Perhaps the fact that it was a new venue for some, including me, attracted an unprecedented 29 participants. Local resident and GBC member Trim Collier was to lead, but given the numbers, and the good fortune that another local resident, your committee’s Paul Denning, had decided to tag along, we split into two groups and headed off to do a roughly circular walk in opposite directions. I was in Paul’s ‘team’. We set off anticlockwise and were soon hearing Willow Warbler song and snatches of Common Whitethroat, and lots of Blackcaps. House Sparrows were in the brambles near the houses and Starlings flew back & forth from the houses presumably collecting food. We soon got on to a pair of Stonechats, the first of maybe 4 pairs. In a more open area some of our group were gesturing to come over – Andrew Withycombe had spotted a female Adder in a clump of vegetation. With careful approach all managed to get excellent views and photos. A couple walking their dog said they’d seen a bird of prey in a bush, and we were soon watching a smart pale Buzzard resting in said bush. Further on, plaintive overhead calls were heard and tentatively ID’d as Tree Pipit, and soon we had nice views of a bird feeding on the ground. As I scanned the horizon a small group of Swifts came into view and a few folk managed to pick them up as I called them. A few Swallows flew past. As we reached a very boggy area Paul suddenly called Green Hairstreak, and most got on to it before it flew a short distance, but it couldn’t be relocated. A number of male Orange-tips were in the same area and a single Peacock. Shortly after this we met Tim’s group coming in the opposite direction and we exchanged ‘gen’ as to what we had seen. We then decided to head straight across to the tarmac road and walked back to the start point along that.
All in all a very nice walk – quite chilly at first but pretty warm as we finished, after about 4 hours! A total of 35 species were logged.