Beaulieu Road Heath at dawn

The weather was cloudy and cold with sunny intervals and some rain!! Highlights were Lesser-spotted Woodpecker drumming, Treecreeper and a close view of a Roe deer.

We set off across the heath from the car park towards Denny Wood. A cold wind was blowing and the light sleet stung our faces. The only birds we saw on route were a Curlew that flew off, a couple of Meadow Pipit and a pair of Mallard. Otherwise it was heads down and quick march to the shelter of Denny Wood. We stopped at the entrance to the woods and the sleet stopped, the wind died down and the sun came out – what a difference. Chaffinch, Great Tit, Robin and a few Wren were singing. A Kestrel flew past and hovered over the heath before diving down onto something. We walked into the woods. More Chaffinch, Robin and Great Tit singing and a few Stock Dove and Song Thrush joined in. We then heard drumming – a Great-spotted Woodpecker further in the woods. We walked through the woods seeing a few Long-tailed Tit and Jackdaw and listening to the scant bird song. The cold weather had discouraged the birds from singing, but when the sun shone they did their best. Then we heard a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker drumming further into the wood. We crept up through the woods towards it, but it stopped drumming when we were tantalisingly close and we couldn’t see it. Back to the path and we hit an area with lots of bird activity. Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, several Nuthatch and a few Treecreeper all feeding in a small patch of trees.
We soon got out onto the heath and stopped to look at a Stonechat nearby. A Roe Deer froze very close to us and eventually ran off. Dennis then spotted a Redwing high up in a tree and it sat there long enough for us all to get a good look at it. The walk through the next patch of woodland and back across the heath was very quiet except for a few Meadow Pipit and Stonechat on the heath and a Greenfinch displaying over the car park.

Simon Curson