A twitchers delight

Saturday 18th April ‘26. DH, PC, PCL, DL, JB, CH, Tilly, Ralph & Albus

The forecast in the middle of the week was for a bit of a damp morning so I opted to head into the woods to keep out of the worst of it. We are somewhat spoilt in this area for good woodland walks but with the prospect of our first breakfast at the Old Red Lion if I chose a nearby location, it made sense to head up to the Somerset/Wiltshire border and the woods of Gare Hill. With there being no dance class running due to Easter holidays, (or was it the reputation of the breakfast), we were joined by my eldest granddaughter Tilly as well as our regular youngster and grandson Ralph. The RV was on the side of the road before dropping down into Gare Hill and both cars arrived just before 0830. As soon as Ralph saw his bestie he ran into JBs arms as if he’d not seen him for months. Tilly meanwhile astounded everyone with her most frequent growth spurt.

The weather was certainly better than initially forecast and so whilst we were all getting boots on etc it was great to hear so much bird noise in the trees. Both Pete and John got onto their Merlin app to see what was about, which was added to at certain point around the walk. The full list will be revealed at the end of this blog. We headed down the hill and took a small path which could easily have been missed, between two hedges leading into the woods. A small stream at the bottom was easily crossed by most but JB had to use it to rinse off his hands after a slight stumble on the descent. As we started the climb the path became noticeable more damp and we tried to keep to the edges where possible. Ralph wearing welly boots was less concerned and wandered on through although he soon came unstuck in a fairly dramatic and typical fashion, when his welly remained stuck in the mud as he took his next step, resulting in him touching down with just his socks on to retain his balance. Thankfully this is not the first time it’s happened so he didn’t get upset, just put his muddy sock and foot back into the welly and carried on running up the hill. Maybe the lolly from Deryck also helped!

At the top we were faced with a Y track junction, on our last visit we took the left track so for this weeks walk we changed it up and turned right along a nice level section. There were many bluebells scattered throughout the woods and Tilly was hearing from Pete how to determine a native British variant compared to the imported Spanish type which is generally found in residential gardens. Ralph meanwhile was splashing through puddles in the track as if nothing h hppned only five minutes earlier. Throughout this section John and Pete were recording more bird song, but as we stopped for a breather at the end of the track, it was a bird in a distance field which caught our attention, not for its call but it’s pure white colour.

We stood and watched it as it slowly walked up the hillside and tried to work out what it might be. With suggestions ranging from seagul to egret, it was only when Pete got his binos out that we had confirmation that it was in fact a lonesome white pheasant. When it reached the top of the bank we set off again through a gate with a ‘Bull in field’ warning sign and up through at the very top of the Coombe. Thankfully all the cattle we could see were at the other side of the field, so we exited through another gate, and up through a small copse (with plenty of evidence of badger residencies) and out onto the minor road to Maiden Bradley. The road had recently been top dressed with gravel with slowed down the passing traffic, including a well strung out group of cyclists. With the side of Long Knoll we haven’t walked up visible from the road, we were surprised at all the earthworks standing out in the sunlight at the western end of the knoll, a sight we have not noticed on previous walks.

We continued along the road as opposed to my original plan of turning down Duck Lane, as with all the stops up to this point we had only just made the half way point after over an hour. By now the sun was shining down on us and with the quicker pace on the road we all started feeling the heat. A herd of cows in an adjoining field posed for photos initially and then followed us in their side of the hedge for as long as they could. At the junction we carried straight on into the woods and once off of the road we stopped for this weeks supply of Derycks lollies.

Fifty meters into the wood we took a small path to the right just before a large earthbank. Initially it looked like we’d be able to make good going but a couple of fallen trees proved to be quite an obstacle for most of us, although Ralph was soon ducking under the fallen branches. After a few more obstructions we decided to cross the earthbank and get onto a wide path we could see through the trees. The bank was very steep and so following in each others footsteps we crossed carefully over and then through the trees to the path. It was then just a steady and gentle mile or so back to the cars, keeping an ear out for any more bird song  all the way back. It was really quite amazing that John and Pete managed to capture the following sixteen bird, in no particular order :- Robin. Woodpigeon. Crow. Chiffchaff. Blackbird. Wren. Blue Tit. Jay. Nuthatch. Great Tit. Blackcap. Goldfinch. Chaffinch. Magpie. Jackdaw. Buzzard and not forgetting the white pheasant.

We had walked four miles in two hours and after a ten down the hill we were quickly seated in the bar of the Old Red Lion at North Brewham. The young waitress ( who was actually celebrating her 18th birthday) took our orders and soon the pots of tea and coffee were brought to the tables. Not long after the wonderful plates of breakfast soon silenced the table as we got stuck in to another marvellous feast. With clear plates all round we still had plenty of toast to get through, but with ample fresh butter and pots of marmalade it wasn’t really too much of a problem. Tilly and Ralph polished off their scrambled egg and sausage sandwich and even had time to pop to the washrooms, although they were a bit shocked to be followed around by some of the garden ducks, almost but not quite letting them into the bar. A fitting finale for a very bird friendly walk.