November 26, 2025
Our group has visited Wandlebury in the past and although we have been primarily interested in birds and nature maybe I should say a few words about the history of the site and its involvement with the British horse racing scene.
The history of the site goes back to iron-age finds from 2500bc and later evidence of a hill fort evidenced by the circular earthworks which are still clearly visible as a 5m deep trench.
In the 18th century the site was the location of a house and stables owned by the 2nd Earl of Godolphin whose name is familiar in horse racing circles. In 1733 he bought a horse called Barb Arabian that arrived in Britain via Louis XV of France and the Bey of Tunis. This horse subsequently became the champion sire of racehorses in Britain.
Interestingly, Louis XV had used him as a carthorse!
The house has long gone but the stables remain. Further information on the Barb Arabian can be found on a plaque at the stables or on Wikipaedia.
It was a bright and sunny morning when seven of our members visited mostly complaining about the difficulty of driving in the dazzling conditions on this frosty morning. I have to admit to making the journey more stressful by turning off the M11 one junction too early and getting lost trying to find my way through the time warp village that is Grantchester.
Our first bird was a magnificent Peacock, not a wild bird but lovely all the same.
The group left the old stables and walked across the lawn past the pond to the perimeter wall. Behind the wall was a stand of large beech trees and we stopped to watch the activity towards the top of these. Firstly, we were attracted by several large thrushes. The colouring was wrong for Fieldfare but they could have been Mistle thrushes. They were not calling so we couldn’t identify them by their voice. However, there was also a small flock of different thrushes and the white supercilium confirmed our identification as Redwing.
A lone Buzzard sat at the top of the nearby trees while a Red Kite passed in the distance.
The paddock held two belted Galloway cattle while the platform in front of the owl box at the base of the tree was being used by a pair of Stock Doves.
At the bird hide we found Blue Tits, Great Tits and Coal Tits with Long-tailed Tits in the surrounding shrubs.
In the woods alongside the path we heard and later saw Jays and Magpies. Rooks and lots of Jackdaws with occasional Blackbirds were nearby at most locations.
We then took to the path that eventually followed the circular ditch. Along here we found Nuthatch and very active Goldcrests in pairs showing well. Chaffinches were singing as we left.
A cold bright winter’s day and a good walk with plenty of birds was enjoyed by all.
BG2 group at Wendlebury Coal tit Redwing 
Song thrush and redwing Buzzard 
Nuthatch 
Pheasant 
Coal tit 
Blue tit