Saturday
23rd
July Light SW cloudy, muggy, dry
I make my way to a pine forest north of Nethybirdge. I
am looking for crossbills, parrot crossbills to be exact. Beyond a large quarry, up a steep hill and
into the forest proper, I pick bilberries that stain my hands and,
like miniature blueberries, provide some sustenance. No biting
insects here, I spend four hours and see six crossbills. None of them
land though, they just chup as they pass, first three, then two then
one.
I return to my tent just before heavy rain starts. The
rain lasts well into the night.
9.44 Miles 616 feet elevation up and down
Sunday
24th July Light SW drizzle, followed by evening
of heavy rain
I make my way to a pine forest north of Nethybridge once
more and enter it via a public footpath conveniently placed to the
west of the quarry.
To a sort of elevated hide, the sort used for shooting
deer, drizzle is falling and two crossbills land on a nearby pine.
Unfortunately due to the inclement weather, photographs are poor.
Also unfortunately the birds are silent.
Still they are obviously not
common crossbills, having a strong neck and broader bill so maybe I
can claim half a year tick. After all they must be either Scottish
crossbill or Parrot.
The rain gets heavier and I sit in the hide and count a
large flock of mistle thrushes pass by, over one hundred and fifty of
them; the largest flock of mistle thrushes I have ever seen.
Six crossbills chup past but don't land.
The rain stops and I head back towards the hidden bike.
A willow warbler phoeets nearby and I pish quietly not expecting
much. I am soon surrounded by a fair number of titmice, mostly coal
tits with chaffinches, more willow warblers and a treecreeper.
Back at the tent my lonely evening is spent reading,
typing notes and studying the photographs of the crossbills. What I
would give for some equipment to record the sounds the crossbills
make when flying past. Is it just my hopes that makes the crossbills
that fly by the tent sound so different to the ones I have seen in
the Nethy Bridge forest?
6.74 Miles 354 feet elevation up and down
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