Cassiobury Park (12th March)

The usual walk through the park in the morning yielded a calling Redpoll sp. at the east end of the park.  In my early afternoon walk through the park much more was of note including 2 Grey Herons down by the nature reserve and 2 calling Nuthatches.  Also in my visit 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were about (only saw two of them) and a Green Woodpecker was also yaffling.  Two other birds of note included a single Jay and Goldcrest.  However, the biggest surprise was the find of a tortoise species (most likely a escape) basking on a branch in the middle of a pond near the flooded meadow (which has now dried up) before it dropped into the water and didn't re-emerge.