Trip to Bury Down

Wednesday 18th February 2026, saw three of us brave the wind at Bury Down above West Ilsley. The Downs hold a number of scarce farmland birds that used to be widespread but numbers have declined alarmingly over the last 30 years. One of these was the Corn Bunting which is normally easy to see here, but we only heard one giving its jangling call once. A few Yellowhammers showed well, then we saw a Song Thrush feeding with a Fieldfare. A bit further on we came across a larger flock of Fieldfares with some Skylarks. A pair of Ravens flew over and a single Redwing showed. We had a pleasant walk and recorded 26 species which included a nice flock of Linnets when we got back to the car.