It drizzled most of the day and the target species – Bearded Tit – was absent… but all in all eleven walkers had a great day out in Wales. The walk started well with House Sparrow, Cetti’s Warbler and Chiffchaff in the scrub along the lane to the visitor centre. The feeders there were alive
May 27, 2013
Seventeen members met in this beautiful Oxfordshire reserve on a sunny, warm morning. The walk started brilliantly in the car park with a Cuckoo calling, the distant purring of a Turtle Dove and the song of Willow Warblers, Blackcaps and a Garden Warbler. The reserve is a mosaic of wet meadows, and reed bed together
May 22, 2013
The ‘Save Our Pub’ sign made a good perch for a Blackbird; let’s hope it works as well for the pub! Rain had fallen; the grey skies were thinning so we eleven set out with light hearts. House Sparrow, Robin, and Woodpigeon our sightings before a plunge down into Horsecombe Vale where the ‘squeaky wheel’
May 20, 2013
There were eight of us on this venture to Suffolk. We started out from Jane’s house in Portishead in misty weather and the day continued cool and overcast but our spirits were lifted with excellent views of three Stone Curlews from the hide at Weeting Heath. One male and female were clearly a pair. The
May 15, 2013
Due to the weather the annual BBQ was cancelled. Many thanks to Hazel and John for the invitation to invade their cottage garden. Good news – three Nightingales are singing in Lower Woods, the same number as last year.
Before we started our evening walk through Lower Woods there was a Treecreeper calling at the car park. The woods resounded with birdsong, made particularly difficult to identify by the Song Thrushes, which could be heard at all points on our walk. By the stream we saw a Spotted Flycatcher. This is the first time
May 8, 2013
26 members met at Natural England’s Shapwick Heath car park on the first hot day of the year. In the morning we walked towards Noah’s Lake but the way was barred as the bridge to Meare Hide had been removed for maintenance and the main path closed just before the lake. After a picnic lunch
May 5, 2013
To help with birdsong recognition, Judy was persuaded by Alison to lead this meeting ,but in fact the best birder in the group was Luca, a young Italian who had picked up the meeting from our website -as had Lucile, a young French girl. With Brenda and Stephen, who also travelled by bus, we six
March 27, 2013
It was cold but dry and 29 birders, having placed lunch orders, left the ‘White Horse’ to meander around the many footways of the area. Not surprisingly, Mallard seen on Bradley Brook was first on our list of 22 species, which included Siskin, Skylark, Grey Wagtail and Fieldfare. Green Woodpecker put in a few calls
March 20, 2013
With a trusty co-leader like Duncan and 30 enthusiastic walkers we were all set for a brisk trot around this four and a half mile bird walk. From the playgroup school – where three male Blackbirds chased and squabbled, we crossed the village green to find Mistle Thrushes fighting in the trees, Jackdaws all cosy