Tuesday 19 September – Hawkesbury Upton Leaders: The Committee

After a lively discussion on who was taking the walk in the place of our absent leader and where exactly the walk went, seven members set out into the constant wind and lightly drizzling rain. After exiting the outskirts of Hawkesbury, we spotted a couple of Pied Wagtails and a solitary Magpie amongst the Carrion Crows at a field boundary, and a telephone line full of Starlings. Further on, a field ahead of us provided around 50 Common Gulls along with a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Following the Marshfield Path uphill, we spotted a couple of Stonechats. We then pressed on across a newly ploughed field to our coffee stop in the thankfully windless shelter of Bodkin Hazel Wood. Two House Martins made a distant appearance and a Wren gave us a quick burst of song for entertainment. Back into the wind and a long slog down a track between cornfields seemed birdless but we found a Robin and a Chiffchaff for solace. Crossing Highfield Lane gave us the shelter of the woods above Horton Court and at last some birdlife in variety. Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Robin and a pair of Ravens were seen and a Treecreeper and a Marsh Tit heard. The weather was starting to close in so we beat a hasty retreat back. 28 species in total. (Thanks to the “committee” for leading.) Alan Craddock