Wendover Woods

It was my brothers idea to go to Wendover Woods today to catch up on the recent sightings of Crossbills that had been seen in their dozens for the past few days.  I decided to come for a break from revision and was not disappointed when, as well as a brief yet close view of 1♂ Kestrel and Buzzard on the A41 trip there, a flock of 5+ CROSSBILLS flew over the car park only minutes after arriving.  As usual their favoured spot were the tall cedar trees that are spread out throughout the car park, particularly were they are dispersed, unfortunately however we only glimpsed them as they noisily flew into the uppermost branches calling loudly.  Our dog had to be walked so we moved on in hope of finding more on our walk.  We didn't follow any of the trails properly except we went on a long round walk around the large valley.  Several more species were noted including several Goldcrest, most of them picked out by their trilling call whilst 1 Siskin was heard as was a probable Marsh Tit that I only caught a glimpse of but was picked out by its "ptsieew" call, before quickly diving behind a fir tree.  Unfortunately no more Crossbills showed themselves although 1 Crossbill was heard around a lone standing Scots Pine tree amongst the beech woodland at the north west side of the forest.  Also of note was my first Red Kite of the year and 2 Jays in the car park followed by another calling Crossbill and my first Great Tits of the year on the feeders outside the cafe, unfortunately one male Great Tit had a parasitic tick on its right cheek and had grown to a significant size.