BOC After a cold night with rain and a sprinkling of snow, 28 people gathered on a bright, sunny, but cold morning. The Three Brooks Nature Reserve was, for me, a completely new location. Though surrounded by roads, houses and the M4, it is a surprising natural oasis. We set off northwards through a muddy Savage’s … Read more
Over 20 of us gathered in the car park. The first excitement was a sighting of a female Merlin which had been around for a week or so preying on the Snipe. The duck numbers were good, with Teal and Wigeon making up the majority. A little searching revealed a small group of Pintail, but … Read more
Five adventurous birders ignored the amber weather warnings to meet at Slimbridge for the first BOC gathering of 2025. We made a dry start in the Peng Observatory where we had excellent views of beautiful Pintail and many noisy Bewick’s Swans. In the Rushy hide we managed to get brilliant views of a Spoonbill feeding, … Read more
Thirty-four of us gathered on a mild, blustery but dry day for a very enjoyable walk to bring in the New Year, with a new route and new leader. Caron had negotiated the route with a local farmer, and told us lots of interesting details about the area, including the Battle of Hinton fought in … Read more
A dozen members met for the Christmas Eve walk on a day that was initially grey but got gradually brighter. We paused at the church to see the ‘Slave Grave’, then walked up the broad ride seeing a Song Thrush and two Jays. Coal Tits were singing their slurred two tone call in the treetops. … Read more
Sixteen birders set off from the nature reserve entrance on a dull, slightly drizzly day, but the rain soon stopped. A flock of 19 Long-tailed Tits were seen at the start. We walked along the edge of a field with a Magpie and a Blackbird in the grass, while hearing a Song Thrush singing from … Read more
Twelve of us met at Herriotts, with some faces that were new to me. ‘Good to meet you’. As we arrived the start of a mostly blue sky opened up. In the hour we spent there, we found nine Shelducks, 20 Shovelers, three Pintails, 40 Teals, twelve Pochards, two Water Rails, 25 Lapwings, 80 Cormorants, … Read more
