| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Leader: | |
| When: | Monthly on Friday mornings 4th Friday of month |
| Venue: | Various |
| Cost: | None apart from a possible bird reserve entrance fee |
We visit local birdwatching sites in Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire, and also places of birdwatching interest further afield. New members are welcome. Car sharing can be arranged.
The group met locally at Avon Meadows, Pershore last year, as well as travelling to the Gloucester area, the Forest of Dean and to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve of Slimbridge. Birds migrate to either spend the winter here, ducks and geese for example, or to spend the summer months with us as is the case with many insect feeding birds like warblers and flycatchers. We time our visits accordingly.
In winter we went to both Slimbridge and the lakes of the Forest of Dean for overwintering wildfowl. In spring we enjoyed the song of Nightingales at Highnam Woods near Gloucester and Sedge and Reed Warblers at Pershore. Our June meeting was for a special bird, the Nightjar. These summer visitors breed on heathland and appear at dusk to feed on flying insects such as moths, so in June it was an evening meeting to the Forest of Dean. We were lucky to both see them and hearing their strange "churring" song.
Contact Alan Chambers for more information.
Bird Watching Out and About
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Sept 2023 - Newport Wetland
On our visit to the RSPB's Newport Wetland reserve in September the highlight was a Grey Phalarope that we saw at the Goldcliff Lagoons. These birds breed in the Arctic and winter in the tropical Atlantic and this one was making a brief stop on its journey south. We also saw Kingfishers, Marsh Harrier, Stonechats and wading birds including Bar-tailed Godwit. There were also a number of Red Admiral and Comma butterflies.
Newport Wetlands Richard Hunt 
Stonechat Richard Hunt 
Comma Geoff Bryant
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August 2023 - Camp Lane Pits, Grimley
Great White Egret Richard Hunt 
Azure Damselfly Richard Hunt 
Group at Grimley Richard Hunt Although we couldn't find any passage birds at Camp Lane Pits, Grimley there was still plenty to see, and we managed to avoid the August Bank Holiday traffic. There were three Great White Egrets and a Common Tern which came quite close to us at times as well as a Lapwing flock and Little and Great-crested Grebes. Despite the cool breeze we also saw Azure Damselfly and had a really close-up view of a Migrant Hawker dragonfly
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July 2023 - Slimbridge
Wading birds can begin their autumn migration early and so we visited Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's Slimbridge at the end of July. Waders seen included Black-tailed Godwit, Green Sandpiper and Ruff, but there were many other species including Common Crane and Little Egret.
Mandarin Ducks Steve Cockbill 
Goldfinches Richard Hunt 
Little Egret Richard Hunt 
Ruff Alan Chambers 
Wigeon-Steve-Cockbill
