A hardy group of 12 mammal group members joined us for a beautiful walk in the frozen Wiltshire landscape, around Norton & Foxley, near Malmsbury; although very cold (4c at best!), it was bright and sunny.
The planned route of this under-recorded part of Wiltshire was slightly over-ambitious but resulted in numerous new mammal records including brown hare, harvest mouse, badger, field vole, fox, rabbit, mole and roe deer and an interesting display of farmland birds such as yellowhammer, linnet, skylark and winter thrushes, and raptors including a hunting merlin, kestrel, sparrowhawk, buzzard and red kite.
This was the group’s second winter walk to under-recorded parts of the county, and was a really successful way to generate additional records, to up-skill our members and encourage involvement in the group and our events.
Our thanks to The Vine Tree at Norton, for the warm welcome, use of their car park and the amazing lunch that some of us stayed for!
Wiltshire Mammal Portal 