Lifer

We made a trip to the Exeter City Canal -one of our favourite walks , though today we had an ambition to see a very rare bird- a wryneck,  reported over the last couple of days. The bird didn’t let us down, and we got great views of it - a first, a lifer, for many of the 30 or so gathered there. There was a palpable air of excitement.

We were lucky with the weather too. The forecast heavy showers didn’t happen and the river and canal looked beautiful as usual. The often blipped boat in extras was on its own for the first time.

The wryneck is an unusual member of the woodpecker family. They mostly feed on the ground, lapping up ants with their long tongue. This enables them to pull ant larvae out of the nest, and these make up a large part of their diet. Wrynecks are migrants, breeding across the higher latitudes of Europe and Asia and then heading south for the winter.

Wrynecks used to be common breeding birds across England and Wales, but the population began to decline dramatically in the 19th century. By the end of the 20th century, they were no longer breeding in England or Wales. 

However, wrynecks can still be seen here. Small numbers pass through on their migration between breeding grounds elsewhere in Europe and wintering grounds in Africa. They're more common in autumn than in spring, with most records coming from the south and east coasts of England.
They can turn their head  almost 360 degrees without moving their bodies, a trick many of the birders were trying to emulate, in fear of missing the bird.