Field trip reports

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, Mallard and Starling all appeared, a Water Rail squealed and Cetti’s Warbler delivered invitations for us to look harder. With the tide still low we made out distant Shelduck, Wigeon, Grey Heron, Dunlin, Grey Plover and Curlew from our vantage point, where a showy male Stonechat alighted on the Spartina. We entered the small woodland to find a flock of Long-tailed Tits with a couple of Chiffchaffs and a Goldcrest, among other common tits. A Redwing feeding on haws next to the path gave a full demonstration of field markings and calls as we watched from only metres away. With the tide now higher our return to the coast produced Shoveler and Redshank. We finished with a couple of Gadwalls and a Teal giving us a total of 43 species. Thanks to the six members who contributed to a pleasant morning. (Thanks to Mike for leading.) Mike Jackson

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 characteristic markings were plain to see. The power lines were being examined by helicopter as we walked along Sandpits Lane. A good outcome was the flocks of Golden Plovers and Lapwings that were flushed by its passing but a shame we couldn’t hear a blooming thing when it made several passes. After stopping by Bodkin Hazel Wood for coffee we watched corvids, plovers, pigeons and winter thrushes swirling above the trees, frantically trying to elude a hungry Peregrine. A little further along the track Long-tailed, Blue, Great and Marsh Tits were seen, plus a copse full of Chaffinches, a couple of Corn Buntings and eight Yellowhammers. With the count of winter thrushes nearing the 100’s it was good to get close up views from within Horton Court Woods, which also contained Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle and Song Thrushes and a couple of flighty Bullfinches. The last count was near the cricket ground – c20 Golden Plovers, roosting with a fringe of Fieldfares and Redwings. Our final tally was 40 species. (Many thanks to Nick for leading.) Nick Hawkridge

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 Woodpecker as we began our walk beside a drainage ditch at the edge of the village. There is a good population of House Sparrows here (and around one of the cattle sheds) which, these days, is quite notable. Redwing and Fieldfare were seen along the lane leading to a cattle shed, one Fieldfare posing beautifully in a nearby tree. A Great Spotted Woodpecker (the same one?) also obliged with a clear view. A Blackcap briefly popped up on a Hawthorn. We went up on to the sea wall; the tide was low exposing extensive sand banks. A white blob sitting on the sand turned out to be a Peregrine. There was a large flock of gulls, Lesser Black-backed, Herring and Black-headed, with a couple of Curlews and Herons. Further downstream we saw Little Egret, a Common Sandpiper and a large flock of Lapwings with seven Golden Plovers in among them. A Cormorant tried, and failed to eat a fish bigger than itself. A hovering Kestrel plunged to the ground emerging with a small mammal, and a mixed flock of Blackbird, Redwing, Fieldfare and finches was flushed along the hedgerow. We walked back across fields and through the village to our starting point. 46 species. Thanks to Alan Daniells for keeping a tally (and to Alastair for leading.) Alastair Fraser

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 lost its tail – very confusing! We stopped just before the weir to view a pair of Dippers on an exposed tree root, a brilliant view of these local stars. Eventually each took off and flew past us. We headed to Stoke Park, first stopping at Duchess Pond. A Grey Wagtail left as we arrived, otherwise there was very little to see apart from about ten Moorhens. We went on to Pale Plantation with the hope of catching up with the Firecrests reported . We heard snatches of their high-pitched song but seeing them was another matter. The Plantation held a couple of Redwings. Our walk back to Eastville Park was uneventful apart from a pair of Greenfinches near the BT tower on Purdown. We wandered back to the junction of the river hoping for another view of the Dippers when Claire found a perched Kingfisher, which we watched until it flew downstream. Thanks to Rich for leading. Peter Bryant

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 large flock of Woodpigeons was seen, and we heard Robin, Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, and Long-tailed Tit, and two Skylarks. Other good views included two Grey Wagtails, a Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, and at least three Buzzards. Many thanks to David for an enjoyable walk. Sue Prince

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 Linnet. At the screen there were flocks of birds far away, Redwing maybe or Chaffinches. Alan found a Cetti’s Warbler close in among the reeds, great excitement to see two. This small patch of reeds revealed three Stonechats, two Reed Buntings, three Chiffchaffs, Wrens and a Blue Tit. Seven Little Egrets flew past and finally a Marsh Harrier and three Snipe went over. Was that a Crossbill calling? Listening to sound tracks we realised it was a Redpoll. From the hides only a few ducks, Mallard, Gadwall and Wigeon were seen. We decided to go back and look for the Redpoll. No luck but Anne found a few winter thrushes in a tree, a Redwing and a few Fieldfares. But as we all took a look down a telescope we saw more birds flying about, and more and more. Something like 100 Redwings and 300 Fieldfares. Walking back we had Chaffinch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker with lots of House Sparrows. After lunch we went to Catcott. Very quiet, a few Fieldfares and Starlings, a flock of Long-tailed Tits and a Marsh Harrier. 46 species. (Thanks to Rob for leading.) Robert Hargreaves

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 the standing stones, with the long neck and head of a Grey Heron showing behind. A solitary Buzzard sat on a post and watched as the gulls took off to give us a flypast. Further down the fields, eight Redwings flew over and a couple of Linnets sat on some wires long enough for some discussion as to their identity. We headed towards the River Chew and a sharp-eyed member pointed out the first of the day’s three Green Woodpeckers. A Great Spotted Woodpecker put in an appearance during coffee at Bye Mills. Coming into Pensford for a quick look at the River Chew from the bridge, a Grey Wagtail made a brief appearance as it hopped across and behind the rooftops. The river was still quite high and running fast, murky after the weekend’s rain, so no sightings of Kingfisher or Dipper today. Back along the Stanton Road and another Green Woodpecker was showing very well at relatively close range. On the footpath to Upper Stanton Drew a party of Long-tailed Tits worked its way along a hedgerow. In the next field a Song Thrush made a very brief appearance before making a rapid exit over the hedge. A short walk through Upper Stanton Drew and back up the hill and two Pied Wagtails greeted us on our return to the farmyard. 41 species in total. (Thanks to Alan for leading.) Alan Craddock

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 had 49 species. At first it was a little discouraging, if typical, to see nothing at all in the pool by the car park (and the second blind, visited later, overlooked reeds grown too tall to allow any view of the water). We picked up a distant flock of eight Lapwings in flight, then Mallards started flying about everywhere and at least 50 Teal and a couple of Shovelers sprang up from the out-of-bounds pools by the STW, at which point we noticed the two hunting Peregrines causing all the commotion. Popping up onto the bank of the River Axe we noted a couple of Little Egrets, a few dabbling ducks and some larks and pipits out on the levels. We strolled south west along the cycle path in a light SW wind and thin drizzle, watching flocks of Chaffinches and Starlings passing overhead with small parties of Skylarks. Many of the finches dropped in to feed in the hawthorn patches which were alive with birds. We stopped for a while to watch one of the most active areas where we picked out Robin, Dunnock, Meadow Pipit, Song Thrush, finches and at least one Chiffchaff. A few Redwings were flitting about in the bushes but were very hard to see; Chaffinches on the other hand arrived and left again in droves, a few Greenfinches and Goldfinches mixed in with them. We carried on along the cycle track to the bridge which crosses the River Axe at Brean Sluice. The sides of the bridge looked like a broken-down fence, but on closer inspection it proved to be a long and beautifully designed “driftwood style” bird blind with seating next to the larger gaps in the fence so that observers could look down the river to the gull roost without flushing everything. At least seven Snipe did get up and fly across the river to land next to a Grey Heron, but a hundred Redshanks didn’t leave their waterside roost until the tide fell far enough to expose their feeding grounds on the muddy banks. The big gull roost included eleven Lesser Black-backed Gulls, quite a lot for this end of the autumn, and also four-five Curlews. A Little Egret fed on one side of the bridge, a Cormorant and ten Moorhens on the other. There were 40 Wigeon on the river with a few Mallard and Teal. Scanning the levels produced a Kestrel and a couple of Reed Buntings. On the way back we encountered a large flock of Long-tailed Tits, a Stonechat pair, and heard several Cetti’s Warblers singing from deep cover. This is a there-and-back walk (no round route) of only two and a … 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 the pick of the bunch. On the rocks to our right were 54 Redshanks with six Oystercatchers on the point across the bay. The harbour had mostly gulls, predominantly Black-headed although one Lesser Black-backed was also picked out on the return journey; there was a Grey Heron knee deep in the water. The reedy/shrubby patch in front of the harbour held our first Stonechat of the day, being harassed by a Robin. Despite pausing for 15 minutes, we failed to positively identify a bird skulking in the reedbed and ‘peeping’ continuously (Little Grebe? Water Rail?). A female Reed Bunting was seen on the rocks near the harbour which held our first Meadow Pipits (dozens of which were heading south on migration accompanied by a smaller number of Greenfinches, Chaffinches and several pairs of Stonechats). Blind-Yeo had three Moorhens but little else, so we headed round the golf course to the estuary (it being close to high tide by this time). The most notable bird on the shoreline was a Little Egret poking away at the mud. A few yards down the path, however, we came across a Wheatear which flew past the group and then considerately paused next to a Rock Pipit, both giving good views. Approaching the end of the path, the wader roost came into view. Five Ringed Plovers were observed on the mud and, in the nearest bay, 30 plus Curlews could be seen, some feeding in the water, others on the grassy bank. A smartly plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit was admired, and gave us a useful comparison with Curlew when it moved closer. Three Dunlins flew left and right on the shoreline and then settled, although not for long. In addition, nine Lapwings wheeled overhead but did not linger. Around 25 Shelducks could be seen in the bay beyond the Curlews; Wigeon and Teal were also seen, with increasing numbers of both as the tide receded. The bird of the trip was a wild swan – Whooper – that flew slowly over us towards the golf course. It was reported half an hour later at Portbury Wharf. The return journey started with two Roe Deer in a grassy field, and some more Curlews feeding in the next field. A Grey Wagtail flew into the rocks close to where the Wheatear had been seen earlier; there were more Meadow and Rock Pipits and some Linnets. The final bird of the trip was a Peregrine flying over the harbour and on towards Wain’s Hill. Thanks to Jane for leading. Peter Bryant

alas the rain was against us