Friday 02 June 2023 – Frampton Pools Leader: Nick Hawkridge

Three members met at the Frampton on Severn car park. Luckily the warm sun was keeping the chill of the NE wind at bay. We walked to Court Lake first, seeing Greylag and Barnacle geese in the meadow. On the lake there were Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan with four cygnets, Greylag with a gosling, Coot and Moorhen. Two Common Terns, a Buzzard, a few Swallows and a Kingfisher flew over the lake. A Cormorant was perching. Another member joined us and local birder Nick Goatman let us know about some Spotted Flycatchers, so we carried on clockwise around the lake and into the woods where we caught up with three Spotted Flycatchers amongst the Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Cetti’s Warbler and Goldcrest also present. As we carried on toward the Sailing Lake, we saw increasing numbers of Swifts and at least ten Long-tailed Tits. By the Sailing Lake itself, Swift numbers increased to 25+, with a few Swallows and House Martins amongst them. There were dense clouds of midges but, luckily, not the biting kind. There were six Common Terns nesting on a platform in the lake. A Cuckoo sang, then flew by, then we started to see Hobby over the lake, one at first, then increasing finally to six. One of them perched and gave us a good view. A group of ten Little Egrets also flew by. 49 species in all. Thanks to Nick for leading the walk. Alan Daniells