A bright sunny afternoon but thick mist clouds to the west.
Arrived at Ogden Back Lane fearing the worst as Ogden itself was like Alton Towers with crowds of folk and screaming kids.
When I got to the plantation a family was running around in the plantation shouting and bawling throughout which drove the birds to the bottom edge hence the distant photos.
Three Crossbills showed after 15 minutes wait but briefly so I settled down and waited. After 30 minutes 9 Crossbills came out of the plantation and onto the lower fringe but remained very flighty. The males kept carrying cones to the top branches before hacking in to them whilst the females remained lower down making it impossible to photograph them at that distance.
Suddenly a flock of finches came into the north end and worked their way down the plantation feeding as the went. The majority of them were Siskin but Redpolls, Goldfinch,Greenfinch, Chaffinch and tits were amongst them.
My 4th visit for Crossbills had finally paid off.
9 Crossbill
20+ Siskin
5 Redpoll
6 Goldfinch
2 Greenfinch
Sev Chaffinch
5 Coal Tits
2 Gt Tits
BS