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| On the search for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers! |
Dad and I have returned to Santon Warren, the place where we saw the parrot crossbills a couple of months ago. This time, we were in search of lesser spotted woodpeckers, a rare sparrow-sized woodpecker that is notoriously hard to find. Lesser spotted by name, lesser spotted by nature. Because of their rapid decline, they are becoming one of the UK's most rarest birds these days and one of the best places to see them in Norfolk is here. Spring is perhaps the best time to see them as they announce their territory through drumming and calling, which sounds similar to a kestrel. 'Pee-pee-pee-pee-pee!' So will I get lucky today?
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| A tree riddled with Woodpecker nesting holes |
As soon as I got out of the car, I heard a few bursts of woodpecker drumming. However it went quiet soon after. It seems that locating the drummer was not going to be that easy. We explored the woodland, but the closest we got was hearing the loud 'jep!' call of a great spotted woodpecker, the lesser spotted's larger cousin. We tried to lure it down for a better look by beating two sticks against a tree, but it failed. I guess our drumming skills were not up to par to this woodpecker's taste! We also discovered trees riddled in nest holes of these birds. Woodpeckers tend to carve out a new hole into the same trees every year. But there was no fresh activity of that sort quite yet.
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| Siskin |
After being unsuccessful in the woods, we next tried the river trail. We came across a man who claimed to have seen one this morning, but by the state of his trousers, it suggests that we may have to wade through some deep muddy puddles. Going by the man's directions, we followed the nice, smooth river trail until it reached an end. Now the path turns muddy and we carefully had to navigate over the puddles. The mud was slippery in places, but the area was alive with birds. The sound of siskins, redwings and other birds was incredible. It was almost deafening! These birds surrounded us and we watched them fly and clamber around from nearly every tree. Unfortunately, there was no sign of any lesser spotted woodpeckers, so we eventually gave up and turned back to where we came.
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| Mute Swan |
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| Canada Geese |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Kingfisher |
Though the lesser spotted woodpeckers were a bust, we did, however, had more luck with kingfishers. At least two of them were constantly patrolling back and forth along the river. Sometimes, they just pass by low over the river's surface like an electric blue dart. Other times though, at least one of them would perch somewhere beside the river, giving us a good look at it. We also saw kestrels, nuthatches and mute swans, but there was no sign of this friendly otter that I keep hearing stories about.
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| Great, Blue and Coal Tits |
Once we returned to the car, we decided to drive to Lynford Arboretum for lunch and for a quick walk. At this point, my back was playing up and causing a lot of pain. This meant I was finding it hard to enjoy the walk or go very far. There was plenty of siskins, nuthatches, treecreepers and blue, great, marsh, long-tailed and coal tits around, all attracted to the many feeders put up all over the place. But the real highlight, though, was a great spotted woodpecker coming down as if tempted to join them. It decided not to in the end and was also rather camera shy as it chose to remain half hidden behind the tree trunks and branches instead of allowing me to see it properly. So, I did see a woodpecker today, just not the one I wanted.
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| Brambling |
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| Nuthatch |
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| Marsh Tit |
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| Siskin |
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