Newhall Valley Country Park, Sutton Coldfield.

I hadn't been to Newhall Valley Country Park since the beginning of December last year so today was the day to visit again where there juvenile birds and nest building aplenty.

A pair of Mallard have had some babies in the exact same spot on the Plants Brook as they do every year, according to a local there initially twelve but there are now only nine and unfortunately one of them had a deformed foot, hard to tell whether it was born that way or it had got the leg trapped in some litter, it didn't look good either way. In the grounds of  New Hall Manor there were eight Goslings, a pair with five juveniles and a pair with three and another Canada Goose on the nest. Birds observed collecting nesting material building were Blackbird (lots of them), Bulfinch (two separate pairs), and Blackcap. Birds observed collecting food for nestlings were Robin and Coal Tit, the Robin was seen furiously collecting insects where the Ducklings were and going back and forth to the adjacent allotments while the Coal Tit was seen taking insects into a crevice in a very old wall in the moat that runs around new Hall Manor.

All the years of going to this location I have heard a Pheasant but never actually seen one, he/they reside in an area not easy accessible to the public and gets very overgrown this time of the year and throughout the Summer and today I actually spotted a male Pheasant through the dense growth, which was nice.

Birds seen today were Kestrel, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chiffchaff, Bullfinch, Blackcap, Wren, Robin, Starling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Jay, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Grey Wagtail, Pheasant (Male), Grey Heron, Moorhen, Mallard, Canada Goose, Ducklings (9), Goslings (8) and one Canada Goose on the nest.