Short Walk on Shortest Day.

Great Lime Road runs on the other side of the buildings. The road was built in 1793 when Killingworth Moor was enclosed. The name 'Lime' is derived from the Latin term for boundary.

Greylag Geese with a few of the Canada Geese seen on a previous visit.

22^nd Dec. In stark contrast to any walks I took in December 2010, it was warm and sunny around by the lake today. It was difficult to imagine the frozen conditions of last year. The shortest day, but not really at all like winter today, so long may it continue.

As I passed through the park area a flash a white caught my eye as it flew across my path. It was a Treecreeper which I watched climb the beech tree in typical fashion. As far as I remember the only Treecreeper I’ve seen on patch this year. The church grounds held decent size flocks of both Goldfinch and Greenfinch. I’ve seen no Nuthatch or Goldcrest in this area this year.

The sunlight was being reflected off the surface of the lake and the birds were shown to great effect today, especially the Goosanders, as their colours were shown perfectly. There were four male Goosanders on the small lake and a total of thirteen Goosanders altogether. The way the females were closely following the males seemed to suggest that the warm day had them thinking of courtship! I counted four Goldeneye, two male and two female. Initially I found only eight Pochard, but later saw more at the top of the lake, but only at distance as it’s an area I rarely bother to visit. Playgrounds, car-parks and a mass of birds waiting to be fed is not really my thing, so I usually avoid it! Thank goodness for the relative tranquillity of the smaller lake. I counted eighty-four Canada Geese and noted that the Greylag Geese remain.

The only other thing of significance was the flocks of corvids on the playing fields. Gathering before going to roost. Gulls included Black Headed, Herring and Common Gull.