THE final field meeting of the year for the Taunton RSPB local group took place recently at our local RSPB reserve of West Sedgemoor. Eighteen members gathered at the car park at Swell Wood, near Fivehead, and walked the woodland trail on a cold and overcast morning.

Most of the leaves are off the trees at last, rather, I fancy, due to the strong winds we have had more than any frosts. However, there is still plenty of ivy to offer shelter and to make it more difficult to spot any birds that were in the woods.

Most abundant seemed to be great tits but there were also blue tits, long tailed tits, coal tits and quite a few goldcrests. Also seen were a nuthatch and a buzzard that flew in and perched nearby. Shortly afterwards a kestrel flew over only to return again in the company of a calling peregrine.

Proceeding to the RSPB centre at Red Hill the party made its way across the fields to the barn that overlooks the acres of flooded meadows. By this time rain had started to fall and set in for the afternoon, gradually getting harder as time went by.

On arrival at the observation platform a welcome sight was that of RSPB volunteers complete with flasks of hot coffee and tea that was greatly appreciated as the cold began to set in.

As usual the view was stunning as the winter wildfowl begin to assemble in huge numbers. Wigeon were probably the most numerous and the most vocal with their high whistling calls, but other species present included mallard, pintail, teal, gadwall and shoveler. There were also many Canada geese plus two barnacle geese.

An amazing spectacle was created when a mass of swirling birds took to the air, layer upon layer of lapwings and above them many hundreds of golden plover. Source of the disturbance was soon spotted as a peregrine swept low across the open water, scattering ducks in all directions. It made several swooping passes, almost catching a teal on the hop, but the small bird disappeared with a splash and the falcon swept on empty handed.

There were several roe deer feeding out across the meadow and one exciting sight was of a dog fox that trotted along the side of a rhyne, occasionally pausing to peer into the reeds. At one point it picked up something that must have been a tasty morsel and buried it before trotting on again, all the time being carefully watched by wildfowl that were craning their necks to see over the reeds.

The light was beginning to fade when at last the rain seemed to let up, so the opportunity was taken to make a beeline for the cars.

Diary date: Wednesday, January 10, 2007. Dawlish Warren. Meet at car park, map ref SX980786, 10am. Led by John Connolly (Taunton 274272).