Winter Woods

Not had much time to keep up with this blog, nor my woodpecker blog. First it was Christmas, and all that that entails (mainly eating, drinking, family visits, etc, etc). And now New Year is coming (more eating, drinking, family visits, etc, etc). But I managed to get out into the woods above the city for a few hours the other morning. The crisp, cold air helped blow away a few festive season cobwebs. A thin layer of snow lay on the ground but it was quite productive. A Black Woodpecker was hacking away at a broken beech stump, several Great Spotteds were busy, a couple of Middle Spotted Woodpeckers were in dispute over something and I managed to get a female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker to respond to a few calls. A flock or two of Hawfinches kept zooming overhead and a mixed flock of other songbirds were moving through the woods, including a band of Long-tailed Tits looking very much in the Christmas mood with their white "woolly hat" heads.