Forthcoming Outings

Guidance for members

Members intending to join an outing are requested to contact the leader in advance so that lifts can be arranged where possible and members can be contacted in the event of cancellation. The leader will provide advice about the arrangements for the visit. Please ensure that you are aware of these before travelling.
Please be prepared to share fuel & parking costs.

 

April 7th, Sunday (morning) Family Day, Bushy Park

Club members will be leading guided bird walks in the Woodland Gardens Bushy Park during the morning, for adults and children, starting at the entrance gate from the Pheasantry car park. The walks will last for around 45 minutes each, starting hourly from 9.30am with the last walk at 11.30pm. The Woodland Garden is an ideal place to identify some of the many birds that feed and breed in the park including Woodpeckers, Finches, Tits, Thrushes, Warblers, Ducks, and many more. This is a family event. Beginners are welcome and there will be a bird quiz for children. Binoculars will be available for loan. For more details contact Thelma Caine thelmacaine512@btinternet.com

 

April 14th, Sunday (all day) Needs Ore and Calshot, Leader Andy Harding 07884 063589 

Maximum group size:10 (please contact Andy to confirm if attending by 7th April) Please car share if possible as limited parking on site
Meet 09.30am. We will need to travel in convoy onto the Reserve so if we could assemble along St Leonard’s Cottages (name of the road) SO42 7XF, by the St Leonard’s Grange Barn ruin and then we can travel through the electric gates to the Reserve parking.
Directions: Aim to get to Beaulieu and then follow signs to Buckler’s Hard for about 1.1 miles and then follow minor signs to St. Leonard’s which will ultimately bring you to a sharp right-hand bend (ruin on your right). Park up here. This is a permit only Reserve but we have special permission to visit from The Beaulieu Estate. Please note there is a restriction on reporting sightings on social media / ebird / BirdTrack (although Andy is aware as to how you can record by using the adjoining North Solent Nature Reserve as the location).
A really special place with 6 hides and trails taking in the Solent shoreline, gorse and scrub, farmland, pine woodland, freshwater and brackish pools and the Beaulieu Estuary. It does have an acceptable compost WC! Expect a cross-section of waders, summer visitors, (warblers, Wheatear, Cuckoo), wildfowl (chance of Garganey), raptors and farmland birds. Expectation of 50 species+ which could include Avocet, Spoonbill, White-tailed Eagle, Osprey, Whimbrel, Mediterranean Gull (& Hares). Anything can turn-up on this Reserve!
Plan to have lunch on the Reserve and then to head to Calshot Spit (15 mins drive) for the afternoon. Park in the public car park at the end of Jack Maynard Road (public WCs) – there will be a parking charge. This area follows the Southampton Water and we will take the shoreline path to Fawley Power Station and beyond to Ashlett Creek. This is one of the more reliable sites for Black Redstart in Hampshire located around the perimeter of the Power Station. Should have a good variety of waders, terns and gulls, warblers and Wheatear.
Please bring packed lunch and suggest pack wellies as can get muddy in places, but hopefully weather will have improved over the next month.

 

April 17th, Wednesday (morning) Midweek Walk: Richmond Park, Leader Rebecca Dunne 07879 645971

Meet at 9.30 at the Pembroke Lodge carpark near the kiosk and toilets TW10 5HX. Nearest entrance Richmond Gate. Buses 65 and 371 stop near Richmond Gate.It’s a short walk from Richmond Gate to Pembroke Lodge. N.B. You cannot drive between Robin Hood Gate and Kingston Gate or enter via Sheen Gate.Toilets and café. Richmond Park is the largest and wildest of the Royal Parks, a National Nature Reserve, London’s biggest SSSI and a European Special Area of Conservation.
The route will depend on what’s around but will include the Pen Ponds. Whatever the time of year there are always interesting things to find in the many varied habitats of the park. There will be plenty of opportunity to cut back to the car park if you want a shorter walk. Join us for a coffee at the Pembroke Lodge kiosk after the walk. Let Rebecca know if you are joining us. A text on the morning will be fine.

 

April 28th, Sunday (all day) Otmoor RSPB & Farmoor Reservoir, Leader Paul Spencer

We will meet at the RSPB car park in Otmoor Lane at 9.00am. Sat Nav OX3 9TD; Grid ref SP570126. Otmoor is a lovely nature reserve of wetland oasis of meadows and reed beds. The visitor trail leads you alongside an expansive flood plain and grazing marsh, home to wading birds (including the elusive Bittern) and wildfowl (often Garganey). Warblers (ten species in 2023) are plentiful in spring including Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler and with luck Grasshopper Warbler, Last year we also saw 2 Cranes, 2 Wheatears, Marsh Harriers and Hobby. Red Kites and Buzzards are usually plentiful. Details of RSPB reserve can be viewed at: https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-andevents/reserves-a-z/otmoor-reserve/
There are no toilet facilities at Otmoor so it is best to stop at services off M40 on the way down. We may be able to visit Farmoor reservoir after Otmoor, to look for Yellow Wagtails, ducks, gulls, terns, grebes, and passage waders. Bring lunch and drinks.

 

May 1st, Wednesday (all day) Midweek Walk: Pulborough Brooks RSPB, Leader Mike White 07981 037004

Meet Mike in the car park at 09.45am. Postcode RH20 2EL. Parking: Members Free. Non-members £3.00 payable by using “Pay By Phone” app or at the Welcome Hut by cash during opening hours. Remember to bring your membership card, non-members charge £4.00. The visitor centre, open from 10.00am – 4.00pm, houses the Toilets and Shop. The café is currently closed during week-days. Hot drinks will be available from the shop.
The reserve is 630 acres of wet grassland, woodland, hedgerows, meadow and heath within the Arun Valley SPA & SCA. Weather permitting our principal target for the day will be Nightingale which should have arrived within the last 2-3 weeks and will be establishing territories. Past visits have afforded some excellent views of this species. Bullfinch are also a Pulborough speciality. Many migrant warblers should be arriving so Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Blackcap and Willow Warbler are all possible. Raptors should include Buzzard, Kestrel, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine and possibly the local pair of White-tailed Eagles. Waders and many duck species should also be present.
If we are unfortunate and do not see Nightingales during the early part of the day, Mike will remain on site into the late afternoon/early evening when the site will be quieter.

 

May 9th, Thursday (morning) Midweek Walk: Beddington Farmlands, Contact Andy Harding 07884 063589

Beddington has been an excellent site for birds for decades. The site has been undergoing restoration, and it is now possible to arrange for groups to visit http://bfnr.org.uk/about-us/history  A guided tour will be arranged, limited to around 15 people. Please note the route can be extremely muddy, so sturdy footwear is essential. This site has a varied habitat and attracts a diverse range of species. In recent years these have included Purple Heron, Red-rumped Swallow, Spoonbill, Wryneck and Ortolan Bunting. Please contact Andy if you are interested in joining the visit and more details will be provided including the meeting place and time.

 

May 19th, Sunday (all day) Knepp Wildland, Leader: John Barkham 07803 295555

All day car outing to Knepp Wildland timed to search for breeding Turtle Doves and Nightingales. Knepp is a 3,500 acre estate just south of Horsham in West Sussex. Since 2001 the land has been devoted to a pioneering rewilding project. The once intensively farmed fields have been left to nature and animals are now free-roaming with most fences removed. Yellowhammer, Spotted Flycatcher, Skylark, Ravens, Red Kites and Peregrine Falcons breed. There is a White Stork reintroduction project, giving great photo opportunities of the free-flying, first generation birds. Spring can also offer occasional visitors; last year there was a Golden Oriole and previous years saw Hoopoe and Black Stork.
We shall take a leisurely circular walk of about 3 miles. The route is fairly level, but the ground can be uneven. Highlights include 5 tree-top viewing platforms. After returning to the car park, there is an optional late-afternoon walk to the bird hide at Knepp Castle Lake.
The meeting time is 9.30 in the new car park located at the Knepp Wilding Kitchen & Shop (an organic restaurant), which lies off the Worthing Road, RH13 8NQ. From the A24 and 2 miles south of the A272, turn right across the dual carriageway onto Worthing Road (signed “Dial Post”). The car park entrance is 100m on the right. The parking charge last year was £5 per car. There are public toilets at the Knepp Wilding Kitchen and Shop.

 

June 2nd, Sunday (morning) Horton Country Park

June 6th, Thursday (morning) Midweek Walk: Farnham Heath RSPB

 

June 14th-16th, (weekend) Friday-Sunday Hickling Broad, Leader John Barkham 07803 295555

Hickling Broad and Marshes is a premier reserve of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Our visit on Saturday 15th June has been timed to hopefully see the spectacular Swallowtail butterfly. The largest of the Broads, Hickling Broad is also an important breeding site for Bitten, Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit, Common Crane and Spoonbill.
A highlight of our visit will be an electric-powered boat trip with NWT Guide, providing a closeup perspective of the wildlife, reed-beds and wet woodlands, including access to a tree-top observation tower. The cost last year for the 2-hour boat trip was £12.
Trippers should rendezvous at the Hickling Broad Visitor Centre at 9.30am on Saturday 15th June. The reserve entry fee is £5. We shall spend the entire day on the reserve, finishing at around 4pm.
As Hickling is around a 3½ hour car drive from Surbiton, members are invited to drive to Norfolk on the Friday and make their own arrangements for overnight accommodation.
There are multiple options on-route to visit including RSPB Lakenheath, NWT Wheeting Heath (4 adult Stone Curlews with 5 young seen last June) or Strumpshaw Fen, RSPB’s rival reserve to Hickling for Swallowtails.
Alternatively members may wish to book accommodation in the Travelodge at Acle (NR13 3BE), which is just outside Great Yarmouth and a 20 minute drive to Hickling Broad.
A group get-together and evening meal is proposed for the Friday night at a local pub, provisionally the Acle Bridge Inn. Trippers may also wish to book a second night’s accommodation and return to London on the Sunday via the Suffolk coast. A visit to RSPB Minsmere is proposed for the Sunday.
The boat trip at Hickling will require reservation as a group in advance and so members should advise the leader of their attendance no later than 4 weeks prior to our visit.
The leader will coordinate requests or offers of car sharing for the weekend.

 

June 22nd, Saturday (evening) Nightjars

July 6th, Saturday (morning) Epsom Common, Butterfly walk

August 4th, Sunday (all day) Keyhaven & Normandy Marshes

September 8th, Sunday (all day) Cissbury Ring

September 15th, Sunday (all day) Dungeness RSPB

September 25th, Wednesday (morning) Midweek Walk: Bushy Pak

October 11th-13th (Fri-Sun) Residential Weekend

October 6th, Sunday (all day) Cliffe Pools RSPB

October 16th, Wednesday (morning) Midweek Walk: Barnes WWT

October 27th, Sunday (all day) Pagham Harbour

November 3rd, Sunday (morning) Kempton NR

November 13th, Wednesday (morning) Midweek Walk: R Thames & Home Park

November 24th, Sunday (all day) Farmoor & Otmoor (Starling murmuration)

December 8th, Sunday (all day) Pulborough Brooks RSPB

December 18th, Wednesday (morning) Midweek Walk: Water Meads (Mitcham)