Stewchat...

A pleasant day after the gales for the previous two nights. The wind has dropped right off and it was quite mild. This mornings walk headed off inland along the back hedge and back by the village wood. Two Mealy Redpolls were still in the small alders so I presume they are the same birds from a week or two back.

Around our garden were 3 or maybe 4 Great spotted Woodpeckers together. I had three in view all at once then a squabble broke out and two flew off. A few minutes later two were together again, and I hadn't see any return? A nice adult male Sparrowhawk strafed the feeders so fast that it had gone before the tits alarm called.

In the afternoon we took a walk along the coast to Craster and back. A few nice Eiders in breeding fettle were offshore with a female Goldeneye. 3 Shags flew north and all the gulls were checked for that errant Ross's to no avail.