Birds of the Watercress Way
On a fine April morning 15 enthusiastic people joined trustees Steve, Julie and Mike for a walk around Alresford lead by Keith Betton, chairman of Hampshire Ornithological Society.
This was part of a series of events that the Watercress Way is organising using a grant from the Watercress and Winterbourne project. The aim is to provide the community with opportunities to explore Alresford and the River Arle.
Keith first briefed the group on the type of birds we expected to see and hear. He played some recordings of common birds to enable walkers to identify the plentiful bird song we encountered. From the Arlebury car park we proceeded down the path to the River Arle and then walked along towards the Eel House. A new bench has just been installed here in conjunction with Alresford Rotary Club. Frequent pauses enabled the group to listen to and identify the birds that they could hear. Keith kept the group entertained with a wide variety of interesting facts about the birds we encountered.
We continued along the Arle to Drove Lane and then walked along it back towards the Avenue. We paused to observe a Grey Heron and the first steps of a new born lamb. Surprisingly the highlight of the walk occurred as we moved back along the Avenue towards the car park. Despite the busy traffic a large number of birds were observed in the trees adjoining the road. One highlight was the Heronry where we observed many nests and heard the distinctive calls of chicks. It was fascinating to see the hierarchy of nests with Herons at the top of the tree and Little Egrets and even a Rook nesting lower down. Little Egrets regularly nest near Herons as they provide protection from buzzards.
We were also privileged to see Firecrests and a Treecreeper which flew down to the low branches nearby. Keith informed us that Firecrests are becoming more common across Hampshire. It was amazing to see such a tiny bird close to us.
The walk concluded with a closely fought quiz between two groups of the participants who vied with each other to identify many different birds from their song. All the participants greatly enjoyed the walk and promised to attend future ones.
More information on the Hampshire Ornithological Society can be found at https://www.hos.org.uk/.
Events on the Watercress Way can be found here https://www.thewatercressway.org.uk/events, and via our Facebook group. Please sign up to receive our newsletter 4 times a year.
List of birds seen or heard on the walk
Pigeon
Wren
Blackcap (h)
Starling
Blackbird
Carrion Crow
Robin (h)
Great Tit (h)
Goldcrest
Chiffchaff (h)
Mallard
Long tailed tit
Swan
Moorhen
Skylark
Cetti’s warbler (h)
Grey Heron
Jackdaw
Chaffinch (h)
Coot
Pheasant
Rook
Canada geese
Song thrush (h)
Little Egret
Firecrest
Red Kite
Treecreeper