Thetownend.com

If Didcot power station is the elephant in the room on the eastern section of the trail, then Swindon is its westerly equivalent. Wiltshire's largest town struggles to shake off its image as a corpulent, corporate nowheresville, fed by the intravenous drips of the Great Western Railway and M4
Famous for producing trains and pneumatic blondes - Diana Dors, Melinda Messenger and Billie Piper - and having the most terrifying roundabout in the land, the massive sarsen chip on its shoulder is periodically polished every time there's one of those competitions for city status between the usual municipally desperate suspects. In 1999, the town council made one of its regular requests for an upgrade, only to be told by the Home Office that its bid was 'too materialistic'. As both rebuff and proof of the charge, Swindon did, however, win the competition to become the UK's first official twin town to Walt Disney World in Florida.

Taken from a book I am reading called The Wild Rover by Mike Parker, about walking.

I like walking...did Mr Parker mention any of the many interesting and varied walks available around the Borough of Swindon. Thought not....

I enjoy walking too. Thought I struck lucky when I saw a BullFinch yesterday- which I identified on the RSPB website - red head and yellow wing flashing. Turns out there is 300, 000 of the buggers in these isles.

It's a good job for our avian friends that the Sweaties voted no....the RSPB, does much to preserve the many scarce species that are still found in Scotland...and as a national charity most of the money comes from England.

Doesn't sound much like a bullfinch to me....they've got black heads.

He probably meant goldfinch.

The author continues:

More fittingly perhaps, Swindon's real twin town was revealed to be Slough, in Ricky Gervais's excruciating series The Office, when the decision is taken to consolidate both branches of the Wernham Hogg paper company in the same place. Both towns evoke exactly the right image of open-plan tedium, of designated parking space one-upmanship on grey industrial estates and instantly regrettable fumbles at the Christmas party.  It was some surprise therefore,  when the National Trust relocated their headquarters to Swindon in 2005. Not everyone was happy: one manager confided to the Financial Times that 'I can't think of anywhere worse.'

Who fucking cares? It's one man's opinion and he is entitled to it.

Indeed Sonic, my error.I could really get into this ornithological lark.Thought I saw a rarity and it turns out to be a common feathered friend.

Seems a reasonable shout from the description and there are a lot around atm....usually see them in fair numbers mind, charms of goldfinches.

Jeez, I can just picture you, kind of guy who says 'you looking at my bird?'. Calm your skin down

we're a bit different ethnographically compared to Sluff - maybe he not been here m'dear

I looked at your bird - very tweety

Loads of skylarks about on the Downs this summer....no man should ever tire of the song of the lark.

Some fairly common birds are worth 10 minutes of any ones time....got to love watching and listening to goldfinches flitting around a patch of thistles or teasels.

I'd like to see a woodlark, seen my fair share of skylarks (plenty up at Uffington) but the woodlark eludes me.

Any common bird is worth paying attention to, if only because we've no idea how common they will continue to be.

Can't think I've ever knowingly seen a woodlark. I work on the basis of having a stock set of knowledge to identify birds by, then get excited if I see something which doesn't conform. The woody and sky look pretty similar, and the sky is a fairly plain Jane....until it hovers away into the heavens and sings.

So if I saw a woody, I might think it was a sky.  The woody sings from tree tops and has a distinctive song....sort of thing you might want to make a bit of an effrot to find as they're increasingly rare.

On a recent jaunt to the Brecon Beacons I saw a Dipper bird on the boulder of some remote wooded babbling brook. Please tell me this was a rare sighting. I only identified it because I'd seen its unique motion on an episode of Coast a few months before.

Well you don't get dippers everywhere....favouring hilly, rapid moving streams, and you can't mistake for anything else.

So not a proper rarity, like the bittern I saw a 2 or 3 years ago, but not common as muck either.

Can't help but agree with the author.

But as has already been pointed out, it's not a big deal.

Since you are on the topic of nature and walks and what not.... one thing that I do miss about Swindon (and the UK in general) is the temperate climate. I love the sun and beaches and stuff, but one can't quite go out for a good hike as one used to.

Dipper is the national bird of Norway.

I've never seen one.

Regarding Swindon, I've never understood the bad press - it's got more character than Welwyn Garden City or the myriad other identikit market towns

There must be plenty of dippers in Norway then....I've seen a few down the years, always like Dosser, in the Beacons,  mid Wales, or perhaps the Lake District.

Late summer early autumn, always seems to be a bit of a quiet time for birds, haven't really seen anything much for maybe 5 or 6 weeks.

This is more likely as you said.

Unbelievable this week had a Willow Warbler visit the garden on 2 consecutive mornings.
Not seen it since as likely to be migrating however last year even had a Blackcap visit during November.
House Martins are still in the nest and expect them to depart during the week.

One downside a Sparrowhawk is back taking a Starling and Goldfinch this week.

Glad to see the Greenfinches back. Two years ago numbers took a hammering due to a virus (some say poisoning due to contaminated food in this Country).


My Mate saw a Hobby as well the other day.

Lots of a dippers on the River Teme.

What a pleasantly agreeable thread.

The point at which he refers to Billie as a pneumatic blonde just illustrates that he has no idea what he is taking about!

Lovely part of the world, presumably barbels as well

As A.E. Houseman wrote

Clunton and Clunbury,
Clungunford and Clun,
Are the quietest places
Under the sun.
In valleys of springs and rivers,
By Ony and Teme and Clun,
The country for easy livers,
The quietest under the sun.

Can't buy a Barbel.
Bloody Otters have decimated the low and clear rivers.
Once again the do-gooders have messed up.
Did you know a main reason for the introduction of Otters was to cull the mink.(natural predator)
Caught a Mink only last week on the Cherwell. Vicious little things.

Monkey spunk

I once saw what might have been an otter, in the Black Mountains, a few years ago now....or it might have been a mink, didn't hang around very long, and I'm not sure I could tell the difference anyway.

Otters much bigger over twice in size.
Mostly seen a night whereas Mink will be around during day but will sleep when fed.

....oh and look for the noticeable white throat of a mink.

Birds have (mostly) finished breeding so are far more inconspicuous - or perhaps conspicuous in their silent absence - as have no need to sing in order to attract a mate or dash around frantically to feed a brood and many will also begin to moult around this time of year. The departure of the local swallows, whose imminent migration was marked by large numbers congregating on the overhead telephone lines outside the house, was a melancholy event this year. However, winter is also a great time for birds as they're generally a little easier to spot and our departed summer migrants are substituted with winter migrants arriving and I'll start getting value for money from my WWT membership...

We get plenty of garden birds but nothing of any real interest or particularly unusual, aside from a pheasant who has taken up residence for the past couple of years. Interestingly our garden seems to be a total blackspot when it comes to migratory birds.

Sparrowhawk visits occasionally but not seen for a few months, Buzzards nest nearby and their mewing call pierces the silence in the summer evenings. Very often see a Kestrel in the fields along the A338 between Wantage and work, where there are numerous Red Kites who soar magnificently. I'd love to see a Hobby but will settle for the Marsh Harrier that I saw on a spectacularly rainy day last year.

I was fortunate enough to fly a harris hawk today, a genuinely fascinating experience.

Birds are great. And underappreciated.

Long tailed tits in the hedge behind me and a nice spotted woodpecker on occasion.

I know nothing about birds.

In terms of the portrayal of Swindon, there's not too much to worry about.  I live and work up north, and I'd say about 80% of people I've met in the past few years respond to "I'm from Swindon" with "where's that?".

you must be very small

Last year a pair of Hobby's were often seen around Sutton Courtenay near the Fish Inn.
Used to see them most evenings when walking the river or fishing.