Bird Club September 2020 Bulletin
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DURSLEY BIRDWATCHING AND PRESERVATION SOCIETY SEPTEMBER 2020 BULLETIN Welcome to the September Bulletin which we hope you will enjoy and thank you to all of our members who have helped by sending in articles etc. During the next few month’s which will probably be difficult we shall be looking at the best way to run the Society for your bene- fit. In the meantime, get out on your daily walks and enjoy the birdlife you can find. – MGR. ‘Toad in the Well’. Lockdown eased and we scampered off immediately in our camper van to our favourite location on the edge of Highnam Woods. On arrival we were impressed by the work that the farmer Jeremy had done during the lockdown-improving the campsite to include five hard standings making the site viable for twelve months of the year and allowing visits during the beauty of all seasons. It can be very wet as we know on the forest edge in Gloucestershire, in fact on some occasions the landscape seemed far more suited for planting rice than winter wheat. Down the grassy track from the campsite to the corner of the next field Jeremy had dumped some fifty tons of top soil from the excavations of the hard standing. There had always been a very soggy wet hollow here so the plan is to landfill, level and remove the hollow. Jeremy knew there was a well in the locality dating from eighteen hundreds but on investigating found beautiful clear water thirty foot down so decided to make a feature of it, unfortunately during this investigation and moving of the cover the family heard a loud plop. Looked down to see a Toad swimming thirty feet below them. Now the rescue plan swung into action, two eighteen foot ladders were fetched, lashed together and lowered Dursley Birdwatching and Preservation Society (Founded: 1953) Page 1 into the well, Jeremy climbed down complete with a bucket which he immerses in the water and the Toad swam straight into the bucket to be transported thirty feet vertically back to ground level and then released adjacent too his pond home, a lovely happy ending for toad and quite an adventure for Jeremy who was cheered by the family. On this visit we got sunburnt and monsooned, we saw good birds to, Whitethroats, Buzzards and Swallows all being good sightings. The hot shafts of sunlight on bramble patches produced wonderful display of butterflies including the stunning Silver Washed Fritillary, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Marbled White, Red Admiral and Peacock. Jeremy had a pretty bad year crop wise with the total failure of two crops due to much wet and rain which ruined his winter wheat and to much sun and drought which ruined the oil seed rape crop. Part of the farming cycle is for arable fields to be rested every four years and be planted with beans, a good crop which when harvested goes to the cattle food market, after the beans are sorted the good quality ones go for human consumption in Egypt and Africa. The other extremely important feature of this bean planting is that the beans put nitrogen back into the soil, which is tired after four years of producing wheat. Now the surprise, due to crop failures. Jeremy looks for an alternative late start crop and plants six acres of Canary Seed! Jeepers that is a lot of Canaries!! But then I was astonished to read that in Saskatchewan, Cana- da out on the big prairies they harvest nine million tons of canary seed a year but they are not sure of a brand name to market Canary seed for human consumption — 'Singing for your supper’ takes on a new aspect. Keep safe friends – Tony and Yvonne. T&Y did not get a picture of the toad but have provided a drawing instead, we are desperate for ideas for your bulletin so is there any other budding artists among you. FORTHCOMING EVENTS ¤ Because of the present situation we had to cancel most of August fixtures. As we believe we have a good programme the month’s we have cancelled will be transferred to next year’s season subject to availability. Your committee have decided for various reasons that we are unable to proceed with our September indoor meetings but hopefully after intense ne- Dursley Birdwatching and Preservation Society (Founded: 1953) Page 2 gotiations and speaker approval we may be able to make a start in October. Depending on rules and regulations which may change we may have to limit numbers to a maximum of 20 on a first come basis - on our booking system with Simon. To help with the extra work load and rules could you please book with our booking system if you wish to come to Cate Bar- row’s talk about Butterflies of the British Isles on Monday October 12th. This is important as we can then contact everyone who books with full details of the measures we have to take by law and of course knowing if you are interested. MGR. Sunday September 6th Cotswold Water Park – Leaders Mike Robinson + Ken Cservenka. Meet at Lower Moor Visitor Centre at 9.30am. We did a walk at this reserve to find out available details. Most of the hides were open but social distance is in force with sanitizer stations at the entrances. Loos not available at the moment but talking to a staff member they could be available in September. - Dursley to Tetbury. Take the Cirencester road (A433) after you pass The Trouble House Cafe on the left-hand side of the road take the first minor road on your right to Culkerton and then on to Oaksey. Go Through Oaksey, over a high railway bridge, around a few bends and Lower Moor Visitor Centre is on your right. Easy walking. Will keep you informed if you book to come on this walk. Titchfield, Hampshire -- Cancelled because of car share regulations for distant venues etc. Friday September 18th – Monday September 21st -- North Norfolk - Leader Simon Ashley Well we're all set now with a slightly smaller group and no car sharing - it's a shame more couldn't make it. There are six of us going and at least four are making a full week of the Norfolk area. I really enjoy our group birding trips, the company is great and with more eyes and more experienced birders I get to see more birds. So hopefully there will be nice socially distanced bird watching at the many reserves and wildlife spots. Fingers crossed that Snettisham lives up to expectations. Cheers for now. Simon Ashley - Leader All these events are subject to restrictions due to present circumstances, Please, contact leaders to see if they are still available If any trip is in doubt because of bad weather or unexpected circumstances For bookable events, we will try and contact everyone by telephone if an event has to be cancelled. We will also put a notice on our website and inform members who get their bulletin by e-mail. It is im- portant therefore that we have your contact details. M.G.R. Dursley Birdwatching and Preservation Society (Founded: 1953) Page 3 OUTDOOR MEETING REPORTS P July 27th Lower Woods -- On Wednesday the 22nd of July, my Granddad and I left for the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserve Lower Woods. I have visited this woodland many times before with my two brothers to play in the Little Avon that flows through it but this time, we were going in search of a different nature treat. On this walk, we were joining members of the Dursley Birdwatching and Preservation Society with the aim of spotting the beautiful White admiral limenitis camilla butterfly. Once everyone had arrived, we set off in a ‘socially distanced group’ into a nearby meadow. Here our steps flushed up Meadow brown Manijola jurtina, Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus, Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus and finally, Large white Pieris brassicae. After a great intro- duction to the walk, we moved on with antici- pation down a dark, shaded ride created by the trees that arched over our heads. As we came out of the cool, there was a flowering bramble bush crowded with butterflies making the most of the sunlight. On this dark green mass of prickly bush, the colourful collection of butterflies included our first sighting of: Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus, Silver-Washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia, Peacock Inachis io along with more Meadow Brown. As we were about to set off towards our next destination, we noticed Roxy the dog, who was walking with us, had sneakily gone off and coated herself in mud! Obviously, she wasn’t as impressed by the butterflies as we were. Our next location was a hidden overgrown meadow where the grass reached over my head. As we trekked through the tangled grasses and flower’s we saw an unidentified dragonfly that Granddad and I think was a type of hawker. We were now heading home and coming to the end of our walk which finished off with a walk through another sunny meadow accompanied by a glimpse of a Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria and a Skipper. This magical, ancient woodland and its wonky meadows provided us with a good list butterflies for our records. My favourite butterfly of this diverse collection was the Holly Blue because of Dursley Birdwatching and Preservation Society (Founded: 1953) Page 4 its striking blue colour! The rare White Admiral managed to escape our sight this time but we will be back to find it! By Annabel Shipp A Walk around Frampton – Leader Nick Goatman - Sunday 9thAugust The morning was overcast, as opposed to the sunshine that was expected, when four of us joined Nick in the little car park.