Ancient Woodland Adventure!

Ancient Woodland Adventure!

We arrived at a small woodland at around 5:30am targeting Wood Warblers. We went up a steep yet short trail yet to no avail. We then went down the trail back into the woods, but still nothing. Just as we were about to leave, we heard their unique song. Excitedly, we scanned the trees and managed to spot at least four Wood Warblers singing and chasing each other around. We waited around for a few more hours, trying to get a record shot, but we ended up leaving empty handed. We then went to a private reserve to try and find more woodland birds. This reserve has two halves, the woodland and the mosses. We first walked onto the mosses, spotting an Osprey along with multiple House Martins, a few Swallows and a pair of Ravens. I then found a black and white bird singing on a wire. It was a Pied Flycatcher! 

While photographing the Pied Flycatcher, I noticed some movement in the tree next to me. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a Tree Pipit. After getting a few record shots, we continued along the trail, picking up three Crossbills coming down to a puddle as well as two Lesser Redpolls. 

As we continued along the mosses, we came across many Four-spotted Chasers and Large Red Damselflies. We also spotted Common Blue Damselflies & Azure Damselflies, as well as a few Blue-tailed Damselflies. 

We then crossed a bridge which overlooks a large stream. From the bridge, I managed to spot a new damselfly for me, a male Beautiful Demoiselle. It was sat on a reed right beside us. I managed to get a photo of it, when suddenly I heard a Cuckoo calling nearby, followed by another. After a bit of scanning, I managed to get a brief view of it perched in a tree, followed by another brief view of the Cuckoo flying past.

We then made our way into the woodland area of the reserve, hoping for better views of a Wood Warbler. Along the way, we spotted a large herd of Red Deer. 

As soon as we entered the woodland, we were greeted by singing Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs. We then got to the area which we were recommended for Wood Warblers, and immediately heard it greeting us. After a bit of tracking down, we managed to spot the Wood Warbler. Unlike the Wood Warblers at the other site, the ones here stayed still when they were singing, which made them harder to spot but made it much easier to get good views once found. 

We managed to hear at least two Wood Warblers here, but only managed to see one. Happy with our sightings, we made our way back to the car park. 

Along the way back, I watched a yellow moth fly across the path and land on a blade of grass. It was a Speckled Yellow, one of my target moths for the day. 

Once we had arrived in the car park, we were bid farewell by this Pied Flycatcher which was right besides us. 

We then headed to Foulshaw Moss CWT at around 4:00pm in hopes of seeing a few rare dragonflies. As soon as we arrived, we made our way to the hide which overlooked a few feeders. We waited for around 20 minutes, watching two Redpoll, a few Greenfinches and a Tree Sparrow. 

We then went onto the boardwalk, spotting a few Tree Pipits flying over and perching in the dead trees. After a bit more walking, I spotted a few Common Lizards basking in the afternoon sun. 

We also found this large, fuzzy caterpillar. It was later identified by an expert as a Northern Eggar. 

While on the boardwalk, a red dragonfly with a white face landed in front of me. It was a White-faced Darter, one of Britain's rarest dragonflies and one of my most wanted.

As we continued along the boardwalk, we spotted many more dart around. We also spotted a distant Osprey on the nest from the viewing platform. 

On the way back to the car park, I spotted a Red-and-Black Froghopper, which was a great insect to end the day. 

Overall, an exceptionally great trip taking away great view of a few rare ancient woodland birds, along with my most wanted dragonfly (White-faced Darter)!