In addition to the regular Sunday bird-watching trips we also run trips to more local sites during April, May and June. These are more casual events than those from the main programme, but there are still some good birds to be seen.
If you require further information about any of these trips, contact Martin Johnson or any committee member. It may be possible to arrange a lift for members who are unable to make their own way to the venues.
| Thursday April 28th | 10.00am | Biggleswade Common | Join John Byrne for a morning walk on Biggleswade Common. Riverside walking (by the Ivel), open meadows and gravel pits provide a wide range of habitats for resident birds and newly arrived summer visitors as we walk in the area between Biggleswade and Sandy. | Meet at the Dan Albone memorial car park (O/S 153: TL 188 453), reached by car by travelling north on the A1 to the 2nd (Sainsburys) Biggleswade roundabout, turning right onto the A6001, passing over the river bridge before turning left to the car park. |
| Saturday May 7th | 7.00am(!) | Little Paxton Gravel Pits | “Post-Dawn” chorus at Little Paxton. This long-established annual trip provides an intensive morning of birdwatching as we target “special” birds such as Lesser Whitethroat, Nightingale and Hobby, look for migrant waders and lap up the sights and sounds of birds singing, displaying and mating! | Meet at the Nature Reserve Car Park. (OS
153; TL 195 628) |
| Wednesday May 18th | 6.45pm | Hope Farm RSPB | We pay our first visit to Hope Farm RSPB. Following on from February’s indoor meeting, we have been invited to Hope Farm for a guided tour and a chance to see how conservation management is being applied in order to find ways of reversing the declines of once-common farmland bird species. | “Hope Farm” (Grange Farm) is situated at Knapwell, Cambs. (O/S 154: TL334626). Knapwell is North of the A428 St Neots to Cambridge road, signposted on the left just to the East of the Cambourne bypass. The farm is on the left (West) of the High Street: look out for the RSPB signs. |
| Thursday June 2nd | 7.15pm | Clifton Bury Farm. | We pay our first group visit to Clifton Bury Farm. Situated only 15 minutes by car from Hitchin, large areas of this farm can be visited under the Countryside Access scheme. Monitoring the birds in the area has revealed an impressive species count and we will be able to explore another section of the river Ivel on our walk. | Meet at the car park towards the end of Church Street, North of Clifton village (O/S 153: TL 171 397) |
| Wednesday June 8th | 7.15pm | Oughtonhead Common | Join John Byrne on an evening walk round Oughtonhead Common. Our local reserve holds a wide variety of breeding birds, including an impressive selection of warblers. Oughtonhead often throws up a surprise or two: sightings on previous evening visits have included Mandarin and Little Owl. | Meet at the junction of Bedford Road (A600) and Burford Way (parking) in Hitchin (O/S 166: TL 178 308) |
| Monday June 20th | 7.30pm | Tring Reservoirs | Evening visit to the Tring Reservoirs, followed by a late evening Owl watching walk. We will investigate the birdlife on and around Wilstone reservoir, where Hobbies can often be seen hunting for dragonflies, and then take a walk along the Grand Union canal, followed by a stroll along a quiet country lane where Little Owls are common. With luck we will also see Barn Owl and Tawny Owl on this walk. | Meet at Wilstone Lake car park (O/S 165: SP 905 135). Parking is also possible in Wilstone village if this car park is full. |