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Winter Bird Walk 2022 – will you see a Waxwing?

Waxwing
Waxwings migrate from the boreal forests of continental Europe to spend their winters with us in search of rowan and other berries.

Winter Bird Walk 2022

The first guided walk at Hillhouse Wood since 2020 takes place on Saturday 26th February when Steve Hallam leads the Winter Bird Walk 2022.  Walkers should meet at the Old Church at 10 am (weather permitting), wearing stout footwear and warm clothing & with a warm drink in a flask.  They can expect to see a range of resident woodland and meadow species as well as some winter visitors, the Woodland Trust lists the following as the top-15 winter potentials:

Continue reading “Winter Bird Walk 2022 – will you see a Waxwing?”
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Day 23 of Lockdown – Don’t Go Down To The Woods

Bluebells at Hillhouse Wood
Hillhouse Wood is renowned for its bluebell display every spring

Day 23 of Lockdown

Day 23 and the sun continued to shine down on us.  Wonderful with a bit of a but.  Each year our popular Hillhouse Wood becomes an attraction as the spring flowers create carpets of colour.  The paths, though, are rather narrow and social distancing will become a problem if the same numbers come along this year.

If you are not a  local resident can you please put off your visit until next year when, all being well, there will be no lockdown.  In other news:

Mediaeval PaintingOld Church Refurbishment

The last update on this project left us with the conservators planning how to deal with the Mediaeval Paintings discovered during refurbishment works.  Well, the plan now is to complete the refurbishment of the interior walls but leaving the paintings Continue reading “Day 23 of Lockdown – Don’t Go Down To The Woods”

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Winter Bird Walk 2020 – will you see a Waxwing?

Waxwing

Waxwing
Waxwings migrate from the boreal forests of continental Europe to spend their winters with us in search of rowan and other berries.

Winter Bird Walk 2020

The first guided walk of the year at Hillhouse Wood takes place on Saturday 29th February when Steve Hallam leads the Winter Bird Walk 2020.  Walkers should meet at the Old Church at 10 am (weather permitting), wearing

Continue reading “Winter Bird Walk 2020 – will you see a Waxwing?”

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25th AGM of Friends of Hillhouse Wood

25th AGM - images from the wood

25th AGM - images from the wood25th AGM of Friends of Hillhouse Wood

The 25th AGM of the Friends of Hillhouse Wood is on Wednesday 11th December 2019.  Starting in the Orpen Hall at 7.30 pm, refreshments will be served from 7.00 pm.  The Friends will welcome members and non-members alike.

Talk

Following the conclusion of formal business, there will be a talk given by John More, Essex Wildlife Trust’s Living Landscapes Co-ordinator.

2019 Walks

2019 has seen 4 organised walks; some snippets and links to the full articles are shown below: Continue reading “25th AGM of Friends of Hillhouse Wood”

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Autumn Fruits in the Rain

Autumn Fruits walk in the rainAutumn Fruits in the Rain

It appears in recent years, that the Autumn Fruits Walk tends to act as a magnet to rain.  This year was no exception.  However, the weather forecast gave plenty of warning and so the 7 participants came prepared.

As for the walk itself, we again saw how the presence, location and abundance of plants vary from year to year. This time there were lots of the Continue reading “Autumn Fruits in the Rain”

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Dawn Walk Results in Waves of Song

Tawny Owl - Wikimedia File Image

Dawn Walk Results in Waves of Song

Steve Hallam led a small group on the annual Dawn Chorus Walk when they were greeted by waves of song.  His account of the walk is shown below…

Steve Hallam describing the waves of song

On the morning of 18th May, the population of West Bergholt could be divided into two groups:

  • the eight people who came on this year’s Dawn Chorus walk, and
  • those who had made a mistake.

This was one of the best ‘shows’ since I have been leading these walks (and this was nothing to do with me!), as I will explain.

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Early Start for Dawn Chorus – 18th May

Blue Tit leaves nest hole

Early start to see a Blue Tit leaving nest holeEarly Start for Dawn Chorus

To get the best from the Dawn Chorus means an early start but it is well worth it.  Steve Hallam will be leading this years’ Dawn Chorus Walk around Hillhouse Wood, offering the chance to see and/or hear nightingales and many other dawn choristers like the Blue Tit having its own early start (see right).

Previous years’ walks have seen and/or heard over Continue reading “Early Start for Dawn Chorus – 18th May”