Tuesday 26 July – Compton Dando Leader Mike Landen

There was a good turnout of 23 members and one guest for our walk from Compton Dando. We walked through the village towards the bridge over the River Chew and were a little surprised not to see any House Martins. A local resident informed us that there had been nesting birds but they had left after producing just one brood, rather than the usual two or three. At the bridge a Kingfisher was heard very briefly but not seen. There was no sign of the usual Grey Wagtail but we did see a Blue Tit and a Blackbird. As we made our way across the fields, we saw two Green Woodpeckers with a total of seven seen, or heard, on the walk. We also had Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Chiffchaff and Long-tailed Tit. As we climbed the steep path through a wood, we heard a Wren and a Nuthatch. Leaving the wood, we saw a Buzzard. We took a short diversion in Woollard to the bridge where we saw House Martins, Goldfinch and House Sparrow. We carried on following the river and stopped for our coffee break at a lovely spot on the riverbank where we were treated to the sight of a Kingfisher flying at great speed along the river. We also saw a couple of Mallards. As we left Woollard, staying close to the river we added Moorhen and Carrion Crow and then a Grey Heron was seen flying. As we made our way through the woods a Bullfinch was heard. Crossing an uncut meadow, a number of butterflies were seen, including Small Skipper, Common Blue and Gatekeeper. Many thanks to Nick and Alan for keeping a list of species seen or heard. We had a total of 37 species for the walk which was very good for this normally quiet time of the year for birding. (Thanks to Mike for leading.) Mike Landen