Sheldon Heath Country Park.

Nice walk around Sheldon Heath Country Park today where there plenty of birds singing and making nests, birds seen making nests included Goldcrest, Reed Bunting, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Great Tit, Blackbird, Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon.

It was especially nice to hear Goldcrest and Reed Bunting today as well as all the songbird song.

Birds seen today were Sparrowhawk, Goldcrest, Reed Bunting, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Song Thrush, Jay, Blackbird, Collared Dove, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon.

In the back garden I've also observed the following birds collecting nest material, House Sparrow, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon and Carrion Crow.

Lady Bradford's, Castle Bromwich.

Nice trip over to Castle Bromwich today to visit Lady Bradford's, St Mary and St Margaret's Church and the graveyard which is always full of birds. 

It wasn't quite as 'green' than on my last visit last October but the trees are just about to come into leaf and there were many 'sticky' buds around especially on the Horse Chestnut trees.

There were the usual mix of birds around including many songbirds, House Sparrow, Starling and Thrush in the church grounds but unfortunately there was also a Sparrowhawk circling above the church as well.

It was nice to see that there quite a few new Great Spotted Woodpecker 'holes' which will hopefully all have young in soon, just a pity the local arsonists like to set fire to the old trees in this location. Even though this land is supposed to be left to the people by Lady Bradford and not touched by human hands there have been a lot of trees chopped down here recently, thankfully it's been done before the birds can nest in them but they have chipped some trees where others have been left in huge piles which would normally be a good thing but the arsonists have already tried to set fire to them so far with no luck but if they are successful it could be a disaster. With plenty of tree remnants around I did manage to get some nice additions for the log piles in the back garden.

Birds seen today were Sparrowhawk, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Robin, Starling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Magpie.

Kingsbury Water Park, North Warwickshire.

First trip out birding for a few weeks so I went to Kingsbury Water Park in North Warwickshire on the first day of Spring and couldn't you tell it was with all the birds singing and making nests, there was already a Great Crested Grebe sitting on a nest and a also observed another pair of Great Crested Grebe doing their 'courtship dance'. All we need now is a bit more colour on the trees and more flowers coming into life.

Highlight of the day was seeing and hearing my first Chiffchaff's of the year. Even though it was very brief it was brilliant to see a Tree Pipit, what a great looking bird. It was also nice to see was a Treecreeper foraging up a tree trunk on a tree around the waters edge on one of the lakes. There was also the usual high number of House Sparrow around the house that back onto the lakes, you can hear them as soon as you get out of the car. In the grounds of St Peter & St Paul church which is adjacent to the lakes there were the usual high numbers of Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blackbird, Dunnock and Jackdaw, unfortunately there was also a Sparrowhawk circling above the church. Also in the trees there were flocks of c.50 Carrion Cow and Woodpigeon who flew in possibly to try and confuse the Sparrowhawk.  

The only downside of the day was seeing a one legged Moorhen who only had a stump where one of it's feet should have been, it really saddens and winds me up in equal measures when you know this was almost certainly caused by the senseless and lazy act of a so called 'fisherman', it was a terrible shame to see it keep losing it's balance and struggling to forage on the grass, shame on these idiotic and selfish 'people' !

Birds seen today were Sparrowhawk, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chiifchaff, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Starling, Tree Pipit, Blackbird, Great Spotted Woodworker, Jay, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Shoveler, Goosander, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Domestic Duck, Mallard, Greylag Goose and Canada Goose.

Babbs Mill Nature Reserve, Solihull.

Nice trip out to Solihull to visit Babbs Mill Nature Reserve where there were the first inklings of Spring, with Snowdrops, May blossom and many birds singing in the Yorks Wood.

Highlights of the day were seeing a pair of Goldcrest, a pair of Green Woodpecker and a lone female Goosander on the lake even though there could have been more the other side of the island. Also great to see were many House Sparrow, Dunnock and Wren, I haven't seen or heard this many three species of bird in one morning for a long time.

Birds seen today were, Kestrel, Goldcrest, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Jay, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Goosander, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Domestic Duck and Canada Goose.

Shustoke Reservoir.

I couldn't go birding last week due to other commitments so I thought I'd revisit the location of my last trip out which happened to be Shustoke Reservoir.

Spot of the day had to be seeing a male Stonechat which I must admit was pointed out to me by a local birder I was talking to, other good spots were a pair of Goldcrest, a Treecreeper, a great mixed flock of .c50 Goldfinch and Chaffinch, many singing Song Thrush, a flock of .80 Woodpigeon, c.50 Tufted Duck on the Fly Fishers Pool where there were also six Little Grebe so hopefully I might see some juvenile Little Grebe this Spring.

I also saw five Buzzard circling over the farmers fields which is not a number I see very often hunting together. 

Birds seen today were Buzzard, Stonechat (male), Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Coot, Gadwall, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.