Guided Walk Record broken!

Last Saturday proved to be a record breaker on all fronts! Every fortnight we have an entertaining and enlightening guided walk around our reserve. Using the vast birding knowledge that is Alf and ably assisted by Mike, both volunteers at Sandwell Valley, are on hand to offer identification help both visually and aurally,

There were 15 willing visitors, including children, on the latest walk, our biggest number so far, and we were determined to enjoy ourselves. The weather tried to upset us especially after the warm sunny weather we'd had during the week. Undeterred, we set off at 11am from the SPA, armed with binoculars, a note book and a couple of bird guides, boldly seeking out new species!

A couple of hours later, including a detour to our Lakeside Hide, we arrived back at the SPA to hot drinks, biscuits and a long list of bird spots. We listed 39 species this weekend - a record for a guided walk (so far). Among the highlights of the walk were little ring plover and a couple of wheatears. I confess I'd have needed help with the wheatear identification but the guides in the hide were on the ball.

Everyone left with a great sense of satisfaction and I expect to see some of them again on the next guided walk on Saturday 9th April.  Good clean fun.