Kingsbury Water Park.

Nice trip out to North Warwickshire today to visit Kingsbury Water Park which went from overcast and rainy to blue skies and sunshine within an hour.

Highlights were again seeing Shoveler plus my first sighting of Gadwall this Autumn with the females looking particularly resplendent. As it was also great to see plenty of Great Crested Grebe on the water, they must have had a good breeding year here. There were many flocks of Tits and Finches present especially flocks of Goldfinch and mixed Tit flocks.

The only bad news is that by creating flood defences along the River Tame they have completely ripped out the brambles and reeds where the Sedge Warblers amongst other birds nest when they are breeding, I know this is essential work but like I said they have completely decimated the path along the river, I just hope the Sedge Warblers find somewhere close to here to breed, it's just a shame because this site was ideal on all accounts.

Birds seen today were, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Starling, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Collared Dove, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Grey Wagtail, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Shoveler, Gadwall, Domestic Duck, Mallard, Greylag Goose and Canada Goose.

Shustoke Reservoir.

Nice early morning trip over to Warwickshire to have a visit to a very mild Shustoke Reservoir.

There were numerous highlights with the first being a sighting of a Hobby which was being mobbed by two Carrion Crow, which was probably just as well for the numerous songbirds which were in the trees and hedgerows were it was being mobbed. The second highlight was seeing my first Shoveler of the Autumn, they have always been one of my favourite water fowl so it was especially pleasing to see about twenty of them, also on the water were double numbers of Mute Swan which you don't see too often at this location. Last but not least was seeing not one but two sightings of Goldcrest, the first being about five minutes into the walk around the reservoir in amongst some trees with .c30 Long Tailed Tit, it was impossible to count the number of Goldcrest, it was also in the same location that I saw the Hobby, the second sighting was away from the reservoir in some trees on the edges of a farmers field, there were c.10 flying between the pine trees and hedgerow.

Birds seen today were, Hobby, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Goldcrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon (including a flock of .c50 flying overhead), Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.

River Cole, Hodge Hill.

I had another trip along a five mile stretch of the River Cole in the Hodge Hill area today.

Highlights were seeing a Kestrel being mobbed by c.30 Starling, a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by two Carrion Crow and seeing and hearing plenty of House Sparrow that always adorn this stretch of the River Cole, long may this location remain as one of their strongholds.

Birds seen today were Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Blue Tit, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Starling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Pied Wagtail and two Grey Heron flying overhead.

It was impossible to see what waterfowl were on the river what with the copious amounts of Himalayan Balsam still present but it's now thankfully dying back until next year.

Unfortunately there were hardly any apples or fruit on the trees and bushes, let's hope the winter isn't too harsh on our feathered friends.

Newhall Valley Country Park.

A trip over to Sutton Coldfield today to visit Newhall Valley Country Park where it was so warm and humid that the midges were out in force !

Highlight of the day was seeing an Urban Fox in the woodland trail at the nearby hotel and spa's grounds, it stopped and gave me a quick glance then it was off like a shot.

There wasn't a huge deal of birds about apart from in small pockets mainly in the wooded and hedgerow areas but it was still nice to see two Green Woodpeckers, plenty of Tits and Finches, a small colony of House Sparrow and plenty Woodpigeon juveniles.

Birds seen today were Buzzard, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Grenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron, Mallard and Moorhen.

As you can see the Sparrowhawk has made an unwelcome return to my garden and has already dispatched of one of 'my' lovely Starlings, it's probably had more than that though.

Lady Bradford's, Castle Bromwich.

Not a lot to say about today's visit unfortunately because it was raining when I got up, which stopped briefly so I decided to make the trip anyway but it started raining again, only getting heavier making birding impossible and also making it a very brief trip.

For the record birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wren, Robin, House Sparrow, Starling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Feral Pigeon, I also heard Goldcrest but didn't actually see them.

Pype Hayes Park.

Trip out to a Pype Hayes Park this morning which definitely had an Autumnal feeling to it with it being a few degrees cooler and the leaves starting to change colour and fall off.

Highlight of the day is an easy one today, when you see a pair of Goldcrest how can that not be the highlight, they were chasing each other from tree to tree and around said trees also in the same area there were Bullfinch.

Also great to see were two Green Woodpecker at opposite ends of the park but they obviously might have been the same bird, a Nuthatch on the trunk of dead tree which also held Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Song Thrush.

On the pool it was a pleasure to see Little Grebe and also that the Muscovy Duck still looks happy there. No sign of Cygnets on the pool though they are hopefully still at Plantsbrook.

Birds seen today Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Starling, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon (including many juveniles), Cormorant (a rare sight at this location), Mute Swan, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Muscovy Duck and Mallard.