18th February - Acres Down, The New Forest, Hampshire

The plans were set on the previous day, we would meet at the Lower Test Marshes, however as I set off, the forecast for heavy cloud and fresh winds looked a long way from the conditions I could see.  There were clear patches in the sky away to the south and east and it quite calm.  A quick call to Ian and we changed the plans and met in the car park at Acres Down in the new Forest.  Getting out of the car a Song Thrush was in full song from one of the close trees.

We set off down the main track with more Song Thrushes singing.  As we reached the bend we could hear woodpeckers drumming and right in front of us a Green Woodpecker was sat at the top of one of the dead trees.

It was joined by a Great Spotted Woodpecker before both flew off.  As nice as these two were it was the smallest woodpecker that we were here to find.  We could hear one drumming close by and had a brief view of one as it flew through the trees, only to disappear.  We walked to the spot where you can view the dead tree that a lesser Spotted Woodpecker apparently appears on, but after a wait it didn't and the surrounding area had gone quiet.

We decided to walk up on to the down, there were other spots that we knew and we considered we would have just as much chance at these. We headed back towards the car park and then up the slope to access the footpath to the down.

Coming out of the small copse a couple of Redwing flew past, a little further along and we could hear the song of the Woodlark.  It was singing somewhere above us and it took awhile to find it in the ash white sky.  Eventually we locked on to it but it was very high.  More song came from the direction of the gorse and as I walked to see if I could find the owner the singing lark above our heads started to drop and eventually landed quite conveniently not too far in front of us.  We were able to use the gorse bushes as cover to get quite close as it foraged amongst the heath.

A secretive bird. The Woodlark favours open, dry habitats with short grasses. It can be seen all year-round but is most notable in February and March, which is when we make the pilgrimage here to secure the year tick for another year

Mostly, it is a resident bird, feeding on seeds and insects, but does move to farmland stubbles for the autumn and early winter. Woodlark usually nest within a grassy tussock or heather bush, often digging a shallow scrape. Scattered trees and woodland edges are used as song or lookout posts.

The Woodlark is stripy brown, with a buff-white eye-stripe and a spikey crest on its head. It has an oddly short tail and a bouncing flight pattern. The similar skylark is larger, with a longer tail, and prefers farmland and grassland habitats.

The male Woodlark has a song flight similar to that of the Skylark but flutters more as he rises and spirals upwards, circling the ground as he sings at a fairly constant height. Both male and female birds will also sing from the ground or a perch

As we were able to get quite close to the bird, these are some of the best photographs I have taken of a Woodlark, so there is always a reason for coming back every year.

We headed around the copse over the heath, disturbing more Woodlark, there were at least four pairs seen.  At the bottom of the valley the footpath leads all the way down to the main path, this is one of the areas we have seen Lesser Spotted Woodpecker before, but today there was no sight or sound of any.  There was though at least three Hawfinch at the top of the trees.

We walked down the hill to meet the track that runs from Millyford Bridge to Holmhill and Highland Water inclosures.

There was not a lot of bird song about, Robins could be heard and the calls of Coal Tit, but every so often there would be a snippet of Firecrest, usually coming from the holly bushes along the track.

One bird showed quite well, but as usual it was hard to pin down as it buzzed around amongst the leaves.

A little further along there was a Roe Deer buck, which was sporting a lovely pair of velvet covered antlers, close to the path and not bothered by our presence at all.

Antlers are dropped, or cast, and grow back over a period of months while covered in a furry skin called velvet. When growth is complete the velvet is rubbed off and the antler is described as clean. Older animals tend to cast and clean their antlers first.

Roe Deer cast their antlers in the early winter, November or December.  Their new antlers grow back from January, when they are covered in velvet as can be seen on this buck.  The velvet is shed from April onwards, when the antlers are known as clean.

Another site for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is where the path splits, there are several dead trees here, mainly birch, and we were lucky to find a female at the top of one such tree.

These birds have a black and white head, the male, unlike this bird here , having a bright red. They have a short and powerful beak, black wings with white bars on the back and a white breast with dark streaks.

Lesser spotted woodpeckers are small birds, roughly the same size as a sparrow.

The lesser spotted woodpecker is a mature-woodland specialist, relying on the old, dead and rotting trees found in this habitat. It may also occur in parks and orchards which have a sufficient number of old trees. This species is rare, with the greatest numbers found in southern England, and scattered populations in Wales and further north. It is absent from Scotland and Ireland.

A secretive tree-top dweller. The lesser spotted is our smallest, and rarest, woodpecker. These woodland specialists are one of the UK’s fastest-declining bird species.

The lesser spotted woodpecker population is estimated to have fallen by 83% since 1970, with no more than 2,000 pairs thought to be left in the UK. The ongoing loss of ancient and mature woodland is thought to be a key factor in this decline.

The removal of dead and rotting wood may have also had an impact. The lesser spotted woodpecker may have been affected by the growing great spotted woodpecker population too. 

It was then away across the tree tops with an undulating flight, characteristic of all woodpeckers.

A little further along we stopped for another singing Firecrest, this one didn't show but there was a flock of Long-tailed Tits and these showed very well as they moved through the branches.

Long-tailed tits are very small birds, typically less than half the weight of a robin. They have a fluffy pale-pinkish breast, dark wings, a short beak and, of course, a long tail.

Despite their name, Long-tailed Tits are not closely related to the tit family (Paridae), which includes the blue tit, great tit and others.

The long-tailed tit population is doing well and is thought to have roughly doubled since the 1970s

We headed down the track towards the Highland Water inclosure. Just before reaching the stream itself there has always been a dead tree, probably and old oak at the meeting of the two paths.  Time and storms though has finally taken its toll on the old tree with a lot of the dead boughs now having been broken off.

I love looking at the meanders of the stream here, very tight there are also several examples of dried up Ox Bow lakes.  I stomped across one of these to get a little closer to a Grey Wagtail that was along the edge of the stream.

Several Marsh Tit could be heard singing in the oak trees above, but we only managed to see this one as it was pecking furiously amongst the moss on the branch.

WE headed back uphill to the car park and the morning was completed when two Crossbill flew over calling, we had managed to get all the Forest specialties other than Goshawk on a morning when we only decided to change plans and come to Acres Down.  It was now time for something to eat and then to move on.