Pype Hayes Park and Plantsbrook Nature Reserve.

A quick trip to Pype Hayes to see how the cygnets and goslings are getting on and they are all fine. Birds seen at Pype Hayes were Goldfinch, Dunnock, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Cygnet (5) Gosling (15) Duckling (2) and two juvenile Magpie. The highlights of the day was seeing a Kingfisher dive for a fish at Plantsbrook and seeing that the Great Crested Grebe have had two young. Birds seen at PBNR were Kingfisher, Blackcap, Swift, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Grey Heron, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe chick (2), Coot chick (19) and Gosling (2) As usual it's always nice to see some Funghi, especially outside of Autumn.

Lady Bradford's, Castle Bromwich.

A trip to Castle Bromwich today, birds spotted were Song Thrush, Wren, Robin, Swift, Starling and House Sparrow. Juvenile birds seen were Robin and Woodpigeon. Also saw the fisherman's friend, a Cormorant, flying over as well as plenty of blackbirds hopping about.

British Speedway Grand Prix, Millenium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales.

No actual birding as such today being as I went to Cardiff's Millenium Stadium to watch the British Speedway Grand Prix, so this a post with a difference. We left on the coach from Coventry Speedway stadium at 8:00am (after getting up at 5:00am) and the birds I saw in Coventry were Pied Wagtail, House Martin and Swallow. Along the motorway birds spotted were Buzzard and Kestrel, it was also Corvid city, with Carrion Crows, Rooks, Magpies etc aplenty. We arrived at Cardiff at 11:30 am were we walked around Bute Park opposite the stadium and a walk along a section of the River Taff were birds spotted were Swallow, House Martin, Swift, Chaffinch, Great Tit chick, House Sparrow and Starling as well as plenty of Gullage, i.e. Lesser Black Backed and Greater Black Backed, no Herring Gulls though. There was a few Mallards on the River Taff but strangely enough no Canada Geese. Bute Park is apparently home to Cuckoo's but unfortunately I didn't see any, without my binoculars, plenty of leaf cover for the birds, the park being in the centre of Cardiff and the limited time span, I was lucky to see  what I did. After yet another great British Grand Prix we arrived back at Coventry at midnight and arrived back in Birmingham at 1:00 am. Like I said not my greatest ever post on birding, but I still like to keep my eyes open wherever I go for our feathered friends !

Babbs Mill Nature Reserve.

A trip to Kingshurst today to Babbs Mill Nature Reserve, the lake, River Cole and the Yorks Wood. Highlight of the day was seeing not one but two lots of four Willow Warbler fledglings being fed insects by their very busy parents, the first four were in the bushes on the bank of the lake and the other four were in the Yorks Wood. Birds seen were Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Wren, Dunnock, Willow Warbler, Song Thrush, House Sparrow, House Martin, Swift, Greylag Goose, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Grey Heron and the following chicks/juveniles Willow Warbler (8) Great Crested Grebe (3) Cygnet (3) Coot (3) Duckling (11) Grey Heron (2) Great Tit (1) Jay (1) and Farmyard Goose (1). I hope the Farmyard Geese have more chicks than the single one there is at the moment because their numbers were hit hard during the last hard winter due to predation and starvation, you couldn't go over there at winter without at least seeing one new Goose carcass, but there are still at least fourteen adults, so who knows. If you've read my previous uploads these are the Geese that were dumped at the lake a few years back, so it would be nice to see these lovable Geese doing well. At least one pair of Grey Herons have bred at this sight this year, at any one time you could see at least four adults and two juveniles, which is good because it means the lake is stocked with plenty of fish.

Sheldon Country Park and Old Rectory Farm.

 

Another trip to Sheldon today to the park, farm and the flightpath. Not brilliant today on the bird spotting front, birds seen were Great Spotted Woodpecker, House Sparrow, Starling, Dunnock, Robin, House Martin and Swift, it was also great to see a flock of approx. 30 juvenile Starlings treating us to a mini aerobatic display. Animals seen on the farm were the same as my previous upload. As the last time there was plenty of House Sparrows and Carrion Crows all around the park right up to the flightpath. On a personal note I've had a couple of juvenile Woodpigeon in the back garden over the last couple of days.

Plantsbrook Nature Reserve.

A trip today to Plantsbrook via Pype Hayes fishing pool to check out the little ones, there were five Cygnets, fifteen Gosling and five Ducklings, the two in the picture can only be one or two days old. Birds spotted at Plantsbrook were Blackcap, Dunnock (chick) Chiffchaff, Robin, Grey Heron, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Tufted Duck and the following young - Gosling (2) Moorhen (1) Duckling (8) Coot (18) as well as the aforementioned Dunnock chick. The Great Crested Grebe is still on the nest, so they should be hatched by the time of my next visit. It was also good to see some Trametes Versicolor - Turkey Tails funghi while I was saving a Bumblebee from certain death, the poor little thing was swimming upside down on top of the lake, so I fished him out, put him on a log, he dried out after a few minutes and flew off.

Lady Bradford's, Castle Bromwich.

A trip over Castle  Bromwich  today. Today's highlight was seeing a couple of Song Thrush chicks. Birds spotted today were  Song Thrush,  Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Robin, Blue Tit , Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit,  Swift and Song Thrush, Blue Tit and Great Tit chicks.  Also saw plenty of Grey Squirells and also saw a couple of Cows, the Fort Dunlop cows that is anyway.  Lady Bradford's  is probably the best place to see the cows just as long as your armed with your binoculars. The roof of Fort Dunlop is the biggest U.K. garden roof and apparently one of the largest in Europe (150 metres long) where the cows 'feed' on sedum, the sedum has also encouraged Black Redstarts and Peregrine Falcons to feed and breed there. While I was out, it was also great to see plenty of new Teasels growing, which I'm sure the various finches will enjoy.

Shustoke Reservoir.

Another trip to the always excellent Shustoke Reservoir today with the highlights of the day were seeing a pair of Lapwing walking along the waterline and seeing a Reed Bunting having a good old sing song. Birds spotted were Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Song Thrush, Reed Bunting, Whitethroat, Sand Martin, House Martin, Swallow, Swift, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Robin, Pied Wagtail, Buzzard, Lapwing, Common Tern, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Cygnet (7) Gosling (5) and Duckling (9). Also seen today were juvenile Robin, Blackbird, Chaffinch and Great Tit. Animals seen today were Rabbit, Sheep, Cow and Horse. I also had the first juvenile Blackbird of the year in the back garden yesterday.

Sheldon Country Park and Old Rectory Farm.

A trip today to visit Sheldon Country Park and Old Rectory Farm which is free and also provides free parking, then a walk up to the flightpath of Birmingham International Airport then back to the farm and a walk around the local church and grounds. Birds spotted today were Greenfinch, Marsh Warbler, Wren, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Collared Dove, House Martin and Swift. I don't think I've seen so many House Sparrows in one day than I did today, it was literally hundreds, there was plenty on the farm including some nests in the cow shed and they were everywhere on the walk to the flightpath and back, there was also about fifty Carrion Crows on the large open grassland. Animals seen on the farm were Jersey Cows, Sheep, Goats, Horses, Pigs, Ducks, Chickens and Geese. There was also some people from the RSPB fundraising on the farm who forced me to buy ten badges from them, consisting of Kingfisher, Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Blackbird and Starling, not bad at £1 each and it went to a good cause.