Boat Inn (Minworth) Canalside walk.

Today was time for another walk down a stretch of one of Birmingham's many canals, it never ceases to amaze how many birders/twitchers or nature lovers don't have a walk down a canal because especially if it's like today it goes into the open countryside and is adjacent to farmers fields with plenty of trees and bushes. Today's walk from the Boat Canal in Minworth up to Curdworth and back to the car again.

Highlight of the day today had to be seeing and hearing the wonderful Skylark, it's always great to see them singing on the wing and it was also especially pleasing to see them feeding young in the farmers fields, hopefully they'll avoid the tractor etc, I only normally see one or two at a time but they numbered in double figures today.

Another highlight was seeing a male Reed Bunting singing on top of a telephone wire that ran adjacent to the farmers field.

Obviously also great to see was all the fledglings out and about foraging for food, I saw Blue Tits, Great Tits, Chaffinches and Goldfinches foraging about for food in the trees and Song Thrush, House Sparrow and Robins foraging on the ground.

Another fine sight to see was a couple of Common Tern flying up and down the canal looking for insects, always nice to see Terns away from the usual inland habitats like lakes and reservoirs etc.

Birds seen today were Buzzard, Skylark, Reed Bunting, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Wren, Robin, Starling, House Martin, Swallow, Common Tern, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Canada Goose as well as the following juveniles, Duckling (23), Canada Goose (20), Moorhen (1), House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Song Thrush, Robin and Starling