December 2021 Hainault Forest Walk – report

Different habitats produced a good variety of birds in welcome winter sunshine –
highlights included Shoveler, Mandarin Duck, Goldcrest, Nuthatch and (for a lucky
few!) Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

Saturday, 11 December 2021
Thanks to Rich for this write-up:
This was our last walk for 2021 and it was nice to be out and about in the fresh air before the Christmas
festivities began! We set off towards the lake and on the way we had a brief view of a Buzzard being
mobbed by several noisy Ring-necked Parakeets, they soon all disappeared flying off through the trees.
We passed a mixed flock of Canada and Greylag Geese quietly grazing the grass taking it in turns to look
up and keep a wary eye on our group as we passed by. A small flock of resting gulls were also nearby
mainly comprising Black-headed but also a couple of Lesser Black-backed as well, while a Skylark
uttered its short contact call as it flew overhead above us.
On the lake were some more Black-headed Gulls and also a Common Gull amongst them giving our
group a chance to compare the two species, with the Common being larger and with its darker grey
backed plumage. The lake was dominated by Shoveler, up to 15 pairs were counted and also by
Cormorant that were busy taking it in turns diving for fish.
A Grey Heron quietly strutted through the shallows peering down into the water looking for a tasty morsel
and a lone male Mandarin Duck with its striking multi-coloured plumage was also ticked off. One last gull
species was seen, a Herring Gull not yet in adult plumage, with patches of brown feathers amongst the
grey and white and the large black tip to its bill indicating this was in its 2nd winter year.
We had a brief glimpse of a Meadow Pipit perched on a bush before dropping down out of view and then
we moved onto the open grassland area.
Redwing were moving around calling their ‘seep’ like calls and a number of Green Woodpecker were
present as we heard multiple birds calling their ‘yaffle’ laugh from different directions around us.
Now into the wooded area, flocks of Long-tailed Tit, a Coal Tit and a Goldcrest were spotted and also a
Nuthatch was seen making its way along a branch with its characteristic jerky movement.
Walking alongside the golf course we saw a Pied Wagtail running around on one of the putting greens
picking small flies from its surface.
We were nearing the end of the walk now, several sightings and calls of Great Spotted Woodpecker were
noted, suddenly a more unusual call was heard, it sounded like a ‘weak’ Kestrel like call, amazingly it
belonged to another of our woodpecker species, the rarer Lesser Spotted Woodpecker! No bigger than a
Sparrow, it was located dangling from a branch feeding almost tit like, before being scared off by yet
another Great Spotted Woodpecker, what a treat to end this walk on!
Total different bird species seen: 44