A convivial day out with David D-L, Lee B and Adrian W saw us first visit Combe Wood, on the edge of Berkshire, where we located at least four
Willow Tits. This is the furthest south that I have seen this species and the first time I've had them alongside
Marsh Tits. As the 'ray-gun' and 'sneezy' calls bounced against each other through the dank woods, I daydreamed that I had stumbled upon a wormhole to a Britain whose avifauna hadn't yet been ravaged by habitat and climate change. Nice flight views of a
Tawny Owl was another highlight.
Acres Down was up next but the weather hadn't improved nearly as much as we had hoped. Still, we managed to track down a fabulous flock of 29
Hawfinches, an adult ♂
Goshawk (the others also saw a female when I strayed away for a while) and four
Crossbills of note.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rkK_qIEWwntmxvp550F_nsz-3nmTvhaqvPggkmyz1sz0JRa7lbB3wAM2-lMRTjx59sWljcLtRZ6KD4-9CJUJ0wMwvbrRBEH9vqu2iXzD5Y9PhdGcFl9NJFnwTovJBdOs65aHUMRa-qRL/s640/Goshawk+12022017+1.jpg) |
adult ♂ Goshawk at Acres Down |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQRewqtK-LUUd3UExHLAI-rZxtHqXNW1mQ_woTCNYCq5oywqS3f_RuThLdti9nwsnp6J7aKUS-epvV7LGxpiFV-9y3nRngMs19BORxKuDfRFybPMxtWPG8ohKPp9R9mlP7OZUUJSUFrPy/s640/IMG_1193.JPG) |
Hawfinches at Acres Down |