Tuesday 10 November – East Harptree

This was a circular walk of about four miles, for which seven hardy souls made an appearance, even though rain was forecast for all day; in fact we had no rain whatsoever! At the start a Buzzard was heard mewing and we had good sightings of Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Blue Tit, and Wren, with three or four calling Nuthatches. Further on at the entrance to a field, a flock of at least 30 Chaffinches were spread across in front of us, along with Goldfinch feeding off the thistles, and a good sprinkling of Blackbirds – all male. During the walk three or four flocks of 15-20 Redwings were seen and at our coffee stop a small group of Long-tailed Tits flitted by; we also saw a Kestrel and some Starlings. To our surprise we saw both a Red Admiral and a Gatekeeper butterfly. Towards the end of the walk a Buzzard put in an appearance and a Raven was heard calling, and right at the end we were treated to a Treecreeper. Other species seen included Dunnock, House Sparrow, Herring and Lesser Black-blacked Gulls. A total of 25 species were seen or heard. (Thanks go to Geoff for leading). Geoff Harris