Newhall Valley Country Park, Sutton Coldfield.

Nice trip over to Sutton Coldfield to visit the expansive Newhall Valley Country Park which has many varied natural habitats for the all the wildlife that inhabit this great area.

Highlights of the day were seeing my first Goslings of the year, a singing Male Blackcap, the sighting of a Whitethroat along the Plants Brook, a pair of Green Woodpecker foraging for ants amongst the grass and seeing a pair of Grey Wagtail going in and out of an outbuilding an the Newhall Mill  feeding young, I actually spoke to the owner who told me they were definitely feeding young. It was nice to see wildflowers emerging on which I saw an Orange Tip butterfly which didn't want it's picture taking, I tried for a while but I had to give up in the end when I lost sight of it. As always at this time of the year it;s great to see the birds either nest building, sitting on nests, feeding young or even better seeing the young.

Birds seen today were Kestrel, Whitethroat, Blackcap (male), Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch (including a flock of c.200), Chiifchaff, Willow Warbler (including a pair feeding young), House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Starling, Grey Wagtail, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Mallard, Canada Goose, plus the following young, Gosling (6) and one Canada Goose on the nest.

Sutton Park.

Nice trip out to a balmy Sutton Park where the sun threatened to come out but never quite made it.

Highlight of the day was not a sighting but that of hearing a Cuckoo, which is something I hear very infrequently these days which is a real shame, hopefully if the countryside is managed in the future with birds and wildlife in mind these and other birds like Turtle Dove, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting etc. may increase in numbers and become commonplace again. Also nice to see were my first Swallow of the year and seeing a pair of Great Tit breeding.

Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Chiffchaff, Wren, Robin, Starling, Swallow, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.

In the garden in the last couple of days I've had at least three Juvenile Robin visiting all day looking for mealworms I put out for them, there could be more than three but I've only spotted three at one time and with the apple tree now in full leaf it's hard to see whats in there. There is also a lot of Carrion Crows fighting in my area lately, I don't know if it's really unusual behaviour but they really go for each other and you can even hear them screeching above the television. I was also down by the Ambulance Hub in Erdington yesterday when I saw a Whitethoat in the brambles which run along the canal which is there, which was a nice surprise.

Meriden Park and Colebank Nature Reserve, Solihull.

A trip out to Meriden Park and Colebank Nature Reserve in Solihull was the order of the day with the sun out and lovely blue skies.

Highlight of the day was hearing a singing male Blackcap which is always the highlight of many a days birding. It was also nice to see the waterfowl on the nest and all the songbirds busy collecting nesting material and building their nests. It's also a pleasure to visit 'green areas' and see all the plants and flowers coming into their own, it will be even better when wildflowers start growing being as they're my favourite flowers. I also saw plenty of butterflies today, mainly Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell but unfortunately couldn't photograph any without spooking them. Seeing a Green Woodpecker is always a pleasure even like today when it's very brief.

Birds seen today were Buzzard (two circling above the trees by the River Cole in the Colebank Nature Reserve), Blackcap (male), Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Greenfinch, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Robin, Starling, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Grey Wagtail, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Domestic/Greylag hybrid Goose, Canada Goose as well  as the following nesting birds, Mute Swan (1), Coot (1) and Domestic/Greylag hybrid Goose (1), I dare say there were more nesting birds on the big island but it's always hard to see on the island when the trees and plants come back into bloom.

Shustoke Resservoir.

Nice trip out to Warwickshire to visit Shustoke Reservoir where it was very overcast but still reasonably warm and there was the usual mixed selection of birds which is not surprising being as the reservoir is surrounded by farmers fields and good mixture of countryside habitats.

There were a few highlights of the day, first off it was great to see a pair of Skykark and of course hear their wonderful singing, secondly it was great to see my first Sand and House Martin of the year especially as they numbered in the hundreds, thirdly was nice to hear all the male Blackcap and Dunnocks singing.

Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chiffchaff, Blackcap (male), House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Starling, Sand Martin, House Martin, Skylark, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Collared Dove, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Pheasant (cock), Pied Wagtail, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Coot, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.

I also forgot to mention in my last post that the Friday before I was at the N.E.C. in Birmingham so I visited Pendigo Lake that is front of the arena while I was having some dinner, when the birds I spotted were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Dunnock, Starling, Song Thrush, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Canada Goose. Also seen was a pair of Coot nest buliding plus best of all was seeing my first Ducklings and there just happened to be fourteen of them, haven't seen that many in one family for a long time.

I've also noticed that the House Sparrow's in my garden have been furiously collecting nest material lately even fighting over stray feathers in the gutter, roll on seeing House Sparrow fledglings in the garden again.

Babbs Mill Nature Reserve, Solihull.

Nice walk around a sunny Babbs Mill, Yorks Wood a section of the River Cole today where it was nice to hear the constant song of Chiffchaff, Robin and Song Thrush.

Birds seen were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, 
Cormorant, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Domestic Goose, Canada Goose as well as the following nesting birds, Great Crested Grebe (1), Coot (1) and possibly a Mute Swan on the island, I say possibly because it was hard to see a bird on the nest but there was a Male Mute Swan chasing any bird away from a certain spot on the island.

Pype Hayes Park.

Nice trip out to a colder than of late Pype Hayes Park where the fog/pollution was evident the whole of my visit but that didn't spoil proceedings.

Highlights of the day was firstly seeing my first singing Blackcap of the year, a great looking male at the top of a small tree, secondly seeing a Great Crested Grebe and Canada Goose on the nest, hopefully the Grebes have better luck than last year where they nested in exactly the same place and didn't manage to raise any young, mainly to Grey Heron picking off the young the first chance they got.

The leucistic Carrion Crow in the forth picture is part of a small flock that are always feeding amongst the grass at the same spot every time I visit. The Stock Doves were feeding around the pool which is also where I always see them unless they are roosting in the nearby Pype Hayes Hall.

Birds seen were Blackcap (male), Blue Tit, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chiffchaff, Robin, Dunnock, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Collared Dove, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Muscovy Duck, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Canada Goose and the following nesting waterfowl, Great Crested Grebe (1) and Canada Goose (1).