Tuesday 02 July – Compton Dando Leader: Mike Landen

There was a good turnout of 22 members for our walk from Compton Dando. We had a good start as a Red Kite was seen in flight just as we were about to start and as we walked through the village, we added Jackdaw and Goldfinch but we did not see any of the usual species from the bridge over the River Chew. In the adjoining field we heard the first of five Chiffchaffs as well as Blackcap and Wren. Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeon and Blue Tit were seen. We all had good views of a juvenile Green Woodpecker that was perched on a branch of a fallen tree. After a quite steep climb a Greenfinch was heard and a Buzzard was seen in the distance as was a Herring Gull and a Lesser Black-backed Gull. After leaving Woollard we saw a group of about eight Long-tailed Tits and walking alongside the river a Moorhen was noted. A bit later a few of us had a very fleeting view of two Bullfinches in flight and then a Kingfisher was spotted flying along the river by a small number of the group. As we came to a flower meadow, we were fortunate to see Swallows, Swifts and House Martins more or less all at the same time. At the end of the walk a Pied Wagtail was added to the list. This was an enjoyable walk and many thanks to Graham for keeping a list of species seen, or heard. We had a respectable total of 32 species for the walk. (Thanks to Mike
for leading). Mike Landen