The Start to 2012!

1/01/12
The first bird on the year list was a Robin singing at 4:35am in the glow of a streetlamp

On 2/01/12 when i got back to my dad's, i was quite looking forward, due to my dad having reported some Goodies on the feeders over the last few days! I had a look in the garden for about an hour from first light untill we headed down to Slimbridge.
However, the Brambling my dad had seen did not come back in, only the flock of 10c Chaffinch, However, i was left bemused at around 9am when 2 'pigeons' flew into the garden, one a standard Woodpigeon, but the other a gorgeous adult STOCK DOVE! in the garden, i had my Digi-scoping setup by the window already (I'd been photographing redpolls earlier) but the bird flew off before i manadged to get anothing on it, only the 2nd Stock dove thats ever been in the garden!

I was happy that our finch flcok had started building up for the late winter (our finches usually come into the garden in late january-Early February), and with the 20c Goldfinch, 4 Greenfinch and 10 Chaffinch were a flock of 6 Lesser Redpoll's (although one was quite 'Grey'-The first photo- Idea's? Note Lesser redpoll also on feeder for comparison), The Redpoll's shown On/off in the early morning, but by the time some good light was shining onto the feeders the Redpoll's had done a dissapearing act!

MB

Last few weeks of the year!

19/02/11
Sheepwash
A single Drake Goosander was on the Main pool with 30+ Pochard and 11 Teal, 30+ lesser Redpoll were in the birches around the lake and an unknown amount of Siskin were heard!

Sheepwash 23/12
A female SHOVELER was on the marshy pools adjacent to the river before switching to the main lake, we failed to get any photo's or videos of this personal site first.
A flock of 9 Goosander was also on the main pool, with 20 Pochard and 11 Teal, 20 Redpoll were still in the Birches around the Pool



Blackstone (Patch) 27/12
my dads car had broken down, so we had to walk to his home from my nans in Bewdley, we decided to walk there via the patch, At Blackstone, a Drake and duck MANDARIN DUCK was on the river, which was very high and fast flowing, the first time ive seen a drake in a long time, and i didnt have my scope with me :(
Also showing well at blackstone was 2 Jay, which i would've had some amazing footage of, if i had taken my scope, but i didnt fancy it on a 10 mile round jorney!
40c Redpoll were at various locations between Blackstone and Lickhill!

Chelmarsh Res 28/12
Checked the Gull roost, Only 2 Yellow legged gulls came in, as well as a few GBBG and Herring Gull, the other 4000 Gulls consisted of LBBG and BHG, 19 Goosander were on the main lake as was a Wigeon, on the Marsh were 3 Teal.
Somehow we missed the Red-throated Diver!

Upton Warren 29/12
West hide at the Moors, spent most of the time watching the feeders.
10c Reed Bunting
1 Bullfinch
1 GS woodpecker
17 Curlew in A38 Field
1 Pochard and 50 Teal on the Pool

Patch Birding

8/12/11
Patch Birding can be immensly annoying.
Why i hear you ask?
Lack of Birds?
Missed a rare bird?

No!
Generaly people is what annoys me!
With my patch being on the Riverside footpath, i get lots of walkers, most of which are respectful to the nature surrounding them!
However, you sometimes have one of those days where all those agrovating c**ts all come out at once, and that day just happened to be today!

Every single decent bird i saw was flushed over and over by a multitude of people!

A flock of 30c Redpoll at the Wigeon lake was continually flushed over a period of a hour while i was trying to wait untill they dropped down into the weeds infront of me, they started dropping down only to be followed seconds later by a rampaging dog running through the middle of the flock! I'm not Anti-Dog or anything, but when out in these places is it not better to keep Dogs on leads? To protect Wildlife and for the generaly health of the dog, especially on a riverbank! There are many more better places to let your dog roam in Stourport, Ive witnessed what happens when a careless dog owner lets their dog jump into the river, and let me assure you its a harrowing sight watching a dog drown! And sadly, the dog was never seen again!

Regular readers will know i have a particular problem with ignorant Dog walkers on my patch and im not just like this for the sake of a wintering Finch flock!

People who keep their dogs on leads, well done you! I salute you for your generosity!

Anyway, this is a bird blog!

A large increse in Finch numbers, with influxes of Redpoll, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch and to a lesser extent Greenfinch!

A walk between Lickhill and Blackstone revealed 3 flocks of Redpoll sp numbering 100 birds in total! which smashes my overall record count! however this may include a degree of duplication, so therefore my record of 68 still stands as a single flock record count!

Unusually, a REDWING was showing well in a Hawthorn!

A female Kestrel was also showing well, eating its prey!

A Pied Wagtail was showing on a short cut grass field adjoining the river, one day there will be a Wheatear here!

A brutish looking Herring Gull was showing on the riverside fields harrasing BHG's

MB

Today i went fishing

28/10/11
Many of you will not know, that i am both a birder and a fisherman, despite having fishing taking a back seat for some time.
Me and my dad got out today to a place called wellfield Pools in shropshire, this has always been one of my favorite places to go fishing!

Well thats all good i hear you say? But what does it have to do with a birding blog?

Well, as well as being very good for fish, it is also very good for farmland birds!

Over the coarse of the day i watched Vismig of many species, and the day total of Skylark must be 100+, with them constantly 'rippling over' and i do mean constantly, 50+ redpoll sp were also flying about, but consisted more of a feeding flock than migrating birds.
A single BRAMBLING (my first of the autumn) flew over, but at 3:47 the highlight of the day flew over, i Heard the distinctive 'chipping' of CROSSBILLS and i imidiatly looked up and around in circles, where were they, i cant count a heard only bird!!
But i was releaved when 2 large 'green' female finches with crossed bills flew over my head, only my 3rd crossbill's of the year!
5+ Raven were flying around,a nd Nuthatch, Goldcrest, Coal tit, Redwing, fieldfare and Chaffinch were in the surrounding conifers, In the plowed field that is overlooked from where the car was parked, there was a Convoy of 20 Red legged Partridge

And i also caught quite a few fish :)
MB

Sheepwash MEGA (Almost)

17/10/11

A cloudy Rainy day at sheepwash with The Gornal Birder was unprommising, however the spells of clear skys followed by rain had potential to 'drop' something, but other than a flock of around 40 Redpoll which brielfy touched down (there was also another 10 already feeding in the bushes with goldfinch).

I picked out a flock of 6 TEAL near the sand martin bank and later 3 more birds joined (4 m, 5 f) and i was able to video them

A GREEN WOODPECKER was showing on the river bank, allowing good views.

But while we turned around corner a PARAKEET flushed from in front of us!

It lead us a merry chase for a long time, giving only flight views and one brief, distant and badly lit views. I thought i had a ring necked parakeet!

However after a long time, the bird finally gave up and perched upon a bush and ate berrys, that Bill looks abit big, and should ring necked have purple in the wing, mmm, I think i may need to review my videos, so then when at home i quickly got certain it wasnt a hoped for ring necked, so what was it?

The good old google search came out, 'Green Parakeet', non of those were my birds. 'green parakeet with purple in wing'

Alexanderine Parakeet!

Thats the one!

It all seemed so clear in hindsight!
Oh well, its only a Parrot ;P

Certainly brightened up the day though

MB

Garden Summary 2/04- 9/04

2/04/11


The pair of BRAMBLINGS remained, but the April Barrier hit, and there was a huge drop in Finch Numbers in both the wood and the Garden, Only 10c Siskin remained in the Garden, 5 Goldfinch and a single Lesser Redpoll.
3/04/11



A flock of 6 BRAMBLING were in a tree adjacent to the garden, a new record count, add to this the 8+ that was still in the birchwood and that makes 14+ over the site still.
A single Lesser Redpoll was still visiting the garden, and Siskin numbers had jumped to 20c again.
A gorgeous Chiffchaff sang and showed well in the garden.



9/04/11
Despite having douts over whether the bramblings would still be here i was proved wrong when a superb flock of 6 Birds were all together on the seed below the feeder and on the patio, a gorgeous sight, including some stunning looking males.
A flock of 15 Goldfinch remained although all our siskin had gone.











MB

Garden News again

12/03/11
13/03/11

Our regular Garden Birds were still attendence.
The 2 Brambling ( Ringed and non-Ringed Females) were still visiting On-Off throughout
5 Lesser Redpoll remained Over both days,as did the flock of 50c Siskin, But i only manadged decent Photos of this male bird..

(Male Lesser Redpoll)

(Our regular male Chaffinch 'Bigfoot', Note the fungus(?) growth on its right leg where it gets its nickname)

I also manadged to get some Video of the Bramblings and Redpoll's in the Garden.

(Lesser Redpoll)

(Non-Ringed Brambling)

(Ringed Brambling)

MB

Garden...

22/02/11

With the BRAMBLING in the wood i tried to get up early, but as usual, schools holidays and all, i was not in the mood, but at 10 Am ( quite early) i got a shout from my dad going 'BRAMBLING!!!', i was drifting in and out of consiousness but heard the cry from heaven, and on with my jeans, run to the window.

Garden tick in the bag..

A female BRAMBLING was pottering about below the feeders with the Siskin and Chaffinch.

I quickly grabbed the scope, placed it in the sink with the tripod on the lowest setting ( you can only view our feeders from the window at the sink). and aimed at the Bird.

A quick rushed video of the Brambling.

it was while filming the bird that i noticed on the moniter that the bird had a ring on its right leg, which i found quite interesting, of cause i couldnt read the ring, but it is a good visual clue to see hows many birds you see.

It was only when the bird flushed to the tree, i looked at the actual feeders, and there was a LESSER REDPOLL female feeding there, after a bit it was joined by another, then another, after a good 2 hours of frenzied feeding activity on the feeders, all the birds flew off into the birch wood at around 12 to feed 'natrually'.

i then had a look at the 150 of so photos i had taken of the birds, admitidly concentrated mostly on the Redpoll flock. but here is a selection....

and now videos...

The female BRAMBLING did drop down once more before the flock flew to the woodland, and as i was on garden watch, here is the video..

And all that in the garden in 2 hours, what a morning, and then it was onto the patch......

MB

Lickhill birch wood.

21/02/11
A male BRAMBLING was still in the wood during a quick stop off but remained quite elusive,as was a Bullfinch, the flock of 60c Siskin was still moving between the birch wood and the garden with varying numbers at both sites throughout the morning, and a stunning AD male LESSER REDPOLL.

MB

Patch on fire!!!!!

20/02/11
with the school holidays i had decided to cram in as much birding as possible so on sunday i was out on the patch doing a walk to the gadwall lake, and back via the 2 woods
On the way down to the gadwall lake it was extremly quiet although a large flock of SISKIN in the lickhill birch wood took a bit of looking through, but when i didnt pick up anything different i left but would come back after to check it out...
The large flock of Reed Bunting was still showing well at the Gadwall lake with 11+ Birds noted as they all sat on a hawthorn a few metres from me.........
stunning birds.....
But with the rest of the patch being quiet i decided to head back to the Siskin flock and what a good desision that was....
ON walking towards the flcok o could imidiatly hear Redpoll 'chi-chi-chi' ing away at the tops of the trees, and i was amazed to see 20 Odd Redpoll feeding above me......
I started scanning and immidatly picked out 2 MEALY REDPOLL, very outstanding white birds, and looking stunning at the tops of the trees, As you would expect i stayed in the area for some time and after seeing lots of finches i heard a CROSSBILL!!!!!!!
It flew over in a basic South-north direction but as i was in a small clearing i only had the bird in my bins for about 7 seconds while it flew over but it never tried to land, However a patch first, spurred on i continued scanning the flocks of birds, A Ravern flew over, as did a Peregrine, 3 Treecreeper were feeding in the wood, and after getting my fill on the bird i decided to leave but as i reached the bottom floor of the wood ( the wood is on a slope) i saw 3 birds perched in a popular type tree at the edge of the wood, i couldnt pick out any detail on them through my bins so out came the scope again and having locked onto the birds, my jaw dropped!!!!

BRAMBLINGS!!!

Patch MEGA!!
2 male birds and a female,
having got a really crap video of the birds, i phoned my dad and he came down to take a look, but in the time he got there they dissapeared, but after 15 mins, 2 of the birds popped up in the same tree and i took some footage a little bit better than the last one, and just to prove there was bramblings that day here is the video...

Highlights:

3 BRAMBLING

1 CROSSBILL

2 MEALY REDPOLL

20c Lesser Redpoll

60c Siskin

20c goldfinch

10c chaffinch

11+ Reed bunt

MB

Wyre....

1/1/11
Wyre Forest

after paying only 2 visit to the forest last year, and missing out on every!!!! decent summer bird, i have planned to visit a few times over the year to 'mop' up those missed species.

and what a way to start the year (and the decade non the less) with a nice few hours standing in the middle of the forest at a clearing looking for a certain bird.

we parked in at the dry mill lane car park where we met the photographer Bob Heart, we walked up the railway line with him picking out MARSH TIT and GOLCREST for the masses of common birds, BULLFINCH, TREECREEPER and NUTHATCH were noted before we reached where we had all come to walk, we viewed the feeders but there was little more of interest than what had already been seen, although a REED BUNTING dropped on, i looked north towards the bridge and i knew i had the birds i was looking for straight away.

2 HAWFINCH (lifer 213)

these birds very quickly dropped down into the trees and we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and eventually, 4 birds popped up, then dropped down and after another 15 mins the flock again popped up and a 5th bird had dropped in.

5 HAWFINCH, they remained skittish, mobile and elusive throughout the 3 1/2 hours we waited, only getting about 10 mins viewing time in all of that.

The light was terrible, the birds were quite far off most of the time, and they never really remained in one spot for to long, althought the birds in the video below were there for about 2 mins.

3 LESSER REPOLL dropped in trees briefly and a RAVERN cronked over.

MB

Back to the patch!

16/02/10
couldent resist
redpoll lake was calling........
gadwall looked so settled.........


lets GO..............

the day played out quite well. a visit to scan the regular chaffinch flock that frequents a hedgerow at the vismig field produced dividends.
REED BUNTING X2 (m+f)
a pair of reed buntings fed alongside the chaffinch and a lone male bullfinch, though a search for a brambling failed(more on this flock later, and my plans)
2 STOCK DOVE continue to hold teratory at an undisclosed area of lickhill........
a RAVERN flew over,
then i was at the redpoll lake and it was still there.......







the gadwall continued to show superbly, and now, with my tripod, i was able to take a sturdier film.......



a spent 20 mins watching the GADWALL and scanning the birches untill 7 LESSER REDPOLL flew in, landing for c1 min, than flew off north(ish)

MB

and my plans for the edge of the vismig field, i am trying to get permission to 'bait' the edge of the field, perticularly in harsh conditions, to attract more finches/ buntings onto the site, and to help them survive the winter, the area is frequented by, goldfinch, greenfinch, stock dove, chaffinch, song and mistle thrush, as well as fieldfare and redwing.
scarce birds have in the past included- brambling- yellowhammer- tree sparrow and corn bunting
but this is still just an idea and needs to be confirmed, lets hope........

sheepwash

the visit dawned to be rainy, but it held off for the entire visit.......

on the main lake we saw 2 goosander(1drk) but quickly left as i could hear a flock of goldfinches along the path, i quickly reallised that a huge chunk of the 80c finches was made up off LESSER REDPOLL(40c). we quickly pinned the flock down on the riverbank near the small reed pools by the tunnel to the mound... i eventually got quite close to some of them.

(in the last pic note the very red finch in the top left corner, any ideas, methinks odd lesserpoll, thats how it looked in the field??????)

after a check of the chemical pool(nothing) we headed back onto the main lake where we noted 11 pochard and 14 tufted duck, and a certain unmentionable thing(yes its a duck)..........

the goosander total was now on 4 and there was still only 1 drake

MB

PATCH BONANZA

31/01/10
god can you believe it, a month gone already..........

had planned to do most of the patch today(map coming soon)

at the riverside fields a singing stock dove, my first this year and very nice to have an inclin to come in a few weeks time, the return of spring.


a bit further up the path, a buzzard was perched on the hedgeline(as always):

now the day gets interesting, there was tons of activity at the feeding stations at the caravan park south of blackstone, so i stopped and scanned, and after a bit a call sneezed out 'pee-chooo'

MARSH TIT x3

yes you read right folks, 3 marsh tit, presumable the wintering bird that has dissapeared, the 2nd bird on the day of the discovery of the wintering bird and a 3rd from the woodland on the opposite side of the river

then a splashing sound got me spinning on my heels to see a adult little grebe scuttle across 2 areas of willow, yes there lingering.........(video of last weeks bird)

at this point 3 female goosander flew downriver.

a nuthatch also visited the feeders

then the temperatures dropped, well below freezing i would say, and it started snowing, i took a look at the buzzard through the scope and i couldent help but feel sorry for it, a quick stop off at home to warm up and have a quick drink and i was back on the patch but this time heading southwards hopeing for some gulls on the basins. NOT ONE BLOODY GULL

not even a f*****g BHG

but dissapointment turned into amazement........

I FOUND MECCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a medium sized pool, surrounded by 'pythags', ahhhhhhhhh, somewhere good, on my patch, and the highlights was a flock of these:

A flock of no less than 52 LESSER REDPOLLS in birch and willow/scrub on the south shore of the pool, i ended up spending 1 1/2 hours here scanning through the flock and trying to ID a raptor, which despite being around for a good 3 mins was distant, the 1st idea was goshawk, with the long neck and thickset wings showed well on the bird, i even passed the news out as goshawk, but around 40 mins after the sighting, i saw the bird again, closer this time, but it revealed something shocking, it wasent a goshawk, it wasent even a british falcon, it was an escapee or hydrid, dont you just hate escapies(yep dont know how to spell this either)

i the redpoll flock was 40c goldfinch and 5 siskin, a pair of bullfinch was also noted while here ......

back on lickhill a pair of stock dove were in the vismig field

ohhh, patch birding can be great

MB

patch!!!!!

24/1/10
i was keen on getting onto the patch today, with a new scope and on a high after the previous night's suprise..........
a kingfisher was on the aptly named kingfisher pool again( female this time, not as confiding), the stunning colours showed well in the scope.
then over to the northernmost field of lickhill, a pair of kestrel regularly hunt this field so i was hopeing to get them perched in their favorite tree, even from the other side of the field i picked out the male kestrel, and i slowly got closer, but a pair of mute swans were grazing the riverside fields, (juvs flying in pic)



i edged past them and eventually got close to the kestrel, i could see the yellow eye ring(something that usally i couldent see with my old scope), after some time watching the ketrel i went upriver
a pair of buzzards were showing well on posts but i didnt take many photos.



but the highlight was this:
where the female goosander was last week, the water had subsided but i quickly noticed a small, fluff ball with the moorhens on the river bank,
LITTLE GREBE
bloody hell, path first MEGA, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
i waited for the grebe to resurface and got a film of it with a fish(not totally in focus but still getting to grips with the scope)
(sorry once again blogger not letting me upload video)
BUT, that wasent all, after about 5 mins the bird floated out into the river and was joined by ANOTHER LITTLE GREBE. this bird (adult winter) came from under a load of overhanging willows, both birds joined up and swam under the willows and wernt seen again,
at the north end of the small lake a REED BUNTING was found, but no sign of the flock(remember this is still only the 3rd record)
back at moorhall a pair of green woodpeckers were showing well..

in the garden a female lesser redpoll was on the feeders for c5 mins before dissapearing, also siskin(m) and 15c goldfinch


but at dusk i decided to got for an owl watch and where better to go than the vismig point overlooking goose field, but it wasent the owl's, for the first time ever, i witnessed a duck roost at moorhall marsh, i can see the trees in the marsh from the site, and witnessed 326 mallard fly into roost and this also included 3 TEAL. this is a phenominon, i have never witnessed here so would be taking a huge intrest in it in the next few weeks........
a tawney owl was heard
MB
( videos uploading again now)

feeders

29/12/09
a bit of late afternoon activity on the feeders around 3:30pm
a adult male LESSER REDPOLL briefly perched on the seed feeder took a few seeds then dissapeared for the night
the wintering MARSH TIT visited the trees around he garden before it too dissapeared, also a nuthatch in the same tree as the marsh tit, and 5 goldcrest, a flock of 20c LTT's briefly visited my peanut feeder and then also flew away(presumably to roost), the LTT's have visited the feeder every day since
MB