Laughton Forest.

A visit this morning to Owlet plantation,part of the large Laughton Forest complex,to look for Woodpecker's didn't reveal a single bird,possibly due to the high concentration of dog walkers on site,but i did manage to find a nice flock of 56 Lesser Redpoll with a cracking male Mealy in amongst them.When i first located the flock they where feeding high up in a group of Silver Birch and i thought i saw a paler and bigger bird in amongst them,but they then scattered when flushed by a birders worst enemy,you guessed it,some gobby dog walkers shouting something along the lines of come here fluffy kins,i fealt like killing them.Luckily about ten minutes later i re-located the flock coming down into a field at the side of the wood and got pretty good views of them with a bit of patience and there he was,a stonking male Mealy,complete with pale mantle lines,paler looking plumage than the Lesser's present,pale rump and a really disitinctive red 'poll' on the top of his head,coupled with a really pink breast and large greater covert bar,this bird was also bigger than the Lesser's and really stood out amongst his drabber cousins.The flock then exploded again flying off into the wood,so i concentrated my efforts around the feeding station area finding a pair of lovely Brambling in with the local Chaffinches,the male of this species really are smart and i love the 'eeeehp' contact call.The only other birds of note were a couple of Common Buzzard.A nice few hours despite the lack of Pecker's.