Heather's Nature Notes: NAGSHEAD RSPB

I have been visitng the RSPB reserve at Nagshead near Parkend in the Forest of Dean for several years now; and today's visit was to look for redstarts and pied flycatchers which have returned for the summer months. I saw both species last spring at a distance but today I was hoping for some closer views as there have been some encouraging blog posts of birds being quite close to the hide on occasions.

Walking down to the Lower Hide which usually gives the best views of these birds, I met a lady returning who informed me she had 'just missed seeing them'. She obviously hadn't waited for them to return which I was pretty sure they probably would do as there have been frequent reports of them in recent days.

There was one other couple in the hide who were seated at the corner which allowed them to see both in front of the hide and to the side. The window at the side was the whole width of the hide but with no seats and also slightly higher than the front windows. They told me they'd seen both species and that the pied flycatcher had perched on a post to the side of the hide about 15 feet away earlier that morning.

Now, however, the only birds I could see were a robin, great tits and blue tits and a blackbird though there was a lot of birdsong to be heard. After a short time, the couple left and advised me to take their seat as the flycatcher was usually only seen from the side window. - good advice as it turned out!

After twenty minutes of not much bird activity, I spotted some movement a mongst the branches of a small tree which was growing on an island in the pond some way below the hide. A quick check through my binoculars identified a female redstart. At that moment the door to the hide opened and another couple came in and sat down, I was just pointing it out to them when I was aware of a bird singing just outside the side window.. a male pied flycatcher had flown onto the post and was singing! I managed a quick couple of photos before it flew off.

While we were watching, from the hide windows, a couple of wardens came down in front of the hide with a ladder to check the nest boxes. Speaking to them later I found out that there were mostly tits nesting but also a couple of flycatchers using the boxes.

The female redstart, together with the male stayed around the area for the rest of the time I was in the hide, quite distant but identifiable through binoculars as they flitted amongst the bushes and small trees.

I had obviously arrived in the hide at the right time as more people came in and soon there were no seats left. I spotted the pied flycatcher twice more from my vantage position at the side, once in the trees and then once on the post again but I did let people know and suddenly everyone was standing up trying to see and photograph it!

Soon afterwards I heard a whisper from a chap next to me that a pair of redstarts were right close to the hide, if I looked out the side window. Again my position in the hide gave me some brilliant views.

At this point, I decided that as I had occupied ;my seat for the past couple of hours it was perhaps time to let someone else have a turn so I returned to my car to eat my lunch then followed the long trail around the woodland, hoping perhaps to hear and see a wood warbler for the first time. However, I was unsuccessful and one of the wardens told me that only a few had been heard so far this year so perhaps that was unsurprising. My last stop was at the recently reopened Campbell Hide where I saw a couple of blackcaps bathing in the pond.