Tuesday 04 August – Priddy

A group of 18 set out from the Queen Victoria on a dull and overcast morning. There were 24 plus House Martins flying around the village and a little further on 90 plus Jackdaws which is evidently called a ‘clattering’ or ‘train’ of Jackdaws. A Raven was heard ‘honking’ and then seen and a few common bird species were noted including Swallow, Lesser black-Backed Gull and Long-tailed Tit. The walk along the old track involved carefully negotiating rather a lot of water and mud, so the birding was of secondary importance for this part! As we got to the highest point of the walk, Priddy Nine Barrows, we heard a Skylark singing and eventually it was spotted. After we had descended, a couple of young Coots were seen on a nice looking pond. As usual there were a lot of Meadow Brown butterflies and we also saw a few Marbled Whites and a Ringlet. Towards the end of the walk some of the group had superb views of a splendid low flying Buzzard. No binoculars were needed to appreciate how beautiful this bird of prey is. In spite of the weather not being ideal for birding, it was an enjoyable morning’s walk and we managed a total of 24 species. Thanks to Geoff Harris for keeping a record of species seen and thank you to Maureen and Bill Dobie for leading. Mike Landen