Wryneck at Old Lodge

Monday 30th August 2021

Old Lodge NNR

Ashdown Forest, Sussex

I wanted to keep off the roads this busy bank holiday weekend and so resisted all the alerts coming out of Wrynecks in Sussex (at least 4 up to yesterday).  Today, however, one came through mid-morning of one at Old Lodge, just 15 minutes away in the Ashdown Forest.  

When I got to the car park I met the couple who found the Wryneck - young birders from the London area who were visiting family for the weekend.  Incredibly, we knew one another from our birding trips with Marcus Nash in Norfolk!  They gave me the heads up on the bird before they went on their way.

4 fellow members of the Ashdown Bird Group arrived after seeing the alert.  After over an hour without any sighting things changed. Sue P spotted some movement in a nearby birch tree which turned out to be a couple of Stonechats and a Dartford Warbler.  Whilst we were admiring the Dartford Warbler, Alan P and I noticed some unusual bird fly over the hedge before dropping down which we suspected could be the Wryneck.  As we moved to compare notes with a nearby photographer/birder  Alan saw the bird fly towards the conifers some 30 metres away.  We soon found it and it was indeed the Wryneck.

•  It was on the ground just in front of 2 pine trees.  For the next few minutes we enjoyed good binocular views of the bird as it foraged in the undergrowth.  Alas, none of us had brought a telescope!  

courtesy of Martin Jeffree

• Martin had his camera so he and the other photographer moved closer hoping to get better pictures. This caused the bird to fly to the nearby trees, then on to an adjacent pine and out of sight.

The photographer sent the following shots of the bird to Martin  - whilst we were admiring the Dartford warbler he was getting close up shots of the Wryneck.

wow.....

and wow

Thanks Drew!

.......

and thanks also to our 2 young birders from London who made the first sighting and put it out right away - without it none of this would have happened.

A real treat on my own doorstep - on a bank holiday too!