Lynford Water, Norfolk

An early morning visit to these wonderful site hoping to find Crossbills.  An initial walk to the lakes produced small numbers of Wildfowl including a pair of Mandarin.  I finished off with a short visit to the mainly Larch trees in the Arboretum where good numbers of Crossbills fed high in the trees.

21+ Cormorant
Grey Heron
2 Great Crested Grebes
Mute Swan
2 Egyptian Geese (pair)
Tufted Duck
3 Teal
2 Mandarin (pair)
Wood Pigeon (100's on the move at dawn)
Stock Dove (song heard)
Goldcrest
Marsh Tit
Nuthatch
Long-tailed Tit
40+ Siskins
30+ Crossbills
15+ Brambling

Lynford Water 25th November

Just after dawn (sunrise 0734) whilst walking around the lake, the familiar loud "chip chip" calls of Crossbills was heard, this was followed by 7+ birds directly overhead.  Later, further small numbers seen over Pine trees.
I finished with a visit to the tall Larches just inside the Arboretum where Crossbills were soon found feeding upon cones in the treetops along with Siskins and several Bramblings.  The true number of Crossbills was revealed when they were spooked and flew a circuit before flying back into trees, at this time 30+ birds were seen.
Male Crossbills were easily identified in flight by their distinctive reddish plumage.  Female Crossbills were seen well high in Larches, showing their greenish tones.