A day out to a new venue (I hope to be throwing in more new venues this year) Sherwood Forest or Budby Common. We found it to be a well run place with good facilities and places to eat.
The birds were good straight from the start in the car park, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Nuthatch (these are plenty here), however these were not our quarry for today the birds we had come to see were about an hours walk away from here on the common. The birds were good on our journey thru the forest we saw plenty of Great Tit, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbirds, Coal Tit and Chaffinch, there were bird tables scattered thru out the forest were you got views of these birds we even got close to Marsh Tit. We finally got to the place were the birds where, after going thru mud and puddles, and it wasn’t long before we had a first views of the Parrot Crossbills thanks to the gathered crowd. A lifer for me so we stayed a while had dinner a watched the birds antics, the bill is much heavier and shorter than the common crossbill, giving it that Parrot look, the bird is also bigger than the Common Crossbill, with the plumage being the same, the birds breed in the Pine Forests of North West Europe into Russia, with a very small population in Scotland. The status in the UK are a rare migratory breeder, Amber Status, with only a few records per year (collins bird guide 2nd Edition) (RSPB Info)
Site at SK617689 (N53.213675 / W-1.077270)
The Day List :-
Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Jacdaw, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Marsh Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Long tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Parrot Crossbill, Rook, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon
Blackbird
Huddsbirder 