We gathered in bright sunshine, belying the freezing air temperature. First stop was the feeding station where the usual suspects gave us some easy ticks. In the extensive reed beds we immediately targeted Bearded Tit but none showed for us despite checking every little brown job we saw which were invariably Reed Bunting. Little Grebe, … Read more
The mist and cold stayed with us all day, but being well coated and gloved it meant nothing to 24 walkers at Hawkesbury Upton. The Chaffinches, Starlings and House Sparrows that decorated the roofs and TV aerials in the village were keeping strange company – a Common Gull, so close that views of all its … Read more
Arlingham is an area of mixed farming adjacent to the tidal river, situated on a bend in the Severn just south of Gloucester. Seventeen of us met on a dry day, overcast with some sunny spells, for a walk of just under four miles. We had a variety of woodland birds including a Great Spotted … Read more
Six members assembled for this walk. At the river we had immediate success as almost the first tree had a Great Spotted Woodpecker. As we were watching that, a Sparrowhawk appeared overhead. Further down the path we came across a pair of Jays then a party of Long-tailed Tits, one of which appeared to have … Read more
Fourteen of us met at the Rose and Crown pub for a four mile walk along the River Boyd and through woods to the flooded quarry, and across fields and lanes. Although it was fairly quiet 31 species were seen, including twelve Common Gulls, a female Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, seven Fieldfares, and two Redwings. A … Read more
Eight of us met in the car park at 10:00. We started with a walk up the south side to the screen. It was too windy for Bearded Tits but we heard a Chiffchaff and Sparrowhawk, saw Stonechat, Buzzard, Kestrel, and the first field had a few hundred Lapwings, a Great White Egret, Greenfinch and … Read more
Twenty-four of us set out from Stanton Drew heading for Pensford on a cool and bright morning. We stopped at the farm by the Church to pick out a mixture of a Wren, Robins and House Sparrows in amongst the shrubs and brambles. There was a mixture of gulls (including Common Gull) and corvids around … Read more
This new venue attracted 26 walkers despite the damp and overcast weather. When I arrived to find the car park full of birders I said “What are you all doing here? There won’t be any birds”, having seen very little during a scouting visit a couple of weeks earlier. How wrong I was! – we … Read more
As 17 people, including a new member and another potential member, assembled in Old Church Road, the weather looked distinctly unpromising. However, it steadily improved through the morning and it certainly didn’t stop us from birding! There was relatively little on the water by Clevedon Pill, a handful of Shelducks and Great Black-backed Gulls being … Read more
alas the rain was against us
