Primrose Wood

One of the last areas in Cheshire to hold breeding Turtle Dove, Primrose Wood is still worth a visit anytime of the year. It is essentially a conifer plantation, but large areas of clear-fell have been allowed to re-grow with a more mixed range of trees.

The wood occasionally holds some interesting birds. A Green Woodpecker has been resident in the area around the Sandstone Trail for a couple of years now, and last spring I found both Pied and Spotted Flycatchers.

The young trees are excellent for Warblers. This morning the first bird I heard was a Garden Warbler and it was soon joined by Willow Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. Lesser Redpoll must be breeding in the area too; the air was full of the bird’s “chi-chi-chi-chi” call.

Yellowhammers also have a strong presence here. I counted up to six at various points, even though the habitat doesn’t seem ideal. Bird of the day though, had to be an extremely handsome male Bullfinch that I watched perching on a young birch tree.

Nightjar is a bird that is believed to be extinct as a breeder in Cheshire, although I must confess that I find this surprising. Cheshire does not have much heath remaining, but it does have plenty of areas of cleared woodland on areas of sandy soil, including two such habitats at Primrose Wood. Surely, they are just waiting to be found again by an intrepid birder!

Until later.