Sunday 04 July – Exmoor Leaders: Brian Hill and Brian Gibbs

We met our two local guides at a new location for a club field trip, Haddon Hill, a mix of heathland and woodland edge. Redpoll and Siskin in the car park got us off to a good start. Generally, the birds were much harder to find than earlier in the season but walking along the woodland edge we managed Bullfinch, Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Crossbill. A couple of people heard a brief Redstart call but nobody managed to see one. Only two Blackcaps and one Whitethroat were still singing. The heathland had good populations of Meadow Pipits, Stonechats, Linnets and Skylarks with a Buzzard just visible before it went behind a hill. Ravens ‘cronked’ overhead. Tree Pipits were hard to find but we managed one family close to where they were seen by our guides earlier in the year. A couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were chipping away in the woods. Then the heavens opened and we all got a good soaking on the mile or so walk back to the cars. Thanks to the two Brians for leading. Alastair Fraser