The search for LSW

 Not been out for ages😢 the usual combo of bad weather, work and feeling ill,  curtailing any birding trips, however a window of opportunity, reasonable weather Saturday morning with showers moving up from the South about  10 Am. So up early and head North!! I decided to have a go for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (LSW), difficult to find but I know a couple of spots to try!!! Checking my records, yes I keep records, 😢sad I know😂I was amazed to find I haven't seen a LSW since 2019, mainly due to laziness to be honest!! The problem is the sites I know are quite far from home, difficult to park at and there isn't much else about and what there is, is hard to get pics of!! 😂 I arrived on site, (will not be giving out the location as the person who told me about them many years ago asked me not to! So don't ask!) just about finding a parking space in the mud, at a creditable 7.15am walked up the hill, could hear plenty of Siskins, a few Chaffinches and a lot of Nuthatches calling. After about 20 mins I heard the drumming of a LSW, hurrah, trouble is it was very distant, most of the area is fenced off and the LSW was the wrong side of the fence, gradually the bird came a bit closer, but was still high in the trees but I eventually got eyes on, pics were at a premium, the bird was high in the trees and behind a screen of small twigs and branches!! Bugger!! I done me best all manual focus and at distance and don't start me off on the sun!! Grrrrrr!! 

LSW

I wandered around the area, could hear lots but saw little, according to Merlin as well as Siskins and Chaffinch, there were Lesser Redpolls which I didn't hear, Marsh Tit which I did hear and Grey Wagtail which I also didn't clock!! None of em posed, in fact nothing did!! I'm pretty sure I had a Crossbill flyover calling and it was nice to see a Siskin display flight!! 

TBF this Robin did look quite nice!

Stonechat one of a pair in an open area, the saying goes when looking for Dartford Warblers find a Stonechat, I did, couldn't find a Dartford 😢😁

Stonechat

I could hear the LSW drumming again so headed back into the wooded area, once again it showed ok through the bins, though once again getting pics was a nightmare!!

LSW

 The LSW had a couple of drumming sessions both about 5 mins long, on and off and I thought I heard another bird calling distantly, but can't be sure. Interestingly only heard a couple of brief burst of Great Spot drumming, Nuthatches were singing well but surprisingly didn't see any, told you the area is hard work, give me a open marshland or heathland  every time, bloody trees!!😃😃😃😃

After a couple of hours, with a long drive ahead, I decided to head home, about halfway back, I made the spur of the moment decision to stop off at Weirwood in the hope of adding Mandarin to the year list, I know pretty sad!!😂 What was even sadder, I couldn't find one!!😢 Did see a Kingfisher, though another bird that wouldn't come out of the bushes and was miles away!! A few Great Crested Grebes cruising the lake and a lot of Cormorant and Heron activity. The feeders were quite busy with Coal, Long-tailed and a Marsh Tit in with large numbers of Blue and Great Tits! 

Great Crested Grebe

Breeding plumage

Non-breeding plumage

Kingfisher was sat in this area the whole time

Long-tailed Tit

Cormorant

Coal Tit

Marsh Tit a bird today that actually showed ok, whoop!! 

On cue the rain started so headed home! A successful mission, birding in woodland is my least favourite kind of birding, looking up the whole time hurts my neck and the views are normally atrocious although at least there are no leaves at the moment.😏  Still the posy Marsh Tit was nice and the LSW is a quality bird, looked forward to the next visit in 5 years!!!😁 Roll on the Seawatching season!!!!!😂