I usually make a day trip to the Forest of Dean around this time of year, visiting four sites, in fairly close proximity to each other so today I left early, intending to reach Parkend around 8 o'clock. My first stop was in Crown Lane, where I found a parking spot along the lane adjacent to the cricket ground, a place where you can (often) see hawfinches under the yew trees Although it seemed several others were of the same mind, no hawfinches appeared amongst the chaffinches, despite the vast quantities of seed put out for them, and so one by one, most people left. They are shy birds and do not come down to feed when humans, i.e. less informed birders, are standing around waiting, which sadly happened on this occasion. You have to stay in your car to have any chance of seeing them on the the ground.
Next was a short walk up a steep path to New Fancy viewpoint, you sometimes can get good views of raptors from here, and on one occasion I have seen a crossbill, but today only a pair of ravens showed.
Nagshead rspb failed to produce anything of interest either; the Campbell hide, I was hoping to visit, was shut, being unstable, and there were no frogs in the pond where I'd seen them last year.
My last hope for any new sightings today, was Cannop ponds, surely there would be some mandarin ducks there? Though things weren't looking good when I overheard someone saying they hadn't seen any today. However, I parked and headed over to some feeders where sometimes marsh tits can be seen, I hadn't found any at my local country park so far this year but was hopeful here. A lady told me she had seen some but I had to wait a long time until one did eventually appear! At last another tick for my year list! A grey wagtail nearby provided me with a second tick for the day. There were no mandarins on the usual lake but the same lady had told me there were some in a pond the opposite side of the road, if you peered through the hedge!
One more place I thought I'd check was an area near some Stoneworks at the far end of the ponds so I drove round to the pull in area and took the footpath towards a bridge where once I had seen a dipper briefly. Looking down beyond the weir, I spotted a brown and white bird perched on a jutting out stone ledge. However, while pointing the dipper out to a fellow birder, it suddenly took off and flew fast over the bridge and down the lake before I could get out my camera. Frustrating but at least another new bird for the year. I followed the rather muddy path alongside this lake, but didn't catch up with the dipper, although I did see three goosanders and a couple more mandarins.
Just before I returned to my car, I stopped to watch a constant flow of small birds, mostly tits, feeding from a ivy covered tree stump which had been supplied with bird seed. Then a couple of birders stopped by and asked if I'd noticed the kingfishers further up the lake. One bird was sperched in a tree and I just managed to find it through my binoculars before it, too, flew off.
Earlier in the day I'd overheard someone say that it was their worst day in the Forest of Dean (due to lack of sightings) and I was almost inclined to agree with him, but in the end Cannop Ponds came up trumps and gave me five sightings new for the year.
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