Monday 24 November 2008

sheepwash urban park

21/11/08
visited the park for the second time today.there was some quality finds for an urban area.the best was an amazing 20 goosander(a great total for a small park lake)which gave brilliant views down to a couple of metres.there were 48 lapwings on the working pool in dudley port as well as a gull flock containing about 300-400 birds(including 5 g b b gulls).there was also a lesser spotted woodpecker that gave a brief view(this is my first for a few years)
the full list is:
little grebe-5 g c grebe-3 cormorant-2 grey heron-8 mute swan-9 canada goose mallard pochard-13 tufted duck-6 goosander-20 moorhen-5 coot lapwings-48 b h gull common gull-2 herring gull-15 l b b gull g b b gull-5 woodpigeon collered dove-1 kingfisher-1 green wood l s woodpecker-1 pied wagtail-1 wren-1 robin-3 blackbird-6 great tit-4 blue tit l t tit magpie carrian crow-3 h sparrow-20+ chaffinch-2 goldinch-20+ greenfinch-1
i did hear a g s woodpecker which if seen would have completed the list of common british woodpeckers in a day

Tuesday 11 November 2008

upton warren again

28/10/08
much better day today,visited the moors pool first. as i stepped in the west hide the rain and wind slowed.typical. i first watched the feaders in front of the hide.the normal feeder birds were there. although a female pheasent spent about 15 minuites on the middle feeder and a squirral on the ground feeder.a lesser redpoll landed on dead plants in front of the hide.i then scanned the reeds around the edges of the lake to see if i could find the bittern that was presant there.(it would be my first ever)but no sign of it.so instead i scoped the islands on the far side of the lake. i imidiatly found 19 teal feeding there.i looked at the other end of the island and saw what i thought was a wigeon.it was. but it showed unusual plumage with an eclipse male body and a normal head(which i couldent see untill some time later)then came the shout i was hoping for"bittern out".it took a couple of seconds to get directions but then it was flying.it looked massive in flight.as this was going on a lucky birder came in the hide and got onto it straight away.the bittern(lifer 176) landed in reeds near the car park and showed well over the rest of the time i spent in the hide(it was a very pale bird compared to pictures in bird books).
little grebe-2 g c grebe-1 cormorant-10 bittern-1(although 2 were presant) grey heron-3 mute swan-12 canada geese-10c mallards- shovler-25 wigeon-1 teal-19 pochard-1 tufted duck-11 sparrowhalk-1 male very good views pheasent-1 water rail-1 moorhen coot golden plover-3 lapwing b h gulls h gull-1 l b b gull-1 collered dove-1 kingfisher-1 pied wagtails-2 wren-1 dunnock-3 robin-2 song thrush-1 redwings-2 mistle thrush-1 fielfare-3 blackbird cetti's warbler-2 very good views(lifer- but i did find one at sheepwash urban park on 21/8/08) goldcrest-3 great tit blue tit coal tit-2 blue tit/ l t tit magpie carrian crow-3 starling-20c h sparrows-2 chaffinch linnet-2 lesser redpoll-1 goldfinch-3 greenfinch-2 siskin-1 bullfinch-1 reed bunting-1
also visited flashes highlights are jack snipe curlew+ 3 greylags over


the pictures below are not taken by me(i need to buy a good camera soon)

on the tail of a shorelark

25/10/08
i visited upton warren flashes today to see if the shorelark was still there after its week stay.it was reported as presant . guess what. it wasent.it wasent there all day. the only bird of note was a jack snipe. i cant be bothered to write all the species seen. im that anoyed.this would be my first ever(i need 2 have a visit to tichwell in norfolk ill get a few new species there)i hate dipping birds that i can so easily see. this autum alone i have missed red backed shrike, grey phalarobe,shorelark and that is only a few. great isnt it. i love midlands birding(sometimes)
i did visit the moors pool today it was covered in birds including a massive number of coots.note i didnt see everything as it was dark and the remaining light shone into the hide putting the birds in silouette.
a week later i have found out why it had gone, a sparrowhalk flushed it the day before.

upton warren again

13/09/08
visited the flashes today got even more firsts today, curlew and ruff. the ruff (which is a juvernile female-reeve)the curlews were spectacular starting with 2 on the other side of the flash at around 5:30 pm. one flew off about 20 mins later. then around 7pm that bird came back and landed right in front of the hide giving great views.over the next half hour 40 more birds flew in and landed in front of the hide.the green sands again gave brilliant views right in front of the hide 3 metres away. also joining them were 2 common snipe giving great views(my best ever views) the only thing i was dissapointed about was the grey pharalobe witch left last night.the list for today is:
5-little grebe, 3-g c grebe ,4- cormorants, 3-grey herons, 5-greylag geese ,150+ canada geese, c50-mallards, 15-gadwall, 20-shovler, 30-teal, 20-tufted ducks, 1-sparrowhalk, 1-kestrel, moorhen, coot, 100+ lapwing, 18-green sands, 6-common sands, 42-curlew(lifer), 8-snipe, 1-ruff(reeve-lifer), b h gull, 2-l b b gull, 2- stock doves, woodpigeon, 5-kingfisher, 1-green wood, 2-g s wood, robin, reed warbler, great tit, blue tit, 50-l t tit, magpie, carrian crow, starlings, goldfinch,
i would also like to thank the man who was kind and pointed out the ruff and greylags and for being so nice and exchanging some of his birding memories.
there is a cleanup of upton warren flashes on the first sunday of every month so please come along and help .you could do a lot for such a brilliant wildlife area
i cannot wait to go again