Taking any reasonable photos today was going to be a
challenge. The skies around Banstead Woods had a carpet of fog which had seeped
into the woodland creating a murky and haunted like atmosphere! The paths were
generally devoid of humans giving the woodland birds plenty of opportunities to
forage in the leaf litter.
I spent a hour or so creeping around The Slangs watching
Bullfinch darting across open areas and pathways. The birds would not stay in
view for long seeking cover as soon as I was in their view. This species I have
very few photos of and probably only a couple of decent shots over the years.
The woods were very active with bird song which made
locating the various species reasonably easy. During my walk round I decided to
go off piste and look for Woodcock in areas where I have seen them before. The
prospect of seeing a bird on the ground is almost impossibly. I have only
photographed two birds one at Titchwell RSPB and the other at the London
Wetland Centre. The likely-hood is that if seen it will be a flushed bird!
After
about twenty minutes I’m creeping around in the undergrowth and old “Timberdick”
rattles its wings and flies low over the scrub in front of me and disappears from
view just as quickly as it appeared. Therefore why am I startled and the heart
rate takes a rapid spike! It was what I was expecting to happen… Wasn’t it?! I regained my composure with a chuckle or two thrown in and continued looking before returning to the paths.
I recorded 22 woodland species during my visit. I decided
against venturing onto Canons Farm happy that I had given Banstead Woods good
coverage in the conditions!
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