Sunday 5th November was a delightful sunny and cool autumn day as 12 birders, some old friends and some new, gathered at the end of Donnefield Avenue at 10a.m. to see what we could find in the park.

I was hoping we might find some redwings. Winter visitors from Scandinavia that come to the UK in late autumn when the food resources run low as winter deepens in Scandinavia. Members of the thrush family, they are a darker brown than our own mistle and song thrush and have chestnut red flanks. They are best seen when they perch in the trees in small groups. One was seen the previous Sunday during the RSPB 'Feed the Birds Day'.  We took our usual route and immediately noticed the jays that are very active at the moment gathering acorns to lay up a winter food store that they bury. It is suggested that they can remember as many as a thousand different locations where they have buried acorns. Of course, if something then happens to the bird many of these acorns germinate. One can say that the oakwoods of England were largely established by jays.

The ring-necked parakeets showed straight away. Their numbers have doubled since last year and we recently had a count of 14. They are definitely here to stay and I now believe they roost in the park rather than fly back to Preston Park where we think they roosted before. At Howberry Road a small flock of 8-12 long-tailed tits passed overhead and we found 2 stock doves by the memorial garden, a bird we are now seeing on every trip.

Otherwise, it was proving to be a quiet day and this continued when we went round to the basin on Canons Drive. The usual cormorants, tufted duck and mallard were there as were several common gulls in with the usual black-headed gulls, but no herons or collared doves. Best of all, though, was a sparrowhawk flying over, easily recognisable by its characteristic flight style of flap flap glide - flap flap glide.

As we began our walk back to the park, we spotted some goldfinches feeding in alder trees near the basin, just a few feet from the pavement. Back in the park, a close look at the verges either side of the carriageway leading to Whitchurch Lane revealed no redwings.

We enjoyed the morning, despite seeing fewer species than normal (26). It is always a thrill to see a bird of prey.