Despite all the rain and mud, winter was at it’s best on Christmas Day. Today (27 December) looks good too. Things get a bit cloudier – and colder – from tomorrow. Maybe enough ground will freeze up to take the edge off the mud. Keep a look out for birds – we saw sparrowhawks and a tawny owl hunting on Christmas Day at Lullingstone – and enjoy the fantastic light effects created by the afternoon sun as it illuminates the stark trees. Another bird you’ll be sure to hear is the high-pitched calls of goldcrests particularly in pines and cypress. It’s quite hard to see them though, because they are tiny and stay high up generally. Watch out for small flocks of redwings on the search for berries. But generally speaking I haven’t seen a lot of birds this winter on my walks.
Kent walks near London 
Today we walked No 14 . We walked it for the first time in November and saw only a couple of people. Today much busier. Lost count of the couples and small groups. Seems to be more rubbish and litter unfortunately, I don’t understand why this happens when we always take home every scrap of paper, orange peel or whatever. It’s such a lovely area and really good exercise going up those steep inclines. Thank you.
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Hi Liz, thanks for writing in. No 14 is usually one of the quietest walks and one of my favourites. Such a shame about the litter… I think some of it might be exposed by the retreat of foliage in winter but inevitably as countryside gets busier, there will sadly be more of it. At least orange peel isn’t as bad as the entire bed frames and endless mattresses that have been dumped in my local park of late! With country walking the only entertainment on offer at the moment I suppose this situation is likely to continue for some months. Best of luck to you.
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