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

Patch thrashing and Ouzels on Titterstone Clee

13/04/14

Today was just one of those days. I decided to get out early onto the patch, and within a few minutes of walking along the river I realised why I had done this. I saw a shape swimming down the opposite side of the river, and soon after, having swam level with me, I realised I was watching a stunning female OTTER! Only my 2nd I have recorded on patch!

For the next 40 minutes, i was treated to stunning views as it crossed the river onto the near bank, and even sat out on a fallen tree for a while between fishing trips! I was absolutely gob-smacked!

Sadly, my viewing was cut short as the first rowing boat of the morning moved through, and as that disappeared up the river, so did the Otter!

A little further upriver, a call I had not heard for many months rang out, and a Common Sandpiper flew its way upriver, my first of the year!

After this point, it was all about the ducks, and I managed to count 9 Goosander and 12 Mandarin (of which only 1 was female!) dotted up the river. The Goosanders were particularly satisfying as they rarely stay in this kind of number this late in the year, raising brief hopes that a couple of pairs may attempt to breed. Sadly, they have now left, as they so often do as the river waterlevel starts to drop!

The Common Sandpiper flew past me once more, again moving northwards, and this was the last I saw of it!

After a great few hours on patch, I decided to take a punt and head up onto Titterstone Clee, mainly in the hope of finding some black and white Thrushes.

To cut the story short, after a significant effort, with a good few hours walking, searching and scanning, a brief flight view of a female RING OUZEL had us moving very quickly back towards the old quarry as it flew in that direction.

Sadly, once getting around there, it had again disappeared, and another significant time searching failed to find anything.

Rather reluctantly, it was back to the car, and while doing so, I saw a dark bird fly briefly from rocks where a few screaming children had just ran through, straight into a dense clump of gorse.

Again, another significant wait followed, but it was completely worth it! A stunning male RING OUZEL, rather slowly and nervously emerged from the gorse, before eventually dropping back down to feed where it had been previously  near the rocks at the bottom of the hill, giving great scope views!

Other than the 2 Ouzels, another highlight was the outstanding number of Wheatear present across the summit and quarry's, with at very least 20 present! They were everywhere!

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

Migration!

31/08/13

 

Migration, don't you just love it!

That twinge of excitement as you wake in the morning to see if that clear spell overnight has brought anything with it. You anxiously await the text to confirm the presence of a rarity down the road while thrashing the patch in attempts to find your own 'mega'.

 

Sadly, mega's were lacking. In other words there were non, however, a nice scattering of migrants fresh in is enough to keep this midlands birder satisfied.

 

Following my work at Earlswood, I headed down the road to the lakes where a stunning juvenile BLACK TERN was showing. Within a few minutes I had picked up the bird feeding along the south shore of Engine pool, however repeatedly dropped onto pipes adjacent to the 'island' to perch, which, from the shore, gave stunning views!

 

 

I watched the bird for some time, being much closer than the bird I found at Blithfield Reserviour, both in flight and 'on the deck' before moving onwards to the Causeway between Engine and Windmill pool. From here I has stunning views of the Tern, at times down to a mere 10ft as very strong headwinds pushed it closer to the bank, directly passed where I was standing.

A Grey Wagtail was the only other 'Of note' bird, just because it strolled past me at around the same range as the Tern flew.

 

From here it was the roost at Upton Warren, complete with a nice array of Waders. The juvenile Little Ringed Plover and Ringed Plover remained (The adult had departed mid-week). Beside the residents, 4 Green Sand, 4 Common Sand and 2 migrant Snipe were also found probing the soft mud around the edges of the flashes. As we sat, a party of 3 Yellow Wagtails flew over south calling, as did a Common Tern.

 

The next morning (1/09) that feeling arose again, and it was straight to my phone to see a local 'grapevine' text. LITTLE STINT at the flashes.

As you would expect, patch birding was delayed slightly so I could catch up with this scarce inland arctic wader. As with most autumn LITTLE STINTS it was a juvenile bird and initially was feeding exclusively at the back of the flash among the base of the reeds, with the occasional Green Sand of Teal walking past, revealing just how miniscule of a bird it was.

Some time later, after having not very satisfying views the bird started to wade along the shoreline, before flying onto the near side of the 'channel', slowly working its way closer and closer until eventually it creeped out from beside the 'main island'

 

 

Completely worth the wait, Juvenile Little Stint is a stunner of a bird, but sadly one that is not guaranteed on a county yearlist this far inland. Needless to say, I left a happy birder.

Overnight, a single Green and Common Sand had left, leaving 3 of both, and the 2 Snipe remained, but new in was a Redshank, the first I had seen at this particular site all year!

 

3/09/13

Another grapevine text, however this time in West midlands county revealed the presence of a juvenile Shelduck at Sheepwash Urban park, which, being the site rarity it is warranted a fairly impromptu visit, within minutes, the Shelduck was located, feeding on the only suitable section of habitat on site, (note the litter also present). Also recently arrived was the first Pochard of the winter, a drake which was asleep in the favoured wintering area.

 

4/09/13

Yes I know, I'm ashamed, I twitched a Shelduck, but the real laughing point was that I dropped in again the next day with the scope to get some photos, with the objective to give a digi-scoping demonstration to another birder. While walking along the raised track, a familiar call had me looking to the sky to see a superb RING-NECKED PARAKEET circling above me, calling constantly, before after a short time flying off north. Another new site bird for me! As luck would have it, my digi-scoping companion was just around the corner at the time, and also heard it calling as it flew around.

Amazingly, the Shelduck remained, as did the Pochard, but a surprise was given when an adult HOBBY flew over the pool and proceeded to hawk dragonflies over johns lane pool. All in all, one of the better days I've had at Sheepwash recently!

MB

Catch Ups

11/08/13

A drop into Upton Warren was rewarded with a juvenile ARCTIC TERN, a juvenile RUFF, 5 Curlew, 2 Common Sand and 7 Green Sand, a nice array!

20/0813

Back to patch, and it was equally rewarding as the last visit, with 2 Lesser Whitethroat, a Garden Warbler, Blackcap and 3 Whitethroat found. Warblers were certainly moving! A adult HOBBY was found hawking over Lickhill farm briefly following migrating Swallows.

Later the same day i dropped into Eyemore Wood, which, aside from 5 Marsh Tit and 30 Goldcrest there was little of note birdwise. However, my first Painted Lady butterfly was found feeding on Buddlia.

Moving onto Shenstone, i saw my 2nd HOBBY of the day, this time a Juvenile while looking (and failing may i add) to find Clouded Yellow butterfly.

MB

Upton Warren roosting

10/08/13

Again, i have to apologize for the lack of posting during the last few weeks, a return to education, a holiday and a load of birding time has again put me over a month behind on the blog work. The one good thing about that though is i have a fair old bit to write about again!

Dropping into Upton Warren for the roost i was met by a friend, who immediately put me onto a stunning immaculate juvenile Mediterranean Gull!

A stunning bird, and in as fresh plumage as you can get a juvenile, with the bird having not started its moult yet!

A juvenile Cuckoo was also seen briefly, which was nice to see as i don't usually have much luck with them but the main attention was on the waders, the most uncommon of which was a juvenile Ruff. In addition, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, 5 Green Sand, 2 Common Sand and 21 Curlew were showing.

As the light dropped a Little Owl appeared on its usual perch!

MB

Worcestershire MEGA! 500th Post!

Wow, 500 blog posts! Its hard to believe at the beginning i would reach 500 posts. Thankyou for your ongoing support and i look forward to the next 500!

3/08/13

Upton Warren flashes was the destination as a Worcester MEGA had taken up residence, So upon our arrival i headed straight for the feeder hide, after briefly stopping near the bridge to listen to a begging juvenile CUCKOO.

Once in the hide, a wait ensured, but my hopes were not high as it starting to become late evening 7pm, and the feeders were almost inactive. 3 Greenfinch were all that kept us entertained.

That was until i spotted a brown tit species in hawthorns to the left of the feeders.

The 'WILLOW TIT'!

Sadly, now a very rare bird within the county, being classed as extinct as a breeder, and no longer has any regular location within the county boundaries! Therefore it was great to be able to catch up with one of these species within the home county.

Additionally, it also produced me the 2nd of the species 'pair, that is Marsh and Willow in the same county in 2 days, not the easiest of feats nowadays!

Having seen the target, and watched it for some time, we moved onto the main hide. Waders were well represented with 7 species, with 7 Avocet, 7 Green Sandpiper, 4 Common Sandpiper and 3 Redshank being the highlights.

We had to wait until very late in the evening for the Gull roost to produce anything, when a pair of adult Common Gull dropped in around 9pm, spending a short period on the deck before flying off south.

MB

My last month- July

3/07/13

Patch

A family party of 5 Grey Wagtail were showing on the river in stourport town center, 2 adults and 3 Juveniles. At one point, the two adults were mobbing an American Mink as it ran along the edge of the river for a good distance, only once the Mink was about 100m away from the young, did they stop mobbing it.

Moving further downriver, i moved onto a small site of heathland adjacent to Hartlebury Common on the patch side of the road, where a Cuckoo was heard singing, and 2 Willow Warbler were also singing. The 2nd area of the patch to hold breeding birds this year!

4/07/13

11 Goosander (adult female with 10 young) flew upriver past Lickhill, presumably the female which was seen to have chicks earlier in the year on patch. 2 Eclipse male Mandarin were still present at Lickhill, and the 5 Grey Wagtail were still showing.

12/07/13

A survey for Mandarin Duck came up with a new record count for the patch, when 16 birds were found, 2 eclipse drake, 3 adult female, and 11 nearly fledged chicks, including these birds which favored a log on the edge of the river.

A large emergence of Scarlet Tiger moth had me seeing over 40 of these stunning moths, with the main emergence centered around Blackstone.

13/07/13

Visiting Upton Warren with the Girlfriend, we worked our way across both sides of the reserve. At the Moors, we quickly located the 3 BLACK-TAILED GODWITS, feeding on the East Islands, other-whys it was quiet, bar the first returning Pochard of the winter (a drake), 10 Common Tern and a Cetti's Warbler.

The Flashes revealed the expected Wader species, with 9 Green Sandpiper, and a single Common Sandpiper. The trio of Blackwits dropped in, before flying off south when flushed by a Sparrowhawk. A juvenile Little Ringed Plover had also joined the wader's, but was obviously raised elsewhere.

18/07/13

A drop into Sheepwash had me seeing a Marbled White on the mound, my 2nd sighting at Sheepwash this summer. Slightly more expected though was the Gull flock, which included a LBBG, with the leg ring K+H. I have personally never came across a bird with a + as the middle character, so if anyone can shed any light on the record, please do.

19/07/13

A friday afternoon drop into Upton Warren had us seeing a nice array of waders. A moulting male RUFF was showing on the Flash, as was a adult GREENSHANK. 35 Avocet were still in attendance, while other migrant waders were 7+ Green Sandpiper , 1 Common Sandpiper and a Dunlin. 16 Curlew spent some time on the flash before flying off.

23/07/13

Another patch visit, again to count Mandarins had me counting 15 birds, but of a completely different combination of ages/sexes. I will have to wait until the end of the summer to judge the true figure, but looking through my notes and photos, it would seem that 20+ Mandarin have summered/being raised on the river this year.

3 Eclipse drake, 3 juvenile drake, 3 adult female and 6 un-sexed juveniles were found. A new brood of chicks was found, the 3rd breeding record of the year, with a female with 2 still downy young in tow. A single Emperor dragonfly was hawking the river, and a multitude of Brimstone butterflys were on show, including one which decided it wanted to use me as a perch!

Masses, potentially above 1000 very young Frogs were found, literally each step you would take 40 spring out of the grass below you! Some sight!

24/07/13

While looking for Dragonflys around the Gadwall lake at the south end of the patch, a loud 'glipping' sound alerted me to the presence of a flock of 5 CROSSBILLS flying over! Only the 2nd patch record, and the largest flock to date. With the large number in the country currently, it may be worth looking through these migrant flocks of Crossbills, even in the midlands, as their cousin, the Two-Barred Crossbill is also experiencing a influx!

Get looking folks!

MB

Some fill in's

18/06/13

A trip down to the Capital to the London Natural History Museum had a spot of birding as we headed down the motorway. 30 Red Kite were counted as we drove through the Chilterns, with the first 3 being found hunting Oxford services, including one bird which was perched up on a Motorway-side lampost. On the return journey, a single Hobby was also seen at the very same services, with another about 15 minuites further up the motorway.

19/06./13

While visiting my 'secret woodland site' i recieved news of two 'mega' birds at Sheepwash. Wanting to get over there, we quickly left the site, catching a series of busses and lots of walking. The main highlight was this stunning wader which was perched on the rocks within the pumphouse pool, showing very well.

Oystercatcher is always a stunning bird!

The other two birds were a pair of BARNACLE GOOSE, which were associating with the Canada Geese. Always a nice bird to see, the fact they were present within June is simply irrelevent.

 

26/06/13

Again, for the protection of potential breeding birds i have to hold back the site location for the following day.

After meeting someone on site i was told the news that a BARN OWL had been showing the previous night, and so therefore, i stuck around untill dusk to try to locate it. Without much effort, at 9pm out flew a BARN OWL, which continued to show for an hour or so following, including once dropping into tree's to perch.

 

Superb flight views were had as it flew around the field.

27/06/13

A nice patch visit was highlighted by the two drake Mandarin Duck which are currently moulting along a stretch of the river, they often give stunning views as usual with the patch Mandarins.

 

 

In other bird news, the first returning Common Sandpiper of the year was showing, as was a single Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher. An escappe Zebra Finch was also found feeding adjacent to the quarry with the  Greenfinches.

28/06/13

3 Mandarin, the two eclipse drake and a female were showing on the river.

MB

MB

Sheepwash

8/05/13

2 Common Tern were the only decent birds on show at Sheepwash, but it must be said that one of them were showing amazingly well!

9/05/13

3 Common Tern were present briefly, before all flew out before i had decent views. A singe Common Sandpiper was also present, and 3 Linnet were showing up on the mound.

MB

Day listing at Upton Warren

27/04/13

Well OK  not a full day, but as we had gotten away from the gardening job early, we arrived at Upton around 3, and stayed until dark, in total picking up 69 species.

Walking around the North Moors Pool i was rewarded when i heard a GRASSHOPPER WARBLER singing from within the reeds adjacent to the track. Needless to say, after some time the bird didnt show, but i had a nice time sitting watching/Listening to Cetti's, Sedge and Reed Warbler, Not a bad start!

A Garden Warbler was showing on the Causeway.

Moving down to the East hide, i was immidiatly greeted by a stunning ARCTIC TERN, a nice pale bird, which flew around low over the pool briefly while we were battered by heavy rain before flying off south and dropping onto the Sailing Pool. A Water Rail was showing to the right of the hide, as was 2 Common Snipe.

I picked up two Falcons flying towards me, and as they sped past the hide i saw red under-tail coverts and shouted HOBBY!

We had great views of the birds as they gained height on a thermal just to the north of the Pool, and they flew around for a few minutes before flying off in the direction of Upton Warren Village, My first Hobbies of the year! 2 Green Sandpiper were showing in the 'Seasonal pool'.

Moving down to the flashes, i paused briefly at the Sailing Pool and had views of the Arctic Tern as it hawked the pool with the Swallows and Martins. I even tried for some photos.

May i just say, Digi-scoping a flying Tern is hard!

On the Flashes itself, 5 BLACK-TAILED GODWIT'S graced the shallow waters, all showing varying signs of summer plumage. All seemingly of the 'islandica' race due to their very vivid orange tones. The two birds in the center of the photo are simply stunning!

Despite having been around for a protracted period of time, the birds were actively feeding, and therefore it didn't come as a surprise to hear that they flew off the same night

A few Common Sandpipers were also showing, including one down in front of the hide.

To end the day, the 3rd Hobby for the day flew through the flashes late in the evening, before ending up circling over the Sailing Pool, visible from the platform on the back of the hide.

MB

MIGRANTS!

19/04/13

Its been a slog, but by today it really felt as if summer was in the air! Birding in a T-shirt, and with many summer migrants, it was just so great to be out!

With it being a Friday we were somewhat limited time wise, but as we were heading past Shenstone on our way to the Grimley Pits we decided to drop in for a quick look at the Redstart hedge.

And guess what!

REDSTART!

And nothing less than a stunning adult male Redstart!

Stunner!

Moving onwards we next dropped into the 'flash' floods at holt, which proved to be quite eventful!

We had dropped in looking for Yellow Wagtail, and i was incredibly happy to pick up 4 of these stunning bright yellow characters, 3 of which were males!

One of my favorite summer migrants, i love to catch up with them, and it is always a happy moment when you do finally catch up with them for the first time in the year. However, i was also shocked by the sheer number of 'alba' type Wagtails that were present, with around 30, of which most seemed to be of the continental 'White' Wagtail variety.

A single Ringed Plover also happened to be my first of the year as it fed on the flooded ground.

Moving on ward to Camp lane, we stopped at the north end so we could scan the edges well. The earlier reported flock of 10 Ringed Plover, yes 10! was still present, and at one point i had all 10 in the scope at the same time. As you would expect, the muddy edges at Grimley was looking superb for waders, and it continues to prove good!

3 Common Sandpiper were also very mobile around the north end, and 2 Redshank were feeding on the 'middle section'.

My first Common Whitethroat of the year, a male, was showing in the hedge between the road and the pool.

It was only when i scanned the far fields did i start to think we were in the middle of something special! A flock of 100+ Wagtails was feeding in the fields on east side, of which around half were of the White Wagtail variety! 50 White Wagtails!!

Obviously Wagtail movement had been very strong today, and it just so happened large numbers had dropped into the fields to feed. 9 Yellow Wagtail were feeding within the flock, and the rest were made of Pied Wagtails, but a flock of 100+ wagtails moving its way along the field is something!

All in all, a nice couple of hours!

MB