Category: Club

Reports of WOFC meetings

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Glow-worm walk at Swinbrook

Phacelia, looking towards VoWH (M. Collins).

Seven members of the Field Club plus one, very welcome, visitor met in Swinbrook churchyard for an evening walk before looking for glow-worms.  We had a fine evening and heard or saw several birds, including Stock Dove, Tawny Owl and Barn Owl.  We stopped to peer at the River  Windrush just past the Church at Widford before heading up the hill track that took us past Manor Farm and the site of the medieval village.  The fields looked magnificent as they were planted with Phacelia tanacetifolia (sometimes called fiddle neck).

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Moth Morning at Shilton

Privet Hawkmoth (P. Bennion).

Despite a dismal weather forecast for Sunday 7 July, fifteen members of the Field Club met in a lovely garden in Shilton for our annual moth morning. It was great to have several members who had never been to this event before.

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Evening walk at Chadlington

Hot air ballon at Chadlington (S. Morton)

On Sunday 23 June a group twelve members gathered outside Chadlington Bowls Club for a leisurely evening stroll up Green Lane, kindly led by Brenda Betterigde. Our main objective was to see the variety of plants growing on the calcareous terrain. We were favoured by warm sunny weather with a very slight breeze, enough for two hot air balloons to put in a leisurely appearance.

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Nightjars at Greenham Common

Greenham Common.

It was hard to imagine that, on 15 June, we were only five days away from the Summer Solstice as we walked across the Common, clad in several layers, including gloves. It was certainly very cool. Dark clouds threatened rain but fortunately we stayed dry.

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Stonesfield Common ‘Pop-up’

Meadow Clary and yellow rattle (M. Collins).

Our proposed visit to Hackpen Hill for today – Sunday 9 June – had to be cancelled, so we announced a ‘pop-up’ walk instead and took the opportunity to enjoy an amble across Stonesfield Common to look for wild flowers. And we found plenty!

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Gibson’s organic fruit farm

Admiring the view (M. Collins).

On the cloudy but pleasantly warm morning of Monday 3 June, eleven of us met at Miles Gibson’s fruit farm in Westwell. Miles had invited us over for a guided walk during which we could learn about his organic techniques in growing fruit and we could help to identify plants and other wildlife.

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Elan Valley 17-20 May 2024

Elan Valley reservoir (G. Tissier).

Sixteen club members plus two visitors recently ventured into a remote area of mid-Wales for a long weekend of bird watching in the Elan Valley near Rhayader, a very quiet area (in)famous for the four Victorian reservoirs which supply water to the West Midlands.

Frances Ashling reports:

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Dawn Chorus 2024

Tar Lakes at 5am 5th May 2024 (S. Morton)

4 o’clock on Sunday the 5th of May. It’s still dark, surprisingly cold, and very quiet.

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Barnsley Warren

Pasque Flower, Barnsley Warren, April 2024.

On 21 April 2024 eight of us embarked on a somewhat risky trip to Barnsley Warren in Gloucestershire, prepared for every challenge from safely parking in a small lay-by right next to a racetrack of a road (The Fosse Way), to climbing down steep steps on a half-hidden bank beyond a hedge, to climbing up and over a rickety ladder stile to land on the side of a precipitous hillside, where the only tracks were those formed horizontally by the age-old tread of sheep.

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Adelstrop

Solitary bee and red-tailed bumblebee on dandelion, Chastleton, March 17 2024.

On Sunday March 17, sixteen of us gathered at the Village Hall car park in Adelstrop for a walk to look for signs of spring. A wonderful spring day – long awaited, blossom on the trees, blue sky, white clouds and a mild breeze.

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