Temminck's Stint in the home county!

8/09/14

Having dipped Temminck's Stint back in May I was very keen to catch up with the species. Over the past few years it has become a bird that repeatedly eludes me, or arrives on days that I cannot make it. It was great to hear though that a juvenile bird had turned up at Clifton Pits just south of Worcester and continued to grace the site with its presence for some time. Temminck's are particularly unusual in Autumn in the midlands, so it was well received by many and I'm sure most county birders made the pilgrimage to catch up with the Stint.

Luckily, it was still around on the day I had free, so following a thrash of the patch which was relatively quiet other that a fly-through adult Hobby, I headed down to this new location for me.

Just off the A38 the spot was found with ease, and I was soon overlooking the relatively small 'Southern Pit'. Scanning through the wader assembly, consisting of Lapwing, Snipe, Green and Common Sandpipers eventually paid off as a small wader flew out from behind a small spit and landed among the roosting Lapwings. It was the tiny TEMMINCK'S STINT.

Good views were had as it fed along the shoreline. Mike was on an 'dinner break' twitch, but unluckily for him, the bird was flushed by a Sparrowhawk just before he arrived, and following some circling, and some calling (Sounding rather like a Finch!) it flew off NW.

After having met up with Mike, I took him back down to the Southern Pit, but the bird had not returned, and following a brief talk with the site managers, we headed off over towards the main pit on a 'we might not see you' basis, Again though we couldn't relocate it, and Mike had to head off, but as he walked the path I picked up the bird again, feeding in channels unviewable from our previous location, and we got great views from here.

Temminck's Stint

Temminck's Stint

The route back to Stourport went straight past Grimley, and it would have been rude to not drop in. Both Camp Lane and Wagon Wheel pits where checked. 9 Little Egret, singles of Green and Common Sandpiper and a flock of Yellow Wagtails was about the pick of the bunch.

Always a good day when you get a bogey bird in the home county!

MB

The night that everything was happening!

23/08/14

With the weather conditions looking favourable for the day, with rainshowers following a good northerly airflow, it looked good for a few birds to be moving, and hopefully, dropping in!

The Moors was the first destination, and the first bird I panned onto was a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull, which was perching on the 'Gull rails' in front of the hide. A matter of 30 seconds later, and it was flying off north to feed with other Gulls on recently plowed fields.

2 Little Egrets were flying about the Moors Pool, and the usual array of ducks were knocking around, but with the light falling, it wasn't a hard decision to head to the flashes,

With the sky growing more and more stormy, it was with relief we got to the hide, and it wasn't long until it started raining! No, not water, BIRDS!

First in were a party of 3 female RUFF, which dropped in just as the rain started. But they were extremely cautious to land, and spent around 15 minutes circling the flashes repeatedly. They just wouldn't land.

They did eventually, and luckily, they were directly in front of the hide!

After some time preening, and no doubt acclimatizing to their new surroundings, they flew off into the shallow water at the back of the flash, and fed for the rest of the night among the increasing numbers of Gulls!

A mere 20 minutes after, and I picked up another flock of waders dropping out of the sky and flying low across the surface of the 1st flash. These small Caladris dropped straight onto the first island they came across, showing themselves to be a flock of 4 Dunlin, joining the 3 already present to make a decent total of 7 birds!

As the light dropped, the Gulls continued to arrive, and with the thronging masses were two juv- 1st winter Mediterranean Gulls, sitting side by side on one of the gravel islands out in the middle of the flash. They continued to sit and snooze side by side, Presumably the same two that I had the previous weekend that had arrived together!

Not a bad couple of hours considering!

MB

Amazing patch birding. Non stop migrants!

 August 2014 must surely go down as one of the best birding months I have ever had on patch. Despite there being no rare birds, I left each visit feeling happy with a superb variety of species, both migrants and residents, and a fair number of surprises.

 

Foremost what must be mentioned was the superb showing of REDSTARTS throughout the month. As regulars will know, they in previous years have been hard to come by, so I was overjoyed with a single female on the 9th, but the next couple of weeks proved to be extremely productive, and on 16th I found 2 more Redstarts, including a stonking male but then it went crazy!

 

17th saw a mass arrival of these stunning blue and red jewels as I found an unprecedented 5 Redstarts in various points around the Lickhill meadows section of the patch (3m, 2 fem/juv). This included 2 birds which were feeding on fence posts adjacent to one of the permissive roads that runs through the fields. Luckily I have access, and was treated to stonking views!

 

 

 

 

As well as the pair of Redstart, the same section of fenceline was often also the perch of a migrant Lesser Whitethroat, enjoying the suns rays.

 

 

 

 

The arrival of these birds coincidentally coincided with a planned week thrashing the patch and I spent nearly all of the daylight hours out thrashing the bushes and vismigging. The 18th had 4 Redstarts and the 19th 3. Both the 20th and 21st then had one each and then they were gone!

 

No doubt this week will end up being known as Redstart week for me in future years!

 

It seems crazy to think I mentioned Redstarts before a patch first, but their sustained presence was wholly unexpected, but the arrival of my first patch WHEATEAR (A female) which was present in some horse paddocks early on 21st was gratefully received non the less. However it could not be relocated later in the day. A Wheatear has been long coming, so I wasn't hugely surprised to pan onto this bird!

This was followed by a male bird on the 25th and 3 present on the last day of the month (31st). So much for a patch mega!

 

 

But wait!! I have another patch mega!

 

And another first for patch infact, as a LITTLE EGRET flew over south during drizzle on the 25th! No doubt the bird I had seen earlier in the month feeding on the river at Bewdley, but it was certainly very welcomed to have seen it within the patch boundaries!

 

Semi- regular Yellow Wagtails were also found, with birds being found on 6 dates, with a maximum of 3, but most of the records related to multiple birds. A female and a juvenile perched on a fenceline in the Meadows, and despite having a broken camera (broken screen) and not being able to see what I was photographing, I got lucky and got this one pic which showed one of the Yellow Wagtails.

 

 

 

2 Tree Pipits flew over, one on both the 16th and the 24th, and numbers of general vismig species, such as Pied and Grey Wagtails, and the first few Meadow Pipits of the autumn increased as the month passed.

This increase was also juxtaposed with an increase in Hirundine numbers, and triple figure counts of all 3 common species were regular! And with the large concentrations of these brought very regular interest from at least 3 HOBBY, which were present most days!

All the 'regular' warbler species were present, with the only real disappointment being a real lack of Willow Warblers, but a few sulphur yellow juveniles added a massive dose of colour! Particularly impressive though was a sustained presence of Lesser Whitethroats, with 4 present for most of the month, and often showing very nicely! Certainly one of my favourite warblers, and they never fail to give me a thrill as one flicks onto the edge of their favoured hedgerows!

 

Not to shabby for an area of meadows, paddocks and hedgerows tucked up in NW Worcestershire!

 

MB

 

Egrets, Gulls and Old friends

2/08/14

With it being the first few days of August, and with Migration now underway, I was out on patch nice and early to scout the riverbank.

Sadly, despite thrashing the patch for the next 3 hours, other than a few Warblers, such as 2 Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and a few Willow Warbler it was much the same as always.

Next, I headed into Bewdley town centre, and being obsessed with Birdtrack, I decided to walk along the river, to count the Mute Swans!

What I was not expecting however was to find a Little Egret pottering about below the bridge with a roosting flock of Swans!

As well as this surprise, 4 Mandarin joined the waterbird flock, as did a female Goosander. Not bad for a quick journey to the shops!

Later that day, it was time for a roost shift, and following a look around the Moors pool, which held 3 Little Egrets among the expected species, but otherwhys quiet, so I headed down to the flashes.

It didn't take long for the Gulls to start piling in, but numbers remained fairly low (only about 600). A familiar friend dropped in, as ringed Black-headed Gull '2K44' dropped in. I first saw this Gull back in 2010 as a 1st year, and it was therefore good to see it having reached adulthood!

It wasn't much longer after before the main target of the evening dropped in, as another stunning juvenile Mediterranean Gull dropped in for the evening, giving nice views as it preened on the islands right up until dark, rather than the snoozy bird of the previous weekend.

It switched islands and sat on the read edge of the main island for the remainder of the evening.

A good variety of waders were also present on the pools with 9 species being present, with a decent count of 16 Green Sandpipers being noteworthy. 3 Common Sandpiper, a Dunlin, 10 Snipe and 3 Little-Ringed Plovers made up the list of migrant waders present among the regulars.

MB

Savi's in the bag!

8/06/14

With the continued presence of the Savi's Warbler at Newport Wetlands, and with it being only an hour and a half down the road it was worth the effort (It takes that amount of time to reach some midlands sites, never mind south Wales!)

 

Sadly however, with it having been around for a number of weeks, it had become much more elusive, and that proved so true!

 

Hours were spent standing adjacent to the area the bird had been seen in, and there was very little activity. Bearded Tits could be heard 'pinging' from many stands of reed around us, and brief flight views proved a welcomed distraction to what was rather a tedious wait.

 

As I said though, hours passed, and there was still nothing, the only hope resting on the fact the bird had been heard very early that morning! Time dragged on, a few Little Egrets flew past but it was hard to keep staring at a seemingly empty patch of reeds.

 

Eventually I cracked, and walked off, and I continued on, and still, saw very little. But eventually a couple of long tailed birds could be seen flicking across the tops of the reeds, and as I was standing behind one of the screens, a Bearded Tit flew in  and dropped down on the edge of the reeds, showing very well!

I had left my scope back at the crowd which was just down the track, so I only had my bins to take photos. But still, I managed a few photos which are my first of the species!

 

 

 
 

 

Feeling quite happy with that, I trudged back to the crowd.

 

A bird started moving in the reeds below us, and then it happened!

It reeled!

 

The dry wooden rattle rang out for a short time, and then it went silent, as it slowly moved through the reedbed, where it could be seen as it slinked its way back into the depths of the reedbed! And that was it, 3 hours for less than 10 seconds, not particularly satisfying considering views other people had been getting, but non the less, it was the SAVI'S WARBLER! Finally!

 

Another significant time followed, but still it steadfastly refused to show, so it was time to head back to the car. However, one last decent find was a singing Lesser Whitethroat along the track back to the visitor centre.

 

MB

Gull's and Crossbill's!

21/11/13

A journey out to Sheepwash was rewarded with a LITTLE EGRET which was feeding along the river. Just before dark however, the bird flew over onto Pumphouse pool to roost with the ever present Grey Herons,

24/11/13

A trip up to Cannock with Neil Duggan was very productive for winter Gulls. Our first stop was at Kingswood lakeside. my favorite gulling spot in the midlands, where i quickly located a stunning giant of a 1st winter CASPIAN GULL on the roof of the ARC building. It was fairly distant from our viewpoint, but on 60x through Neils scope i managed a few shots before it flew off.

With the light now rapidly fading, we decided to head off to Chaseater to look for the white wingers that have been present. The first of the white wingers i picked up was a 1st winter GLAUCOUS GULL, which was showing distantly. As if by coincidence though, having just guided the crowd onto the bird, another white winger swam through the scope view! The 2nd winter ICELAND GULL. Awesome!

The Iceland eventually moved far closer and we had some very nice views as it swam around

 off the powerboat club. 

1/12/13

Not a surprise at all.

When i heard news of a small flock of TWO-BARRED CROSSBILL just down the road from my weekend residence at Postmeplain i can't say it came as a shock.

Needless to say, the next morning i was staking out the area, and having seemingly taken the long walk around we reached the crowd in the distance, and immediately the 'trumpeting' call of the Two-Bars!

Within seconds, a flock of around 15 Common Crossbill flew over my head and landed in the top of a larch, scanning through them and a male on the top left hand side of the tree had 2 massive wing bars! A TWO-BAR! Quickly however, the flock flew back into the pines. I moved up, and soon after i was watching 3 of these beauties (2 males and a female) in another clump of Larch, calling very frequently! After around 30 minuites however, the flock decimated, and the birds suddenly became very elusive.

I did however, manage to get onto a stunning male which perched on the top of a pine calling for a few seconds before flying off.

With the birds having moved off, and the crowd becoming more and more agitating, i took my chance and also left to explore the area.

I soon located a calling bird, and then i saw another flying across the Postemplain compound, also calling.

I took the decision to the explore a ride to the NE of where the birds had been seen, and i was rewarded when a new female TWO-BAR, my 4th for the day, dropped into the top of the larches, a completly different individual to the bright green bird i had seen in company with the 2 males.

A long wait ensured, getting occasional views of the birds as they flew around, untill eventually, 2 males settled in a nearby Larch, giving stunning views!

What birds!

Once the birds flew, i waited for a little longer, but the cold got the better of me, and headed home.

MB

Birding run through- Mid October- Mid November

11/10/13

News of a winter plumaged RED-NECKED GREBE at Westwood pool just outside of Droitwich had me heading down there after college as access was quickly arranged by the permit holders and finder (Cheers Wayne!) Arriving on site the bird was immediately viewable, but it stayed on the far side of the pool. However all the main plumage details could be seen, as it floated around the roosting flock of around 70 Great-Crests.

With the pre-roost building, a good count of 10 Common Gulls had arrived before we left, and this increased further one we left.

From Westwood, we decided to shoot the extra few miles down the road so we could also see the pair of WHOOPER SWANS that were currently present at Grimley Camp lane pits. Immediately upon pulling into the cutout adjacent to the gate we could see the Swans, but it was as i took my Optics off the swans i noticed a large bird flying in form the south. Instant recognition and i was soon calling my dad and the other birder who had also just arrived to get onto a juvenile plumaged GANNET! We were treated to great views as it circled the north end of the pools in front of the Wood on the west side of the pits. A few minutes later we watched it climb slightly higher, then flew off SW over said wood. 

In a way i was somewhat relieved to see it fly away, it was good to know that it stood a decent chance of re orientating and heading back towards the coast. At least it proved it was a healthy bird as most that turn up in the midlands are either found moribund or dead!

According to the Patch workers of Grimley, this was the first in its history! So well chuffed with that one!

We stayed on site until just before duck, but the Gannet didn't re-appear. The WHOOPER SWANS however were still showing. 6 Little Egret were showing and a Green Sandpiper flew past us.

12/10/13

The next day and another seabird. A female COMMON SCOTER had been found on the Moors Pool at Upton warren and i was soon enjoying good views as it swam around with the Coots and Tufted Ducks out in the middle of the pool. In fact, it was my first inland Scoter sighting, so it made for a very nice productive weekend for birds!

19/10/13

Another drop into Upton Warren was rewarded with superb views of a JACK SNIPE directly below the hide. Rather stupidly, i had not charged the camera up and it had no battery so i missed the opportunity to get some photos of this species. The bird remained here for the entire visit. The Goose flock was in eveidence, and among the Canadians were 31 Greylags and a Barnacle Goose. 9 Wigeon on the islands was also a good count for the site.

26/10/13

A drop into the Hungry Horse field at Earlswood was rewarded with great views of 489 GOLDEN PLOVER.

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From here we headed to Upton Warren (Again!). Tonight 2 JACK SNIPE were showing well, but not quite as well as the previous weekend. Here is both of them:

A adult YELLOW-LEGGED GULL was showing with the Gull flock, but refused to come any closer than the opposite side of the pool.

8/11/13

A 1st winter drake SCAUP was showing at Bartley very late on the friday afternoon close in to the Dam but we arrived too late to be able to 'do' the Gull roost.

9/11/13

This eclipse drake GOOSANDER has been showing stunningly well in Bewdley Town center for a few weeks, often giving stupidly close views (Down to around 10ft). I even took the opportunity to take a selfie with it.

After a short time with the Goosander, i heard news of a Wheatear at Barnett Brook. Hoping it may be one of the rarer Wheatears i headed straight over there, but sadly i couldn't string the bird into anything more than a NORTHERN WHEATEAR. Still, a very good record of a very late Wheatear!

From the Gardening jobs at Earlswood i saw 150 GOLDEN PLOVER circle over the garden before eventually heading back towards the Hungry Horse.

Just to finish off what was a great days birding in the Midlands i dropped into Upper Bittel, and i had soon located 2 of the 3 SHAG that were present. Sadly, very distant as is often the case at bittel but a new bird for the region for me!

An interesting Gull attracted my attention for some time, but the light was quickly dropping. The bird seemed to show a mix of YELLOW-LEGGED/CASPIAN features, but again, the distance and the falling light meant i couldn't nail it. Here it is anyway.

MB

Waterbirds and a Chat

5/10/13

An evening drop into Upton Warren was fairly eventful. A stop at the Moors revealed a pair of PINTAIL which were the first i had seen here this year.

The flashes faired slightly better though, with a nice little array of waders. A single winter plumaged DUNLIN was feeding at the back of the flash before flying north towards the Moors Pool after only a few minutes. The other wader highlight was a flock of 5 RUFF which were very mobile around the flashes, feeding incessantly.

It has in fact been a very good year for this species at Upton Warren, with an almost continual presence throughout the entire autumn period, which contracts significantly to the last few years which has seen relatively few records of fairly short staying birds. Singles of both Green and Common Sandpiper were also present.

6/10/13

As i had still failed to connect with a Whinchat this year i became very tempted by news of the presence of 3 around Holt, so early the next morning i headed down there, and after a short walk, a single stunning juvenile WHINCHAT perched up close by, flycatching from an area of amazing looking habitat.

I find it incredible that i could manage 10 months into a year without seeing a Whinchat, considering the numbers of them i saw last year it came as somewhat of a shock. It has been clear that they have been either scarce or short stayers for most of the summer and i also haven't found any this year, so i was very grateful for this chance so late in the year to catch up with one.

As you would expect, a visit to this area couldn't be completed without the visit into the Camp lane Pits, where i was surprised to see the large number of 8 LITTLE EGRETS, the 2nd largest count in Grimleys history. They were well spread out across the pools but occasionally a number of them would join up briefly for a fly around.

5 were feeding in the small pool below the north end viewpoint.

It was also great to have the sight and sound of 100+ Wigeon around the pool, with also small numbers flying over. It is a sound i look forward to every winter and i'm very glad its back !

MB

Catching up (AGAIN!)

As i'm sure you have all come to expect of the blog over the last few months, it has become fairly inactive. Much of my time has been fairly full recently and a recent change in personal circumstance has left me with very little motivation to do anything, particularly blog orientated work. I appologise for the complete lack of posting, and i will try to create a regular routine again.

21/08/13
A day out around Cannock chase was rewarded with 5 Spotted Flycatcher around the car park.

We then moved onto Blithfield Reservior, where i luckily stumbled across a juvenile BLACK TERN as it hawked over the water to the north of the causeway. A further exploration of the area produced, Little Egret, 5 Ringed Plover, a juvenile Ruff, 5 Yellow Wagtail and a single Tree Sparrow. Aside from the Black Tern, my other personal highlight was seeing my first Clouded Yellow butterfly.

23/08/13
6 Willow warbler (4 juv) were nice to find on the patch.

Later that morning, i headed to Grimley Camp lane pits, where 3 Little Egret, 6 Ringed Plover and 4 Yellow Wagtail were showing.

Following a period of work, i then headed to Upton Warren for the Roost, where a single LRP was 'hanging on', Ringed Plover (Ad and Juv), Dunlin,7 Green Sand and 2 Ruff.

The only passerine of note was a Lesser Whitethroat.

24/08/13

The following night, i again dropped into Upton Warren for the roost, the LRP and the 2 Ringed PLover remained, as did the Dunlin but Green Sandpiper numbers had increased to 8. A GOLDEN PLOVER flew north over calling which was a nice addition to the list. 2 1st winter Common Gulls roosted with 1000c BHG. The Lesser Whitethroat also remained.

25/08/13

A early morning vismig session was very quiet, a single Common Gull was seen briefly and a Lesser Whitethroat was found.

For the last time of the weekend, we dropped into Upton Warren as they were having somewhat of a wader fest. The highlight goes to a flock of 6 RUFF, but vismig in action was shown by 2 juvenile Dunlin which dropped in.

MB