god its about time

yessssssssssssssssss,the holidays here, most birding will be local around the dudley area.gonna get to sheepwash on monday and then going to fens pool and if ive got time i might visit barrow hill as its got pottential with a record of red backed shrike and wryneck.also keeping very local i might have a mooch around wrens nest.mr rouzel come on down.the old quarry looks good for them and its high up so mabey but i might be pusshing it.oh yeah remember the y b warbler last year even the most optomistic of birders wouldent of dreamed about that so maby.the rest of th time will be going with it and deciding where to go when i want to.this means i might even end up at upton warren some time.now birding:
29/03/09
lickhill manor
the mealy poll saga continues around the lickhill area of stourport.and finally someone else has got one, yesssssss.i didnt really get the urge to go and see this bird as ive already found 3 this year but i did have a quick look around the streets of burlish to hopefully find it.no sign.oh well.surely this is the same birds moving around.this bird being an adult male could mean that it was the same bird involved with my record on 14/03 when a pair visited my garden.
the local patch was quite quiet on the caravan site with more campers than last week.apart from the stuff on the feeders all the action was at the lake by blackstone.up there there were 2 grey wagtails(both winter adults)and 2 kingfishers.although 3 were reported to me be a hicker.the k-fishers gave close views.and as always theres a but.they were always 3/4 hidden behind a willow tree.
highlights here were:
2 kingfisher
2 grey wags
1 chiffchaff
1 green woodie(flyover)
3 buzzards
the skylarks were singing in the fields again but allas no raven or smartin over this time.also a jay flashed by quickly.no real other highlights but a redwing on the entrance road was noteworthy.
on the feeders on 28/03 we had:
1 goldcrest
2 blackbird
2 goldfinch
30+ siskin(very sudden influx)
2 coal tits building nest in conifer
1 blue tit
1 robin.
not much different on 29th but the siskin numbers had dropped considerably to a few more than 10 birds.although to great exitement nest building was observed in a pine tree.if this developes into a full breading attempt it will be the first for the site.also quite a bit of courting and mating activity,so there could be more pairs that decide to stay.there is a lot of suitable habitat.so watch this space.
3 goldcrests are noteworthy giving close prolonged views which allowed me to find out that one male goldcrest had 2 females(lucky begger)
highlights in and around the garden were:
stuff mentioned above
2 goldfinch
2 blue tits
3 coal tits
1 robin
2 b-birds
1 dunnock
but the ay didnt end there on the way back at wall heath we had a swallow(year tick) over the a449 in between the kingfisher resturant and the petral garage.

UPTON WARREN

28/03/09
same as usual i went to do the gardening job. at around 3 it started lashing it down and we were alowed to go home.but as usual i had other plans.
UPTON WARREN HERE WE COME.1st birds i noted was 13 cormorants flying south over the moors while on the a38.a quick check of the north moors produced nothing.as we looked west we saw a very dark cloud heading towards us so decided to skip the walk around the north moors and go straight for the east hide.getting onto the causway we saw a small warbler flitting up the heagerow on the left.my first call was cettis but after a bit eventually emerged and pronounced itself as a chiffchaff.now that was sorted we noted 2 more chiffchaff on the path.at the farm buildings we stopped to find a flock of 11 lesserpolls.a gunshot later and they all flown.
now the black cloud was above us and it was starting to spit.now i decided to just get to the hide ASAP.we both just got into the hide when it started pouring down.great timing i think.
the first bird i noticed was a female gadwall right on the edge of the lake.then a shout from my dad telling me to look down. there right below the hide were 9 snipe,not 3 meters from us. after marveling at their subtle beauty and cammoflage i scanned the rest of the amys marsh area.this produced a male gadwall and another female.there was a few teal.then a green woodie appeared in between the snipe and gave me a chance(for the first time) to get a very good view of it.it turned out to be a male and i got a video through my bins(to close for scope):

i must admit though the rest of the lake was rather quiet as was the amount of birders on site.a quick look in the log book said a dunlin was here earlier but it wasent seen.after a bit a pair of oystercatchers appeared from the direction of the sailing pool.after a bit more torture with the sun reflecting into the hide we decided to leave highlights were:

1 little grebe

6+ g c grebe

3 gadwall

10+ shoveler

11+teal

20c tufted ducks

2 OYC

13 snipe

1 green woodie

2 cettis warbler

3 chiffchaff

1 goldcrest

didnt go to the west hide today.

then to the flashes.walking down the south shore of the sailing pool we met another birder who said hed just seen a swallow on the lake.but looked away and it dissapeared.in the fields there was a lot of campers and made a joke about them camping there so they can be the first to find another least sandpiper or wilsons phalarope.stopped at the feeder hide as there was still a bit of activity and as we walked by flushed 2 snipe from the streams near the feeders.here we got:

4 reed bunting

3 greenfinch

2 l t tit

another chiffchaff

3 phesant

a few teal

and a brief cettis from here i saw the gulls fly up and got onto 6 avocet among them.then a grey heron flushed from about 5 meters right of the hide.

from the tower hide i first scanned for the avocets and was very happy to count 8. 3 resting at back of flash 4 swimming near the wooden sticks that pop out the flash and another in the water near the gravel cresant island.and on this cresant island was 2 LRPS.a bit closer this time.and i common with the moors 6 snipe gave brill views right in front of the hide.

soz 4 the quality of this video

on the other mud cresant island we saw 2 redshanks(year tick). the shelduck had moved down here and gave ok views.the curlews reached a maximum of 19 just as we started to leave.then low over the hide the 2 OYCS from the moors came down to see us off.

and i was a little amazed to see only 2 lapwings that i could see on the flashes.where have they all gone?

highlights for the flashes are:

8 g c grebes (sailing pool)

1 greylag 0ver

3 shelduck

teal

2 OYC

8 avocets

2 LRP

2 redshank

19 curlew

7 snipe

1 chiffchaff

1 cettis

1 goldcrest

and the things mentioned for the feeder hide.

not a bad day i think.and its not even into full migration yet.

so wheres that least sandpiper?

MB

stop press.mega found

15/03/09
lickhill manor. god it takes forever for somehing good to turn up here.but recently its come alive producing 2 records of mealypoll,a lesser spotted woodpecker,a marsh tit,a showy lesserpoll and a couple of goosander.all are rare at lickhill but theyve all turned up so far this year.why.....is it me being more vigilant and take time to sift through the flocks of 'commons' to eventually find something good.but today was a downer untill i got to moorhall meadow where after checking moorhall marsh i crossed here to be ammused by 3 green woodies chasing after each other.this is what it looks like if anybody cares

then one of the woodies landed by a small bush.i slowly stalked the tree hoping to get a good view of the woodie.then the 'yaffel' bird flushed but in its panik put a small bird into the tree which too was below the tree.i casually raised my bins,expecting to see a dunnock or something like that.

jese

i was amazed to see a medow pipit(year tick) staring at me..wow.now this is a scarce bird at lickhill with usually only a few records a year.the bird just stood there.as there was nothing else doing i decided to stay and watch it. it gave stunning views in the tree at the start of the film(you proberbly guessed that cause thats where my scopes facing).

but while watching this i got a by twitch in the form of a kestrel that attacked the mipit(unsucsesfully)and came close and 3 flyover buzzards in a line.then the mipit flew to the hawthorn(on the video again) and i decided to leave.nothing else to mention from around lickhill that day.then i went back.got a headache.went to bed,woke up,and spent the rest of the day puiking....great....

same place a week later.

22/03/09

after a very dissapointing saturday because the gardening job ran over and i spent 4 hours raking the lawn getting the moss out..this ment i missed out on my planned visit to upton warren to admire the ringed plover there.anoyed by this i vowed if i didnt get anything the next day i would hand in my bins(joke that'll never happen)and claim this the worst weekend ever. the day started as usual watching the feeders.only 16 siskins and 3 goldfinch today.a lot down from last week.then around the local patch.and first up the sand martin colony.after getting splatted by a sprinkler.i was relieved by a very low buzzard that passed over my head at 10ft.then while watching this the unmistakable sound of the....yes it is..a sand martin(year tick) . i love these birds as they wheel there way through the air.and reminding me how hard they are to keep a lock on.they also confused me to how many there were.while watching one flying in front of me,i then lost it and another appeared behind me.was it the same one,i dont know.so i decided to put the news out as at least 1.then to the fields further upriver to hear the skylarks singing.but what i came across was totaly different.behind me a large dark bird was circling.another buzzard...no it was not..a ravern(year tick) souring around.thats a good bird.i watched it for a few minuites as it wheeled around above my head,then promptly dissapeared towards devils spitful. there was a lot of campers on the site so i decided to head back home.at the feeders the siskins were on so i decided to wait by the car till they flew off as i didnty want to scare them 4 nothing.so i took the op to scan the trees.siskin,siskin,siskin.then a few goldcrest appeared and entertained me with my previous favorite species.then out of nowhere a 'chiff chiff chiff chaff' song allerted me to the presance of a chiffchaff.then i had him in my scopes(year tick).he flew around the birches,conifers and silver birches for a bit then dissapeared.

then to stanklyn lane(dont worry not long to go now).got another chiffchaff in the trees.then we just turned into heath lane and a small falcon crossed the path of the car.'merlin' we both shouted.i jumped out the car to see the rear end of a female merlin dive into the roadside bushes.my dad glimpsed it before it hit the tree and dissapeared.but it was enough to id another year tick. after about 10 mins and no other sighting we decided to check the model airstrip.but there were people flying model aeroplanes there so decided to just scan the trees and were rewarded with 2 corn duntings(year tick).a nice mixture of winter and summer today.and has turned a truily terrible weekend into a good one.

MB

spring is on the way

everyone knows it.spring is here.this is the time for the unexpected.where winter visitors meet summer.
14/03/09
the weekend started for me early saturday mourning.after a very uncomfortable sleep no the sofa after watching comic relief and falling asleap.got a rude awakening at 6:30 in the morning by the twittering of a flock of siskins.after an hour of watching the feeders.i gave up and started playing on the ps2.at about 8 my dad got up. and told me what was on the feeders.all commons.
32 siskin
1 dunnock
2 blackbird
1 robin
3 goldfinch
1 blue tit
1 chaffinch
1 coal tit
then at around 9:30 i got a shout from dad saying the lesserpolls were back.as i was in the middle of a race onNFS PROSTREET i just paused the game and ran to look.again he told me they were on the floor.but when i got a look alarm bells were ringing.2 MEALY POLLS in the garden they fed on birch seeds from the tree and always kept there distance from the siskins they were with.they were so close i found it hard to lock onto them with my bins.the second they took to the tree i grabbed last months BIRDWATCH mag(issue 201) as i remembered it had an article of haw to id mealys with confidence.i skim read it and found all details to be in order so i txt the news out.i also txt it to birdguides but forgot that the txting service was bost and so i presume my record wasent put on the website.to anyone who gets this mag turn to page 33 and look at the image in the top right.this pic shows the birds we had in the garden.just add more white on the face.they were about the same size as the siskins if slightly smaller.remember this is only the 3rd site record and the first time a record has involved more than 1 bird.the closeness to the record in jan sudgests that the same bird is involved.just that another bird has joined it.my dad said that these are the birds that have been visiting the feeders since last tuesday.this is a lifer for my dad and a 2nd record this year for me.then over to earlswood for a gardening jod ive got over there.got onto at least 12 buzzards along the motorway and the fields surrounding norton lane.not much else apart from a fieldfare flock on the opposite field where i counted at least 60 of these birds.on the way back on the m42 near j2 i had 4 houase martins fly over(year tick).this is the earliest ive ever seen one and the first year ive seen one before sand martin.then to the almighty upton warren.
only the flashes though as i had a massive urge to tick avocet and LRP.as we was pushing time and didnt have long before dusk we went straight to the tower hide but checked the sailing pool for the sand martin that had been reported.no sign but the g c grebes gave great views in summer plumage at around 4 metres.now onto the flashes.right ok.this is going to be a harder job than i thought.there were tons af black heads-and a lot of them had there brown hoods.i scanned the back of the flash and found an avocet(year tick).then behind it a small movement.a closer inspection turned it out to be the LRP(year tick) giving the worst views ive ever seen.then my dad got in the hide.i told him where the avocet and the LRP was and he exclaimed hed got 2 avocets.then all 3 joined together and gave good views.sorry for the video quality,taken in bad light at full zoom.

then a birder came in.i think i saw him at the waxie twitch.he asked whats about and we told him.then at that point 4 oystercatchers came in and landed calling

this video shows all 4 and a few other birds after

the stonechat that was reported wasent seen.then everything got spooked and the avocets moved closer

the highlights were:

little grebe

3 greylag geese

1 shelduck(3rd flash)

1 shoveler

10-20 teal

1 perigrine

4 oystercatcher

3 avocet

1 LRP

70c lapwing

12+ curlew

2 snipe

2 l b b gulls (on ground)

1 little owl

1 cettis warbler

100-200 starlings(pre roost)

the mystery bird

now the waxies have gone i need to find something else to do,so here it is.try to id the bird just from this fether.it was handed to me today by an amazed andy saying he had a parot in his garden.it might be oober plastic but it certainly livens things up.i have my suspisions to what it might be.but im going to let you guess

if the video isnt that good.the top of the feather shows a blue sheen bordered black with a yellow base.the underpart is bright yelow edged black.

good luck

MB