Tuesday 29 November – South Stoke Leader: Graham Blacker

Seven intrepid walkers met in the village of South Stoke just south of Bath on a very foggy morning. Setting off along Packhorse Lane we stopped to look across the valley at the fantastic views – apparently you should see Westbury White Horse from here, but we could hardly see the hedgerow. We turned into a field hoping to see maybe Pied Wagtail but not today. Continuing down the valley we came to a stream, and looking into the high trees we saw Goldcrest, Great Tit, Blue Tit and heard Nuthatch. Moving on we stopped for a well deserved coffee break at the reservoir under the old railway viaduct. Then we ascended 92 steps to the old S and D railway path and continued to the Midford station where we spotted plenty of Long-tailed Tit. We carried on along the Cam brook/Somerset coal canal seeing Buzzard and Sparrowhawk along the way, then leaving the path we joined the long incline back to our cars. Not a lot of bird life but a lovely walk nevertheless with 33 species in total. (Thanks to Graham for leading.) Graham Blacker