The good thing about having some free time on a weekend is you can guarantee that a good thrash of the patch is in order!
And it was with the intention of early migrants I headed out in the hope of some early migrants. Sadly however, it was more of the 'old' than the new. A good number of winter visitors were still hanging on, with a good party of 18 Lapwing, and both Redwing and Fieldfare still in evidence on the riverside fields. Additionally to these, 2 Goosander and 4 Mandarin remained on the river.
It was however, fairly quiet, so later in the morning i headed over to Stanklyn Lane, where the wintering flock of Corn Bunting was still in evidence! With some patience and some cover behind an oak tree along the road, i was eventually treated to stunning views as they were flushed down the field by dog walkers. At a few points, I was surrounded by the whole flock, a number of which were singing constantly!
After a little while, a number of the birds started dropping down and started feeding among the plowed soils of the field, giving brilliant, and prolonged views!
Many people may look at these birds and think 'yet another LBJ- Or little brown job to the folks that don't have the grasp on the birding lingo'.
To me however, the sound of singing Corn Bunting, and its family relative, the Yellowhammer are two sounds that are synonymous with a picture of British farmland, and it really is such a shame to witness numbers dropping so quickly!
9/03/14
Following some survey work at a variety of undisclosed sites, I decided to drop into Postemplain, and i soon heard at least 2 TWO-BARRED CROSSBILL calling, but rather than investigating further decided to head off and do some more survey work!
Another patch visit, and another Mandarin count. I wanted to get out fairly early, and i did, so i was out scouring those hedges and tree's looking for some migrants. The first bird i came across was while standing adjacent to the old Sand Martin colony on the riverbank (now sadly unused) and i saw the distinctive flight shape of a Falcon approaching from the north. With its barrel chested-ness and heavy flight it was obvious a PEREGRINE was flying towards me, easily the rarest of the 'common' Falcons here on patch. Soon after i was treated to great views of this 1st summer male bird as it flew low over my head, across the river, dropping down low over the fields opposite, to suddenly rise up over the hedge to spook a flock of Woodpigeon before giving a pot-shot, and to be honest, half soaked lazy attempt at that, towards one of the Woodpigeons. Soon after the bird was lost to view, but a nice addition to the list.
Just a little further upriver, adjacent to the riverside field infact, and, for the 2nd time in 8 days, i heard a familiar 'glipping' sound above me, Looking up to see a party of 3 CROSSBILL flying along the river SW. I wont repeat from what i said a couple of posts ago, but this is still a very decent patch bird with very few records!
Moving onto Blackstone, i quickly found a variety of good birds, a LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER was seen briefly making its way through the dense tree's, the first patch record this year! And it was while trying to relocate the Woodpecker i heard the distinctive song and 'Pitchoo' call of MARSH TIT'S, a welcomed sighting as i had not seen any at this location since the spring!
The expected flock of Mandarins had dropped significantly, with now only 7 birds remaining, 4 of which were drakes. The party of young that were first hatched have now disbanded and are now practically independent.
The final highlight of the day was the confirmation that a pair of Lapwings had successfully raised 2 chicks at a site on patch! As far as i know, the first confirmed breeding for a few years, despite a semi-regular presence during the summer in previous years. The two adults and 2 fledged youngsters sitting together on an area of bare ground.
In the garden, both male and female Siskin have been present all summer, so it was fully expected when 3 newly fledged juveniles visited the feeders for around a month, however, more recently we have been visited by something larger...
A family party of Great-Spots!
But one of the most unexpected sights was to happen on the 3/08/13, when a WHITE-LETTER HAIRSTREAK visited the garden briefly, a butterfly lifer!
Well, it must be said that the birding started immediately upon our arrival back in Worcestershire. News came through of a GREAT-WHITE EGRET at Upton Warren, so, after a few hours rest, and with continued presence of the bird we decided to go for it, having dipped the last Upton GWE in spectacular fashion.
Arriving at the Sailing Pool, we were informed that the bird was still present, but could be elusive tucked up in the corner of the 3rd flash.
To cut a long story short, we eventually saw the bird as it emerged fully from the reeds, but was always obscured by the bank between the two flashes, but we had decent views of the bird.
The reason for the bird being so elusive? Every second it was in the open it was mobbed by breeding BHG, and it was harassed until it moved back into cover.
A 'Great' grip back!
7/06/13
Heading out onto patch was fairly rewarding. My own personal highlight being a family party of Willow Warbler, which were found being fed by its parent's, calling loudly. In total, the 2 parents were feeding 6 young, by the looks of it, very recently out of the nest!
With the ongoing northwards shift in Willow Warblers range, it makes occurrences like this more and more unusual.
A single Mandarin was found on the river, and the 2 Lapwings continued to frequent the quarry.
8/06/13
A quick drop into Upton Warren again.
The reason?
A stunning 1st winter LITTLE GULL had been found, and we enjoyed good flight views of this minute Gull from the West side, where it was hawking over the pool for insects. I have a particular fondness towards that black 'W' pattern on its upperwing, and i always find it a pleasure to have a study of this maritine Gulls plumage, always having ever so slight differences between individuals.
Later the same day, at the Gardening job in Earlswood, we heard a Cuckoo singing from the Garden, which proved a nice distraction from the somewhat tedious work, but it was only when leaving did i pick up the best bird. While driving near Earlswood train station, a stunning RED KITE flew over the road, and we stopped and watched the bird as it slowly circled higher and higher until eventually being lost to view.
I find it somewhat humorous, that every year for the last 5 years, i have seen a Red kite back in the midlands the weekend after returning from our Welsh holiday, maybe they just follow us back?
6/04/13
Patch birding and vis-mig. What could be better?
A nice early morning thrash of the newly found riverside fields and Paddocks area got me some decent birds.
2 Mandarin Duck were still showing on the river, but the main focus was on the Passerines on and over the fields. It was quickly obvious that Meadow Pipit's were moving en-mass following a short period of fog, and they were now streaming over constantly, with 100+ going over in the 2 hours i was out. Additionally, 13 birds were grounded, and i had great views of then for a good few minutes before they joined a flock of 10c overflying birds, and carried on their migration northwards!
I took a video of the exact moment the last bird of the flock took flight.
9 Skylark were also showing in the 3 paddocks surrounding me, and i had great views of both singing, and of the birds chasing each other.
2 Lapwing still holding territory nearby also.
As well as Pipits, Wagtails were also moving, with 50c 'Alba' Wagtail Sp going over in the time i was out, however non decided to land. The previous days Winter Thrush flock had dropped in size greatly, with only 10 Fieldfare remaining. The biggest surprise however was the obvious Starling movement, of which around 200 flew over, including a single 100 strong flock, all heading purposefully north!
Later that evening i returned to the patch, but it wasn't rewarded greatly. 2 drake Goosanders were on the river, and showing well.
19/01/13
I relish 'poor' weather for patch birding! I look intently for very cold, and therefore very frozen conditions, hopefully combined with large amounts of snowfall, and that is when the patch needs to be blitzed daily!
Just in the last few years, cold winters have led to some amazing patch birds, Smew, Whooper Swan, Dipper, Goldeneye etc, so this is defiantly the time to be out there birding the river due to it being one of the last places to freeze over.
As winter approaches i am practically begging for some seriously bad weather, as it leads to perfect weather for some serious patch watching!
Today, i was out and about early, mostly counting vismig due to cold weather movements. Quickly a flock of 50c Lapwing flew over, and constant streams of Fieldfare were going south, with around 150 going over in less than an hour. 2 Marsh Tit had joined one of the Tit flocks along the riverbank and were showing fairly well in the willows.
Moving onto the Lickhill estates with the intention to check out the Cotoniaster tree for a flock of punk Scandinavian visitors. It was clear that had failed once i reached the road, with only 3 Blackbird being present in a berry laden tree. It was while slogging my way back out of the very frozen and snowy road though that i picked up a fast flying duck fairly high up. Its typical wader like flight already had me identifying it before i had my bins on it. But once i had, i was treated to great views of a stunning drake TEAL!
Yes, i have seen many thousands of Teal over the years, but the patch is almost devoid of records of them, with only 3 previous records (all of small flocks), so it always makes a good bird to catch up with, and it is weather like this that certainly provides opportunity for more records!
Back in the garden the feeders were sadly slow, with only a single male Siskin, a single male Lesser Redpoll, a small flock of 20c Goldfinch and 5 Chaffinch.
MB
4/01/13
A dawn check of the patch revealed that the drake Goosander was still roosting on the floods, which was a nice surprise, as my dad had failed to see it over the last week.
Moving southwards towards our eventual destination, we stopped off at Stourport Marina, looking for the Grey Seal that had been seen there, however we drew a blank. In compensation, a nice Finch flock of 40c Siskin and 5c Lesser Redpoll were showing in the riverside birches. Again, onwards, and my next report is from the River Avon at Bredon, where the river had flooded its banks, and in the flooded field viewable from the motorway, i saw a LITTLE EGRET perched in the water!
And again, onward! To our final destination, Slimbridge.
Upon getting to the Center it was straight to the Tack Piece, as in winter it is by far my favorite area at Slimbridge. You can sit in one of the hides (Robbie Garnett being my preference) and simply scan through the masses for hours, my hope though was to catch up with the Spotted Redshank which was present, as it was a bird i missed last year. Upon reaching the small bridge over the pond at the start to the Holden Walkway, i saw a wintering CHIFFCHAFF! I dont see many wintering Chiffies, so it was nice to see one so early on in the year!
The very decent sized Wigeon flock (of over 1300 birds) was grazing at multiple locations over the flooded field. However it was the wader flocks that had the majority of my attention. However, a stunning Little Egret grabbed my attention. Always a great bird to see, and one that i am glad to say is regular over southern Britain, soon to be followed by a wide range of other heron species from the continent surely?
Waders were very well represented, most notable were the Lapwings (2000c), Golden Plover (1000+) and Dunlin (700c). This alone counts as amazing birding for a midlander like me, but combined with smaller flocks of other species 60c Redshank and 50 Black-tailed Godwit, and at least 5 Ruff all combine for some excellent birding.
After a while scanning, i picked up a 'pale' Redshank feeding near the Golden Plover flock, and when getting my scope on the bird, i had confirmed that i did indeed have the SPOTTED REDSHANK, Mission done, time to leave.....
Not really
I got down to trying to get some long distance pictures as the bird waded in shallow water around the Lapwings. Subtly distinctive in winter plumage, Spotshank is always a nice bird to catch up with. I did end up getting one decent photo from the lot, and a little bit of footage
To compare, one of its Common cousins was showing fairly close to the hide!
Having had our fill, we decided to move on, getting into the Holden Tower for high tide....
And it wasnt worth it in the slightest, a count of 120c Curlew, and about 1000 Wigeon were on the estuary which almost the entire wader flock was flushed off the Tack piece and landed on the far edge of the Dumbles, feeding in the long grass. Both of these sites also had huge numbers of Pintail, with around 500 plastered over both areas! Similarly, Bewick Swans and White-fronted Geese were also in both areas.
Me moved down the the Rushy Pen, where we first spotted a 2w Common Gull. Note the almost entirely black primarys and the bill pattern.
The stars of the show here though were the Pintail's, of which a few were showing exceptionally close to the hide! Sadly, they spent most of their time asleep however, when they woke up. Wow! Look at these stunning ducks!
The drakes in particular are stunning!
Wow, nothing more to say!
We briefly stopped at the South Lake, where a large flock of Black-tailed Godwit was present!
Following this, it was onwards to the Zeiss hide for our annual dip on the Bittern. 3 Hours and there was no sign. However, a nice adult Water Rail was nice compensation, which shown regularly at the edge of the reeds, and very close.
It made a change to see one with the sun on it!
As always, i also took some footage.
A small number of the 173 White-fronted Geese were feeding on the seawall, with the estuary as a background.
As always, large numbers of Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler and Pintail were also on the flash here. And this activity meant we were treated t a great fly through of a brute of a female Peregrine!
With the day drawing to a close, we briefly stopped near the rowing area to drink our tea. And this proved a good decision, as a Cetti's Warbler was flitting about the reeds!
MB
A start to my evening visits to Upton on a saturday night were rewarded with stunning views of a couple of my favorite Waders.
The LRP'shave returned, and were represented by 4 birds, not in full breeding plumage yet, but its great to see them back for another year, and to watch their skirmishes as they chase each other around the flashes.
Also showing 'In close' was this gorgeous male Lapwing, a stunning bird, and a great bird to watch, and it remains with us throughout the year, however, at this time of year, the birds are getting frisky, and its great to watch their ariel acrobatics as they swoop and flap around the flashes, wheazing as they go!
Also, a nice suprise was that the Barnacle Goose remained on the patch.
