Earlier in the week Barry Reed found three Parrot Crossbills in Broxbourne Woods-part of this autumn's influx. The first records ever for Hertfordshire, and the first in the London recording area since the mid 19th C, so they have been rather popular. Being stuck at work and with other commitments, today was my first available opportunity to get down there.
By the time I got there at 9am, with one other car load in front of me, there had already been one report so it was a case of getting to the right area and waiting. Gradually numbers built up, including Simon West, Darren Bast, David Darrel Lambert, Colin Wills and Richard Pople, so there was plenty of chatting to while away the hours. David had been down yesterday with his recording gear and was using it again today, but unfortunately the Gibbons at the nearby Paradise Wildlife Park were pretty much the only things making a noise this morning.
We had lots of corvids and gulls going over, the occasional Redpoll and Siskin, and the usual species one can find in conifer plantations. Just about the only thing not showing were Crossbills. Richard and I stuck it out until just before noon, before giving up.
One distraction on the way back was a very close flyby Raven which was rather problematic as I was following Richard up the lane and we were both trying to avoid an oncoming car in the very narrow lane.
No comments:
Post a Comment