31st Dec 2015

I had my last walk around for the year this morning starting at dawn, with John joining me a little later. It was a little chilly to start with but as the sun came out it turned into a very pleasant morning. 

There were six Goosanders (1 drake) to start with, but this soon reduced to four as two of the redheads had left before John got there. There was also eleven Great Crested Grebes this morning, which is a good count for here. 

The wood was busy this morning with lots of activity from the roving tit flocks and associated species. I got incredible views of the Long-tailed Tits within a couple of metres but failed to get decent pictures. Several Siskins and a few Bullfinches were also busy feeding in the wood. The Chiffchaff was around again today calling from the scrub just north of the railway bridge. A Sparrowhawk made a couple of appearances out the back of the wood too, one time coming up from the riverside.

The valley was rather quiet really and for several days now there has been nothing but gulls on the Borrow Pit pool. There were at least two Herring Gulls around today with the Black-headed and several Common Gulls. A few Meadow Pipits flushed from the wet grass.