Our group of thirteen, including three newcomers, met in the village of Somerford Keynes, where a good number of doves and Swallows could be seen; a Green Woodpecker was heard but not seen. We set out toward Pit 37, having spotted Little Grebe on the village lake and Migrant Hawker dragonflies flying above. The ground was uneven in places but dry throughout, with one stile and some brambles (whence a great many blackberries were foraged). Weather was dry with little cloud cover so we were glad of the shade along the edges of the lakes. On the larger lakes we observed many Coot, Mallard, Tufted Ducks, Canada Geese, Swans and Great Crested Grebe with a number of their delightfully striped face juveniles. The group split up for lunch on the heath, where we saw Cormorant, Gulls, Common Terns and a Red Kite, before looping back along the Thames path (the river itself was largely dry). We were pre-warned that Red-crested Pochard had recently been in the area, and indeed we saw a pair on the Farmhouse Lake. Throughout the day we heard Chiffchaff contact calls and saw a great number of other warblers including Blackcap, Reed Warbler, and Sedge Warbler, though many individual birds eluded ID. Overall we saw at least 39 species of bird and twelve species of (mostly colourful) flighted insect; one Buddleia bush had four Painted Ladies and three Hummingbird Hawkmoths. Many thanks to Peter for leading the walk and compiling the list. Freddie Nash