Tuesday 27 April – Puxton Moor Leader: Gareth Roberts

Gareth is a volunteer warden at Puxton Moor Nature Reserve, a 180 acre area of pasture land networked with SSSI species-rich rhynes, near the small and quite remote village of Puxton in the North Somerset levels east of Weston-super-Mare. He led five of us through the village and churchyard seeing or hearing Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch and Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, and along hedgerow-ed lanes, open meadows and moors and along reeded rhynes and the Oldbridge River. Trees and bushes were full of Chiffchaffs (total 18), Blackcaps and Linnets, and rhynes with glimpsed Reed Warblers (total 16) and Reed Buntings, Whitethroat, Stonechat and Skylark. We could just make out a Raven’s nest in the top of a pylon with the bird sitting and flying, and Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard hunting. We put up a Snipe and heard a Moorhen, and Mallards and Canada Goose flew over. A few Swallows hawked over the meadows or looked ready to nest in barns. Rhynes and river are odonata-rich and we looked for the earliest dragonfly, the Hairy Dragonfly, though without success! This was a lovely walk enriched by Gareth’s knowledge. Total 38 species. Lois Pryce