Around and about

10/02/14
One of my surprises this winter has been the regular occurrence of a flock of Goosanders on the pool behind my Dudley house. It varies from a few to numbers in the low teens daily, but they have been present almost every day, which is a huge surprise considering i have never seen anything other than Mallards and Grey Wagtail on there previously!

Today, there were 9 present.

13/02/14
A total of 5 Goosander flew past me towards the Reservoir as i walked across Mons Hill, but upon reaching the reservoir they hadn't landed, so presumably had been flushed off by the fisherman on the edges.

15/02/14
As some of you may be aware, here in Worcestershire we have had some decent flooding, in fact the worst for quite a few years, and this meant i was unable to get out on patch for a few weeks as it was underwater, so at the earliest opportunity, with the river dropping, i headed over to check out the flooding, which was fairly extensive.

Sadly, there were few birds about around the limited areas i could visit. However a TEAL was calling from within the Woodland (which should in fact mean 'flooded' woodland) where the Finch flock usually feed but this was surrounded by water and inaccessible. 

Good numbers of Pied Wagtail were around the receding floodwater though, with around 30 seen, with a singe 1st winter Grey Wagtail intermixed. A 1st winter Cormorant showing characteristics of the 'Siniesis' race was present on one of the floods. The gular pouch looked about the right angle, but it was just a little to far off to be certain.

MB

Mediterranean at the Warren

29/06/13
Sitting in the West hide, a very faded looking 1st summer MEDITERRANEAN GULL flew in and landed upon one of the islands. Wanting to get some photos, we then headed towards the East hide, where, despite the oncoming sun, we should be closer to the bird.
After some wait, the Med emerged from behind a tussok, but the back lighting was dredful.

 

As i said, a very tatty bird, as you would expect a Med to look in late June, with very worn tertials, secondarys and Primarys. In flight this led to a very bleached pattern where the black markings on the upperwing were faded.

Also here was a Gadwall with 7 chicks, 3 Teal a Pochard,6 Common Terns and a Cetti's Warbler calling.

Moving down onto the Flashes, one of the LRP broods had hatched, and a single chick was running around accomponied with its parent.

Also great to see was the return of Green Sandpiper to the flashes, with 2 being present in the many channels around the pools

MB

The patch does it again!

5/04/13

Yes folks, patch birding again! My spare time in the holiday meaning i have lots of spare time to thrash the patch, and i again pulled out some decent birds!

The pair of Mandarin were still showing in their usual spot, and i also found 2 drake Goosanders on the river. A drake TEAL could be heard calling near Blackstone but could not be located. Away from the river however, it was passerines that really stole the show! While walking around the wigeon lake, i saw a white rump flush from the hawthorn beside me, flying a few meters and landed upon another hawthorn. A female BRAMBLING! Over the next few minutes i kept adding more birds to the tally, until i came to the conclusion of at least 6 birds, and an even split of 3 of each sex.

I managed a photo of a male bird.

Keen to move on, i did the Blackstone 'round' circuit, picking up a pair of Treecreeper, before moving back south, and taking a diversion across an area i had never ventured to before on patch, and i was so glad i did! A huge area of paddocks and hawthorn hedges, patch migrant heaven!

Now i hear you ask, how have you been birding a patch for around 11 years and not found this area?

Well two reasons, to get there, i have to walk through a private holiday home site, and that put me off greatly, and secondly, i never thought the habitat was as extensive as it is, therefore i never even  bothered! But now i know whats there, and trust me, the area is going to be thrashed this year!

Another Brambling flew south while i was walking the paddocks, and a stream of around 20 Meadow Pipit moved over, with equal numbers of 'Alba' Wagtails. I found a pair of Lapwing, but my highlight goes to a stunning 200+ Winter thrush/ Starling flock showing in one of the fields.

A few of the 100c Fieldfare were showing well.

100c Starling were also present here, but only 20c Redwing!

MB

PATCH MEGA!

4/04/13

That got your attention didn't it, but i'm afraid your going to be very disappointed!

I had only been on patch for about 5 minutes before I reached the river, and scanned downriver, and was amazed to see a pair a TEAL! I got my scope out and onto them (they were fairly far downstream), and in doing this I found myself looking at 4 TEAL, and then 6 TEAL!

6 TEAL ON PATCH!

Now I hear some of your sighing in disbelief! Teal, Pah! Common as muck, you get them everywhere. And yes, you would be true in thinking that, but in a patch context, Teal is a stunningly rare, and also stunningly beautiful duck! I've only had 4 previous records on patch, including the flyover drake back in January, so it is a very sought after patch bird for me!

I spent some time watching them, and I was able to get some decent views! A pair were showing closer  among the overhanging willows!

While watching the TEAL, a pair of MANDARIN DUCK sailed into view, my first patch birds of the year, and i was also treated to great views of these as they sailed upriver.

Further upriver, i picked up a WILLOW WARBLER, my first of the year. It was actually quite sad to be watching it feeding off the waters surface of the river as there was too little food for it elsewhere, i couldn't help but think it wouldn't last too much longer if it hung around (which luckily, it didn't!)

2 Lesser Redpoll and 15c Siskin were showing on the garden feeders.

Heading back out onto patch in the evening, i visited the vismig point, where i soon picked up 5 of the 6 Teal flying south at 6:40pm. In the 20 Minuites i stood there, i also had around 20c 'Alba' Wagtail sp fly north.

MB

Local surprises

7/02/13
I headed to Sheepwash Urban park following my lesson, and it turned out to be a fairly productive visit.
Upon my first view of the lake i quickly counted a small flock of 7 Goosander on the far side. It was while scanning the Pochard and Tufted Ducks that i heard a loud 'Wheooooo' call from my right. The superb evocative sound of a calling male WIGEON!

The bird was resting on the rocks for some time (cue digi-binned picture), before swimming off into the middle, calling almost incessantly, probably trying to say 'How the f**k did i end up here?!'.

I have only ever seen one previous Wigeon at Sheepwash, so i was well chuffed to see it!

The Pochard flock was at a low 24 birds, and similarly, Tufted Duck only counted 8! I was also glad to see that the 2 TEAL dabbling on the muddy shoreline.

Moving away from Pumphouse pool, i found a flock of 30c Chaffinch adjacent to the 'mound' along the Canel.

For any locals interested, the 'mound' atm is looking amazing for any passage Chats or Wheatears due to its open barron-ness, if your in the area, have a look!

MB

Duck movements

23/01/13

Late January often see's the start to abit of duck movement around the region, and combined with some icy weather, you often get some surprises in odd locations.
The icy conditions had increased duck numbers at Sheepwash Urban Park, highlighted by a awesome flock of 16 Shoveler! This is by far the most i have ever seen here, having only previously seen a maximum of 2! Two thirds of the flock were feeding close to the bank, giving excellent views as the 'swirled' with a flock of Mallard

2 Teal were feeding on the bank below us before moving over to the muddy 'spit', however, these are a wintering pair, and not part of a cold weather influx.

40c Pochard were roosting on the edges of the 'Dunlin' Island. A check of both the Chemical Pool and the Mound were uneventfull, as was the marshy pools. However, on crossing the Tame bridge, i looked down and staring right back at me was a COMMON SNIPE stood motionless in the mud on the edge of the river. With the bird being no more than 20ft from where i was standing, i was treated to some awesome views.

A nice little winter visit. A nice flock of Shoveler, Pochard, as well as Teal and a Snipe equal a decent visit to the park!

MB

Patch mega!

19/01/13
I relish 'poor' weather for patch birding! I look intently for very cold, and therefore very frozen conditions, hopefully combined with large amounts of snowfall, and that is when the patch needs to be blitzed daily!
Just in the last few years, cold winters have led to some amazing patch birds, Smew, Whooper Swan, Dipper, Goldeneye etc, so this is defiantly the time to be out there birding the river due to it being one of the last places to freeze over.
As winter approaches  i am practically begging for some seriously bad weather, as it leads to perfect weather for some serious patch watching!

Today, i was out and about early, mostly counting vismig due to cold weather movements. Quickly a flock of 50c Lapwing flew over, and constant streams of Fieldfare were going south, with around 150 going over in less than an hour. 2 Marsh Tit had joined one of the Tit flocks along the riverbank and were showing fairly well in the willows.
Moving onto the Lickhill estates with the intention to check out the Cotoniaster tree for a flock of punk Scandinavian visitors. It was clear that had failed once i reached the road, with only 3 Blackbird being present in a berry laden tree. It was while slogging my way back out of the very frozen and snowy road though that i picked up a fast flying duck fairly high up. Its typical wader like flight already had me identifying it before i had my bins on it. But once i had, i was treated to great views of a stunning drake TEAL!
Yes, i have seen many thousands of Teal over the years, but the patch is almost devoid of records of them, with only 3 previous records (all of small flocks), so it always makes a good bird to catch up with, and it is weather like this that certainly provides opportunity for more records!

Back in the garden the feeders were sadly slow, with only a single male Siskin, a single male Lesser Redpoll, a small flock of 20c Goldfinch and 5 Chaffinch.
MB

The Big Boost

4/01/13
A dawn check of the patch revealed that the drake Goosander was still roosting on the floods, which was a nice surprise, as my dad had failed to see it over the last week.
Moving southwards towards our eventual destination, we stopped off at Stourport Marina, looking for the Grey Seal that had been seen there, however we drew a blank. In compensation, a nice Finch flock of 40c Siskin and 5c Lesser Redpoll were showing in the riverside birches. Again, onwards, and my next report is from the River Avon at Bredon, where the river had flooded its banks, and in the flooded field viewable from the motorway, i saw a LITTLE EGRET perched in the water!
And again, onward! To our final destination, Slimbridge.

Upon getting to the Center  it was straight to the Tack Piece, as in winter it is by far my favorite area at Slimbridge. You can sit in one of the hides (Robbie Garnett being my preference) and simply scan through the masses for hours, my hope though was to catch up with the Spotted Redshank which was present, as it was a bird i missed last year. Upon reaching the small bridge over the pond at the start to the Holden Walkway, i saw a wintering CHIFFCHAFF! I dont see many wintering Chiffies, so it was nice to see one so early on in the year!
The very decent sized Wigeon flock (of over 1300 birds) was grazing  at multiple locations over the flooded field. However it was the wader flocks that had the majority of my attention. However, a stunning Little Egret grabbed my attention. Always a great bird to see, and one that i am glad to say is regular over southern Britain, soon to be followed by a wide range of other heron species from the continent surely?

Waders were very well represented, most notable were the Lapwings (2000c), Golden Plover (1000+) and Dunlin (700c). This alone counts as amazing birding for a midlander like me, but combined with smaller flocks of other species 60c Redshank and 50 Black-tailed Godwit, and at least 5 Ruff all combine for some excellent birding. 

After a while scanning, i picked up a 'pale' Redshank feeding near the Golden Plover flock, and when getting my scope on the bird, i had confirmed that i did indeed have the SPOTTED REDSHANK, Mission done, time to leave.....

Not really

I got down to trying to get some long distance pictures as the bird waded in shallow water around the Lapwings. Subtly distinctive in winter plumage, Spotshank is always a nice bird to catch up with. I did end up getting one decent photo from the lot, and a little bit of footage

To compare, one of its Common cousins was showing fairly close to the hide!

Having had our fill, we decided to move on, getting into the Holden Tower for high tide....

And it wasnt worth it in the slightest, a count of 120c Curlew, and about 1000 Wigeon were on the estuary  which almost the entire wader flock was flushed off the Tack piece and landed on the far edge of the Dumbles, feeding in the long grass. Both of these sites also had huge numbers of Pintail, with around 500 plastered over both areas! Similarly, Bewick Swans and White-fronted Geese were also in both areas.

Me moved down the the Rushy Pen, where we first spotted a 2w Common Gull. Note the almost entirely black primarys and the bill pattern.

 The stars of the show here though were the Pintail's, of which a few were showing exceptionally close to the hide! Sadly, they spent most of their time asleep  however, when they woke up. Wow! Look at these stunning ducks!

The drakes in particular are stunning!

Wow, nothing more to say!

We briefly stopped at the South Lake, where a large flock of Black-tailed Godwit was present!

Following this, it was onwards to the Zeiss hide for our annual dip on the Bittern. 3 Hours and there was no sign. However, a nice adult Water Rail was nice compensation, which shown regularly at the edge of the reeds, and very close.

It made a change to see one with the sun on it!

As always, i also took some footage.




A small number of the 173 White-fronted Geese were feeding on the seawall, with the estuary as a background.

As always, large numbers of Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler and Pintail were also on the flash here. And this activity meant we were treated t a great fly through of a brute of a female Peregrine!

With the day drawing to a close, we briefly stopped near the rowing area to drink our tea. And this proved a good decision, as a Cetti's Warbler was flitting about the reeds!
MB

Some short ones.

17/11/12
An early morning visit to the patch was very quiet, and the only bird of note was a single female Goosander whcih flew north upriver.
Following this i headed down to the Birders Store, and picked up my new pair of bins. And following this we then popped to Grimley, and the first bird i locked onto with the new bins was a Little Egret- Not a bad way to start my 'Bin list'. A small flock of 20c Meadow Pipits were flying around. Ducks were represented by 10c Shovler, 10c Pochard and more Tufted's.
Later in the Evening, we dropped into Earlswood Lakes, where 2 Shoveler, a Grey Wagtail and 2 Goldcrest were the highlights.
18/11/12
The next day, i went for a walk out in Wirehill Woods, Redditch with 'The Girlfriend', and proberbly produced the bird of the weekend when a CROSSBILL flew east over the wood 'glipping' as it went.

19/11/12
The day following that, me and the 'Gornal Birder' went to Sheepwash, and the highlight was by far the building up of the regular Goosander flock, of which there were 16 Today, 3 of which were drakes, 5 Teal (2m) were also on show, as were 11 Pochard. A adult Great Black Backed Gull landed in the centre of the pool for some time.

24/11/12
A visit to the patch early morning revealed a build up of a Chaffinch flock, of which there was 30+ feeding in a small area of flooded woodland, giving me hope that it may attract a Brambling onto the patch at some point! 5 Lesser Redpoll were feeding on a birch tree, with an additional one (a male) on my garden feeders.
At 10pm, we were driving past a flooded field on the patch, and we could see a flock of ducks in the headlights, and i was quite suprised to see a drake Mandarin feeding with them!

24/11/12
A late evening visit to Upton Warren Moors Pool in dire conditions was rewarded with a calling female Brambling, which we watched along the west track, before moving off around the north moors. While watching the Brambling, we had the Cetti's Warbler in subsong near the gate. On the water, 12 Shoveler and 3 Pochard were swimming.
MB

Upton warren- MEDITERRANEAN TAKEOVER!

29/06/12
28th had come with the pritty shit news that a major storm had completly flooded Upton warren. Reports show that water levels at the Moors pool rose by 4 ft, and simliarly, the flashes was completly flooded out. And this proved devistating for its breeding birds, and other wildlife. 2 LRP nests were lost, and a very young chick was also drowned. All remaining nests were drowned out, in what was another shame for breeding.
3 years of extreme summers cant be great for breeding birds now, and its a shame, putting increased pressure on birds which are already struggling with habitat loss.

Anyway, morning broke on Friday 29th, and i recieved news that a birder had seen 5 adult Med Gulls at Upton. I already knew that was an upton record, but it got me wondering where they had come from? Obviously flooded out from nest sites, but where is there were there are 3 pairs of breeding Med Gull nearby?
I know of a couple of sites where they are breeding in small numbers, but would these numbers equel the amount that had been found. But anyway, i was busy, i had to practise for my ESB exam the next Monday!
Upon return home however and checking Birding Today, i was shocked to see that over the coarse of the day, birders had found more birds, and now there was a large flock hanging around (at this point about 7 or 9, or something)

As regular readers will know, or anybody that follows me on my Facebook page, or anyone who knows me in general, you would know i have abit of a 'thing' for Mediterranean Gull. A sexy gull to say the least. And one which i spend hours looking for in the Upton Roosts later in the year.
I sneakily brought up the birds to my dad, and amazingly, we headed straight there!
The birds had been reported from the flashes, so we first headed there. However, i was quite suprised, and saddened to find that there were no 'med's' there, whcih was a shame, because the BHG flock was very close to the hide, being pushed closer due to very high water levels.
It was quite shocking to see the damage after the floods around the flashes, and (as you would expect) many birds had completly deserted the site. The LRP nests which had been here were gone, and nesting cages were well underwater, and the birds had abandoned the site
One of the Avocet chicks had surcomed, with only 7 remaining.
Lapwing numbers, however, were up. the drake Teal from the previous weekend was still here.

Being pushed for time, we then headed to the Moors Pool, where our luck was better, and, looking from the West hide, i was soon watching a flock of MEDITERRANEAN GULL!
Initially, there was 4 adults on the shingle island, and they spent alot of time posturing to each other and calling. I tried some long range photo's. And i got these two of the Meds doing just that!

The birds gave great views all round, On the deck, In the water, and in the Air. I was reminded how distinctivly 'white' they are in flight aswell, and it was great to see such numbers at a site where usually you get one or two.
I only manadged one video before i filled the memory card.



A couple of the adult birds flew off to the north, presumably to feed in fields, But that was where the fun began. So the total now stands at 4 birds.

As time went past, more birds piled in and out, and we kept picked up new Med Gulls. A 2nd summer revealved itself, and soon, we were watching 3 different 2nd summers at the same time, two standing right next to each other, the other sitting in shallow water.  7 now.

The other birder in the hide clocked a 1st winter in Amys Marsh and i found a second 1st winter that had just stood up on the island, This making a total of 9 birds!

How Many Med Gulls in this photo? Answers on a postcard (Or a comment :P) (P.s. This isnt very hard)

One of the 1st winter birds had very distinctive black mask, while the other bird had a very faded mask, the second of which was very advanced, with basicly 2nd year plumage, However, its 1st year wing pattern gave it away.

Two adults and a 1st winter. The very distinctivly dark bird. bird

The previous county record stood at 4 birds together at once, so this record would have been well and truily smashed with this flock alone, however, watching throughout the day, and subsequent photo analysis has revealed that a minimum total for the day to be 11 birds. Who knows how many more there could have been?

This number also sets a new regional record, which again, was well and truily smashed!

Get in there Upton Warren!

I dont believe in carma or anything, but its a coincidence that such an influx could happen the day after such disasterous flooding. Such is the highs and lows with nature watching.

MB

Highlights, Patch Birding and Upton Warren

22/06/12
An evening walk on the patch revealed little, however, it was great to see that the female MANDARIN still had one chick in attencence, sadly having lost 3 chicks in the 20 days since i last saw her. The bird is incredibally elusive this year, and can be very hard to pin down.

23/06/12
Upton Warren revealed my first returning GREEN SANDPIPER'S and indeed my first of the year! A flock of 3 birds were feeding close to the hide throughout the evening. A poor passage at the start of the year and no winterers ment i hadent caught up with one, but it was nice to have these back again, hopefully for a few months yet.
Also 'new in' was a drake TEAL, a failed breeder or one thats left the partner to do all the work?
The Avocet had now well grown young, 10 adults and 7 young were around the flashes.

24/06/12
Again patch birding, a rare opporotunity of sun led me to venture south on the patch, walking to the 'gadwall' lake from Lickhill,  Butterflys had yet to emerge on Moorhall field and similarly, Moorhall Marsh was completly dead for dragonflies, only a few Banded aned Beautiful Demoiselles.

The Gadwall lake was completly dead, and very overgrown, a few Reed Warblers chattering away. While walking back north, on approaching the Baisins, 2 COMMON TERN circled above me for a good few minuites before flying off towards Wilden pool.
I had gotten into the habit of checking the baisins now, and today it had a reward, and on the riverside basin, the drake MANDARIN was moulting, and showing very welll, down to a few feet!

Continuing north, while again reaching Moorhall Marsh, i saw a raptor circling and drop behind a tree. Waiting for it to re-appear, fully expecting it to be a Kestrel, i was supprised when a stunning adult HOBBY re-emmerged. My 4th sighting this year of this normally rare patch falcon. I was allowed some great views in good sunlight, allowing me to savour such a wonderful falcon, One of my favorite summer visitors.

Sanderling- Upton Warren

16/06/12

I recieved news that a Sanderling has been seen on the flashes, and with the shocking weather outside, i was quite sure it would stick around the day.
By the time we were able to get onto site however, the bird had somehow dissapeared, and hadent been seen for about an hour. Anyhow, we still went down for a look, and its a good job we did!
Sanderling is one of those species that pass through the county in small numbers, most of the time only staying a day, so therefore, it is often a hit or miss species on a year to year basis within the midlands.

We sat down, but could see a small wader running the edges of the mud anywhere, and after about an hour, everyone in the hide was coming to the conclusion that the bird had flown.
2 drake TEAL were new in, and my first of the 'autumn'.

We were just about to leave and head to my girlfriends house when i had a last scan, and while scanning the end of the 'peninsular' in front of the hide, i was drawn to a movement just behind the now overgrown island. Immidiatly, i knew that this was what we were all waiting too see.
"There it is, the SANDERLING is here" was the shout, and a flurry of directions were given, and soon everyone was watching the bird.
 Soon after, the bird appeared fully from behind the vegitation, and immidiatly became extremly mobile around the flashes, moving from one island to another in quick succesion. Occasionally however, it settled long enought for us all to get a decent view, and with a brief glimmer of sunshine, i was able to take a picture that wasnt grey.

Looking remarkably Little stint like with its red neck, i wsa shocked, as earlier the bird had been described to me as 'quite pale', which i presumed ment it was in winter (type) plumage, or at least a pale colour, but when it emerged i saw a spring plumaged adult, a very nice looking bird!

(Sorry about the odd effect within the video's when panning, Youtube has changed the video somehow and messed it up, will be back to normal next post)

The bird mainly spent longer periods on the mud type islands, as could be expected from an esturine wader, and it was when on the mud that i was able to get some videos.


It was far more restless on shingle islands however, as shown here.



After some time watching the bird (a year tick), we decided to head off, already late for visiting the girlfriend.
MB

Return to Upton Warren

3/03/12
A large debadical had been seen at upton over the winter, for a few issues, so i stayed away, added to also by the fact that the Bitterns did not return!
However, after only a couple of visits over the winter, it was good to be back at the warren today to see some Upton specialities! and also to 'Twitch' the new hide!

Starting at the Moors, i saw a flock of Cormorants, and in that flock was a 'Sinensis' race bird, check out that 90' angle!

2 Oystercatcher were also here, but otherwhys it was quiet, so i walked through the education reserve to the flashes. Where i saw my target birds.

The AVOCET's have returned!

It was great to see and hear them again after such a long winter for many of the 'Uptonites'

A Lapwing was showing quite nicely also!

I stayed untill dark, and got to see th Avocets trying to roost. I say trying becacuse they were constantly harassed by BHG's.

However, i was also treated to some amazing views of a pair of Teal and a pair of Gadwall!

MB

Sheepwash has the Good's!

12/01/12

An after 6th form visit with the 'Gornal Birder' at first left us bemused! after seeing flock's of Pochard over the last visits, we were suprised to see that every single bird in the flcok had dissapeared, and there wasnt a single bird on site! and there was only 5 Tufted Duck! However, that was a nice flock of 7 GOOSANDER on the Pool (5 more flew over) (5 Drk, 7F), we walked around to the raised path, and i spotted a small flock of Teal sitting on the bank on the other side of the Pool, had a scope view of them so Andy could see, when he shouted a Wader has just popped out!

I looked though the scope and saw a COMMON SNIPE there! Our first ever at the park!, an expected patch first!

We continued around to the Chemical pool for the Gulls, and this turned out ot be a good idea!

I had a quick scan across the pipe and came across a large, Black backed gull!

i was watching a GREAT-BLACK BACKED GULL! and not only that, there was 5 of them perched on the pipe!
I took some time to get some video and photo's as this was the closest ive been to a GBBG since having my new camera.

With LBBG for comparision.

After my fill, and leaving without a 'white-winger' we headed throught the mound tunnel towards the Marshy pools where the Shoveler was last time!

Imagine my shock when as the pool opened out in front of us, i spotted a female duck again! The female SHOVELER was still here, and this time, she stopped on the pool for me to get a photo.

With the light going quite quickly, we decided to head back home.

All in all a nice visit!

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

Earlswood

7/12/11
After the Gardening job had finished, we had about 30 Mins to spare before dark, so we thought a visit to Earlswood lakes would be in order.

I looked onto Windmill Pool first, where i saw a Female GOOSANDER and 7 TEAL. There was 31+ Pied Wagtails on the Engine Pool Island and then i went back to check the increasing number of BHG on Windmill pool, i Quickly caught sight of a very small bird, sitting on its own, well away from the Flock.

LITTLE GULL!

A 1st Winter Bird.

We walked around to the other side of the pool while i phoned Matt from the Earlswood Blog, who, as luck would have it, was on site at the time.

I manadged to get to the bird and take a quick, dark, record video of the bird before it took flight with the Gull flock.

We watched it Circle the Pool for about a minuite before switching over to Engine pool, where Matt saw it, i just about managed to get back to the causeway before it flew off in a south (ish) direction, and was lost behind trees.

I do love Little Gulls :)

MB