This is our last newsletter of the 2024/2025 season. We write them to keep everyone abreast of all that’s happened in the Society in the last few months, so please let us know if you are enjoying them and we will carry on.

Indoor Meetings

The final indoor meeting on our calendar was the AGM on April 11 . 23 members turned up and after the business was concluded, it was followed by refreshments and a short, illustrated talk by one of our committee members, Andrew Aldridge entitled ‘Indonesia Explored – briefly’.

Mid-week Group

The April (15th) trip was to Woolston Eyes led by Andrew, with everyone meeting at the reserve gate at 10.00 am. Eleven members turned up and parked along the approach road to enter the reserve, then walked up a ramp to No 4 Bed. There was a long ramble to the watery area with Chiffchaffs and Blackcap among others, along the way. Once the reed- bed was reached, the group had their first sightings of the Black-necked Grebe. This is one of the prime sites in the country for Black-necked Grebe and there are a reported 60+ on site and we saw probably about half of that number. Other highlights included Common & Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard and Kestrel.

We returned to the cars for lunch and then visited No 3 Bed but with not quite as many birds – numbers or diversity – but all in all, a fine day with 46 species recorded, the highlights of course being the Black-necked Grebes

The May(12th) trip was led by Stephen & saw 8 members meeting at Tittesworth Reservoir on a beautiful sunny day, for the last excursion of the season. The reservoir levels were well down to 70% capacity when they should be at 90% at this time of year. There were Great-crested Grebes and lots of Canada Geese on the reservoir. 

We walked through the woods to the hide and highlights included Sand Martins and Common Tern swooping about, with Little Ringed Plover and a Whimbrel on the exposed island. We walked over the causeway to the other hide to see Common Sandpiper bobbing on the water margins and then back to the visitor centre for lunch outdoors beside the water followed by ice creams! 

We walked a little way around the reservoir and had a Grey Wagtail feeding its chick with delicious flies on the river.

Weekend Group

The April trip on Sunday the 28th to the Conwy Valley was led by Ray on the hunt for summer migrants. Eight members met at 9.00 am at RSPB Conwy where the weather was sunny, warm and fairly calm. 

We entered through the side gate and walked down to Tal-y- fan hide and then on to Carneddau hide. Migrant highlights included Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaff, Swallow, Whitethroat together with heard only Blackcap & Reed Warbler plus migrant waders in Common Sandpiper (2) and Whimbrel (2). Other highlights included Little & Great-crested Grebes, Little Egret and a flyover Marsh Harrier.

We travelled down the valley to Hafod Wood just east of Llanrwst and on the walk uphill to the woods we saw Song & Mistle Thrush, good views of Redstart and one observer saw Pied Flycatcher. Returning to the cars, we had our lunch and then travelled on to the Denbigh Moors/Brenig/Clocaenog area. Further migrants were found in the form of Wheatear, Willow Warbler, a heard only Cuckoo and the best migrant of the day, an Osprey on the nest platform at Brenig, but sadly we could only see the head of the female on the nest. Other highlights included further views of Redstart, Stonechat, Crossbill, Willow & Coal Tit.

It was a fine sunny day, the breeze by the afternoon more than the forecast gentle, and we ended up with a total of 59 species.

May’s trip saw 13 members on a long weekend (15th-18th) to the Somerset Levels led by Ray. This was our fourth visit as a group to this area and this time we stayed at The Sidcot Arms Hotel near Winscombe. The hotel was central for all the sites that we visited, we were well looked after, and is highly recommended.

We met on the Thursday morning in the Forest of Dean at the RSPB Nagshead reserve where we spent a couple of hours in one of the hides overlooking a small drinking pool. Highlights here included Spotted Flycatcher, Firecrest. Mistle & Song Thrush, Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, and a few other woodland birds. 

We had our lunch and set off back towards the motorway to travel south to Somerset. We checked in at the hotel mid- afternoon and travelled a short distance to the Herriott’s Bridge area of Chew Valley Lake where highlights included various wildfowl including Shoveler, Pochard, Egyptian Geese, a pair of Garganey and Little Ringed Plover. We returned to the hotel for our evening meal.

After a hearty breakfast on the Friday, the group travelled down to the Somerset Levels to RSPB Ham Wall. This reserve is one of the flagship reserves on the Levels and we had great views of Kingfisher, Blackcap, Garden, Reed & Cetti’s Warbler, Great White Egret, Black-tailed Godwit, Bittern, Marsh Harrier, another pair of Garganey and distant flight views of Hobby. Invertebrates were to the fore as well with several species of Damselflies, Dragonfly, Skimmer, Demoiselle and Chasers. On our way back to the car park there were Grass Snakes sunning themselves under a bridge. 

After eating lunch, we walked across the road to Shapwick Heath NNR. On Meare Heath scrape we had stunning views of Hobby with one bird sat in a bare tree and others skimming the pond in front of us catching dragonflies. Other highlights included Great, Little and Cattle Egret and Red Kites. Our final destination for the day was Westhay NR (Somerset Wildlife Trust) where the highlight was a Kingfisher catching small prey. We then returned to the hotel for another evening meal.

Another excellent breakfast on the Saturday and we then made our way south-west to the Wildfowl & Wetlands Reserve on the River Parrett at Steart, near Bridgewater. Highlights here included flight views of White Stork, Stonechat, Swift, Avocet, Yellow Wagtail, another Red Kite, Kestrel and Little Ringed Plover. 

We drove to RSPB Greylake, another reserve on the south side of the Somerset levels, where we ate lunch. We had further views of Great White Egret, Hobby, Marsh Harrier, Reed Warbler, an unseasonal drake Wigeon and the highlight Common Crane. On our way back to the hotel we called at Cheddar Reservoir where we saw Swift, House Martin & Great-crested Grebe but little else. 

After a late afternoon recce of a potential site for Nightjar, we had our evening meals at various local hostelries and a few of us then reconvened back at 8.30 pm at Stockhill Woods on the Mendips. There was no sight or sound of the birds, and we decided to call it a day and were on our way back to the car park when a male nightjar flew across us and landed on some bare branches at the top of a tree. Excellent views were had by all.

After our final breakfast on the Sunday and saying our goodbyes to our hosts, we travelled to WWT Slimbridge on the River Severn. The highlight here, and the highlight of the whole weekend, was a White-spotted Bluethroat. This small passerine has just returned for its fifth summer at the reserve - wintering down in Iberia or North Africa, a stunning little bird and our whole group had excellent telescope views. Other highlights included further Common Crane, Red Kite, Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit together with Spoonbill, Barnacle Goose, Mediterranean Gull and Little Grebe.

We ended up with 90 species for the weekend. The sun shone all weekend, shorts and T- shirts were the order of every day. It was the first time we had stayed at the Sidcot Arms. and it was ideal for our needs. Everyone enjoyed their weekend’s birding, with good company and some outstanding birds.

The final trip of the weekend season was on June (8th), led by Graham, when six members met at RSPB Old Moor in the Dearne Valley near Barnsley. This is a well- established reserve consisting mainly of wetlands with scrapes & reed-beds. 

At the first hide were two Kingfishers perched out on posts and Cetti’s Warblers calling and showing occasionally in the vegetation. On the main pool, highlights included Gadwall, Shoveler, Pochard & Tufted Duck. On the wader scrape were Ringed & Little Ringed Plover, Avocet and Redshank and many Hirundines hawking for insects over the pools. 

Moving to the Bittern Hide the first bird we saw was a Bittern in flight across the reeds and Marsh Harrier were also hunting over the reed-bed. Returning to the cars, it rained heavily while we were eating our lunch.

After lunch we moved to Broomhill Flash nearby and added more wildfowl plus Grey Heron and Little Egret to our list. Our final destination of the day was to RSPB Wombwell Ings where two Spoonbills were feeding in the main pool and other highlights were Reed & Sedge Warblers in the reeds along the ditches and Skylark seen and heard in the meadows surrounding the site. 

We managed a very respectable 59 species during the day.

Society Website

Mike Hems is unable to carry on looking after our website and at the end of August it will be no more. We would dearly love somebody with sufficient computer skills to keep it going or build another. If you or any close family or friend have the required skills to help, please get in touch with either Paul Kenyon (Chairman) or Ian Williams (Secretary).

Committee

Andrew Aldridge retired from the committee at the AGM, and we are looking for a volunteer to take over from him. Please contact either of the above if you are interested.

Ray Evans/Andrew Aldridge