Today, in the sunshine and with clear blue skies, a bird spectacle slowly unravelled though the morning.

It became apparent that small groups, and some larger groups, of chaffinch were flying along the riverwall, all heading west. In just a few hours, nearly 1100 birds were counted.

And it wasn't just chaffinches. The flocks contained a few brambling, some siskin and some redpoll.

This was bird migration happening right in front of our eyes.

Even the chaffinch, a bird so familiar in our parks and gardens, undertake migrations, and the UK receives an influx of these birds in the winter. These arrivals are coming from the continent, as they head west to escape the advance of colder weather in the east.