A Walk In The Woods

                   
                                                                   What Are You Missing?

Like a lot of people I was out for a stroll in our local woods and in the countryside but as I walk around I often wonder just why a lot of people do this. Do they do it just to get out of the house or is it to exercise them selves or their dog or is it for something to do because it's a nice day.
The reason I ask this question is that I notice things on my walks and a lot of people that I see when on them do not seem to and to me this is one of the many pleasures that I get from my walks.

When I was out on Bank Holiday Monday my eyes and ears were looking and listening to all that was going on around me. I was looking at the wild flowers and at the birds that were flitting through the tree tops and all this makes my walk more interesting and enjoyable. I heard for the first time this year one of our summer visitors a member of the warbling family a Blackcap, I stopped to look and listen to him as he sang his heart out to attract a mate, he was perched on a branch just above my head completely ignoring me.

A Blackcap.

A little further on I saw a pair of Tree Creepers going up a tree, the male chasing the female flitting around the tree as they made their way to the top.

Tree Creeper.

On the ground my eyes were drawn to a large patch of Sweet Rudruff a pretty little white flower, it was next to some Bluebells that were still in flower. There also was both the Pink and White Campion to be seen as I walked a little further on. I then heard the Chiff Chaff singing away and also the sound of the Green Woodpecker making his laughing call as he flew through the trees nearby.

Sweet Rudruff.

A Close Up.

Pink Campion.

White Campion.

Chiff Chaff.

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Green Woodpecker.

Shortly after hearing the Green Woodpecker I heard the drumming sound of a Great Spotted Woodpecker nearby as he was drilling into a tree with his beak, this is known as the Spring Drumming Display to attract a mate. Looking back to the ground I saw a Yellow Archangel all on it's own I could not see any others, I then found a rather unusual plant that's more at home in a garden a Welsh Poppy.

A Yellow Archangel.

Welsh Poppy.

My walk nearly over, as I was walking back to my car I saw my last bird in the wood it was a Nuthatch perched on the stump of a dead branch,  similar to the photo below.

The Nuthatch.

I wonder how many of the other walkers in the wood saw or heard as much as me. I have often been asked if there are any Deer near Burton in our local woods, the answer is yes but if you want to see them you need to be quite, move around slowly in the early hours of the morning or late evening. They are there to be seen, Marchington Woodlands has a small population of Fallow Deer and also Muntjac there are also deer around the Foremark Reservoir and Calke Abbey areas so if you want to see them invest in a pair of binoculars and a camera with a good telephoto lens.