Thursday, March 27, 2014
The firecrest was first heard singing at about 10.30 am. According to the BWP only the male sings; my picture appears to show a female, so there are probably two birds present. I thought firecrests had deserted the area, so even if these two move on, it's really special to have seen some from the house again. I feel very lucky.
I went to the woods and found a lesser spotted woodpecker still in the same area. Again it was a female, with a noticeably white crown. Silver birch seems to be the favoured tree for foraging at this time - which is useful as it puts the birds lower down, especially when they investigate the trunks.
A tawny owl hooted once from a tangle of trees nearby, and a raven kronking somewhere to the east seemed to be answered by a more distant one to the west. Dark clouds and a clap of thunder sent me home just before the rain came down. This was to be the last time I would see one of the lesser spotted woodpeckers of Burnham Beeches and adjacent woodlands before leaving Taplow and moving to Scotland.
// posted by Christine @ 10:17 AM 
