Tuesday 15 September – Tickenham

Eleven people met by the church on Tickenham moor, on a fine day after the previous one’s torrential rain. Numbers of Mistle Thrushes undulated across the fields with a couple perching on the church weather vane, and Crows flew past with nuts pulled from an adjacent walnut tree. More Crows, Rooks and Jackdaws fed amongst the sheep and cattle with a Buzzard above. Swallows flying low almost brushed our bodies as we crossed the levels towards the Land Yeo, and a Kestrel hunted nearby. We had nice groupings of small birds clustered in trees up to Tickenham Ridge – Wren, Robin, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Blue Tits and Chiffchaff, with a Nuthatch calling in adjacent woodland. In the fields past Cadbury Camp, keen-eyed Jan spotted small birds flitting up and down on the woodland margin – a Spotted Flycatcher group of one adult and two young. Green Woodpeckers perched on apple trees in an adjacent orchard. More small birds clustered in the small sunny quarry at the base of the descent, including Chiffchaffs and Goldfinch, with House Sparrows and House Martins towards the moor. As we returned along the Land Yeo we saw a Hobby, five Herons, a Kingfisher, Mute Swans, and two Kestrels hunting in a field newly cut for hay.Oddly we saw not a single Starling, but the total species count was a respectable 34.Also of interest: Wild Basil, a Yellow Waxcap mushroom, and Migrant Hawker and Common Darter dragonflies. (Thanks to Lois and Jan for leading)
Lois Pryce