News archive
March 2006
Thursday, 23 March 2006
March Mid-Week Walk
The cold weather this month may have had some effect on the numbers attending this meeting. There were 15 members for this walk around the north-western part of Alton Water reservoir. Despite the weather, which may be holding up some of the usual summer birds, the bird list was 43 species. The great crested grebes looked magnificent in their breeding plumage. There were large numbers of tufted duck and a lone goldeneye. There were other ducks, including wigeon and gadwall. A few redwing were still present.
Friday, 3 March 2006
FEBRUARY MID-WEEK WALK
Twenty two hardy souls braved a cutting north-easterly for this month's walk beside Martlesham Creek off the River Deben. Although we were looking for birds, we were pleased to see the swathes of snowdrops in the churchyard. Just beyond the churchyard were a number of fieldfares and other wintering thrushes. When we got to the river, it was low tide and the birds were widely scattered. However we did see quite a large range of waders including a spotted redshank and two greenshanks. It was also noted how fully developed was the breeding plumage of a few black-headed gulls.
The views towards Woodbridge were somewhat muted by the overcast sky. The cold wind did not encourage the group to linger too long and we made our way back inland. The walk back to the church and our cars was interspersed by the views of a few birds. The total species count for the walk was 35.
