Lockdown Diary: Saturday 18.7.20

There has been a major movement of Crossbills across the UK in recent days, and it has started to touch upon the Peterborough area. Indeed my friend Don Gardener (who lives just outside Ferry Meadows CP) has had these big finches flying over his garden on two mornings. Crossbills are scarce birds around (and seemingly getting scarcer) here and I haven’t seen one properly locally for about 10 years! So, I decided my best bet for weekend birdwatching was to head to the closest thing we have to a hotspot for them, Southey Wood (south of Helpston, a little west of Peterborough, near Castor Hanglands). There are plenty of mature conifers of various species, but also plenty of broad-leaved trees mixed in. It is also good for butterflies these days, with widening of rides, and allowing undergrowth to develop (though, controversially, there has been much clearing of large trees in the last month or so, in the height of the breeding season… ). It has also become increasingly popular as a walking place for families and dogwalkers, so an early start is, as usual, best for wildlife watching.
I got a message from a friend, who had been out early, north of Helpston, to say that he’d seen a single Crossbill flying over. So, I was at Southey by 7am. There was a great deal of bird activity even in the first 50m or so from the road, along the edge of the mature oaks, near the picnic area, by the giant pines. A presumed family party of Spotted Flycatchers were notably active and vocal. There was also a little family group of Goldcrests, including ‘crestless’ juveniles. And there were groups of warblers, tits and Treecreepers, everywhere.
It was all I could to drag myself away. But I was on a mission: Crossbills. So, I continued along the path, and within a minute, I heard the distinctive agitated call of a Crossbill! Two birds came out of the pine tops and flew over the path at tree-top height, disturbed from their feeding by a very low Red Kite drifting through. I was now on a mission to refind the Xbills. The long and short of it is eventually I found a group of eight Crossbills high up in a stand of Western Hemlock trees (I know, it is an odd name!), which have been one of the best draws for Crossbills over the years. This group eventually increased to 10 then 13 individuals. About half of them were streaky juveniles, with females dominating the rest, and very few or even orange red males.
Anyhow, I hung around for about 7 hours, watching the big beautiful, parrotlike finches feeding and flying and calling and coming back again and again to their favoured trees. They really are superb birds. At least one bird was even singing (which I have not heard before)! As they were mainly in the treetops, my photos were always distant record shots, but the views through the scope were fantastic!

Streaked juvenile Crossbill, Southey Wood, Cambs, 18.7.20

Young male Crossbill (and friend), Southey Wood, Cambs, 18.7.20

Female Crossbills, Southey Wood, Cambs, 18.7.20