Buzzards in the Orlestone forest complex

My son George 'the stig' Green who completed over 20 miles cycling through the forest this weekend.

The highlight of a nine mile bike ride through the trails criss-crossing Stone Wood, Fags Wood, and 50 Acre Wood was six common Buzzards soaring together. I haven't visited the woods over the winter, and didn't realise we had so many Buzzards on our doorstop. The woods themselves look splendid; a leafless canopy but a vibrant floor carpeted in Wood Anemones. We made frequent stops, listening for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Bullfinch, but sadly we didn't find either.

There are many new cleared areas in the forest, and it will be interesting to see if Nightjar and Tree Pipit can put in an appearance later this year.

Bee fly in the garden today.

In very pleasant spring weather, the woodland rides had plentiful numbers of Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Brimstone butterfly. Considering the dire state of the Tortoiseshell butterfly (almost faced with UK extinction just a few years ago) it seems to be making a very big bounce back in numbers. Also of note this spring are the large numbers of the enigmatic Bee Fly, both in the forest and at home in the garden.

A neighbour in Shadoxhurst has told me that she has seen what she thought was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on her bird feeder - so there's still hope that we still have them in the area.