Friday 13th April - The Wyre Forest

Today I went out with Tony to undertake a walk in the Wyre Forest.  The idea was to hopefully connect with Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (my Wyre bogey bird) and pick up the Tree Pipits which had been reported a few days earlier.  I have seen a number of Tree Pipits there over the years but today I had taken my sound recorder with me in the hope of getting some recordings.  Needless to say the Lesser Spot remained elusive, although we did hear one calling distantly beyond Uncllys Farm.  As for the Tree Pipits there was no sign either and i can only assume that the ones the previous week had been passage birds as opposed to returning breeders.

The walk itself didn't give up much in terms of birds although good numbers of Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler were in good voice, so I put my sound recorder to good use.  We also had good views of a singing ♂ Blackcap along the disused railway line.

Butterflies were also fairly inactive today with the only notables being a ♀ Orange Tip at the carpark near Uncllys. A Peacock and a Small Tortoiseshell were seen in the Town Coppice area.

That said the Wyre is a fantastic place to go for a walk and usually there are one or two highlights.  Today's came in the form of the forests reptiles.  At Town Coppice we had cracking views of a ♂ Adder.  It must have recently sloughed its skin and was the most wonderful blue/grey colour...absolutely stunning!  Added to that we discovered 2 Slow Worms along the embankment of the disused railway that were basking together.

OK so we didn't get from the forest what we had initially intended but we still had an really enjoyable 4-5 hours.

Chiffchaff - Wyre Forest, 13th April 2012 by Shenstone Birder

Willow Warbler 1 - Wyre Forest, 13th April 2012 by Shenstone Birder

Slow Worms (Anguis fragilis)
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4 comments:

  1. Pam16 April 2012 at 03:27

    It sounds a great 4-5 hours you had Jason! As you say sometimes you can see something or relatively nothing but what a wonderful area it is to be walking in! Your sound recordings are really good and a great pic of the 2 Slow Worms and I bet the views of the Adder were a great highlight! A very enjoyable read, thanks.

    PS: Nice one with the Redstart!

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  2. ShySongbird16 April 2012 at 03:41

    Even though not everything you were hoping for it still sounded like a pleasant visit. Funnily enough I was only saying yesterday that I haven't seen a Slow Worm for a long time!

    Your sound recordings aren't showing up on my iPad so will check them out on the laptop later.

    A shame about the GCGs, hope they try again.

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  3. Anonymous16 April 2012 at 09:08

    Jason : Never ever seen a Slow Worm. Am i envious ? course i am.

    Hoping to pick up a passage Tree Pipit. They`re an annual flyover, so there`s every chance. Just a case of being in the right place at the right time.

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  4. Jason K17 April 2012 at 01:29

    Pam - Thanks. As you know, also being local to the Wyre...it is such a beautiful place and even if you see little it is still enjoyable there. Your right the Adder was the highlight, it's just a pity that I was unable to get close enough to get a photo...ah well

    Jan - It was still very enjoyable. Not sure why the sound recordings won't play on ipad..perhaps Soundcloud isnt supported. On a happy note though...the grebes are already starting to display again...renewing their bond...so fingers crossed they will be more succesful this time.

    Dean - Slow Worms aren't every day in these parts and Ive never seen one 'on patch' but they are fairly common locally...perhaps due to the fragments of low land heath within the wyre forest district

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