops....
As windswept and tired as I was after getting up at 5am today, walking over 11km and with almost nine hours on my feet, I could not have come home happier. Two new 'lifer' birds for me. Several dodgy record photos. Excellent company. And now for a much needed and deserved large glass of wine.
Paul and Jonesy - you rock !! I cannot thank you both enough. XXX
What a fabulous day!
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