Lesser spotted Woodpecker & Wood Warbler at Yarner Woods

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

 

I had a good day out today at Yarner Woods reserve on East Dartmoor over the border in Devon.


Managed to capture shots of 2 new species photo-wise for me, the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker & the Wood Warbler.

We were fortunate to discover the nest of the Lesser Spot so I got some shots as the birds approached the area with food for a rather raucous brood.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

The Wood Warbler stayed aloft so many of the shots were taken against the sky or the raindrops as they cascaded into my lens hood.

Nevertheless 2 good birds that I'd never photographed before in the UK (I did get LSW in Poland last year).

Wood Warbler

Wood Warbler

Wood Warbler

Little Egret aggression

I watched a couple of Little egrets going for it this afternoon at Walmsley Sanctuary.

Initially I wondered if it was some kind of courtship chase but then things turned quite aggressive (could still have been courtship!).

There was one particular bird that wanted to attack all the other egrets in the reserve and it kept picking on others until this time it looked as if it was going to drown the other unfortunate bird.

Here is a short sequence of pictures taken from a fair distance away hence the poor quality!

Both birds flew away seemingly unharmed!