Happy Easter!

As the weather was ok and there was no rain on the forecast yesterday I spent a couple of hours at the Old Lodge, a Sussex Wildife Trust nature reserve in Ashdown Forest.


Having been there before I decided to visit again and I wasn't disappointed! From the car park we walked a big circuit around the reserve. Bird song was at its peak with chiffchaff heard all across the reserve. As we walked along the top, past many bright yellow gorse bushes, we reached a wooded area. As I scanned around I noticed a flick of bright orange and as I looked closer I realised it was a beautiful male redstart, my first of the year!

Male redstart record shot
Walking further along my attention was caught by a brown streaky bird which was perched on a tree alongside the path, as it moved into view I could see that the bird was a Tree Pipit. Also around were 2 or 3 treecreeper which moved from one trunk to another, coming quite close to me at one point. A chaffinch also was perched up on a tree as it called quite loudly.

tree pipit record shot
Around halfway around the reserve we sat under some trees to have some lunch. Whilst I was doing so a familiar but surprising call echoed around the reserve, this was in fact a Cuckoo! This wasn't something I was expecting as I have never heard or seen a Cuckoo at Ashdown Forest even though they are around. Also calling were a few more Tree Pipits as well as more Chaffinch. Towards the end of the walk I saw a medium-sized bird fly up to the wire that was to the side of me. Looking through my binoculars I could see it had the striking, streaky plumage of a woodlark! This was my first ever good view of one!

Woodlark
There were plenty of stonechat, male and female, around. However they were proving particularly difficult to photograph because they kept on moving from one gorse bush to another!

Female stonechat
As the sun started to appear from beneath the clouds two kestrel soared down the hill. One hovered, dived down to catch something and flew off carrying what looked like a lizard or newt!

Kestrel
Finally I would just like to wish everyone a happy Easter!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Warnham Nature Reserve

Image
Yesterday I went to Warnham Nature Reserve As it was sunny and warm there were many insects and butterflies around such as Common Blues, Skippers, Meadow Browns and Peacocks. Here are a couple of photos I took of the common blue although one of them looked a bit battered: Common Blue Underwing Common Blue A Cricket also made an appearance as it posed to have its photo taken. Cricket The feeders were quiet, with only 6 species appearing- Robin, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Wood Pigeon. Although in the hide that looks over the lake it was a bit busier with 9 species turning up. There was a pair of Mute Swans, Mallard as usual, Tufted Duck as well as 4 Grey Heron (2 were fishing) and Coot. There was also a Little Grebe and a Great Crested Grebe. In the distant reeds I could see a Reed Warbler flitting around. My highlight were a juvenile and male Kingfisher that kept flying around the lake, landing on a perch and then diving for fish. The juvenile
Read more

A few thoughts...

Image
Having been birding now for 5 years, with almost every weekend including some sort of time immersed in nature, I thought I would write a few of my thoughts. The first one is about birding or just generally having an interest in the natural world. Usually when I go out to a nature reserve for example, I am not the only birder. But I can guarantee you I will be the only young birder who is a girl there. Occasionally I may see another boy, who has an obvious interest in birds but other than that it is either men or older people, now why is that? Is it the fact that most teenagers are stuck indoors in front of a screen? Or is it that they genuinely don't know how interesting and thrilling the natural world can be? Or could it be that they don't have access to the countryside because they live in a city? Well for me it is a combination of issues. One of them is the stereotype of birding or having an interest in nature, I don't tend to tell new friends about my hobby because
Read more

Have a wonderfully wild Christmas and a Happy New Year..

Image
Sorry I haven't got round to posting over the last couple of weeks however I hope to get out birding after Christmas. The other day I was very pleased to find out that that I got Highly commended in the junior category of the BBC Wildlife blogger awards. I would also like to say a big well done to Zach (@nerdboy386) for winning the category with his brilliant blog! I have also entered the UK blog Awards in the Green and Eco and Photography categories so fingers-crossed I might be able to do as well!  As its Christmas and the year is coming to a close I have decided to post my favorite photos from this year, I hope you enjoy looking at them!  Fly Agaric Kingfisher Kingfisher Grey Heron Adder Little Egret Stonechat Little Egret Great Crested Grebe Common Blue Kingfisher- bird ringing Firecrest- bird ringing Robin Thank you to anyone who has supported this blog over the last year whether it be on Twitter or
Read more