Great patch birding and some more Gulling!

9/08/14

It's early August, for me the official start of 'vismig' season, and it really didn't take much effort to drag myself from the warm confines of my bed to the cold, breezy paddocks on the patch.

Large numbers of Hirundines had started to gather in the insect rich aerospace above  the open fields and paddocks, totaling around 300 birds. These were slowly dispersing south, and a single Swift barreled through.

My first Meadow Pipit of the autumn flew over calling as I picked up a 'hawk' powering low south over the paddocks along the river valley. My bins went up, and that hawk transformed into a juvenile Cuckoo as it continued to fly very quickly across the fields. Following on from a singing male back in the spring, I couldn't help but wonder if it may have been locally bred?

The bird however had no inclination to land, and was watched flying a considerable distance to the south before flying across a line of trees and out of sight!

Hey!

I did say it was the 'start' of vismig season didn't I, so no doubt it wouldn't reap huge numbers and variety of birds!

However, what the air lacked was certainly made up for on the ground, and a decent number of migrant passerines were dotted around the hedgerows. 2 Garden Warbler, 9 Blackcap, 6 Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Willow Warbler and 10 Chiffchaff were not at all a bad haul.

A lone elderberry bush stands in the middle of the paddocks, and it was nice to see a male Blackcap and a female Whitethroat feeding from it, and it was while watching this nice duo a flash of red caught my eye as a mouse brown female REDSTART flicked out onto the edge of the bush!

Redstart for a good number of years has been a very rare/ overlooked bird on the patch so it was great to finally see another. Needless to say, to see 3 migrant passerines feeding together in a small lone bush only reminds me why I do love Bird migration, and truly anything can turn up anywhere!

The evening was spent at my usual Saturday evening location of Upton Warren, and again, the best bird took until the last shreds of light to show up, but when it did a stunning adult Mediterranean Gull dropped in among the roosting BHG, of which numbers had built up to around 1200.

Adult Med Gulls aren't the most common of ages at Upton Warren and therefore I was quite happy to have pick out this stunning Gull. Just check out those white primarys!

The bird walked around with an obvious limp, but it was more preoccupied with roosting than anything else. It's very delicate proportions, and rather 'thin' primarys indicated that the bird was probably a female.

The flashes also held a total of 16 Green Sandpiper, 3 Common Sandpiper and 7 migrant Snipe.

MB

Creatures of the night: Take 2

14/06/14

After having such a great time out looking for Nightjars a couple of weeks previously I quickly took an opportunity to head to the same site again in the hope for the same selection of birds. Feeling somewhat indebted to the generous deed from Liz, Rob and Luke back in April in a journey up to the Mynd for the Dotterel flock I was quite happy to return the favour and show them the location of some of our nocturnal species.

A pre-dusk walk around the same location followed before moving over towards the Nightjar site, and during so managed to find a number of Tree Pipits and a singing male Garden Warbler. Similarly to last time, a number of Cuckoo were partaking in their namesake and 'Cuckooing' regularly, and Willow Warbler were the most common warbler.

Our first target of the trip had failed to show which wasn't a huge surprise, but again with the light fading it was time to move onwards, and in doing so a surprise followed as 2 Mallards were roosting on the edge of the heather and gorse.

We arrived with time to spare, but soon our first Woodcock of the evening appeared, and then another, both roding in wide circles over the extensive heathland. A few gave a repeat performance of last time and flew straight over our heads. With the precursor event underway, and the horizon turning various shades of red and orange it wasn't long before one of our main targets piped up, and the same 'squeeky gates' from the pine plantation were the first indication that the LONG-EARED OWL'S were now active, but as last time, deep within the impenetrable wall of coniferous trees.

And then the NIGHTJARS piped up, first a brief chur like last time, the occasional contact call, and then the male started churring properly, and the reasons for his efforts were obvious, he was chasing a female!

Both birds were flying about us, the male in pursuit of the female, showing off his white flashes like the poser he was. He followed her every move, and they gracefully hawked moths and other flying insects from across the clearing.

(video from my previous visit)

With the light now getting very low, we took our leave,  but having walked only a hundred feet or so to the other side of the plantation, Rob spotted a silent shape flush of the path behind an area of trees. It flew down the side of the plantation where it was joined by another, which was hunting low over the heather bank opposite us. It was a pair of LONG-EARED OWLS! And actually showing well!

One sat on a fence post quite distantly down the track, flying off to hunt at the opposite end of the plantation, but the other flew in towards us and dropped into the low vegetation giving jaw dropping views of these elusive birds despite the low light. Once in the scope, the long ears were obvious as it sat on its catch, a minute or two passed, and following stare off and a few bobbing movements, this bird flew off low into the plantation, rounding off yet another great evening out looking for birds of the night!

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

Post holiday birding

1/06/13

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?

MB

Summer Birding!

19/05/13

(Note- I just spent the last hour on a detailed and intricate post for these days, but a simple slip of the finger and the whole of the post was deleted, so at the moment i am in no mood to be repeating it, so this post will be little more than the bare basics)

Wyre Forest

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER was one of the hardest birds for me to find last year, so i was incredibly happy to find two birds down by the brook, singing and calling constantly.

9 WOOD WARBLERS were found in numerous location around the Wyre, including 7 singing birds.

Redstarts were also well represented, as 5 were located, including a couple showing well!

My main reason for visiting however was to find a stunning butterfly! 

PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY

I found at least 10 of these stunning butterflys along a short section of grassy verge along the railway line.

19/05/13

A patch visit was rewarded with 10 Reed Warbler, a Reed Bunting and a breeding pair of Grey Wagtails.

22/05/13

The male PIED FLYCATCHER was still showing in the undisclosed site, but again, has failed to attract a mate, poor sod, A Cuckoo was singing nearby.

23/05/13

I found a Red-legged Partridge at Sheepwash which was incredibly unexpected. Completely surrounded by Urban sprawl, it is the most unlikely of locations to find one, but this obvious migrant bird spent the afternoon on the mound, disappearing overnight.

MB

Birthday Birding

12/04/13

For the weekend, me and my Girlfriend had chosen to spend my 18th birthday in Liverpool, and it was a very enjoyable weekend.

As you would expect, the Bins came with me, and luckilly, we had a room overlooking the River Mersey, and therefore i often had chance to scan to see what was about, and i ended up seeing some decent birds!

Within the first hour of being in the Hotel, i had clocked a adult LITTLE GULL flying around the River, also 10c Kittiwake (they followed the Isle of Man ferry into the River) and 2 Shelduck. Later than evening while walking back from a beautiful Birthday Steak in Albert Dock, a Redshank was showing on the mud.

13/04/13

Again, most birding was done from the Hotel window. The highlight being a stunning drake GREATER SCAUP which floated out on the outgoing tide past the Hotel, truly unexpected, and a great addition to the list. A Turnstone also flew through, as did a Kittiwake, 3 Shelduck and a Redshank.

14/04/13

After a brief shopping session in Liverpool, where i bought the stunning 'Birds of Cheshire and Wirrel' atlas it was time to head back home, which was livened up somewhat when just after Penkridge, a stunning CUCKOO flew low north over a field adjacent to the Train!

And that brought the weekend to and end, which was a shame, because Liverpool is a place i enjoy immensly. A Nice city, with a beautiful girl and a few decent birds to boot, whats to complain about?

MB

Owl (In the daytime??)

11/06/11

All was quiet, it was the middle of the year, and the birding doldrums had started,

However to Birghten up the birding front at Upton Warren, was a gorgeous little owl, which obligingly perched on a post in a field for ages.

(Sorry, it doesnt do much)

A cuckoo was seen to fly into a tree with a proccesion of Magpies.

On the Flashes was 3 Green Sandpiper's, heralding the start of return wader passage.

MB

Patch

5/06/11

I did visit the patch this day to see if the mandarin chicks were still around, however in the week i had been away, it seems the chicks had been predated, and the mother had gone missing, so i left the patch feeling sad about the first breeding attempt failing.

10/06/11

I was dropped off at Blackstone and i searched the area again, And there was loads of activity around the Hedges and riverside willows here, and after about 30 Mins of looking around, i was rewarded by a stunning Spotted Flycatcher Flycatching off an Oak tree, I always struggle to see this bird on a year to year basis, so to have one on the patch was great, the lasr one i had was 4 years previous when i spotted a Juvenile in the Autumn further south on the patch.

The Garden Warbler male that had been singing for week must have slyly Atracted a mate, because In the willows area there were 9 Garden warbler, Obviously a family party, and i was treated to some stunning views as i just stood still on the path. 3 Blackcap were here, including 2 females, but no Juv's were located, Chiffchaffs had started singing again, and The whole area just seemed busy.

However the highlight came when as i walked through a field ( adjoining a caravan site) i noticed a small brown duck in the Goat pen, i raised my bins to see a female Mandarin duck feeding away at the scraps of seed, food that had been left out for the goats and chickins, I checked the wings, and it had a full set, and while talking to the person that looks after the pen, she told me the bird had been visiting for over a week after about 8pm!!

Would the loss of her chicks have forced her to try to seek company with a goat, or has the draw of free food attracted her, as it has done with so many mallards in the past.

MB

Patch

22/05/11

A quick evening patch visit revelaed little on the bird side, A Female Mandarin was on the river and a Cuckoo was calling, however the highlight came when i spotted this gorgeous Yellow Dragonfly, which i correctly identified as a Club-Tailed Dragonfly, my first!!

MB

Twitching

After news Emerged on the early morning of the 15/05 that Matt Griffiths from the Earlswood Blog had found a Night Heron at earlswood lakes i was generally quite pissed off, i had been there the previous evening with little to show for it. and despite in the evening passing within a few miles of the lakes, i was unable to get there, and when news emerged later that evening that the bird was showing as i was driving past left me in even more bad mood.

But as the week passed positive news was released day after day, the bird was still there and some amazing photos were emerging, but i just had a horrible feeling that it would dissapear before i could get there, Saturday came, to be greeted by the news that the bird was still at the lakes, but extremely sporadic reports left me in dought that the bird would show, I walked from the norton lane Garden to the lakes at around 4pm, and preceded to walk to the causeway, where i met Kevin from 'Diary of a birding medic' who was also after the bird, after a chat i walked down towards terrys pool, as some news shown the bird had shown there a few time in the day, but after a walk around the pool, with nothing to show i walked to springbrook lane, where also there was very little of note, i walked back towards the Cway via Windmill Pool and again saw very little Bar the Mandarin which is ever present and was seen to have sexual relations with a mallard..

The Crowd at the Cway was now well into Double Figures, with many 'Famous' Birders/photographers present, most of whom tried to get pictures of the Mandarin, while there i was watching Swifts and Terns And couldnt be bothered to waste the energy to walk to the other side of the road to have a nosy at the worlds most confiding (plasitic) Mandarin.

Time dragged on, with very little to watch. Just me knowing this would be my only chance to see the bird with going on holiday the next week, i was detrmined to see it, however many time from 7:30 onwards i was threatening to leave, and by the looks of it so did most of the crowd, many people dissapeared and it was left to 7 inhumane People to wait for the heron to show. A few of their large grey cousion flew past but at 8:29, nearly 4 1/2 hours after ariving i spotted a heron flying in over windmill pool

'NIGHT HERON'

You could just feel the instant relief of the long staying crowd to finally lock onto the bird, as it flew south along the pool your could see all its major features and it was great to catch up with this species again, a british lifer.

(This photo was taken in Turkey (April 2010) but i have edited it to make it more like the Earlswood bird by flipping the image and darkening it to make it more like the scene, other than some cropping, there are no other alterations)

The sections of birders set off into two groups, and we ( Andy P, my dad and me) decided to follow Matt along the eastern bank of windmill pool, so we could view the willows on the other side, there wasnt a night heron there so we checked the scrub to the south of windmill pool where we had decent views of a male and female CUCKOO as they flew around, and perched in the area, we decided to not venture onto the Scrubland as to not disturb the bird.

Thanks must be given to Matt for finding this bird on his patch, after spending very long periods 'working the place', and his willingness to show it to other birders, a well deserved patch bird.

Keep it up

MB

Patch

13/05/11

An evening walk from blackstone to home, on the river at Blackstone A drk Mandarin was seen on the river while another was heard calling from an oak tree along the river bank,

A stunning Pair of Goosander were on the river.

A Garden warbler was holding territory Near Blackstone Farm.

A reed Bunting was feeding in willows at the Wigeon Lake.

And a male Cuckoo was singing in the distance on the opposite side of the river, thanks to the birder i was talking to for picking this up.

MB

AUCH!!!!

22/05/10
upton warren
mega pain recounting this day, but here goes;
dropped into the moors and slowley walked down to the west hide, as nothing had been seen, i wasent in a rush. entered the west hide to be greated by any patch workers worst comment:
'you'll never guess what you just missed?'
'what'
'SPOONBILL'

AUCH, i missed a rare bird by a mind numbing 5 mins (if that), it was so close to it the finder hadent even got the news out yet, so i offered to let all the 'upton boys' know with my free texts, quite a few came through with just the words 'bloody hell', i couldent belive how bad my luck had got recently(without MY med gull), every good bird i seem to be missing, but this was the one that hurt, so much it hurt.

about 20 mins after i got a call from brian telling me he just had the bird flying over grimley, he searched the area long and had after that but the news 'spoonbill relocated at ?????????' never came, and hopes failed and i was left downhearted.

Just as well that aq couple of half decent birds wer at the flasehes or i weould still be suffering from SLBAD (seasonal and lack of bird affected disorder). we had been in the hide for some time and we were joined by 'mr spoonbill' (the finder that is not the big white spatular bird), and my acute hearing honed into a singing 'GRASSHOPPER WARBLER' at the back of the 1st flash, and soon after a CUCKOO joined it and started singing behind the hen pool.

and there we go, the most painfull day this year so far!!!!!!!!! :-(
MB