Blackcap - Seven Springs
Willow Warbler - Wolsley Centre
Stephen Williams
Fourteen members met up at the new Headquarters of the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust at the
Wolseley Centre in rather wet conditions. We all had cups of tea and cake in their nice cafe
hoping the rain would ease! We walked to the bird hide, got a
Reed Bunting and decided that their "Swan Lake" would be better
titled "Canada Goose Lake" ! We hoped for a Kingfisher on the
River Trent which didn't materialise due to a wood chipper being
used by SWT staff, but saw and heard many Chiffchaff and our
first Willow Warblers of the year. A solitary Swallow flew over us.
We went on to Seven Springs car park to have our lunch and an
obliging Blackcap sang for us in a nearby bush (see photo). The
rain stopped and we walked along the beautiful Abrahams Valley
deeper into the forest and got a Tree Pippit showing nicely. Total
group species seen were 35.