This morning, I made the short trip to Coombe Wood which is part of the Langdon Hills Country Park.
Langdon Hills Country Park sits on a hilly ridge that extends from Dunton to Vange in Basildon. Its 400 acres have panoramic views over the Thames Estuary and across to London and the area includes ancient woodlands dating back to prehistoric times, flower-rich grassland meadows and areas of dense scrubland.
Coombe Wood is located south of Dry Street, east of Hall Wood and west of Westley Heights. Further to the north west is EWT Langdon which I have also visited many times.
I arrived at Coombe
Wood at around 9:55 a.m. and spent around 1.5 hours walking through this
beautiful ancient woodland. I also spent around 15 minutes in the adjacent Hall
Wood.
My main target species for my visit was the elusive and increasingly scarce (in an Essex and UK context) Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. However, it is still recorded in a few Essex woodlands, especially in February and March when "drumming" and calling can be heard which sometimes enables good views high in the tree canopy before spring leaves emerge. Coombe Wood, the adjacent Hall Wood and other locations in Langdon Hills Country Park are all known sites for this tiny woodpecker species.
In addition, I hoped to record my first Nuthatch and Treecreeper of the year.
Sadly, but not unexpectedly, I did not hear or see a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker but I did see both Nuthatch (single birds in Coombe Wood and Hall Wood) and Treecreeper (single bird in Hall Wood). In addition, I saw a single Coal Tit, at least 4 Stock Doves (plus other birds heard calling) and at least 15 extremely noisy Ring-necked Parakeets, all in Coombe Wood. These 5 species were all additions to my 2025 UK and Essex year lists, taking them to 104 species and 89 species respectively.
Other species seen included the following: Great Spotted Woodpecker (1 seen plus 3 heard including a “drumming” male), Green Woodpecker (1 seen plus 2 heard calling), Goldcrest (2 seen and 2 heard calling), Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Wren, Robin, Dunnock, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Grey Squirrel (3)
Love nature .... act now
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you feel like commenting on my blog, you can contact me by completing the comment form below. I will respond to all comments and enquiries and constructive criticism will always be welcomed.