Tuesday 10 May – Angidy trail, Tintern Leader: Graham Blacker

Fifteen lucky people arrived at the Lower Wireworks car park on a fine day at the start of the Angidy Trail, a walk up a tributary valley of the River Wye at Tintern. The walk started steeply through garlic heady woods with the constant sounds of Song Thrush, Wren and Blackcap, joined by Nuthatch and solitary Mistle Thrush and Stock Dove. Descending through drifts of bluebells to the river we encountered our first family of the day which was three fledgling Dippers sitting by the side of a small waterfall with a parent nearby under a bridge. A wildlife photographer was camped there watching them patiently as he had been doing for some time waiting for them to fledge. Past the old Furnace we came to a pond where we stopped for coffee with a Grey Wagtail and a Mallard for company whilst a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Goshawk put in a brief appearance. We pressed on and found our second family of the day which comprised three fledgling Grey Wagtails with the parents whizzing back and forth with food for their hungry beaks. Graham had arranged that we could use a lovely private riverside garden for our picnic lunch for which we must highly thank the owner, Sue. It was marvellous! Heading back down the hill on the road, we added more Dipper and Grey Wagtail sightings along with another look at the Goshawk and also a couple of Ravens. 35 species spotted in total. (Many thanks to Graham for leading and again to Sue for the use of the garden.) Alan Craddock