Tuesday 07 January – Pensford

Eight of us started walking from the Pub car park, first seeing Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Pied Wagtail and Robin. As we passed over the fast flowing River Chew there was nothing in sight, in fact when we walked along it from Woollard to Publow it was the same. Up over the fields out of Pensford there was a large party of Jackdaws and Crows feeding on the ground. It was not till we got to Lords Wood that we began to see anything of significance. First in the bag a Great Spotted Woodpecker, then two to three Goldcrests, two to three Coal Tits and then Siskins in a flock of 40 to 50 feeding in the Alder trees, a lovely sight. A lone Wigeon was on the lake, a very odd place to see one too. Nearby appeared a Treecreeper, then a Nuthatch and some Redwing. A bit later we saw a Mistle and Song Thrush with a Kestrel sitting on a power cable. Some lucky people of the group saw a Sparrowhawk but our final birds of the day were a Mute Swan and a Grey Wagtail. Considering the awful wet weather we have had, the ground all through the walk was merely soggy. A total species count of 40 either seen or heard.