What the Lek?

Birthdays! What on earth do you get for someone who doesn't want anything and who doesn't really need anything? It's a bit of a dilemma and one I was facing in April as hubby was about to reach a special, ‘ending in a zero', birthday. As he is a keen photographer I could have gone down the route of a ‘bit of kit' for his camera but with it being a special birthday I wanted to do something instead. Sky diving perhaps? No, not really recommended, and I would like to actually get him to the next big special birthday. A day at an organic spa? Ooops no, that's what I want. Let's have a look on the internet...ah got it!!

So I planned my surprise, booked it and hugged my secret to myself for weeks. The day before we were to go away, I handed him a leaflet and told him ‘We are going to see some special birds.'

The trip to north Wales was through some glorious countryside and not uneventful. Buzzards were a regular sight and as we were making our way up through mid Wales I spotted something - a lamb stuck on the wrong side of the fence.

So we turned around and I got out of the car and rushed to the bottom of a steep grass slope. At the top, on the road side of the fence was a very distressed lamb with an equally distressed ewe on the other side. The lamb kept moving up and down the slope and I was terrified that it would end up on the road where the national speed limit was being smashed with alarming regularity. So I was trying to ‘herd' it back into the fence so I could catch it. I was so worried that it would bolt past me and I would actually cause it to run in front of a car. Thankfully I managed to grab it and put it into the field with its mum. Phew, what an exciting start to the weekend.

As the light was changing and dusk falling, an owl swept across the road and down into a field on the other side of the road. As time was getting on we didn't stop to identify it but it was possibly a tawny owl.

The following morning saw us getting up at 3.45am (honestly), filling flasks and leaving the B&B (very quietly) at 4.30am. We found negotiating the Horse Shoe Pass in the black of the night a bit of an experience but just after 5am we, along with nine others, were pulling into Llandegla Forest Visitor Centre's car park. Our guide, RSPB People Engagement Officer Julie Rogers, was there to meet us, along with volunteer Mike. As we climbed gently up the paths and into the forestry a tawny owl made its final few calls of the night and gradually the dawn chorus took over with robins, blackbirds and thrushes accompanying our walk - it was so wonderfully peaceful as we made our way through the trees. After around half an hour we came out onto the edge of a moor. A black grouse moor! We arrived just as the sun was stretching over the horizon with an amazing crescent moon still hanging in the sky.

Here Julie stopped us for a few moments. There were already sounds of the grouse in the distance, amazing, unearthly sounds, no wonder they call them the ghosts of the forest. She explained that we would be walking a little way in the open to the hide and that we should see them across the moor. As we were walking across the sound intensified; Julie mentioned that there were microphones out on the moor and that when we were in the hide we could switch them on to hear the sound more clearly. In truth this wasn't needed. I can't begin to explain the excitement, the thrill in just hearing these birds. You wanted to jump up and down and in fact I think I may have just done that (but shhh that's our secret, just between you and me... okay?).

Before we even got to the hide Julie and Mike had already spotted a few of the males and once she had us all safely down to the hide (either inside or at the viewing points outside) she helped us to pick them out. Eventually there were nine males ‘strutting their stuff', running up to each other, challenging each other but rarely touching, leaping into the air, displaying, showing off those wonderful black curved feathers and that amazing white tail. All too soon we had spent an hour at the hide, indulging ourselves completely in the spectacle before us. During this time Julie managed to spot two females in the heather, but I only managed to see one. It was lovely to see that the males' desired audience was actually there, although I think that even if they hadn't been there they would still have been putting on their show.

So wow, amazing, wow, fantastic and wow again, in fact there aren't enough good words to explain how wonderful it is to see and hear these amazing birds on their lek.

But the treats weren't over. When we were standing outside the hide, looking through the gaps in the viewing fence, Julie said ‘Redpoll!' as one flew over our heads. I missed it although others managed to get it in their sights. Now the redpoll is a bird that I had only seen once before and I was keen to see one again more clearly. So later as we left the hide Julie explained that we would be walking back a different way in the hope of seeing redpolls, siskins and crossbills.

Crossbill? Remember our trip to Mull? We missed out on crossbills then (but found that otter) so could this be our chance to see them? As we walked back towards the forest Julie pointed out meadow pipits and high in the larches ahead we stopped to see the siskins flitting from tree to tree. A jay flew out of the forest and landed on a conifer to our right.

‘Redpoll, top of the larch, second one in on the left.' We all concentrated on that tree and were delighted to see not one but in the end four of these sweet little birds. Result.

As we walked back through the forest we came out along the edge of a reservoir; a mistle thrush was bouncing along the grassy edge. Julie stopped us again to explain that the trees to the left were also popular with crossbills. To our surprise one of our group put up a call that I didn't expect to hear in April:

‘Brambling, male.'

Now, bramblings are winter visitors to the UK but it has been known for them to stay as late as May, a fact I didn't know until checking the RSPB website later that weekend. What a lovely extra.

Our next mystery sighting was identified by someone cleverer than me as a crossbill! Julie was quick to find it and confirm that it was indeed a female crossbill and that there was a juvenile there too. Wow again! Result again!

Others on the walk were delighted with first ever views of siskins, and on the walk back coal tits and goldcrests bobbed from tree to tree alongside us.

Black grouse, crossbills and redpolls have been on our list of ‘birds to see' for some time so this had been a perfect way for us to actually get to see them. I can totally recommend joining a walk like this. There are numerous ones all year round with most Wildlife Trusts, the RSPB, local RSPB groups, local authority biodiversity groups and many more. The walk cost us £5.75 each (adult price) but it was a bargain and in the end Julie and Mike were with us for over four hours. Many walks, however, are free.

It was a perfect day, one to remember and I think a birthday present that will not be forgotten.

The weekend didn't end there though, the following day we took a trip out on a boat at New Quay ... but that's a story for another day.

As this newsletter comes out to you the WWT is in the middle of its ‘Wildest Hide & Seek' - why not join us in taking part - check it out here. Another favourite survey returns on June 5th - Make Nature Count, where you are asked to count the animals, birds, insects, butterflies and even cats in your garden. More details here.

Don't forget to check out these websites (and your own local authority's site) for wildlife things to do this Whitsun.

www.wildlifetrusts.org/
www.wwt.org.uk/
www.rspb.org.uk/events/

Fiona Sharp

photos (c) Peter Sharp 2010

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