December 27, 2022
Fourteen members wishing to undo the effects of too much Christmas food set out for Portbury Wharf on a dull and mild day. The railway bridge is a good viewing point and we had distant views of Great Spotted Woodpecker and Redwings. In Wharf Lane Goldcrest, Chaffinch and Goldfinch were seen, as were the new
December 20, 2022
What a lovely day for the last walk before Christmas. We trod the usual path up the south side of the River Frome. The first stretch of woodland was nearly silent but with plenty of tits and Goldcrest to be seen. The rear half of the 15 walkers managed to see Treecreeper and Great Spotted
December 17, 2022
An exceptionally rich walk round a still but very cold Oldbury Power Station ended with 60 bird species seen. 14 people met at 08.30 – early enough for the sun to be rising as we travelled there; and many eyes found many birds, including Shelduck, Teal, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Gadwall and a handsome male Pintail
December 13, 2022
Ten intrepid and initially very cold members set off from the village hall car park. A quick trip across the main road for a peek over the bridges proved fruitless, unfortunately, so we pressed on to the Common where we saw floppy flights of Lapwings heading west. A Green Woodpecker gave us an undulating fly-past
December 6, 2022
On a dull day 36 walkers set off from The Riverside, where the BOC Christmas lunch was to be held. Shortly after starting a Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen, a Mistle Thrush called to show itself, a Grey Heron looked attentive on the river bank and a Sparrowhawk swished by. A Cormorant perched high on
On a cold but dry day ten of us walked down from Thingwall Park into the Frome Valley, spotting Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Great Tit and a total of twelve Redwings in the woodland. Above the river, we had good views of a male Kingfisher, and on the first weir there was a Heron and a Grey
November 29, 2022
Seven intrepid walkers met in the village of South Stoke just south of Bath on a very foggy morning. Setting off along Packhorse Lane we stopped to look across the valley at the fantastic views – apparently you should see Westbury White Horse from here, but we could hardly see the hedgerow. We turned into
November 22, 2022
It was a lovely November day with sunshine and rather warmer than expected as 28 of us set off from the main car park at the lake towards the dam wall. On the way we saw a couple of Long-tailed Tits. We then managed to see a number of species that included Canada Goose (two),
November 20, 2022
On a bright morning of sunshine and showers nine of us set off on a meandering visit to Ham Wall, pausing at the first viewpoint and boardwalk en route for the Avalon Hide on the far side of the reserve. During our wanderings we saw and/or heard 40 species ranging from smaller birds such as
November 15, 2022
Despite a dire weather forecast, predicting heavy and continuous rain, an optimistic group of 14 gathered in Blaise car park. As we grappled with the complexities of the ticket machine, the rain eased and by 10:00 we set off in the dry and thankfully it stayed that way. The first birds to be seen were