Golden Acre Park & Adel Dam (Pt 2)

At the top of the lake there is access to Adel Dam, though many people seem to overlook it (which is not such a bad thing as it's nice to have the place almost to yourself!). We could hear a Woodpecker almost straight away but it eluded us for now. At the first hide we sat quite a while watching a large group of Great Tit's on the feeders. A young Moorhen swam across the pond and there were butterflies all over. It all looked quite beautiful in the sun.

Taking a walk through the woods we spotted Large Whites, Commas, Orange Tips and then a Red Admiral basking in the sun on the hide wall.

In the hide a very helpful chap pointed out a female Shelduck, a Red Kite and what I had taken for a Mallard (I didn't have my binoculars - I know how could I forget them!!) was actually a female Mandarin with two chicks. I quick photo and a zoom in and I could see the stripe by the eye and the different markings. That makes bird number 99 for me as i've only ever seen a Mandarin in bird gardens before, the chicks were very similar to Mallard chicks.

As walked around the woods we spotted a Nuthatch in the trees. Back near the entrance by the beck we had a sudden sighting of the elusive Woodpecker that we had kept hearing all the way round. It was pretty well hidden though you can just about see it in this shot.

In this little patch we were surround by birds - Song Thrush, Blackbirds, a Wren, Woodpigeon, Great and Blue Tits. Then I spotted something moving up the tree trunk - Treecreepers - 3 of them! It's only the second time I have ever seen them and the best views too. I was really happy with spotting those and we watched for a while before they were disturbed by a family walking by.
A beautiful morning for a walk and we all really enjoyed. The little one was really excited to see a Woodpecker and it was nice for the most part to have the place to ourselves.