Saturday 14th October 2023 - Marshfield

 

As previously mentioned today was part of replacement field trips as the Ogmore trip had to be cancelled due to lack of numbers. Tom picked me up and we were the 1st to arrive, and while waiting for the others to arrive Goldfinch, Woodpigeon and Blue Tit were seen. 16 members turned up and our first stop was in the very large garden of one of the Marshfield residents who asked if we would make a list of the birds seen in his garden unfortunately today was not the best of days to visit as we only saw fly over Rook and Jackdaw. A large part of the garden has been planted with trees and here we saw Robin, Chiffchaff ( I missed this one as I was looking at fungi at the time). 


Hebeloma Mesophaeum top and bottom - Bath Birdwatcher

Collared Dove, Pied Wagtail and Magpie were also noted. Carrion Crow was another flyby and a Pheasant was in a field outside the property. Having finished in the garden we set off to Rushmead Lane. During the morning we spotted many Skylarks some high overhead seemingly migrating while others were feeding in the many fields. 2 Stock Doves were seen on one of the many dry stone walls with a Grey Heron close by. Next sighting was a large flock of birds on distant wires and through Tom’s telescope we could see they were all Starlings I would estimate 100+ birds. As we walked on a Raven flew over, we picked it up by its Cronk call. We reached a spot that was in a dip in the road which was a warm spot as a Red Admiral butterfly was seen and also a very odd looking fly which was identified as a Noon Fly.

Noon Fly - Bath Birdwatcher

Another member of the group found a Dark Bush Cricket, but the highlight of the morning was a small flock of Yellowhammers that contained 2 very yellow males. It then turned into a bird of prey spot with the next 4 species all being birds of prey, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Red Kite all being seen. The last new sighting of the day was a female Stonechat although others also saw the male and some even glimpsed a Wren. Walking back we found a Roe Deer sat at the side of a field. Our leader was a lady named Margaret who lives in Marshfield and at the end of the walk we were invited to her house for coffee and cake (parkin which was yummy) so a nice end to our walk.


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