Monday 19th December

Another cold frosty day although brilliant sunshine. The top lake was frozen and the bottom lake almost totally, only free of ice where the beck came in and around the island.

The Woodsmen have come back today for a few days extra work. Tyne, their horse, helped with the heavy work of pulling the logs out again.

The woods where alive with bird calls this morning, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Robins, Blackbirds and Wrens all joined in together.

16 Mallards today 9 of them males and 5 Moorhens all on the bottom lake.

The West Beck Way path again had Greenfinches and a couple of Chaffinches also three Bullfinches, 2 males and a female.


Walking up the steps into the park I could hear Coal tits calling, turned out to be three birds in the ivy covered trees at the top of the path.


In the park, an elderly gentleman walking his dog was filling up a bag with rubbish using a gripper stick ! a true "friend of Fairy Dell"



Dropping down the side of the wood towards the beck another three Bullfinches ! all males showing well their pinky red breasts and jet black caps. Watching these I caught site of something flying past me and back up the beck, the way it was flying looked very much like a wagtail. Doubling back and towards the ford to see if I could find it, there it was, a Grey Wagtail, bobbing up and down on the rocks in the beck. An unmistakable bird with grey back and lemon vent and breast. It searched around the ford for a while then flew off back up the beck.