Not so rosy Starling but perfect peckers

The presence of an adult Rosy anywhere is always going to arouse interest and given that nobody had posted a photo of the bird, I thought I'd give it a go. The whole experience was not quite what I was used to: I arrived in a less than salubrious housing estate, knocked at the door of the house in question, was greeted by a dressing-gown clad granny smoking a fag and was eventually ushered through to their back garden by a man whose thick 'Newky' accent rendered him virtually impossible to comprehend. My hosts were in fact delightful and very kind offering me the use of a hide and cups of tea. I took advantage of the former to get close to the feeders and was soon treated to point-blank views of the rarity - not the bright pink bird I had hoped for but exciting nonetheless.

I then moved on to what is increasing becoming a favourite site for me: Washington WWT - not for its wildfowl but for its woodland birds viewable from the Hawthorn Wood hide. Views of Bullfinch, Willow Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Treecreeper, amongst other things, were spectacular.