Saturday, November 23, 2013
The road to Wembley
The track runs down from Surrey Hill in Swinley Forest, and it was Greger who spotted Wembley Stadium on the horizon.
On a so-far stunningly bird-less walk I was reduced to snapping the dead pine on Bagshot Heath. It has fallen over.
It's a sad end for a tree that on a memorable day back in August, hosted, among other things, a lesser spotted woodpecker.
Heading back through the forest we tried a good site for crossbills; the area where they take soil for track repairs, near Lower Star Post. There was a welcome soft thud of a pine cone falling on dead leaves, and looking up we saw this bird just alighting. There were six or seven birds, and they kept up a constant twittering.
Otherwise, our list boasted a singing siskin on top of the dead pine near the stream, a heard-only Dartie and large loose flocks of chacking fieldfare.
Greger wanted to cook a paella so we stopped at Maidenhead where Waitrose's car park was such a madhouse that I parked along the dead-end road while Greger went in to shop; and while I waited I saw ring-necked parakeets flying east; two flocks of about fifteen birds each. It was almost dusk by now and the birds flew fast and purposefully, parallel with the A4. I wonder if they use it to navigate?
// posted by Christine @ 9:54 AM 
