Southey Woods has a reputation for three things. Put as bluntly as I dare, lunchtime sees a lot of men turning up without dogs or binoculars to walk in the woods; the evening is famous for dogging without dogs; and anytime of the year, is the time to look for Crossbills.
There are a dozen or so enjoying the seeds of the pines near the picnic area at the moment. I cycled down there today (forgetting about it being lunchtime), and got some fantastic views of the birds feeding. Photographing them, though, proved very difficult, and this was all I could come with (digiscoped).
Still, they should be bankers for the New Year's Day 'bird race' I'm really looking forward to (with Ray an Will Bowell and Helen Wilson). We'll be disappointed if we don't crack 100 species on January 1, 2009. Let's hope for good weather...
