Twenty four members met on a still autumn morning at this scenic National Trust site near Haslemere. A few blue tits and a goldcrest flitted around the car park while a jay squawked in the trees. On the way to the Temple of the Winds we encountered a mixed flock of tits and identified five species. Long-tailed tits were as usual the pathfinders but marsh tits with their trumpeting calls were the stars. On a distant pine two redwings were identified offering reasonable scope views. After drinking in the scenery from the viewpoint we left the woodland and were confronted with the sad sight of the rowans for which Black Down is noted already denuded of their leaves and carrying few berries. Down in the valley the whitebeams were also past their best and we were unable to spot any ring ouzels, our target species, although a goldcrest entertained us as we waited in hope. The ascent from the valley was similarly quiet but enlivened by a raven and a great spotted woodpecker feeding in a distant tree. Towards the end a flock of about twenty finches passed over. We identified them as linnets but when the flock later reappeared as a couple of members were departing from the car park it included a brambling or two. A lucky few also encountered good numbers of brambling with a few chaffinches a short way down Tennyson Lane. The walk was most enjoyable but somewhat disappointing for bird sightings with only 22 species identified.