Dear Readers, I don’t know what you were doing at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, but I was out with local birder Gareth Richards and some other intrepid birdwatchers to see what was going on in Coldfall Wood. Last time we did a formal walk we spotted a Firecrest, which was a wonderful find. No such luck this time, but we did get a splendid view of a Treecreeper, which is not uncommon, but is fairly elusive.

Treecreeper (Certhis familiaris)

Birding in woodland at this time of year can be a little frustrating – there is still a lot of leaf cover, and you can hear about three times as many birds as you actually see. We were blessed with a good view of swallows and house martins flying over however – they were flying south-ish, but Gareth explained that the birds like to fly into the wind, which is the exact opposite of what you’d think. We all wished them the best – these fragile wisps of life heading off on a journey of so many miles, many for the first time, always move me.

We saw lots of smaller birds foraging in the trees – mixed flocks of tits and goldcrests were everywhere. Strangely enough, there weren’t any finches (I’ve seen flocks of dozens of chaffinches in the past) and although we heard long-tailed tits, they couldn’t be enticed any closer, even with Gareth making his famous ‘psshing’ sound which is usually irresistible. I imagine that as insects become (even) less common, the birds will concentrate on trying to find food.

And here’s some video of a Coldfall Wood treecreeper – not from this occasion, but fun nonetheless, especially if you can stomach the slight vertigo induced by my wobbly filming.

All in all we saw and heard over twenty species of bird during our 90 minute walk, including one of my favourites, the often-overlooked stock dove. You might take a quick look and think this is a wood pigeon, but note the lack of any white on the body, and those ‘kind’ dark eyes, as opposed to the rather manic stare of the wood pigeon. Worth keeping an eye open for, for sure!

Stock Dove (Calumba oenas)

And so, this was a walk of small pleasures, and a great chance to get out and about on a rather overcast day, when the inclination might be to just curl up in bed. Nothing wrong with curling up in bed, but you are most unlikely to see a treecreeper!

Many thanks to Gareth, and to everyone who came on the walk.