After a quiet couple of weeks,more birds have been in evidence over the last couple of days. A massive flock of over 90 mistle thrushes has been flying into trees around the Gatehouse from nearby Sandy Ridge.This is a record count of these large thrushes at The Lodge-and quite possibly a Bedfordshire record as well.The thrushes could be counted accuratley as they all flew up over the gatehouse when a peregrine zipped through and took a woodpigeon, alarming all of the birds in the area. A few crossbills have also been seen lately, with several on the fence enclosing a section of gorse on Sandy Ridge this afternoon. There have been a few finches on the ground around here, with both goldfinches and greenfinches getting seed from small flowers growing amongst the grasses.So a few birds to wet our appetite for the coming weeks, when migration starts all over again.