25
FRIDAY WOOD. l6th May. 1982
It was on 17th May, 1081 that our first Ornithological
Meeting was held here. This year was a complete
contrast weatherwise, instead of cool, wet underfoot
and thundery conditions, this meeting was held in
ideal conditions.
Twenty four members arrived at the car park and
within 5 minutes of leaving seven different Warblers
had been seen or heard. The Nightingales and
Blackcaps were in full song, as were Willow Warbler
and Common Whitethroats. During the lunch break a
Kestrel, and, on the same fencing, two Spotted
Flycatchers were observed, the latter being the first
of the season for the party.
After lunch the group made its way through the oak
wood and saw what was considered to be a Sparrow
Hawk - suddenly dive into an Oak tree. More
Nightingales and Blackcaps were also heard. At
one point we stopped to listen to a call which we could
not identify - however, after a short search it turned
out to be one of the numerous calls of a Great Tit.
We were also able to get a good sighting of a Garden
Warbler singing from near the top of an Oak tree,
whilst on the other side of the ;track a Common White-
throat was heard, so we were able to compare the two
songs. As we made our way back to the car park we
noticed that we had not seen any Linnets or Goldfinches
This was soon rectified, as in the trees above where
the cars were parked we heard numerous Goldfinches.
The Linnets, however, were never seen or heard.
A total of 47 birds were positively identified by song
or sightings. These included at least 10 Nightingales,
probably over 15 Common Whitethroats, 2 Lesser White-
throats and 2 Garden Warblers. This was a good total
for such a successful and rewarding meeting. A
habitat we must visit each year.
M. T. Parker