Species Guide: The Forest of Dean
With any site guide comes the choice to approach individual sites or rather, species. However, seeing as nearly any stretch of woodland in this diverse area can potentially be productive, I’ll instead deal with locating individual species. Normally I’d be reticent to even write one of these but as we’ve been birding the area with great regularity since 2003 and collected gen from locals and in the field I feel I can offer some valuable assistance.
1. Hawfinch. Goshawk aside this is arguably the forest speciality and best located in the first two hours of daylight on clear, windless days between January and late March. For us there is no contender to Parkend Church as the site for these, with 5 out of 5 trips in 2005 producing views and it never taking more than 2 trips to connect in subsequent years. Park at SO619077 in front of the church, accessed by turning right at the crossroads as you approach the village from Lydney on the B4234 and then right again. Walk downhill to the right of the lower cemetery, walking parallel to the cemetery until you reach a clearer area where a tree signposted “Parkend Beech” should be clear. The birds are best seen from here, perching in treetops and flight-calling overhead. Excellent views can often be obtained. Other sites for this species include the hornbeam trees directly south of Speech House Hotel at SO619120 where birds forage more covertly amid winter thrush flocks, often around the horse paddocks. The third excellent site, very early morning best, is at Brierley - SO622149 - where birds come to food under the hornbeam tracts beside the road.
2. Goshawk. An easy species to see here from the now-famed raptor watchpoint at New Fancy View, where up to five or six birds can be present in the air at one time in displaying season when the weather is warm, bright and windless. February and March are the peak months, with 8-11 and then 1-3 in the afternoon extremely productive. Elsewhere, closer views can often be obtained over the coniferous northern end of Nagshead RSPB reserve at around SO605098 and over the adjacent Cannop Ponds though sightings are by no means guaranteed. Recently, it has come to light that whilst less birds are on show, and only 1-2 sightings a day usual, the RSPB Symmonds Yat Rock has become an excellent place at which to obtain excellent views of Goshawk, adult birds often perching and calling quiet close to the viewpoint (per RSPB, 2008).
3. Lesser-spotted Woodpecker. Only ten pairs now survive in the forest according to the forest warden. Most of these nest in a north to south belt from the Beechenhurst Craft Centre down along the east side of the Cannop Ponds to Parkend. The best site for us is the dense, damp deciduous woodland that borders the NE end of the upper Cannop Pond. Park in the main car park at SO609107 and walk NW into the woodland between the pond and the road to the car park. The woodland around the waterways at SO610112 hold at least two males (2008), both of which we watched displaying for an hour in 2007. Another area which holds 1-2 pairs is the woodland block at SO611098. Park at the Cannop Stoneworks off the B4234 and cross the bridge before continuing across the cycle path and taking the path which holds mature deciduous forest to the right. Birds call here regularly at dawn. Elsewhere, the Hawfinch site at Parkend holds a pair but these seem to be easily put off by the large number of visitors to the site so a dawn visit is probably essential. Warm, sunny and windless mornings are essential.
4. Willow Tit. Several key sites exist, one being Brierley where birds are present but elusive in late-winter and early spring in the mixed woodland just opposite the petrol station at SO624150. Three other specific sites are recommended. One is the woodland immediately around the feeding station at Cannop Stoneworks, especially the very damp trees bordering the Brook where it leaves the weir at SO608099. Another is a woodland ride accessed via a mud track from opposite an old warehouse where several buses can be seen parked. Leave Parkend on the B4234 and take the track on the right opposite this site, continue to park where you reach a wooden gate. The ride beyond this gate at SO614086 is very good. Another is a very localised area of Nagshead. Park in the car park here and take the path beyond the visitor centre that runs with a coniferous block to its left. On reaching a turn to the left, turn right into the woodland here - birds frequent the older damp trees in between clusters of ivy. Elsewhere in the forest, Willow Tit is regularly encountered around the Mallards Pike Lakes early mornings, and in the low mixed woodland around Crabtree Hill (see later).
5. Crossbill. A notoriously wide-ranging species and fluctuating species, this is very difficult to provide any fixed sites for. In good years and mainly between December and early February, the pines bordering the lower cemetery at Parkend can be excellent; watch from the car park. The coniferous woodland at Brierley has been our best site; the general area around the ridge (reached by turning right at the petrol station and continuing straight and uphill towards an obvious summit) producing annual sightings. New Fancy View, however, can often be the best site as it commands such a wide-ranging view of coniferous forest and birds are often noted calling overhead or moving between trees.
6. Turtle Dove: One of the more elusive summer visitors, this species is now confined largely to two sites in the Forest which represented its entire county population in 2007. The first is the low, mixed woodland around the summit of Crabtree Hill at SO641134: the young pines S of the hill itself being best. Park off the B4226 in the obvious car park at SO632123 and walk right under a hanging stained window - turn left and continue straight until you intersect a cycle path. Walk right along this obvious gravel path before taking the first laid path turning left uphill. Calling birds can be heard from here on sunny days from 10th-12th May and are best seen immediately following arrival. The other site is Oakenhill Woods near Parkend at SO628077 to SO628079, best accessed by following tracks from Parkend Church. 4-6 birds males were recorded here in 2007.