I heard a green woodpecker yesterday afternoon whilst walking down the Abbey Road. It was behind the last large house on the left just before Coed Dolgoed. I waited a few minutes but I didn't see it or hear it again. It must be 5 years since I last saw one in the village. At Coed Dolgoed I saw 4 marsh tits and a reed bunting on the track up to the woods. Inside the wood there were a few siskins, another marsh tit and a song thrush singing away, but best of all, just after the new bat boxes, was a big flock of crossbill. They were tricky to count; I'd got to 40 and then they all flew about and I gave up as they were even harder to see. There must have been 50+ and that's being conservative!
Andre Marsh