Sunday, March 20, 2011
To the woods!
The ants of Burnham Beeches are waking up. This is an even lousier shot than usual because after just a few seconds standing on the edge of the nest I had large belligerent-looking wood ants swarming up my legs, and I had to beat a hasty retreat.
Later in the spring and all through summer, the entire woodland floor will be covered with these ants, making it almost impossible to stand still for any length of time. Fortunately they haven't yet wandered far from their nests, so when, a bit further on, a small movement high up caught my eye I was able to watch a lesser spotted woodpecker for some minutes as it foraged at maniacal speed.
At the turning point of my walk, a flock of redpolls about thirty-strong with a few siskins mixed in beguiled me for some time. A tawny owl hooted twice from the depths of the woods.
When I passed the woodpecker spot again, I heard a faint tapping sound above. (Now this is strange, because an observer on a local website recently reported getting onto a lesser-spot by hearing this sound, and I thought at the time "I wish I could hear them - it would make finding them a lot easier!") And now I was hearing a tapping from above - and lo and behold, it was indeed a lesser-spot. It's the first time I've heard one feeding; but then it was unusually quiet in the woods early this morning.
// posted by Christine @ 7:57 AM 
