Belton House grounds 26th Nov. 2015

Birds seemed to be everywhere. The highlight was my favorite bird, a male lesser-spotted woodpecker. This was my first here for about five years, it was continually tap,tap, tapping and hop,hop, hopping from branch to branch for a good half hour in the same couple of trees so I really feasted my eyes on it for as long as I could.  Hope it’s not so long before I see another.

Nuthatches were very vocal and showed well, at least a dozen seen and a similar count of treecreepers. Goldcrests also plentiful. Redwings were all over the place along with a few fieldfares. Around the boathouse lake a few siskins fed in the alders. Three jays were making a right racket. The lake itself was graced by four goosanders (3 drakes). Two people told me they’d seen a kingfisher. A few ducks, swans, moorhens and coots were quite friendly.