Mere Down & Stourhead, 11 October 2025

Leader: Tom Rogers

Nine members joined the leader at White Sheet Lane on Mere Down. The weather was dry and overcast but not as cold as it can be here. Mere Down lies between Kingston Deverill and Mere and is a National Landscape (formerly AONB: Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).The topography of the area is Chalk downland which gives wide open views. The tracks across White Sheet Down are thought to have existed since Neolithic times.

Around the parking area numerous birds were seen with good numbers of Corn Buntings plus Stonechats, Yellowhammer and Goldfinches.We walked along the track towards White Sheet Hill pushing Stonechats along the fences ahead of us. Eventually birds of prey, four Red Kites and two Buzzard, started soaring up into the sky as well as a glider from the local gliding club airfield close by. Then the sky was occupied by cronking Ravens. After almost reaching the summit of White Sheet Hill we saw a large number of Linnets perched on a bush with the sun showing their distinctive colours.

We then retraced our steps back to the cars to travel to the National Trust’s Stourhead estate for lunch. After eating we walked across the overflow car park onto an old disused aerodrome which led to an adjacent minor road, from where we could observe three feeders which are used as food for a number of birds, including Tree Sparrows. However the view of the feeders was not as clear as in previous years due to the growth of foliage which restricted our view. We waited patiently and were rewarded with seeing Blue & Great Tits plus a couple of Tree Sparrows. We persevered and a number of Red Legged Partridges were observed running around the area by the feeders with more in an adjacent field. We noted twenty five species of birds.

Tom Rogers

Birds

Rook
Skylark
Stonechat
Tree Sparrow
Wood Pigeon
Wren
Yellowhammer