November bird watch meeting

Reasonable morning for a November when we met up at Testwood lane. Twelve in all retraced the usual wooden slatted pathways over the flooded marshlands Mike told us that an Otter had been spotted by a ranger but we never saw one. Mike also said that otters will eat frogs if food is scarce and have been know to eat young lambs.We saw 37 species of birds including the Cetti Warbler (pictured


From Mike
Our walk at Lower Test Reserve was overcast and grey and it's understandable why someone wrote a short verse which I cannot accurately remember but it broadly implies "no flowers, no birds singing, no sun, November".
This description however was a little pessimistic as we did see some late flowers and heard a few birds in song including Robins, Wrens, doves and a half-hearted Cetti's Warbler. It was good to see a healthy population of House Sparrows and Starlings locally as both these species are diminishing in numbers in many places. From the Scrape Hide we had tantalising views of Grey Heron and Kingfisher, pushing our overall count up towards forty species.

Our next walk will be to Blashford Lakes on 25 January 2008, 10am when we hope to visit the new hides overlooking Ibsley Water.

A very Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year to all the Totton U3A group.
Regards, Mike.

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds -
November!
- Thomas Hood

It wasn't that bad.