Guided Bird Walk

Saturday 20th December 2025

David Jones - Volunteer Guide

Seeing birds in a mid-winter wood in Britain is always a gamble. However, this year at least, the weather was perfect: bright sunshine, very little wind and relatively mild. Unfortunately, only two people who had booked actually turned up but several volunteers took up my offer to join us. It proved to be a good decision by them.

Just before we started two very noisy Egyptian Geese flew in, landed and perched on top of a dead tree. These geese are now common in London, but are seldom seen far from open water and, with webbed feet, are not designed for perching. A good start.

Egyptian Geese image by Kev from Pixabay

I had decided upon a new route. Down the path from the cafe into Jack Wood, where an obliging Robin was seen, soon followed by a loud, singing Song Thrush that could not be seen but was particularly welcome in mid winter. Just a few yards further on several people noticed the movement of small birds in the bushes by the path. A quick glance with the binoculars confirmed they were Goldcrests! These are Britain’s smallest birds and are constantly moving, usually high in the tree canopy and are notoriously difficult to see, but we had relatively good views that showed the mohecan bright yellow crest that gives the bird its name. Almost immediately afterwards we saw a mixed flock of tits: Great, Blue, Coal and Long Tailed. This was followed by a small group of Stock Doves, a form of Pigeon that is often mis-identified as a Pigeon. This in turn was followed almost immediately by a more distant view of a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. Twenty minutes into the walk and we had already seen more birds than I had expected for the whole 90 minutes.

Robin, Great, Blue, Coal and Long Tailed Tit and Stock Dove images by Jürgen from Pixabay Song Thrush, Goldcrest and Greater Spotted Woodpecker images by Kev from Pixabay

The rest of the walk saw more of the common Tit species, further views of a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbirds, Pigeons, both Feral and Wood and a fleeting view and call of a Redwing, a Scandinavian Thrush the spends the winter in Britain. Further on a small group of Jackdaws were seen, our smallest member of the Crow family. Just to cap the walk, at the end we were by the new Jackwood House Garden flower beds when we saw a Common Buzzard being mobbed by a single Carrion Crow. A perfect end to the best winter bird walk in the woods that I have ever led, even if we did miss quite a few common woodland birds.

Blackbird and Carrion Crow images by Jürgen from Pixabay Feral and Wood Pigeon, Redwing and Buzzard images by Kev from Pixabay

I warned everyone before the walk that the Spring bird walks involve more birds and of course, much more bird song. These walks will have a lot to live up to in 2026. Book early!

Note: all photos are illustrative as none were taken on the day.