Ward End Park.

I spent barely thirty minutes at Ward End Park today thanks to the rain, so unfortunately there's not many bird spots to report even though it was nice to hear some Great Spotted Woodpecker chicks in one of the old trees around the park, I'd already heard the chicks but after seeing an adult Great Spotted Woodpecker fly out of the hole where the noise was coming from it was all the confirmation I needed. Birds spotted were, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldfinch, Robin, Blackbird, Collard Dove, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Moorhen, Canada Goose, Coot, Mallard, Pekin Duck and the following juveniles, Gosling (1) and Coot (1). It doesn't seem to be a vintage year for breeding the water fowl this year, even though I know it's early days, I'm only seeing most adults with only one chick at the moment, which seems a real shame, one thing I put it down to is the high amount of Gulls wherever I go, but if it is that I don't condone culling them so I don't know what the answer is ? Another depressing thing to see was one of the resident Muscovy Ducks lying dead on one the three islands and the other usual resident, ominously nowhere to be seen, it was hard to see how it met it's demise but with the other one missing it does seem strange how one is dead and one is missing presumed dead. The only other spots from today was seeing a pair of Greenfinch in the Fort Retail car park and seeing a Sparrowhawk nearly take a Magpie in the car journey away from the Fort. All being well I should be visiting Edgbaston reservoir again next week, another visit was on the cards again but even more so now the water levels have risen again and it's also nice to see the Reservoir being granted Local Nature Reserve status.