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 What has not been said about this national resource?! We 22 set out – not for us the duck or goose preservation ponds – but into raw boned and wild, windy bird hides. We had to break ourselves in slowly – the luxury and heating of the Peng observatory was just the job. From behind

Eight BOC members were joined by a couple of local birders to explore the Torbay area and surroundings. Having met on the front at Paignton, we made straight for the Clennon Valley (an inland park area with woodland and ponds) to find a Yellow-browed Warbler that had been in this sheltered valley for a couple

 A cold, dry morning saw 30 members gather at the Salthouse car park. A Jay was flitting around the play area with two Pied Wagtails and, from the vantage points on Poet’s Walk, Oystercatchers and Redshanks were quickly picked out. Teal, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Shelduck and beautifully camouflaged Turnstones put in an appearance on the

 After a cold and misty start, 17 birdwatchers met for what turned out to be a very enjoyable morning in brilliant sunshine. Although good numbers of estuary birds, such as Teal, Wigeon and Dunlin were seen, most interest was generated by the variety and number of passerines around the site. These included two Stonechats, a

 It was a brilliantly sunny morning and there was still a lot of very colourful leaves on some trees, but the blustery northwest wind made the 18 members glad they had (mostly!) come clad in cold weather gear. The decision to make this a “reservoir only” walk was surely the right one – standing water

 It was a lovely sunny November day when 13 of us met at the somewhat unlikely venue of the Cineworld car park at Hengrove! The more cynical of us were soon amazed as Margaret led us behind the cinema into the fascinating oasis of the Mounds. This is a former landfill site which has been

 After some recent foul weather, the morning gave way to clear skies and warm sunshine. Seven members met with Mike Smart, local birder and bird surveyor for this part of Gloucestershire. Mike introduced us to the reserve and its past life as a working canal in the late 1800s, delivering coal to Cheltenham. Here at

 Due to the previous rain and the state of the fields adjacent to the River Chew it was decided to change the usual walk. So, on a dry morning, part overcast, part sunny, 29 members ambled around the edge of the lake until we reached the new Bittern Hide which is a great improvement on

 The morning’s field meeting was very well attended and we got off to a great start with excellent views of two adult Yellow-legged Gulls at the Lodge. Then, and before we’d even started the walk, we saw an extremely late juvenile Swallow fly over (it’s the latest date I have in my lake database by

 There were 18 participants on this birding walk led by David Body, who took us on a walk devised by, and last walked with, Stan Willmott in July 2010. Soon after leaving the Griffin pub we had Pied Wagtail, Buzzard, Collared Dove, Jackdaw, Dunnock and Wood Pigeon on the list. It was an excellent and