Ludwell Valley Park, Thursday 8th January

Ludwell Valley Park,

Thursday 8^th January

On a grey morning five of us arrived for a walk around this surprisingly pleasant park close to the centre of Exeter City centre. The temperature had risen to a couple of degrees above freezing making it feel quite mild. We started by looking upstream on the canalized part of the brook. Here we saw a Green Sandpiper, Pied and Grey Wagtails and an assortment of tits and finches. A good start.

Walking downstream we noted more of tits, finches, a Song Thrush and a Little Egret. A Buzzard was being mobbed by crows and settled in a tree until the fuss died down giving us a good view. I had just mentioned that we should have seen Siskins by now when a party were spotted feeding in an alder. (Where else?). All that was seen on the brook were a pair of Mallards. By now we had reached the Topsham Road and on the mown grass alongside were a few redwings.

Heading back on the other side of the brook an up the hill there was a fleeting glimpse of a probable Bullfinch but it didn’t show itself again for positive identification. A little further on was a single Goldcrest and a Fieldfare. Then to the top of the hill where there seemed to be a Magpie convention and on to the stubble fields where little was seen. Down the hill and across the road to another stubble field. I have been here on several occasions and have always seen hundreds of Chaffinches with Bramblings, Reed Buntings and once, a Cirl Bunting. Today, all that was seen was a handful of Chaffinches and a single female Reed Bunting. It was not to be our day. Perhaps the freezing weather had made them all seek somewhere a little less exposed.

Back to the start point and the Green Sandpiper and Grey Wagtails were still there. What do they find to eat on the concrete bottomed part of the stream? A very pleasant three hour stroll even though the total of 31 species see was a little disappointing.

Number of species seen: 31

Derek Reed

Birds seen, in BOU order or alphabetic order

BOU order
H = heard only

Mallard

Little Egret

Buzzard

Snipe

Green Sandpiper

Black-Headed Gull

Herring Gull

Wood Pigeon

Collared Dove

Grey Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Wren

Dunnock

Robin

Blackbird

Fieldfare

Song Thrush

Redwing

Goldcrest

Long-Tailed Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Raven (H)

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Siskin

Reed Bunting

Alphabetic order
H = heard only