New Year

Happy new year to you.  We spent welcoming in the new year at a friend's house not that far from the Wyre Forest. Right from opening the curtains this morning, I was asaulted with a good array of species that included; Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Siskin and first bird of the year was Black Headed Gull.  I managed to pursuade our hosts to come for a walk along Dowles Brook in the forest, hoping to score the resident Dipper and Grey Wagtails, but unfortunately could not find either (the first two missed birds of the year).  However, I managed to find quite a few commoner species in the revolving tit flocks that were in residence along the old railway line.  The best bird of the day, though had to be a rather scrappy looking Raven croaking away at the top of a fir tree.  As I lagged behind my birder's wife and friends I heard a small look of Crossbill calling but unfortunately could not locate them.  Overall, not a bad start to the birding year and a bonus was that it did not start to rain we were safely back inside supping tea.