Severn Counties Foreign & British Bird Society
Severn Counties Foreign & British Bird Society - Annual Spring Wildlife Walk by Roger Tippett
Sunday morning May 9h saw members of the SCF&BBS gather in a pub car park prior to a visit to a local nature reserve in Wick, South Glos. The site is located on the A4200 between Bristol and Chippenham and thousands of people will pass by unaware of its existence. The site is designated as a local nature reserve in recognition of its value to the local community. This was formerly the site of an iron rolling mill and latterly a red ochre extraction works. Ochre being a colour ingredient, used in paint making and the printing industry, which employed some 200 people, mainly locals.
The reserve is overseen by a group of friends of the reserve and management member Ken Anstey gave us a conducted tour of the reserve. The river Boyd runs through the valley and had been dammed with a weir built to hold back the water, which then powered the mill. Evidence of the Weir is still intact and this makes a dramatic back drop to the site. The river in the valley acts as a wildlife corridor for many species of bird’s & bats as well as supporting fish for Otter’s, and the predatory American signal crayfish. Since the closure of industry nature has reclaimed the land adjacent to the river and now forms with the steep sided woodlands, a beautiful tranquil wildlife paradise which is hard to describe.
As the morning warmed up the area was alive with birdsong and the floor was clothed with wild flowers. The sense of well being felt by all gave a brief relief from the busy life schedules that many of the group bestow upon themselves. At midpoint of the day we returned to the pub and enjoyed a meal and a drink. The afternoon found us in a much higher elevation of the area and we enjoyed beautiful views from Ravens Rock, which has a specially created viewpoint funded by the owners of the quarry.
Looking across the quarry towards the Cotswold escarpment the skyline has a striking line of trees on Freezing Hill. In the foreground of this dramatic landscape are the bowls and rims of the quarry! The exposed faces contain carboniferous limestone, which is used in road construction and cement products. From this viewpoint the locals have enjoyed views of nesting peregrine falcons and ravens. The peregrines have nested for the last 14 years on various old raven nests. This season due to late quarrying the peregrines have moved to another rock face and at present are feeding four young in a generally more inaccessible part of the quarry.
I have since been able to view the nest with my telescope and enjoyed the feeding sessions and the development of the chicks. On the day we were able to view the male peregrine for some time keeping watch on proceedings but the top sight of the day was that of a large fox on the far rim quartering the area, foraging for food in the greying afternoon light. I have personally spent many hours in all seasons at this lovely wildlife habitat, but for most of our members this was a new experience and I am sure that some of them will return in the future.