Long-tailed Duck- North Worcs Birding

10/11/12
A potential new species for me had been found at Upper Bittel Reservior. Long Tailed Duck has being one of my target 'too see' species for a long time, and as one had finally shown up in the home county, it didnt take long before i was heading there.
As we pulled up, we were informed by a couple of local birders that the bird had flown to the North western end, unviewable from the Causeway, and we had to walk up the hill to the public footpath to the north.
We were the only people standing there, and it soon became aparent that this was only going to be a 'scope job'. The birdesr who were leaving as we arrived said the bird was showing well.....

 

Err, i dont think that counts as showing well...

The female LONG-TAILED DUCK remained 'stuck' into the willows at the furthest point possible from the viewpoint (about 400 metres per Google maps), feeding constantly, the bird spent more time below the water than above, and this made viewing even harder. However, a very nice looking bird, and one that ive been wanting to see for a long time!

 

From here we headed to Upton Warren. From the west hide, a drake Pintail was showing, as was 5 Wigeon, 60+ Shoveler were feeding around the islands, along with a lone drake Pochard.

A male Blackcap was showing in a bush near the feeders.

At this point, we noticed that the birder in the East hide suddenly look ferantic, and cameras and scopes pointed. That could only mean one thing.

We rushed to the other side, and there we go, a superb JACK SNIPE! We were treated to great views as the sun went down, and i was able to enjoy this first for the year.

The bird was incredibly inactive, and didnt move apart from accasionally swaying its head.

 

As we walked back along the C'way, we heard the calls of a CETTI'S WARBLER! And, added to this, we saw the bird as it flitted amonst the reeds and into a small bush, before heading off into the deeper reeds.

 

Overall, not a bad winters day birding for inland in november

MB

'small' Twitching

18/08/12
A Black Tern had been around at Upper Bittel res. for a few days now, and as i missed a couple of previous birds this year, it was one i decided to claw back, as Bittel is only just off our usual route back from the Gardening job.
It didnt take long to walk to the causeway from the parking spot, walking past the small fishing pools and the 'Goose Field', which contained a few Greylag amongst the Canada's.
Getting onto the Causeway, it didnt take long to locate the juvenile BLACK TERN as it hawked low over the water. Taking occasional breaks on a boyd.
Unfortunatly though, it had decided to perch on the most distant boyd at the back of the reservior, shunning the small boat quite close in where the rest of the Terns had gathered.

 

The bird also had company with 10 Common Tern.

 

4 Grey Wagtails (a family party) was a very nice addition, showing quite well in the 'sailing compound'

MB

Bittel res.....

21.02.11

after some buisness in kidderminster, and a check of broadwaters to see if the waxwing flock was still around failed we decided to head to upper Bittel res.

A small flock of tufted duck was on the small fishing pools but i walked past ( as i would usually do) straight up onto the causeway.

The reason for this rush..

A drake RED BREASTED MERGANSER had been seen here earlier in the morning, and on getting onto the causeway it was obvious that the bird was still there, asleap in the centre of the res.

and a stunning drk!!!!

while it was still asleap though i decided to scan the whole res and picked up 10 Goosander, 20c GC grebe, 2 Shoveler, 1 grey waggie and a marsh tit was calling behind us.

The merganser decided to swin very close to the shore as the wind picked up and my battery level fell ( forgot to charge it up), it was a race against time, get a good pic before the battery run out, 15 mins after, the diver was swimming around in front of the sailing pool 'compound', giving stunning scope views, but the strong wind prevented me from getting any sharp photos or videos.

When my camera battery ran out we decided to leave with it getting very cold by now. and i didnt want to regret my camera running out of battery if it came any closer..

MB

White Front........

25/10/10
i did have photos on this day, but i have since lost them, so hey, no photos.......
Upper Bittel Res....
a twitch to this location to find the 4 WHITE FRONTED GEESE swimming about with the large flock of greylags which looked atlot better with its (wilder) companions as my ony previous worcester white front was with a canada flock ( but right time of year etc so it on the list), i watched for a bit before the dissapeared around behind the sailing club, so i had a scan around....
21 wigeon
and 2 shoveler
there was also a lone adult YELLOW LEGGED GULL which i may have seen later when i did the roost at upton..
a barnacle goose was with a large canada flock in the fields.

upton warren
after getting the geese we moved down to the roost at upton via the moors pool which was rather quiet,in the roost an adult yellow legged gull was picked out which looked similar to the bittel bird, but only 300c large gulls assembled. we left at dark but as we was walking along the south shore of the sailing pool we counted a flock of 58 GOLDEN PLOVER fly up off the mast field and fly west...
MB