Wednesday 19th December

A bit like the difference between extensive and intensive farming. nature spotting in winter requires more time for less results than in the summer but there are always a few interesting things to see.

Singing woodpecker

On Monday afternoon I discovered that the official red kite trail runs very near to where I live when I decided to investigate a bridleway just to the East of here. Overall it was quiet but I think it could be an interesting route to check next year.  Apart from a lot of oak trees there were a fair number of mature scots pine and I wondered if they attract any crossbills.

To order there was a sighting of a patrolling red kite down the track but I was more interested in the woodpecker I spotted at the very top of one of the pines.  Nothing unusual in seeing a woodpecker of course but what interested me was the fact that it was clearly singing, or perhaps more accurately chuntering to itself.  I don't think I've heard a woodpecker sing before.

Over the weekend I saw for the first time a jay working its way through the trees at the back of the garden.  One bird I haven't seen here is the goldfinch and while someone suggested that they like conifers, I suspect it's more to do with the extra height here.  Starlings are a rarity too.

Today the weather was fine so I finally rose to the challenge of cycling up the long hill to Burnopfield on my way to cycle route 7.  Just past the path to Tanfield Comprehensive School, a large volley of bullfinches flew over the track.  I reckoned there were eight or so, more than I would usually expect to see together.

Coming back along the Derwent Valley, there were a few more bullfinches between Consett and Shotley Bridge and a few redwing just past Shotley Bridge too. Then six grey squirrels appeared on the same short stretch of track going towards Hamsterley, all within a distance of about half a mile and the only ones I saw the whole day.

You can't always predict these things.