RSPB Walsall Local Group
a million voices for nature
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RSPB Walsall Local Groupa million voices for nature |
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2 December 2001
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Sunday 2 December, the last field trip of 2001, saw ten people assemble at 9:30am for the group's first visit to the Cotswold Water Park, near Cirencester, on the Gloucestershire - Wiltshire boundary. Our first stop was the hide near the Visitor Centre where we had good views of Goosander, Gadwall and other duck species. The seed feeder was popular with Blue and Great Tit, with Dunnock and Robin cleaning up the seed spilled on the ground. As we were about to leave, a dozing Snipe was disturbed by two Mallard leaving the water. Right: Members of the group "smile" for the camera, at Cotswold Water Park. Blue was in fashion, it seems... |
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Walking along a lane, we picked up several birds, typical of open field and woodland, such as Redwing, Fieldfare, Lapwing, Mistle Thrush and Jay. A Buzzard, resting in a tree, stayed long enough to be viewed through scopes, before flying off.
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As lunchtime approached and we walked alongside the young River Thames, a female Blackcap and a Willow Warbler were found in the Willows along the path. Shortly afterwards, four male and three female Red Crested Pochards were seen feeding in the shallows. Left: Belive it or not, this is the River Thames. Small, isn't it? |
Later, we found four Green Sandpipers probing the sand in the quarry.
Altogether we must have seen something like 56 different species during the day, and while not large numbers of waterfowl, the variety of birds seen means that we will visit this site again in the future.
Mike Pittaway (Field Trips Organiser)
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Other birds seen included:
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