Army Ornithological SocietySPTA West
At the beginning of June I organised a Bioblitz of the Warminster Danger Area with 46 bird species including Cuckoo and Nightingale. Skylark topped the bill for numbers with Whitethroat 2nd and Yellowhammer 5th just a few behind 2nd place. It was an excellent day and it is intended to do this again. There were 22 butterfly species and lots of wildflowers. Everywhere I look there are Common Spotted Orchids on the way out and Pyramidal Orchids in their splendour. Last Wednesday I went out in the morning and at Vedette 3 saw a Marsh Harrier complete with orange wing tag. Today I took our Canadian colleague out as he cannot drive at present (bike, road, not on 2 wheels, hospital). The object of the day was to show him a Grasshopper Warbler. It did not take too long before we found one on Southdown track reeling at the top of a bush. There were plenty of orchids, and butterflies (Marbled White and Large Skipper) as well as birds. There were at least 3 Stonechat families plus of course Whinchat, Yellowhammer, Skylark, Meadow Pipit and the list goes on. It was a lovely sunny day and we headed over to the east to view the Montagu's Harriers which did a food pass in front of us as we watched from a safe distance. There were Swifts high up in the sky and Swallows nesting at a Vedette. A pair of Lapwings were on a scrape but we did not look for Stone Curlew.
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