Blog

What a great time of year to visit Ham Wall – Bitterns booming, Cuckoos calling and warblers warbling! The air was filled with dragonflies and damselflies and many birds were nurturing their young. Nine of us met in the car park at 09:00, later to be joined by others so we eventually totalled 15. On

Despite favourable weather conditions for some at least, the attendance at today’s walk through Priors Wood was limited. Initially, it appeared the event might proceed in solitude until Colin and Olwyn arrived shortly before 10:00, for which their presence was appreciated. The first notable observation consisted of five House Martins near the house eaves prior

At last, some fine weather! 13 members, including two recent recruits, met for a walk round Watercress Farm, a rewilding project near Wraxall. The Blind Yeo now snakes round part of a formerly arable field creating pools and a damper habitat. We were thrilled to find a singing and displaying Sedge Warbler, the first appearance

Eight of us visited Puxton Moor. Presumably small numbers due to a poor weather forecast. However, it didn’t rain all morning! We had a quick look at the outside of Puxton church built in 1557, but the site is much older. After crossing a ploughed field we heard our first of ten Reed Warblers by

Thirteen persons attended this field trip, braving the showers. The group walked up Hodder’s Combe and saw and heard male Pied Flycatchers and heard Common Redstart. A family of Treecreepers was seen with two juveniles with flecked plumage on the back and wings. The route took us up Slaughterhouse Combe and we heard our first

We began our tour with a morning flight to Amsterdam where we were joined by our excellent guides, Mark and Matt from Naturetrek. https://bristolornithologicalclub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/BOC-Netherlands-Trip-Report-11-16-May-2026.pdf The final total was 121 species. Di Bunniss

Fifteen met on a mild, overcast evening, with one short spell of light rain. RSPB had identified three territories of singing Nightingales this year, there having been only two in each of the previous three years (down from 20 singing males in 2001). There were plenty of woodland birds (18 species total) to entertain us

Facebook often targets me with irrelevant ads, but this one hit home. It was a T shirt that said. I Came, I Saw, I Missed the Shot. That was much of my experience during my first outing with the Bristol Ornithological Club to Westhay Moor! Darn those little warblers! They hide so well! Nevertheless, plenty

Sixteen members gathered at the AWT 250-acre nature reserve, Folly Farm. This was the day that the 30,000th walker would take part in the Tuesday walks. Alastair Fraser was the lucky winner of a lovely pair of ornamental Swans and a pair of blue birds presented by Graham before the walk. We set off on

Ten of us including three younger members, turned up today for a fantastic sunny walk in the New Forest. As soon as we all paid the new parking charges, we made our way down a gravel path where Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff were singing and we could hear a Cuckoo in the background. We came

Next