So the first person I met was a chap from the Forestry Commission with his 2 dogs. Didn't catch his name but he was looking at areas that needed attention, i.e. a bit of scrub clearing. The small trees here are quite compact and once they become a tangle, are not that appealing to bird life. I asked him if there were any plans to make a scrape in front of the hide. To which he replied it was something they would look at in the future, especially as they could use the run off water from the 8000 homes being built close-by. Ouch I didn't see that one coming. 8000 homes!!!
Needless to say the chap wasn't to pleased to say the least. What it does mean though, is that Nightingale Wood will unfortunately become one huge Dog Loo. Yet another Green Belt under threat. I keep saying this though, where are all these jobs coming from, for these new home owners.
Any way we said our farewells and I wished him luck. He's going to need it.
Map of the Walks
This actually was a terrific walk around the wood, the sun was out and though there was a bit of a breeze, the wildlife was abundant. There wasn't much to see from the Hide (wouldn't it be wonderful to have scrape in front of it) so I carried on around, until I came to a trail to my right which leads you out to the fields. It also takes you to the small pool next to the Marston Brook. What a wildlife haven this turned out to be. There were Chiffchaffs and Linnets singing around me. A Kingfisher bolted down the brook, there were Toads galore in the pool and at least 3 Small Tortoiseshell butterflies feeding on the Sallow flowers. Also there were dozens of Bumblebees and a few Hoverflies.
The pool by Marston Brook
Marston Brook on the left
One of 14 Chiffchaff heard singing
Linnet
Toad
Toad
Toad
Small Tortoiseshell butterfly
Small Tortoiseshell butterfly
Small Tortoiseshell butterfly
Small Tortoiseshell butterfly
It was hard for me to walk away but with more to see it was off back to the track where a Roe Deer was seen feeding in the field close to the River Cole. I watched it for a good 5 minutes or so before it walked away, jumped a fence and disappeared into the woods. Along the brook a Wren scolded me for being there, so I headed off towards Roves Farm.
Roe Deer
Up and over the fence
Wren
The barn ahead
Looking north
Redwing
Redwing
Redwing
Doubling back I entered Nightingale Wood and headed up past Prior's Farley Cottages, at least I think that's what they are called. Though when you walk past it, there only appears to be one cottage. The woods were alive with birds and a Green Woodpecker was heard calling several times. Funnily enough though I didn't see or hear any Great Spotted Woodpeckers which are a lot more common here than its cousin.
There were at least 14 Chiffchaffs and a good handful of Bullfinches. This is an excellent wood for Bullfinches, as it is for Redpoll and Siskins which I saw on a couple of occasions. A Goldfinch landed in a fir tree next to me and then started to eek out the seeds from a pine cone. In all my years of bird watching I have never seen this on fir cones. Who needs a Crossbill!
Goldfinch and cones
Goldfinch feeding on pine cone seeds
Overhead there was a small passage of Meadow Pipits and a mixed party of a dozen or so Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls which headed south. A Robin sprang into life along the path and another was trying to out sing him on the other side. It was also noticeable that there were a lot of Dunnock around.
Dunnock
Robin
In total I recorded 35 bird species with the highlight being the Kingfisher, which really caught me by surprise. Mallard (2 drake, 1 duck), 2 Red Kite, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, 2 Collared Dove, 1 Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker, 5 Meadow Pipit, 1 Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 8 Redwing, 4 Song Thrush, 14 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Redpoll, Linnet, Siskin, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and several Bullfinch.