Crossbills

 A welcome return to sunnier conditions saw Alan Shorrock and I visiting some of our local sites. We began at Deene where eight Shelducks and a Cetti's Warbler were the best of the bunch, sadly it appears that the Red Crested Pochards seen earlier in the week had moved on. A noisy gaggle of geese on the lake turned out to be Greylags with a few Canadas mixed in. Neighbouring Blatherwycke was if anything even quieter and similarly its goose flock did not contain any surprises among them.

Red Kite and Jay

Wakerley Wood was our final birding stop of the day where we tried once again to see some Crossbills. It took a bit of walking and some up to date info from another birder but eventually we struck lucky. Alan found a female feeding in a pine tree next to the path and a male was noted soon after. The birds were very quiet and on another day we may well have passed them without noticing. After several minutes the small flock of what turned out to be at least four birds moved on. We heard them several times on our walk back to the car while other birds of note included Ravens, Marsh Tits and a day hooting Tawny Owl. I finished the day and my short break from work in the spoons where a pint and a bite to eat brought things to a close.

Crossbills