Fifteen BOC members travelled to the Isles of Scilly, most taking the ‘Scillonian III’ ferry from Penzance. The sea was calm for the crossing and we were immediately rewarded by four Eider in Penzance harbour and a few Great Northern Divers. As the crossing progressed we saw large numbers of Manx Shearwater, Gannets, Shags and a Fulmar. We were advised…
Category: Club Holidays
20 – 27 March – BOC trip to Portugal – Lisbon, Alentejo and the Algarve Tour guides: João Jara (first day), António Cotáo, Miguel Rodrigues Organiser: Alastair Fraser
THE REPORT CAN BE FOUND HERE https://bristolornithologicalclub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/BOC-trip-Portugal-2024.pdf
23 – 26 February – BOC West Cornwall Trip Leader: Jane Cumming
Twelve of us met on Friday morning and after loading our minibus we headed for the Hayle estuary, arriving just before high tide to see a good variety of gulls and shore birds. These included two Knot, two Dunlin and groups of Redshank, Goosander, Teal, Turnstones and ‘barwits’. Across the road in RSPB Ryan’s Field we enjoyed a first winter…
Friday 03 – Sunday 05 November – South Devon Weekend Leader: Jane Cumming
Seventeen BOC members braved the aftermath of Storm ‘Ciaron’ which had passed through on the previous day. Friday: Our first stop on the way down was at Steps Bridge, about ten miles south west of Exeter. Unfortunately, not many birds were around, but we saw three Goldcrests together in the trees. Goosander and Magpie were also seen. Undeterred, we continued…
Pembrokeshire, 17 – 21 April. Leader: Colin Hunt
Eleven car sharing members were based in Freshwater East west of Tenby, weather often chilly but dry. First stop on our way was Llanelli Wetlands Centre, Slimbridge-inspired with large areas of pool, reed and scrub close to the coast. Sightings (excluding the many foreign water fowl!) included 300 plus Black-tailed Godwits, 30 plus Knot, Lapwings, Greenshank, a juvenile? Long-tailed Duck…
Club Holiday to North-east Poland 3 – 11 May – Leader William Earp
A comprehensive 44 page report can be found at – Full Trip Report This much postponed trip, originally scheduled for 2020, finally took place this year. Seven Club members, plus a welcome addition from the North-east Norfolk Bird Club, were met by eminent Polish naturalist and conservationist Marek Borkowski at Warsaw Chopin Airport, and immediately taken to a park close…
24 to 27 February – North Norfolk Leader: Jane Cumming
A group of 18 with some outliers were based in Hunstanton through four days of penetrating north-easterly cold but mostly dry weather. Our hotel was close to the shore and we could sea watch from some bedrooms. Early morning visits saw Fulmars cruising and roosting along the cliffs, Oystercatchers, Turnstones, a Sanderling and Knot on the shore, and Brent Geese,…
Monday 17 to Friday 21 October – Lulworth Cove Leader: Alastair Fraser
Day One: Our first day’s bird walk was to Morden Bog a NNR in Wareham forest, a remnant of Dorset’s once extensive heathland. We walked along a sunken footpath lined with oaks and pines, opening out into a heathland of birch, gorse, and sedge tussocks. Fungi were plentiful including Fleecy Milkcap, False Chanterelle, Russula brittle stem, Sulphur Tuft, Boletus, Amanita…
8-13 May 2022 – Spanish Steppes Leader: Jane Cumming
The BOC party of 12 joined six others at Plymouth for this tour arranged by Wessex Continental Travel Co. Many were up on deck by 5pm to see what seabirds and cetaceans British waters had to offer, and then at dawn the following morning in the Bay of Biscay. There were many excellent sightings of Common and Striped Dolphins, also…
19-22 April 2022 – Mid-Wales Leaders: Kate Cashmore and Clive Burton
Thirteen of us met at at Llangasty Church on the south side of Llangorse Lake, just east of Brecon. The lake is a large shallow natural lake, good for fish, plants and invertebrates and therefore birds, including Garganey, Great White Egret and Marsh Harrier. In the reed beds in front of the hide we had good views of a male…
Saturday 19 – 22 February – Cornwall weekend Leader: Jane Cumming
Our group of 13 was based near St Just. Day one started at Hayle’s Carnsew Pool, showing Goosander, Red-breasted Merganser, Greenshank, Sinensis Cormorants with extensive white head areas, and Little Grebes; another visit added Shags. At Hayle Estuary, we saw Shelduck, Wigeon, Teal, Goosander and Red-breasted Merganser, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Grey and Ringed Plover, Curlew, Dunlin, Redshank, Common and Yellow-legged Gull,…
Club Weekend, 7-10 February – Norfolk: Leader Jane Cumming
Sixteen members went on the long weekend trip to north Norfolk, expertly led by Jane Cumming. On the way we stopped at Welney Wetland Centre where we saw lots of Whooper Swans, Pochard and Teal. 55 different species were seen on our journey to Hunstanton, including Tree Sparrows and a Short-eared Owl at WWT, Red Kite, Buzzard and Marsh Harrier…
Club Weekend, 18-20 October – Kent Leader: Jane Cumming
Sixteen club members met in Gillingham on Kent’s north-west coast. Weather was generally mild and dry. Day 1: Oare Marshes is 81 hectares of grazing marsh with freshwater dykes, open water scrapes, reed bed, saltmarsh and seawall, on the north Kent coast facing the Isle of Sheppey across the Swale. (It was thought too early to visit Sheppey for…
Scotland 04 -11 May – Glenloy
Eleven club members joined this trip which was centred around the Fort William area of north west Scotland. We stayed at Glenloy Lodge which had very peaceful surrounding and a bonus in the form of two Pine Martins which would visit in the evenings to feed on snacks put out by our host Jon. We were incredibly privileged to be…
Club Weekend, 15 – 18 February – Cornwall Leader: Jane Cumming
We were 15 participants, based at Bosavern House just below St Just. Weather generally fine and relatively mild with some strong winds, and overcast. As tradition dictates, we stopped in Hayle for pasties and scouted Copperhouse Creek, dockside Carnsew Pool, and Ryan’s Field RSPB reserve and the estuary bay, getting over 20 wetland species including Mediterranean Gulls (one pair posturing…
Sunday 09 – Thursday 13 September – Pelagic trip to Spain and Asturias Organised by Jane Cumming
Day 1; Sunday 9 September We met up with the group by the Downs Water Tower in Bristol and boarded the coach to Plymouth. We got to the Ferry Terminal in the afternoon and our tour guide, Paul Burley was waiting for us. We then boarded the Brittany Ferries, Pont-Aven for the overnight sailing to Santander. Day 2; Monday 10…
Friday 15 – Monday 18 June – Anglesey Leaders: Keith Williams and Alastair Fraser
After a pleasant journey spotting numerous Buzzards, several Kestrels, and of course the occasional Red Kite as we entered Wales, we arrived at Gronant near Prestatyn. Here on the beach is a breeding colony of Little Terns but sadly only the day before, due to a severe gale causing a tidal surge, the colony had been devastated. There were plenty…
Weekend in Kent, 16-18 February Leader: Jane Cumming
Friday 16 February. A number considered unlucky for some left Bristol for this trip, but on arrival in Kent we were joined by BOC member Lyn and her partner Ray, who stayed with us for the whole trip and whose local knowledge proved invaluable. But before we got to Kent our trip list was already around 40, due partly to…
Friday 24 – Sunday 26 November – South Devon weekend Leader: Jane Cumming
Based at Hope Cove – 20 members; weather – squally with periods of bright sunshine interspersed with showers, driven by a blustery NW wind. Species total: 90 Day 1: We started at Matford Marsh, an informal newish reserve for flood relief between main roads just south of Exeter, to look for an American Wigeon – not there; though Eurasian Wigeon,…
07 to 14 May – Wild Herzegovina
Club Trip: 7-14 May – Wild Herzegovina Leader: Denis Bohm Rock Partridge We arrived in Dubrovnik, Croatia on 7 May and drove across the border into Bosnia-Herzegovina. A three-hour drive took us to picturesque Mostar (although many of the buildings still show chunks missing and peppered shrapnel holes from the brutal war this town endured in the 1990s).…
Norfolk 24 to 27 February
The first club trip I went on was to Norfolk and it was one of the best weekends I ever spent. This one more than lived up to the previous high standard. The weather was kinder to us than the forecasts predicted. We got a bit wet on Saturday, Sunday was windy but sunny and Monday’s storm hit us on…
Monday 07 to Friday 11 November – Dumfries
Dumfries: the destination. These are the voyages of the BOC Tardis. Its five-day mission: to explore strange new reserves, to seek out birds and new experiences. Ably piloted by Ken and Alistair the BOC team headed north to the WWT reserve at Martin Mere. Here the team got their first views of this winter’s wildfowl – Pink-footed Geese and Whooper…
21 – 28 April. The Isles of Scilly
After threats of unusually low tides and easterly gales, the majority of the group set sail very early in the morning on the notoriously unstable Scillonian. As it turned out, we were pleasantly surprised to experience the calmest of seas you could hope for! Others joined later having taking the shorter route of flying to the small airport on St…
Cornwall Weekend – 29 to 31 January 2016
The eighteen Club members on the trip included three first time away with the club. The weather in Cornwall was forecast strong SW winds with (heavy) showers, not too bad on Saturday, windier on Sunday. Although not ideal in some respects, the strong winds drove sea birds towards the coast where we had a better chance of sightings. Sea watching…
Club Holiday – Finland 04 to 08 June 2015
Thirteen members travelled to Finland for an Owl Prowl extraordinaire. The main targets were owls and woodpeckers and the first evening saw us viewing Ural Owl chicks and an adult, closely followed by a Pygmy Owl perched near its nest box. The following day we added two adult and two young Great Grey Owls and a pair of Lesser Spotted…
Sunday 22 to 26 February – France – Lac du Der, Champagne Region.
Thirteen of us drove to Saint-Dizier in the Champagne Region of north-east France to visit the Lac du Der, noted for its large number of migratory Cranes. The lake is a flood defence and the water level can vary considerably but it was very full after recent rains. The countryside to the west is flat, chalky, intensively cultivated and not…
10 – 13 October 2014 – North Norfolk Weekend
This trip was billed as “something of a twitch fest” but it didn’t often feel that way, partly because most of the rarities we sought, either fell into our laps or else defied long and painstaking efforts to locate them. En route to Norfolk we saw a large number of Red Kites from the minibus, but our first birding stop…
Tuesday 03 – 10 June – Club Holiday to Iceland (pics to follow)
A group of 16 led by Wendy Dickson flew from Heathrow to Keflavik, with a bus journey to Reykjavik’s domestic airport introducing us to the blue lupin-covered rocky landscape. We then took a further flight north to Akureyri and drove through rainy, misty conditions to Husavik, a fishing and whaling town on the north coast. There were good views of…
Friday to Sunday 14,15 & 16 February – Kent
We left Bristol early Friday morning in a gale. Our first notable birds were Red Kites as we drove along the M4. After a brief stop at Services on the M25 to meet up with the rest of the group travelling by car we carried on to Cliffe Pools. We met Lynn Griffiths, a member who had recently moved to…
Saturday and Sunday 25/26 January – Poole and Wareham Forest
The ground might have been water-logged but the air was dry on Saturday morning when we met at Sherford Bridge to begin our walk through the varied habitat of Wareham Forest. We saw a Moorhen walking the river bank and Song and Mistle Thrushes were singing. As we progressed we saw a Goldcrest, a pair of Ravens, a Carrion Crow,…
15 – 18 October 2013 – Brandenburg, Germany.
We found ourselves in a spirit-level landscape of vast horizons, towering cloudscapes and pastel colours, where the acres of tilled fields are lined by hedgerows or punctuated by picturesque clumps of trees, like something out of a painting by a Dutch or German Old Master. To put it in English terms, imagine the Levels or Holkham Freshmarsh, but on a…
Trip report: Suffolk Weekend (17 – 19 May 2013)
There were eight of us on this venture to Suffolk. We started out from Jane’s house in Portishead in misty weather and the day continued cool and overcast but our spirits were lifted with excellent views of three Stone Curlews from the hide at Weeting Heath. One male and female were clearly a pair. The heath was busy with rabbits,…