Elizabeth Bigg
Addicted member
A lovely day for our first visit to this reserve, with bright sunshine most of the time. Chiffchaffs were calling from all around, green woodpeckers were forever teasing us with their "yaffles", and there were occasional calls from pheasants. I thought I was going to return home with some of the birds on my list with (H) after their names.
There were three highlights of the day - first of all I sat down for a while with all our gear, while Malcolm went back to the Centre to pick up some sandwiches. I heard a beautiful song that I couldn't identify, but the bird continued to sing when Malcolm returned - and he immediately said it was a nightingale. I was rather sceptical at first, then two more people came along and confirmed it.
When we were in the first hide, admiring the usual birds, and feeling pleased that we could identify some of them following Minsmeet, we saw a green woodpecker - a little later it was joined by another, and then a third arrived. There was then a fierce battle between two of them while the other flew off. It was really vicious, until one of them admitted defeat, and flew away.
Finally, as we were wending our weary way back to the Centre, we kept stopping to try to see a chiff chaff - and eventually succeeded. It was quite close to us, and we had an excellent view, as it called from the nearby tree.
There were three highlights of the day - first of all I sat down for a while with all our gear, while Malcolm went back to the Centre to pick up some sandwiches. I heard a beautiful song that I couldn't identify, but the bird continued to sing when Malcolm returned - and he immediately said it was a nightingale. I was rather sceptical at first, then two more people came along and confirmed it.
When we were in the first hide, admiring the usual birds, and feeling pleased that we could identify some of them following Minsmeet, we saw a green woodpecker - a little later it was joined by another, and then a third arrived. There was then a fierce battle between two of them while the other flew off. It was really vicious, until one of them admitted defeat, and flew away.
Finally, as we were wending our weary way back to the Centre, we kept stopping to try to see a chiff chaff - and eventually succeeded. It was quite close to us, and we had an excellent view, as it called from the nearby tree.
Last edited: