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Winter Bird, Spring Flowers & Dawn Chorus

Upcoming Guided Walks & Winter Bird Report

Nightingale not one for the Winter Bird walk but possibly for the Dawn Chorus
Nightingale

Following the Winter Bird walk, Steve Hallam will be leading two guided walks in the coming weeks:

  • Spring Flower Walk – starting from St Mary’s Old Church at 2 pm on 26th April, &
  • Dawn Chorus, also from St Mary’s Old Church at the somewhat earlier time of 3:45 am. This walk affords the opportunity to see Nightingales and many other brilliant dawn choristers.  For this walk you should bring warm clothing, stout footwear, a flask of hot drink and a torch. 

The links above are to reports from previous walks. We recommend you wear strong boots or wellies since you may well need to walk through long wet grass!

The Friends of Hillhouse Wood is a group of local residents who work with The Woodland Trust to look after this beautiful remnant of ancient woodland. You will also be able to see them at the Village Fete on Saturday 14th June.

Winter Bird Walk 2025

One aspect of observing nature that makes it so compelling is that you never know what you will see and hear. Will it surpass expectations, or disappoint? As mentioned in previous years, this winter bird walk is the one that has the potential to provide ‘thin gruel’. Over the years there seems to be reduced numbers of over wintering birds in this area, especially earlier on in the season. This is why the date of the walk has moved back by a few weeks.

Unduly Pessimistic

This year, I had done some preparatory surveys in the days before the walk, and had seen relatively little.  Nevertheless, 14 people came along, which was very pleasing.  I thought that I should ‘manage expectations’ but, as it turned out, I was being unduly pessimistic.

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Spring Flower & Winter Bird Walks

The Next Guided Walk at Hillhouse Wood is the Spring Flower Walk

Bluebells likely to be seen on Spring Flower Walk

Following the successful Winter Bird Walk in March (see report below), the next Guided Walk is the annual Spring Flower Walk on Saturday 27th April. Steve Hallam will lead the walk in and near Hillhouse Wood. Previously called the Bluebell Walk, it has become difficult to pick the optimum ‘bluebell’ date for the walk although there will always be plenty of Spring Flowers to see. The walk will start at the Old Church at 2pm.

Other upcoming Friends of Hillhouse Wood activities are:

  • Dawn Chorus Guided Walk on Saturday 18th May, and
  • Stall at the Village Fete on Saturday 6th July.

Winter Birds – Steve Hallam Reports

Of all the guided walks that I lead, the winter bird walk is the most unpredictable. The weather can be variable and off-putting, whilst at this time of year the birds move around looking for food. So, you can be never sure which species you will encounter and whether you will be able see or hear them through the driving rain or howling gale.

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