Woolmer Pond/Forest 13/05/25

My bike had been fixed in the morning, so after finishing school, I biked down to Woolmer. 

Looking over the pond, the most notable thing was the lack of any Canada Geese. There was a singular Goldfinch in the trees behind the pond, and a few Little Grebes, Tufted Ducks, and Mallards were out on the pond. 

I made it to the cottage, and was reluctantly forced to sit under a tree for no less than 45 minutes, due to an awful and seemingly unscheduled thunderstorm. After it passed, I walked out to the field.  A Mistle Thrush flew up from the ground, and a Song Thrush was on the ground. 

Just before I went to have a look at the pond, a Cormorant flew over. On the pond, a Grey Heron was fishing, and the two Hobbies were about, with one perched on a branch sticking out of the water. 

I decided to go around the path to get a better view of the Hobby. On the side of the path, a Blackcap was singing. 

Almost immediately after I had made it a bit closer to the Hobby, another one flew in and landed. 

The flags were put down, so I managed to get slightly better views.

Whilst I was watching the Hobby, a Stonechat perched very close to me. 

I took the opportunity with open hands to photograph the Hobby whilst perched, as they are obviously very difficult in flight. 

I moved around a bit to try out a different background. 

I decided to move on and continued heading around the pond. A  Pied Wagtail flew off from the ground, and an Egyptian Goose flew in, the first goose I had seen all day! A few Sand Martins were flying around the sandbank, and a pair of Teal flew in. 

I had a quick look in the forest and heath, with a few Woodlark, singing Tree Pipit, and Dartford Warblers noted. I finally got round to writing down the species I had seen today in my notebook, and was surprised to realise I was on 49- surely I could get to 50? As I was heading back to the cottage, a Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling along with a Cuckoo. A Canada Goose flew over- my 50th species for the day. 

Nothing was around the cottage, and although I biked around for another 30 minutes, nothing could be found. On my way to the Greatham entrance, I heard and saw briefly a Reed Warbler singing. 

I had enjoyed my time and had a surprising 51 species to show for it, not a total I had expected at all. It was nice to see the Reed Warbler as well- the first time I've seen one on site, I think!