Christine's walking & birds blog

I walked the length of Swinley Forest to Wishmoor, but the best bag of birds was up near Caesar's Camp. The first excitement was a thunderstorm, with heavy rain that left huge puddles everywhere. The second - along the northbound track under the powerlines - was a couple of lads on mini-motorbikes being chased by a determined-looking ranger in a green truck. The truck lurched from side to side sending up great fountains of water, and the trio turned west at Caesar's Camp, cheered on by a group of boys out walking with their scoutmaster. (Not sure whose side they were on, though!)

I backtracked to the clearing south of the camp, from where a cuckoo was singing. As I approached the clearing two cuckoos came flying across it - and, naturally, my camera was in my rucksack. Next I heard a crossbill calling. A nice male landed on the top of a pine and sang for some minutes; it was a varied, twittering sort of song - and a first for me. A bird feeding near the crossbill turned out to be a female brambling. It was being half-heartedly hectored by a long-tailed tit.

High up, my first swift flew north.