Visits to Southey Woods

I have made 5 visits here over the last 3 weeks to try and see crossbills. Plenty of bird activity yes but not a sign or sound of a single crossbill. This still remains a bird i have never seen despite several hours getting a cricked neck! I must go wth Richard sometime; he odviously has far more success.

However visits on the main path below the old car park have not been entirely wasted. This is an excellent area for spotting tree creepers, long tailed tits, coal tits and marsh tits.Each visit i take some seed to put on the sawn off oak stumps . This photo of a marsh tit was taken soon after one of my seed drops. The marsh and willow tits are very similar and difficult to distinguish unless you get a good view as in this case. The marsh tit has a more slick and groomed look often with a shiny black crown. The willow tit has a duller black cap, a bull neck and more diffuse bib. Also the flanks are normally a brighter buff. Both species have occured here and often join roving tit flocks, but it is rare to see them together.

In my last visit i also disturbed a woodcock in a marshy area with brambles, again near the car park. He or she made a hasty retreat through the trees in a westerly direction.