LSW!

They say that to find the love of your life, all you have to do is stop looking. It would seem the same is true of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers.

I went to Sue's house yesterday to watch the (final) final of Masterchef. We were greatly looking forward to an hour of nonsensical food displayed against a canvas of wildly overdramatic music. It was a sunny, though somewhat chilly and windy afternoon, and after a bit of garden-pottering Sue suggested a short walk in the local area. We headed out along a nearby public footpath, through an orchard where Sue had a lie-down on her blanket while I went for an explore.

The orchard was full of Whitethroats, but they were not as co-operative as this lovely Willow Warbler.

Heading downhill, I reached the edge of a patch of woodland. I stood there quietly and heard the discreet tapping of a woodpecker (or Nuthatch) in feeding mode. I didn't have my binoculars with me, but searched the trees from where the sound was coming, and eventually detected movement on the shaded side of a large dead branch. Looking through the camera, the bird was tucked behind almost hidden from view but I could see the silhouetted outline of its head when it drew back for a peck.

There was nowhere I could go for a better view - too many trees in the way. I tried to take photos of the silhouetted head. From the very little I could see I thought it looked good for LSW - a small and rounded head with a relatively little bill. Then the bird flew onto a higher branch, much obscured by leaves. I pointed the camera anyway and fired. Through the viewfinder I could now see the ladder-striped back that said this was indeed an LSW.

Here's the clearest shot I got. I think that's some peeling-off bark obscuring his face. Despite rubbish photos I was over the moon. When you dip and dip a bird you can start to feel paranoid, 'will I ever see a [insert bird's name] again?' The LSW moved up this branch to become completely shrouded by leaves, then it must have flown because I heard it calling from deeper in the wood.

Continuing our walk, we headed down into the woods, meeting a few insects on the way.

I'm embarrassed to admit that this is my first 2011 Comma. It behaved in typical Comma fashion, sitting on a leaf in high alert mode and taking off to harass other passing insects.

 We were surprised (and Sue was alarmed) to see two absolutely stunning Hornets, which unfortunately disappeared before I got shots of them. Then Sue spotted another big yellow thing - this time it was a pristine female Broad-bodied Chaser which posed beautifully. Fifth Odonata species of the year.

ETA - actually, make that a male. I didn't realise that the sexes are the same colour when very freshly emerged... but after comparing lots of photos, I've decided that the shape of the anal appendages makes this a male.

On the way back home along the road, we paused to watch some fluffy lambs in a field. We weren't the only ones. This Fox looked lovely in the late afternoon sun. She was initially a bit closer but saw us and scampered off to the far side of the field.