A sunny morning and a delightful walk through varied habitats including field, woodland, narrow country lane and riverside. We left Blackhorse Road to enter an open area of common land with trees and shrubs. There we spotted Starling, Crow, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Pied Wagtail. The route led us through woodland carpeted in … Read more
Thirteen people met at Ashley Walk in the New Forest for a walk through open heathland, woodland (some ancient) with closely-grazed glades and intermittent small streams. The weather started cold with a strong north-east wind but remained sunny all day. On the heath, brilliant with thickly flowering gorse, we found two Dartford Warblers, Common Redstarts, … Read more
Fifteen members met at the car park and were introduced to our substitute leader Matt, a student on his gap year who birded the area most days. We first heard Blackcap and Chiffchaff and soon had good views of both species. Walking up the hill we startled a Jay. From the ridge, looking down on … Read more
Sixteen people met in Northend village on a fine day. Greenfinches and Collared Doves sang close by. As we set off up the hill our leader pointed out the remains of last year’s House Martins’ nests; the village usually has a good population. We commenced the long uphill slog to Little Solisbury Hill. Reaching the … Read more
Surprisingly, only 16 turned up for this lovely walk although the weather forecast had not been optimistic. Immediately we left the car park we saw Green Woodpecker, Goldfinch, Chiffchaff and Great Tit along with many other usual suspects, so many in fact we thought we may as well stay put for the three hours! We … Read more
There were 26 of us who set off on a blustery dry day, up through broadleaved woodlands carpeted with wood anemones, celandines and other spring flowers, through open grassland and back along the River Avon past the heronry. Between us we saw or heard 34 species including a pair of Bullfinches and Greenfinch, Mistle Thrush, … Read more
There was a healthy turnout of 20 birders, keen to enjoy a nice Spring day. The group had a pleasant walk across fields, spotting Redwing as we went, and down through the almost impossibly picturesque village. We paused at the bridge over the brook where we heard a distant Nuthatch calling. There was plenty of … Read more
What a glorious day for a walk. We disappeared into the confines of Leigh Woods where Sue Prince’s sharp ears picked out many of the usual woodland species as we walked towards the river, but I think we all managed Chiffchaff and Nuthatch, and she later got a Blackcap. A woodland clearing with useful stumps … Read more
Eleven people set off along Sheepway Lane on a beautiful but chilly morning. A Goldcrest was heard in a tree bordering the road, and for the first part of the walk along the path between hedges we were reliant on those with sharp ears but most of us heard the first of four Chiffchaffs. We … Read more
The House Sparrow and Greenfinch calls faded as we left the village. The first Ash yielded our first star bird, a roosting Little Owl. Onwards past the still short crops, Skylark song persisted, Buzzards predictably soared and a couple of Meadow Pipits poked about in the adjacent grassland. At Ram Hill, two Mistle Thrushes were … Read more
