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| Blakehill Farm |
Yesterday was our monthly RSPB field trip and this
trip was two part, firstly we visited Blakehill Farm with a later visit to
Cotswold Water Park. Blakehill Farm is a former military airfield that is being
turned into hay meadows and pasture farmed especially for wildlife, and is run
by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and the whole site is in excess of 263 hectares.
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| Blakehill Farm site map. |
On arrival Tom our leader for the day pointed out a Mistle Thrush bring food to a nest in a tree at the
entrance to the car park, and while waiting for others to arrive we saw Magpie, Robin, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Chaffinch and the
1st of several Red Kites we were to
see during the morning. We set off to the call of Skylark
which is one of the species profiting from the site management with many
see or heard and we walked around the site. A rookery in the distance was well represented
with Rooks, and at this point we noted Roe Deer we were to find about 10 during the morning. A Brown Hare was seen hunkering down in the grass but 2 far away to photograph this picture is one we spotted later.
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| Brown Hare - Bath Birdwatcher |
Dunnock, Blackbird, Carrion Crow were soon added
to the days list. Our next sighting was a flyby Stock
Dove of great interest to many of the group having never knowingly seen
one before. Kestrel were seen on many occasions
hovering over the field on the lookout for prey and another bird of prey Buzzard was also seen as was a few flyover Lesser Black Back Gulls. During the walk we had heard
the haunting call of Curlews but until now had
not seen one but flying low over the fields one was watched as in landed in
shorter grass and the group were able to see it through telescopes. As we
reached a more wooded and overgrown area we heard the unmistakable call of a Willow Warbler which we were able to find working it
way through the trees occasionally flying up to catch insects. A Cormorant flew by in the distance. It was time to work
our way back to the cars for lunch and on our return added Goldfinch, Canada Goose, Meadow Pipit, Grey Heron and Chiffchaff to the mornings list. I’m not sure how many
saw the Pipits as I was walking on my own when 2 flew over recognized by their call.
After lunch we made our way to the Water Park intending to visit Pit 44. We
parked in a car park about 10 minutes from the Pit having seen Mute Swans while in transit, we also saw Blackcap and Long Tailed Tits in
the trees around the car park and added Goldcrest and
Blue Tit during the walk. Reaching the pit we
found that the area we used to view the water had been fenced off and marked as
private property which was a shame as there was not any good places the view
without looking through gaps in the trees or over fence tops however we did
manage to spot our target species Red Crested Pochard, we
also notched up Coot, Mallard, Moorhen and Black Headed Gull. Looking through a fallen tree I found
a few Tufted Ducks which swan out of sight but
while Bryan was trying to find then he pointed out a female Reed Bunting which only 3 of us saw. We continued along
the road we were on trying to find better vantage points and where water could
be seen we did find a few Great Crested Grebes. Another
large Pit came into view on our right and was we walked by a Crow flew by at
head height and with that an Oystercatcher flew
up chased off the Crow and disappeared as quickly as it arrived subsequently
only a few of us saw it. This proved to be the last new bird here but as we
returned to the car a pair of Collared Doves were
on the top of a telegraph pole and on the journey back to Bath I caught up on Pheasants that I had missed earlier. Everyone I spoke
to said how much they had enjoyed the day so hopefully a few of the 20 who
attended some for the 1st time will come again.
Could not resist there pictures of some baby calf's we encountered.
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| Cow and Calf - Bath Birdwatcher |
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Calf - Bath Birdwatcher
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| Cowslips - Bath Birdwatcher |
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