How to make the most of a winter mindful walk

Tricks to seeing and hearing birds in December

Part one woodland birds

In December the woods become transparent because only a few beech trees keep their leaves.That means we can see the woodland birds [and they can see us]. 

In winter weather birds go into survival mode but they still need forage for food which may be in the higher branches or undergrowth. Here are some tricks to use to see the less common woodland birds: spotted woodpeckers, nuthatches, treecreepers and jays.

1. Pause where you can see a gap between two woods. Woodland birds often fly across the gap. You can observe their flight pattern and sometimes hear their calls. Woodpeckers go into freefall by closing their wings in a very charactreristic way. Jays also close their wings so their flight path is a series of u-shaped dives.
   
2. Walk at a steady pace on a path directly through a wood. This is called making a line transect. Birds fly from you and you can hear their alarm calls and see a blur of colour in their wings. Stopping walking often alerts the birds to your presence. 
3. Follow paths on the side of a wooded valley because they are especially good for observing the crowns of the trees without having to strain your eyes and neck.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Familiarise yourself with the typical calls of the birds you'd like to see, for instance here's a Great Spotted Woodpeckerand you'll double the number of birds you can identify.
5. Stand and listen for a minute in the middle of a wood. Sound carries well in winter and you may hear four or five different bird calls.

I'll write again soon about how to observe woodland edge birds.