Yarner Wood, Thursday 25th May

Yarner Wood, Thursday 25th May

On Thursday 25th May, 17 of us gathered in Yarner Wood car park at 10am for a morning walk.

First of all we followed one of the many nature trails up the hill from the cars and through the edge of the wood onto Trendlebere Down, a small patch of heathland. The first bird here was a Whitethroat, singing its scratchy song from an area of short gorse. There were Willow Warblers their liquid cascading songs all around us, while down in the valley, Woodpigeon and Blackcap could be heard. Good views of another Whitethroat were gained, and scanning the skies produced a distant Buzzard, along with my favourites, Swifts. Further along, we had very brief and distant views of what just might have been a Goshawk, disappearing behind the trees. Oh, well!!

We re-entered the wood, and were greeted by an invisible Chiffchaff, singing loudly at us from the treetops. Continuing along the track, we saw the first Pied Flycatcher of the day, a male singing above a nest box. Slightly further along; the first Wood Warbler darted from tree to tree while singing, making himself very hard to see. (No Redstart)

Then followed a fairly quiet period, broken by what might have been a Redstart singing in the canopy, the occasional Wren or Coal Tit, and the ever-present Robins, singing everywhere. Joining a muddy track, we were treated to great views of at least two pairs of Pied Flycatchers going in and out of the nest boxes with food for their young. (No Redstart). Leaving the flycatchers behind, we carried on down, and came out opposite the hide which we then squeezed into. Very little was seen from the hide, except a Great Tit coming out of a nest box. A Jay was heard several times. We then carried on down to the car park, where we were welcomed back by a singing Blackcap and several Blue Tits. (No Redstart).

Many thanks to John, for organising and leading a very enjoyable walk.

26 species seen.

Jyothi Woodger Ray, age 12

Birds seen, in BOU order or alphabetic order

BOU order

Buzzard

Herring Gull

Woodpigeon

Swift

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Wren

Robin

Blackbird

Song Thrush

Mistle Thrush

Blackcap

Whitethroat

Wood Warbler

Chiffchaff

WillowWarbler

Goldcrest

Pied Flycatcher

Long-tailed Tit

Blue Tit

Coal Tit

Great Tit

Jay

Carrion Crow

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Alphabetic order