It's been 5 days since I was last in the wood having spent the Jubilee Weekend up in the darkness of West Yorkshire. After returning back to civilisation and Devon, I couldn't wait to get back in to the wood. I have a plan to try and get some more action and in-flight photos but the natural light is rarely bright enough but my ideas are coming together and I am in the process of assembling the equipment that will make it possible. Today's session though was very quiet at first, apart from a male Robin, there was no birds whatsoever for at least an hour. Then suddenly, and the way it happened is really worth a mention, firstly a Great Tit arrived followed within seconds by a Blue Tit and then Nuthatches....... at least three different individuals, all within minutes of each other and then continuously for the next hour or so until I left. It was as though the first couple of birds discovered that the food was back and then the word spread like wildfire! Nuthatches were the most regular visitors which is just the way I want it. The Jay (pictured) suddenly appearded and it's arrival completely caught me by surprise. I was watching, and photographing a particularly ragged Nuthatch, probably worn out from the raviges of breeding. It suddenly froze and remained stock still for 20 seconds or so before flying off only to be repalced on the log by the Jay. it seems that small birds are very wary of Jays and probably with good reason. What did surprise me though was the lack of an alarm call from the Nuthatch and he way that it didn't immediatly depart. However, it was 30 minutes before any small birds returned to the feed. The Jay crammed as many peanuts down in just a few seconds before leaving as quietly as it had arrived. In all of my 55 years of wildlife watching these Jay encounters are the best I have had. This is a very clever and wary species that has evolved, very sensibly to avoid human contact whenever possibly and even though they live in close proximity to us they avoid even being seen if they don't want to be. But the lure of my free peanut offerings was worth just a bit of measured risk.
The pools were fresh today after a few days of heavy rain showers. I was expecting the residents to drink and bathe elsewhere as there must be standing water everywhere but that didn't prove to be the case and the highlight of the afternon was a Blackcap Warbler Female bathing on the edge of the pool close by. The camera was set up for flight photography so I didn't get an acceptable photograph but this is the second time that I have seen a Blackcap bathing here and I am sure it's not going to be the last.
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