A winter’s walk in Bedgebury Forest is always something to enjoy. I started from the Hartley end of the forest and initially all was very quiet until I heard the distinctive pi-chew call of the Marsh Tit. I quickly located the individual feeding in a nearby silver birch tree. A long walk through the conifers towards The Pinetum ensued, with only Coal Tits and Goldcrests for company. On entering The Pinetum I scanned the tops of the tallest trees and after a while I locked onto a large finch with an enormous beak. It was what I was searching for – a Hawfinch. There has been a small colony wintering in the Pinetum for many years but numbers have been falling and in some years I have  found none. Last year I found two and this year there were four or five. Hopefully their numbers are slowly coming back as it was not unusual to see flocks in double figures a few years ago. On the tallest tree in Kent, an Albies grandis, there was a small flock of Chaffinches and scanning through them there was a couple that looked a little different with whitish breasts and orange necks and darker heads. They were Brambling. The Pinetum is also good for Crossbill but there were no signs this year and nor have I seen any in Hemsted Forest this winter. On the way back through the forest I noticed a young silver birch tree with what looked liked Long-tailed Tits but on raising my binoculars I was surprised to see five Pied Wagtails. This is a species I do not connect with woodland and on checking my notes I have never recorded this species in Bedgebury before. Unfortunately a group of cyclists passed frightening them off. I have read but never witnessed that Pied Wagtails have traditional roost sites where a large flock, sometimes over 100, roost together. As it was getting quite gloomy by this time I was wondering if this little flock was the start of a roost site, possibly of a much larger number of birds. Bewl Water is close enough to provide daytime feeding before retiring to roost in the safety of the forest. Where birds roost at night, particularly the passerines, is largely unknown and a quite fascinating subject.