Nice trip to Plantsbrook before the rain arrived, I say nice, that is apart from the slow but steady destruction of this location since the Ranger was removed beacuse of the cuts a couple of years ago, there was also plenty of Angling paraphernalia and their litter found around all the pools today, I dread to think what these careless bastards leave in the water, because if they leave the packaging behind I doubt they pick up the fishing line and lures etc, they are a disgrace to the art of Angling.
Anyway back to our feathered friends, they day began well with a virgin sighting for this year, a rather resplendent looking Meadow Pipit, the trees in the same location (by where there was seed on the floor, which I also added too) held a pair of Bullfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit and flocks of c.20 Reed Bunting and c.30 Chaffinch. Also seen around one of the pools was a pair of Goldcrest in amongst a mixed Tit flock.
Birds seen were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Goldcrest, Reed Bunting, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot and Mallard.
Here's my results for the 2013 Big Garden Birdwatch.
House Sparrow 23.
Fieldfare 1.
Blue Tit 4.
Great Tit 2.
Robin 2.
Dunnock 1.
Blackbird 3.
Collared Dove 1.
Magpie 1.
Woodpigeon 2.
Feral Pigeon 4.
Talking of lists here's all the birds I've seen so far in 2013.
1) House Sparrow.
2) Dunnock.
3) Blackbird.
4) Collared Dove.
5) Wren.
6) Robin.
7) Carrion Crow.
8) Magpie.
9) Woodpigeon.
10) Feral Pigeon.
11) Starling.
12) Common Gull.
13) Song Thrush.
14) Redwing.
15) Fieldfare.
16) Blue Tit.
17) Great Tit.
18) Coal Tit.
19) Long Tailed Tit.
20) Goldcrest.
21) Siskin.
22) Lesser Redpoll.
23) Pied Wagtail.
24) Grey Wagtail.
25) Chaffinch.
26) Goldfinch.
27) Greenfinch.
28) Black Headed Gull.
29) Nuthatch.
30) Treecreeper.
31) Jackdaw.
32) Kingfisher.
33) Mallard.
34) Moorhen.
35) Coot.
36) Tufted Duck.
37) Pekin Duck.
38) Grey Heron.
39) Mute Swan.
40) Canada Goose.
41) Greylag Goose.
42) Cormorant.
43) Great Crested Grebe.
44) Little Grebe.
45) Goosander.
46) Pochard.
47) Teal.
48) Wigeon.
49) Gadwall.
50) Kestrel.
51) Buzzard.
52) Bullfinch.
53) Pheasant.
54) Reed Bunting.
55) Great Spotted Woodpecker.
56) Jay.
57) Great Northern Diver.
58) Domestic Goose.
59) Shelduck.
60) Reed Bunting.
61) Shoveler.
62) Ruddy Duck.
63) Green Woodpecker.
64) Lesser Black Backed Gull.
65) Herring Gull.
Today was probably my last trip out in the picture postcard scenery, which was to Babbs Mill and it did look great especially with the rising sun thawing out the sun which has also had a dramatic effect on the adjacent River Cole which was flowing at a ferocious rate. I had a walk around the lake, around Yorks Wood, a quick look around nearby Shard End Lake, a walk along a decent stretch of the River Cole and finally back to the lake.
Highlight of the day was seeing my first ever Treecreeper in Yorks Wood climbing steadily up a small tree, the tree before this one had a Great Spotted Woodpecker foraging for grubs. Also seen where two small flocks of Chaffinch. There was only a handful of Mallard on both lakes because most had relocated to the afforemantioned fast flowing River Cole which must have three times as much water flowing down it, this is also where the three Grey Heron seen today were. I did see the odd Cormorant but they were only flying overhead. It was also nice to see that the various House Sparrow flocks have survived the snow as have the eleven Domestic Geese who always seem to lose numbers due to predation but thankfully not this time.
Birds seen were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Starling, Treecreeper, Song Thrush, Fieldfare, Redwing, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Goosander, Gadwall, Wigeon, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Domestic Goose and Canada Goose.
Sixty minute early morning trip to an icy Ward End Park whilst passing through the area to see how the wildlife are fairing.
Thankfully there was a large area of the lake nearest to the road which was unfrozen and held around 100 Canada Goose as well as the usual Moorhen, Coot, Mallard and a single Greylag Goose and a male Goosander. There was a very small area the other end of the pool which was unfrozen and that held 2 Grey Heron, an adult and one of this years juveniles. It was also nice to see and hear of flock of .c50 Goldfinch and a pair of Nuthatch. I also heard a large amount of noisy House Sparrow but couldn't actually see them as they were the other side of the train tracks.
Birds seen today were Blue, Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Wren, Robin, Starling, Nuthatch, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Collared Dove, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Grey Heron, Goosander, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Greylag Goose and Canada Goose.
In the back garden the Pied Wagtail is still resident, also since Tuesday I've got a pair of Fieldfare and Redwing resident on the grass tucking into the apples and pears left out for the Thrushes and stripping the bushes of berries, other birds seen since Tuesday include a pair of Goldfinch finding on insects in the long pine cones hanging in the apple tree and I've had Starling and Song Thrush feeding on the grass which I've cleared of snow every single morning when it's snowed.
Birds seen in the back garden since it snowed are Goldcrest, Pied Wagtail, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Fieldfare, Redwing Song Thrush, Starling, Collared Dove, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon.
I did plan to go to Witton Lakes and Brookvale Park to check on the waterfowl today but a friend told me they were completely frozen over so I decided to stay a bit closer to home and go and have another walk around the winter wonderland that is Lady Bradford's in Castle Bromwich.
There was a few more birds present than Saturday, including the noisy resident Nuthatch close to Castle Bromwich Gardens, who had found a large tasty grub while I was observing it, there was also a few noisy Song Thrush about, talking of noisy, there were plenty of noisy House Sparrow on my walk today. There was also a flock of c.20 Redwing and c.10 Canada Goose fly overhead.
Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Robin, House Sparrow, Starling, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redwing, Song Thrush, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon and Canada Goose.
I always get at least one Pied Wagtail who is a resident in the back garden when the snow is on the floor, probably because I always clear the paths and grass of snow for the birds and make sure the four bird baths are ice free and always topped up with fresh, clean water. Here's this years Pied Wagtail, or is it the same one who comes every year, if he's not standing on the bird bath he's having a little forage around the grass or under the bushes, he's also had at least a couple of baths today. Other birds seen in the garden today are, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon. I also had a flock of Long Tailed Tits passing through yesterday.
Nice trip over to a snowy Castle Bromwich today, places always look so much better in the snow and when the litter is covered up.
Unfortunately I didn't see many birds on my visit, I presume with the increased bird activity in the garden yesterday and today that lots of birds have done just that at these natural habitats and decided that there's richer pickings in our gardens.
It was still nice to see my first Green Woodpecker at this location, I was told about two years ago that one nests in the nearby graveyard and it wasn't easy to miss amongst the snow. Talking of the graveyard, I saw a Fox on the scavenge at approximately 9:30 a.m. no doubt finding food hard to come by in the snow, rest assured I left plenty of bird seed, last years windfall apples and chips in various locations to help out the wildlife.
Birds seen were Green Woodpecker,Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wren, Robin, Starling, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Woodpigeon.
The last photograph is the back garden after all my hard efforts at clearing away the snow to help out the birds and giving me more floor space to put down plenty of food for them to go with the feeders, suet blocks, mealworms, peanuts etc. and giving the Blackbirds and Robins some grass to forage on.
Don't forget next weekend it's that time to record all the birds you see in one hour, all the details are here and here.
Nice trip out to cold, frosty and overcast Kingsbury Water Park, this trip was planned for Saturday but what with the predicted apocalyptic snow on it's way before the weekend, I thought today might be more preferable.
Spot of the day was seeing a Green Woodpecker looking absolutely amazing amongst the frosty backdrop, it truly was a pleasure to see this magnificent bird trying to forage on the frozen ground. As is always it was nice to see some Goldcrest and Siskin, wonderful little birds, both of them. Waterfowl wise it was nice to see plenty of Goosander who were all on the adjacent river not on the lakes though, on the lakes it was great to see Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon and Greylag Geese.
Birds see today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Goldcrest, Siskin, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Starling, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redwing, Collared Dove, Blackbirds, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose and an unidentified Wader who flew up from the riverbank but what with the terrible lighting and the quickness of how it flew up all I could see was that it was some kind of wader.
Nice trip to a chilly Pype Hayes Park where there was plenty of bird activity.
Best sights of the day was seeing a flock of c.50 Siskin going from tree to tree along the Plants Brook and a mixed flock of Goldfinch and Chaffinch in an alder tree, where again there was around 50 birds. Also nice to see was Nuthatch at five different locations. It was also nice to see plenty of small songbird activity especially Tits, Finches and Robins. It was slightly disappointing to see no Song Thrush, Redwing or Fieldfare though, because with temperature being somewhere around freezing I thought they'd be a shoo-in for sightings today but there you go.
Birds seen were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Siskin, Nuthatch, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Starling, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Grey Wagtail, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Moorhen, Coot and Canada Goose.
