plus it's given me more ammunition in the fight to convince born wild we should spend some time there too
Hi,
I have just returned from a week in the Forest of Dean (6th Feb 2010 to 13th Feb 2010).
This was not just a birdwatching trip as I went with a non-birdwatching friend (who is, however, interested in wildlife).
We stayed in a lovely cottage on the edge of the Nagshead RSPB reserve in the village of Parkend.
Saturday 6th February 2010
The only highlight of the drive to the Forest from London was two sightings of Buzzards flying over the M4.
In the evening 2 Tawny owls were calling at dusk close to the cottage.
Sunday 7th February 2010
After the longish drive the day before we decided to explore the Nagshead RSPB reserve which we could walk to from the cottage. In a tree outside our cottage there was a flock of 9 siskins and we heard a green woodpecker and there were lots of the usual stuff around - tits, finches, thrushes etc.
At the reserve itself we saw 4 more siskins, about 30 crossbills, 1 male bullfinch, 3 jays, 3 great-spotted woodpeckers, 1 nuthatch, and a variety of tits, thrushes and finches.
In the afternoon I decided to walk over to Parkend Chruch in search of hawfinches. Alas I heard or saw no sign of them but did see 3 more crossbills, a female siskin, 3 nuthatches, 2 great-spotted woodpeckers, a pair of bullfinches, 3 redwing and a jay.
Monday 8th February 2010
On Monday we headed to Brierley in search of hawfinches at a site well known for the species. Again we saw no evidence of them but did see a buzzard, a large flock of crossbills and some more siskin.
Later on we headed to Cannop Ponds and saw a dipper, 8 Mandarin, a nuthatch and the usual woodland birds.
On leaving the car park we stopped the car next to the feeding area on the exit road to have a look at the birds here and when everything was spooked and took off, one great tit remained on the floor. After this had happened 2 more times I decided to get out of the car to have a look. I'm so glad I did. The poor thing had gotten its hind claw entangled in one of those green plastic nets around a fat ball and could not take off. I managed to catch hold of it and saw that the netting had cut into the claw and was very tightly wound round the bird's leg. Having no scissors or anything to cut with in the car, I proceeded to slowly unwind the bag until the birds claw was freed and then released it in the same area. Thankfully the bird appeard uninjured and flew off strongly, calling so I hope it was alright. It didn't appear weak so may not have been trapped for long.
On the way back to the cottage we stopped at Speech House to again look for hawfinches but again no sign of them, although we did see 2 ravens, 2 nuthatches and 2 bullfinches.
A final stop at New Fancy View yielded 2 green woodpeckers in the car park area and a small flock of crossbill but the weather was gloomy and not the right conditions for raptors so we didn't hang around as the forecast was much better for the second half of the week.
Tuesday 9th February 2010
We dedcided to take a drive to Slimbridge for the day and as we left the cottage a green woodpecker flew off from the roadside verge, beautiful bird.
At Slimbridge we saw the usual suspects, but highlights were the white-fronted geese and Bewick's swans, 1 spotted redshank, 1 black-tailed godwit, 1 golden plover and 1 mandarin.
The centre is great and Chris was amazed at the number of species in the collection and enjoyed watching the otters being fed in the afternoon.
Wednesday 10th February 2010
Chris wanted a lie in so I left early to head back to Brierley in search of the elusive hawfinches. Again no luck here or at Speech House but as the weather was much brighter I decided to stop in at New Fancy View and within 10 minutes of arriving the first Goshawk appeared, a lifer for me. In the space of 30 minutes there were numerous sightings often involving more than one bird in the scope at once and I reckon I saw at least 5 different birds. Amazing, as I have previously tried to see Goshawk at various locations around the country at well-known watchpoints but never had any luck.
An interesting sight was 2 goosander flying in the distance and i also saw more crossbills, a green woodpecker and 2 buzzards.
On the ay back down to the carpark, there was a sudden flash in front of me as a sparrowhawk dashed into the bird feeding area and out again, empty handed.
That afternoon we headed off to Tintern Abbey for some non-birdwatching activity but saw 2 ravens flying over the abbey.
Thursday 11th February 2010
As Chris wanted to see the goshawks himself, we drove down to New Fancy View in the morning and no sooner had he got to the viewpoint he asked what that large bird in a dead larch on the other side of the valley was. It was a beautiful Goshawk, gleaming white and it sat there for a good 10 minutes while we watched it and then took off and circled around in front of us. Amazing. As it was bitterly cold and Chris was satisfied with the views he had had we headed off to Brierley and Speech House again. And again had no luck in seeing or hearing any hawfinches. Not even a glimpse. I was beginning to wonder if there were any this year. Compensation came in the form of a treecreeper quitely feeding in the Speech House woodlands, our first for the trip.
Friday 12th February 2010
Last full day in the Forest so I headed off early alone to Brierley in search of the blasted hawfinches again. On walking up the forest track I heard a 'ticking' and saw two hawfinches fly off and was then left in silence. Frustrated to have only gotten poor views of a bird I have only ever seen once before (again poor views) I headed off to Speech House and wandered quietly around the woodlands opposite the house. I saw another treecreeper but little else and decided to head back as were planning to have a look around Coleford and Symonds Yat in the afternoon.
On the walk back to the car I heard a 'ticking' noise again. I stopped and out of the corner of my eye saw a bird alight in a tree about 20 yards away. It was a hawfinch. It stayed for about 30 seconds before flying off. It didn't seem to fly far and sure enough about 2 minutes later it flew back with 3 other hawfinches and off into the distance. Deciding this was probably the best view I was going to get I decided to head back to the cottage, pleased that I had managed to catch up with the elusive blighters.
After arriving back at the cottage and collecting Chris we headed off to Symonds Yat where we were treated to fantastic views of both peregrines flying around the lookout point and perching up in a tree on the edge of one of the cliff faces. Whilst we were there, several members of the public came and we were only too happy to show them the birds through the telescope as well as a rather obliging buzzard perched in the tree in the wood on the opposite side of the river.
Saturday 13th February 2010
On the Friday afternoon I had seen on Chris's iPhone that a flock of 20+ hawfinches had been seen that day at Parkend Church so, as the site was only a 5 minute drive from the cottage, we decided to drop in on the way to Oxford, where we were visiting Chris's family for the night.
We arrived at the woods next to the church to find a group of birders watching the hawfinches in the distace as they fed on the woodland floor. They kindly let us use their telescope to see them (I had left mine in the car as I didn't expect it would be any use for watching hawfinches, even if we did see any - which in hindsight was a bad call) and then we watched a group of possibly 15 birds feeding on the floor and flying up into the trees every so often with our binoculars.
Glad to have had excellent views of these beautiful birds we left the Forest and drove to Oxford and then home on the Sunday, seeing 3 red kites along the M40 on the way.
All in all a wonderful trip. Even in mid winter the Forest is beautiful and there was hardly a sole around, which was great. We saw 74 species of birds (including one lifer - goshawk, and one bird I have only ever seen poorly before - hawfinch) and, although not a birdwatcher (yet), Chris throroughly enjoyed the trip as well.
Ian
Sounds great, when you see Hawfinches and Goshawks you feel so fulfilled, Crossbills too! Very successful.
The Gosses are meant to display in March but I reckon they do so earlier than that.
Great result in helping the poor entangled Great tit too !!
that sounds like a brilliant weeks birding to me particularly as it contained 4 species which would be lifers for me.
plus it's given me more ammunition in the fight to convince born wild we should spend some time there too