by David Hall | Mar 8, 2020 | Uncategorised
Leader: Helena Crouch Ten members joined the leader for the walk through Vallis Vale, a biological and geological SSSI, containing ancient woodland and the famous De La Beche Unconformity. After weeks of wet weather, the paths were very muddy but passable, and the...
by David Hall | Mar 3, 2020 | Uncategorised
Monday 2 March at Bath Royal Scientific and Literary Institute (BRSLI) After 30 years as a woodland specialist for the Nature Conservancy Council, George Peterken developed an interest in meadows which led him to write the very popular book Meadows in the British...
by David Hall | Feb 4, 2020 | Uncategorised
With a full house of members at BRLSI, David Goode introduced the speaker, Ed Drewitt, as one of the country’s most knowledgeable peregrine specialists and author of ‘Urban Peregrines’, the first book to highlight the success of this fabulous bird in urban...
by David Hall | Jan 25, 2020 | Uncategorised
Leaders: Andrew and Jane Daw A good number of people joined us at Willsbridge Mill for a field trip which had originally been planned for Kelston, the persistent rain having led to flooding around our original route. Willsbridge Mill Reserve, managed by the Avon...
by David Hall | Jan 5, 2020 | Uncategorised
We met outside the Prior Park Garden Centre at 10am on a mild winter’s morning for our New Year Walk in Widcombe. As usual it was a popular gathering with 28 members present. After a quick look for American crayfish along the stream by Prior Park Buildings, which...
by David Hall | Dec 18, 2019 | Uncategorised
Leader: Philip Delve Given the run of wet and windy days this month, those attending this meeting were blessed with reasonable conditions for our walk; for although we needed to wrap warm against a cool breeze the morning remained rain free. Having assembled at the...
by David Hall | Dec 8, 2019 | Uncategorised
Leader: Terry Doman Four members joined the leader for a day at Chew Valley Lake. We met at Herriot’s bridge on a cold and windy day with the threat of rain. The water levels were high due to the recent weeks of rain. There was the possibility of a rare American Green...
by David Hall | Oct 31, 2019 | Uncategorised
On a bright but slightly overcast morning of Wednesday 30th October a group of around 18 members plus several visitors gathered in the classroom at Friary, Hinton Charterhouse, by kind invitation of Penny and Richard Williamson, and were treated first of all to coffee...
by David Hall | Oct 19, 2019 | Uncategorised
A dozen of us gathered for this meeting on what was to turn out to be a mostly dry, bright Autumn day with sunlight sifting down at times through the tree canopy to dapple the ground below. From the reserve entrance we made our way down to the petrifying stream marked...
by David Hall | Oct 9, 2019 | Uncategorised
Leaders: Alice and John Nissen Ten of us met on what threatened to be a hopelessly wet day at the golf course carpark (with permission) on Lansdown. We decided to shorten our route, leaving out the planned start which had been to skirt Weston Wood and dip down into...
by David Hall | Sep 25, 2019 | Uncategorised
A group of thirteen of us gathered for this meeting on a day that was to prove to be mostly dry, mild and dappled with sunshine. And, as on previous visits, we had a fungal treat in store for us despite the long dry spell that had preceded the meeting. We started with...
by David Hall | Sep 3, 2019 | Uncategorised
Leader Lucy Delve Ten members and one non-member joined me at 10am in Ham Wall RSPB car park and we promptly headed towards Noah’s Hide, Shapwick Heath where the adult Osprey was located, for, possibly, the 11th or 12th consecutive year. It is commonly referred to as...
by David Hall | Apr 26, 2019 | Uncategorised
A group of 14 of us gathered in the car park of the American Museum on a sunny, mild morning, and were joined by the Head Gardener, Andrew Cannell and Matt Postles from the Bristol Natural History Consortium, who told us about the purpose of the international ‘City...
by David Hall | Feb 6, 2019 | Uncategorised
By 10AM, when thirteen of us met at Slimbridge WWT, the early mist had given way to sunshine. Entry formalities over, we headed out to the Holden Tower, from which to view both Tack Piece and the Severn Estuary foreshore. Arriving shortly after a high tide ensured...
by David Hall | Jan 31, 2019 | Uncategorised
On a bitterly cold winter’s day, twenty members met to explore this small Local Nature Reserve in Twerton, which includes woodland, grassland and a small stretch of the Newton Brook and was designated in 2006 as an “urban fringe” LNR. After admiring the frosted...
by David Hall | Jan 15, 2019 | Uncategorised
The fossil cast of the dinosaur Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni provided an interesting backdrop and contrast of scale as we set up for our workshop on ‘Bryophyte Ecology’ which was attended by 20 Bath Nats members and visitors. For this workshop we started with the premise...
by David Hall | Jan 10, 2019 | Uncategorised
We gathered above Pulteney Weir on an unseasonably mild morning for a stroll around the southern margins of the city. By the time we set off there were twenty-three of us and soon we were all clustered around a tree beside the riverside walk whose trunk was covered in...
by David Hall | Dec 9, 2018 | Uncategorised
Fifteen of us, including one non-member, gathered on a very windy but sunny morning in the RSPB reserve of Greylake car park off the A371. We were surrounded at one point by a very large flock of Lapwing and Golden Plover, clearly disturbed by a bird of prey. It was...
by David Hall | Nov 15, 2018 | Uncategorised
A group of 17 of us gathered in the car park of the American Museum on a brilliantly sunny, mild morning, and were met by the Head Gardener, Andrew Cannell, who provided us with some helpful background information and advice. Most of us, apart from a small group of...
by David Hall | Oct 31, 2018 | Uncategorised
On the brilliantly bright and crisp morning of Wednesday 31st October a group of around 17 members met in the classroom at Friary, Hinton Charterhouse, by kind invitation of Penny and Richard Williamson, and were treated first of all to coffee and biscuits while...
by David Hall | Sep 16, 2018 | Uncategorised
A group of four revisited Primrose Hill to repeat the biodiversity measurements begun in 2012. It was an autumn day after a dry summer which will have not helped the growth of our target organisms. There were many visitors to the site (plus dogs). We found that there...
by David Hall | Sep 5, 2018 | Uncategorised
A group of nine of us gathered under the magnificent veteran oak trees outside East Woodlands Church on a morning that began coolly but became increasingly warm and sunny towards lunchtime. As in 2017, and despite the hot, dry early-mid-Summer weather, we had...
by David Hall | Jun 23, 2018 | Uncategorised
Leader: Lucy Delve Eleven members gathered in the Caen Hill Locks car park in glorious sunshine; the leader had high hopes of finding Scarce Chaser dragonflies, and lots more besides. The first dragonfly species seen was a male Emperor hawking over and the side pound...
by David Hall | May 26, 2018 | Uncategorised
Expectations were high in the weeks leading up to this trip to the chalk hillside of Pewsey, as the trip last spring was awesome….but as 15 of us assembled in the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust car park at the base of the Downs, we were not too confident of a good...
by David Hall | May 10, 2018 | Uncategorised
Leader Lucy Delve Nine members gathered in the Ham Wall car park for a 9.30am start on a fairly breezy morning, after a very short delay for a passing rain shower. From then on there was ever-decreasing cloud and we enjoyed viewing and listening to birds, among...
by David Hall | Apr 7, 2018 | Uncategorised
Leaders : Tom Pinckheard and Lucy Delve Only 4 members plus the leaders braved the grey morning day with the forecast of initial heavy rain. However, we were immediately rewarded with a pair of Kestrels hovering above us, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were singing and a...
by David Hall | Mar 21, 2018 | Uncategorised
Twelve of us gathered on a cool but quite sunny morning, with snow still lingering in drifts and patches from the heavy fall the previous weekend. As we set out for our morning exploration of the woodland in the vicinity of Smitham’s Chimney, we were quickly rewarded...
by David Hall | Feb 11, 2018 | Uncategorised
Four of us decided to make ‘a day of it’ and leave for Ham Wall at 9.30am on Sunday morning. We arrived around 10.15 in freezing conditions, and braced ourselves against frequent squally showers of sleet and hail as we made our way down towards the 1st...
by David Hall | Dec 6, 2017 | Uncategorised
Leader Terry Doman Fifteen members joined the leader in the car park at the Selwin Hall, Box. After a safety brief we proceeded to the adjacent ‘Rock Circus’, where the leader explained that it had been constructed as an educational structure for anyone...
by David Hall | Nov 18, 2017 | Uncategorised
Greeted by what is known as a mizzle, ten of us gathered in the first field at the top of the Midford Brook. The work to develop the 11 acre field owned by Avon and Tributaries Angling Association as a wildflower meadow has had to be put on hold while the Environment...
by David Hall | Oct 28, 2017 | Uncategorised
Frills, Spills and Crossbills in Alfred’s Tower Woodlands A group of 17 of us gathered in the National Trust car park near Alfred’s Tower on what was to turn out to be a very pleasant, mild and often sunlit October day, with much to see and appreciate in varied...
by David Hall | Oct 4, 2017 | Uncategorised
Early arrivals reported Bullfinches by Lacock Road car park, where 15 Nats members met to walk the Corsham Court parkland. We entered the park directly across the road, emerging through boundary trees into open parkland, pasture, freestanding oak trees and the lake...
by David Hall | Sep 27, 2017 | Uncategorised
Scarlet Berry Truffle and Other Exciting Fungal Finds Ten of us gathered for this meeting in hazy, mild dry and calm conditions. We were in for even more of a fungal treat than in 2016, with around 70 species being recorded in the morning, including several...
by David Hall | Sep 17, 2017 | Uncategorised
Leader Alan Feest We gathered as a small group in the small car park at the foot of Dolebury Warren on a misty morning and I explained the nature of the site and the intention to look for CHEGs (Clavaria, Hygrocybe, Entoloma, Galerina) species, which are...
by David Hall | Sep 11, 2017 | Uncategorised
I watched an Otter in the River Avon from about 10.55-11.10am on Sunday 10 September. My first sighting in the city centre! The animal kept close to the far bank and within the bank-side vegetation. It was actively hunting for food. It dived a few times and I was able...
by David Hall | Aug 19, 2017 | Uncategorised
Fabulous Fungi at East Woodlands, Bath A group of sixteen of us gathered under the magnificent veteran oak trees outside East Woodlands Church on a morning that began coolly but became increasingly warm and sunny towards lunchtime. We had a real fungal treat...
by David Hall | Aug 9, 2017 | Uncategorised
Just four of us gathered for this meeting on a damp but by no means impossibly wet morning. After slowly climbing up the short, steep hillside from North Road, we entered the deep dark woodland along the skyline path beside Bathampton Warren and enjoyed the abundance...
by David Hall | Jul 25, 2017 | Uncategorised
A couple of images of some male Six Belted Clearwing moths attracted to a pheromone lure, this Tuesday, July 25th with Geoff Hiscocks and Richard Pooley. A minimum of 5 were attracted, probably at least seven. (Attracted them at both sites in 2015), I’m grateful to...
by David Hall | Jul 22, 2017 | Uncategorised
by David Hall | Jul 13, 2017 | Uncategorised
On a warm summer’s day, eight members met in Farrington Gurney for a visit to Hollow Marsh Meadow. As we walked down Pitway Lane, we saw Goldfinches and Swallows and heard a Yellowhammer. Six species of butterfly were spotted in the lane: Red Admiral, Large White,...
by David Hall | Jul 11, 2017 | Uncategorised
A pair of Scarlet Tiger, that I thought were colourful in the garden from the 27th June (this year). They seem to do well here in Thickwood, I’ve had them in the garden every year for a good ten years now. Social pear sawfly Neurotoma saltuum at Hazelbury...
by David Hall | Jul 1, 2017 | Uncategorised
On the morning of a day that started cloudy and became increasingly sunny and warm, Rob Randall, Terry Doman and Alan and Marion gathered together in ‘the garages field’, a brook-side meadow owned by the Avon and Tributaries Angling Association (ATAA). The ATAA are...
by David Hall | May 21, 2017 | Uncategorised
Sixteen members, including three new recruits, joined me in exploring these wonderful wetland nature reserves near Glastonbury. We saw a good variety of wildlife, including insects, but I was very much concentrating on bird identification by sight and song. The...
by David Hall | May 10, 2017 | Uncategorised
I came across this on the edge of the river bank yesterday. Maurice Tennenhaus That is Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum). There are 2 subspecies, one introduced (often grown in gardens) and one perhaps native in East Anglia. Whichever subspecies yours is, it...
by David Hall | May 8, 2017 | Uncategorised
Common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) on mud Small brown and white wading bird in the family Scolopacidae, moving north during spring passage. An unusual visitor to Prior Park Landscape Gardens, Bath, UK. Ian...
by David Hall | Apr 14, 2017 | Uncategorised
Nice walk up Steway Lane to Bannerdown today, fairly quiet on the migrant front with a few swallows on the high ground along with this chiffchaff, nice Roe deer, nice to see the Coralroot (Cardamine bulbifera) at the top of Steway Lane in full flower. Steve...
by David Hall | Apr 1, 2017 | Uncategorised
On 1 April, while walking along the riverside looking across to trees in front of the Bath postal sorting office, not far from St John’s church, I heard a Willow Warbler in full song, and then saw three Willow Warblers feeding in the trees. This is the earliest Spring...
by David Hall | Mar 19, 2017 | Uncategorised
The day started with blustery winds and sideways drizzle but fortunately drier conditions prevailed by the time six Bath Nats members plus the owner of the wood, Judith Gradwell assembled in the wood. Judith was able to tell us about the past and present management of...
by David Hall | Mar 7, 2017 | Uncategorised
Nineteen members joined me in the car park at The George, Bathampton, on a calm and sunny morning. Here, some saw a Buzzard being mobbed by Jackdaws and I heard and saw one Redwing. We encountered more corvid species along the first section of the walk; Carrion Crow...
by David Hall | Feb 5, 2017 | Uncategorised
I enjoyed a walk around Prior Park National Trust Gardens yesterday and had a wonderful close encounter with a female Kingfisher at the top pond below Prior Park College. She was sitting on the stone edge and dived three times, each time successfully catching a...
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