Yarner Woods

 As it was my birthday today I was treated to a trip to Yarner Woods to see the spring migrants. The weather was beautiful and when we arrived the wood was full of bird song.

 One of my favourite songs is that of the Wood Warbler and it was not long before we had good views of a male singing and displaying from tree to tree. It was not until I looked at my photographs that I noticed that this bird had coloured rings on each leg!

 Further up the path we came across our first Pied Flycatchers. They were busy singing for a mate although we only saw two females during our walk through the wood.

 Next to the car park is a small pond which is home to some Mandarin ducks. I only saw one male but he was quite shy and did not stay out in the open for long.

 The warm weather brought out a few species of butterfly. We saw lots of Brimstones, together with a Speckled Wood, Orange Tip and Holly Blue. 

 A female Redstart made a brief appearance but perhaps the highlight of the day was the sighting of a female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. She was high up the trees and was calling to her mate. 

 John has made a short video of our day at Yarner Wood showing some of the species that we saw.