Bratley Wood - 9th February

The weather was sunny and warm, but frosty and cold at first. Highlights were Crossbill and Dartford Warblers.
We left the car park and walked across the still frosty heath towards Bratley Inclosure. David spotted Fallow Deer on the other side of the valley and they watched us make our way down the path. A Snipe flew from next to the path as we passed a damp area. A few birds were seen at the tops of trees across the valley getting the first rays of morning sun – a female Reed Bunting, a Mistle Thrush and 2 Song Thrushes. As we got to the Inclosure we could hear both Mistle Thrush and Song Thrush singing as well as Robin and Chaffinch. A walk through the Inclosure and by Bratley Wood proved pretty quiet. Disappointingly no Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers were drumming and no Firecrests were singing. We saw a few tit flocks with Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit and Great Tit. A few Jackdaw and Stock Dove were seen flying over the wood and Treecreeper and Nuthatch were seen in the wood itself. We stopped and listened for any hint of drumming, but only heard one distant drum of a Great-spotted Woodpecker.
We walked out on the heath where there is a good view over the surrounding woodlands. A scan for 15 minutes did not produce any Goshawks as we had hoped, but we got great views of a Dartford Warbler singing. We walked back towards the cars seeing a large flock of Chaffinch and a couple of Red Admiral butterfly on the way. At the Canadian Memorial we stopped for a few minutes and saw 3 Crossbill at the tops of the trees and David found a Great-spotted Woodpecker.
Simon Curson