Kings' for a Day

 I corrected yesterday's mistake by heading for Kingswood here in Corby for a last stroll of the year. New Year's Eve is often a time for reflection and recollection and any walk around this wood always brings back lots of memories. Having spent a great deal of my formative birding years strolling along its paths and muddy tracks it still holds a special place for me.

The large pond known to generations of kids as The Swamp

Of course whenever you remember past days out it's usually the triumphs that spring to mind and not the uneventful ones. As I walked through the wood thoughts of Hawfinches and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers as well as other past glories sprung to mind and not all those occasions when Blue Tits were the highlight! Today alas proved to be one of those Blue Tit days and I had to content myself with a decent selection of the commoner woodland species. Nuthatches, Marsh Tits and the two commoner woodpeckers were perhaps the highlights of my watching. If the teenage version of me had claimed a Red Kite over Kingswood there would have been howls of derision but nowadays things have moved on and they're regular here. Shame that we've lost the Willow Tits and those regular Hawfinches that I've already mentioned but sometimes we have to be grateful for what we've got. Happy New year to all and a heartfelt hope that 2021 presents us with less challenges.

Long-tailed Tit and Blackbird