The forecast for our walk at Bury Down on the Ridgeway on 10 December predicted heavy rain and wind between 10.30am and 1pm, the exact time for our planned ramble. It was spot on. Nevertheless, six noble – or possibly foolish – souls, donned waterproofs, determined to defy the weather and complete the circuit.
Malcolm Brownsword writes: On 9 August Valerie and I went for a walk along the banks of the Thames, from the bridge by The Barley Mow downstream towards Little Wittenham. After only a few hundred metres we came to a large pool, one of several created by The Earth Trust in the Upper Thames region, and were pleasantly surprised to see a (ringed) Great White Egret.
Perhaps it was too hot, but only four people joined Jan Guilbride for an extremely interesting two-hour stroll in the Pauline Flick reserve, near Great Rollright, on the morning of Sunday 25 June.
West Oxfordshire Field Club is 60 years old this year. Malcolm Brownsword, who is one of the club’s longest-standing members and a Vice President, has written some personal reminiscences of his time in the club.
On the warm, balmy afternoon of Sunday 28 May, twenty-two of us wandered down Hill Valley at Aston Upthorpe. While we were being serenaded by blackcaps and whitethroats, we soon identified several butterflies: common blue, brimstone, peacock and small whites. Once we were on a rough chalk and flint hillside, there were the dingy skippers and to our delight what we thought was the rare grizzled skipper.
A neighbour of mine recently witnessed, and photographed, an event that he described as a scene of ‘fear and frustration’ through his study window.
Following Lisa Lane’s excellent talk about the Chimney Meadows Restoration Project in February, on Monday 15 May 2023 thirteen Field Club members met with Lisa once again to see the Project for ourselves. We were lucky in that it was a dry, fairly sunny day, although the wind was chilly.
A walk to hear the dawn chorus has been a fixed event on the Club’s programme for as long as I can remember and, once a year, it’s certainly worth getting up at 3:30am to hear the birds waking up. It’s also a good opportunity to learn birdsong.
Maggie Collins writes:
What a hullabaloo this morning at 5.30 am in suburban Witney! It sounded like crows so I got up, reluctantly, to see what it was all about. Hundreds (or so it seemed) of crows were flying around the houses in quite a state making a great racket on our normally quiet street – jackdaws and carrion crows as far as I could tell, once I got my binoculars out.
It was a bit grey and chilly on the 27th of April when ten of us met with volunteers Sylfest Muldal and his colleague Mike for a three hour, highly enjoyable walk at the RSPB Otmoor reserve.
WEST OXFORDSHIRE FIELD CLUB