Southill Visit – Millennium Wood

 

Having had the good luck to capture some shots of a woodpecker, albeit at quite a distance, it reminded me that the other location where I had caught sight of one was in a small wood in Southill which though at a greater distance from me, had one distinct advantage as where I had come across it was in a clearing within a clearing atop a mound at the Millennium Wood, so that was where I was headed, and also of note was a small secluded lake nearby. However, that turned out to be a non-starter as it was within private grounds, and clearly defined as such with signs displayed at its high hedge boundary.

Due to my somewhat laggy SatNav on the phone, I also managed to add several miles to the outward journey by passing the junction on the A421, and having to travel to the next one and retrace my path to the earlier junction!

As my visit was at a weekend, I was in luck with parking meaning there was no distance to walk from the car, and anyway I was travelling light with just one camera, the EOS R, and the 24-70mm lens with its macro facility which came into use on a couple of occasions. The Wood is in the midst of adding more trees, and the established ones still had the first leaves of the season so were looking very fresh. It was however very noticeable that there were a preponderance of very insistent flies, something I associate more with hotter climes, and in the time I was there, became very annoying, and considering the small lake was not too distant with a far more suited habitat, I cannot account for why they should be so abundant.

The light was good throughout, and I only encountered three other souls during the time I was there, and the sounds of birdsong was almost constant with one particularly loud and insistent bird giving it its all, though I never caught sight of it! Needless to say on this visit I never heard nor saw a woodpecker, but was treated to the lament: “My toe Hurts Betty” from wood pigeon or pigeons almost as continuously as the unnamed bird I first encountered upon entry. Considering it was a warm Sunday afternoon I was very surprised to find so few visitors to this haven of Peace and freshness, so alive to the sounds of birdsong.