Christine's walking & birds blog

A walk up the woods was an antidote to twitching, of which I've done quite a bit lately with mixed results: goosanders (yes), bearded tits (no) and Siberian chiffchaffs (unresolved).

Lesser spotted woodpecker was my target bird this morning, but I had to work hard for this little tinker. I'd almost given up hope of seeing one when I stopped to look at a great spotted, which was some way off the path. Something smaller moved away from it, and I thought I recognized the "jizz" of a lesser-spot and clicked off a couple of shots.

This is how I saw the bird, with the lens on full zoom. I've posted it uncropped but slightly brightened (it was pretty dark in the woods). I wasn't even sure exactly where the bird was, which is why it's lopsidedly near the bottom of the frame, left of centre.

I also saw one lesser redpoll but only heard siskins. There were three buzzards, a treecreeper, several goldcrests and nuthatches, and a large flock of redwings foraging on the ground in the leaf litter.