Banagher Glen Co Derry; woodpeckers and crossbills.

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Great spotted woodpeckers have recently colonised Ireland spreading westwards from Wicklow and Down. This year there have been lots of reports of drumming and sightings from various locations in Counties Derry and Donegal.

I happened to mention to a birdwatching friend that I had never seen a great spotted woodpecker in Ireland and that I'd never seen a crossbill ever. He suggested a trip to Banagher Glen near Dungiven to remedy that. I have often seen the brown tourist sign for Banagher Glen on the road to Belfast just before Dungiven about twenty miles from Derry, but had never taken the time to visit it.

We arrived mid-morning and set of on the narrow country road from the lower car park which climbs gradually to Altnaheglish Reservoir. After spending several weeks walking in England carrying a full pack, it was lovely to go for a gentle dander in the Sperrin Mountains carrying nothing but a pair of binoculars and a camera.

The first couple of kilometres through beautiful ancient woodland. Just looking at the structure of the forest it looked superficially similar to Malagasy rainforest where I'd spent so much time recently.

It's easy to see why the forest has survived here, when it has been wiped out in so many other places. The sides of the glen are very steep, which meant that on the way up we were looking up into the tree canopy to our right and over the tops of the trees to our right. Wide girthed, dark barked oak stood solidly on the slopes. The boughs were wrapped in blankets of green moss. Higher up where the gradient levelled off deciduous woodland gave way to rough pasture and then a mix of confer plantations and open moor.

A cuckoo called constantly from somewhere around the trees on the opposite slope. Meadow pipits darted back and forth. A few swallows picked off insects. A chiffchaff sang its heart out. We saw chaffinches, bluetits and robins in the trees along the road. A family of goldcrests moved along ahead of us.

Then I heard a call that I didn't recognise. My friend recognised it immediately as a woodpecker call. We spent about ten minutes listening and scanning the trees around us. A couple more calls, but we couldn't find it amongst the maze of trunks and branches. Nice to know they're here though.

The weather was very pleasant, a gentle easterly breeze, cloudy but some sunny spells. When the sum appeared so did the butterflies. Today it was only green veined whites, speckled wood and orange tips.

We walked onto the edge of the mature plantation just past the resovoir. No crossbills, but a reed bunting was singing its simple song very energetically.

Shortly after we turned around to return to the carpark, my friend stopped to listen and pointed in the direction of a few solitary spruce trees. I heard the distinctive glipp, glipp just as a few finches landed in the uppermost branches of the spruce.

It's always an exciting moment seeing a new species of bird. We stood still as a total of six crossbills arrived in the conifer about 30m away on the slope above us. A male, a female and several juveniles. It looked like a family group.

·So, a very successful walk in Banagher Glen. A life tick, an Irish tick. I think I'll be back with my bike. There were lots of interestinglooking tracks to explore.

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Photos

Bugle?
I think this might be bugle (Ajuga reptans), but open to correction.

Crossbills.
This picture is quite heavily cropped and the light was difficult, so not great quality. However, that doesn't matter. My first time seeing crossbills!

Banagher Glen.
I love the way proper ancient forest in Ireland looks superficially quite similar to rainforest.

Oak flowers.
All the years I've seen oak trees and admired acorns, I've never noticed the flowers before! Shocking really. The male catkins are hanging down. The female flowers are tucked up near the leaves.