A rare trip out on a Monday for me today to North Warwickshire to visit Shustoke Reservoir because overly warm weather doesn't agree with me so I might not get out again birding until Saturday.
I wasn't going to start this post of again talking about juvenile birds but I saw abundance of fledglings today so it would be wrong to start anywhere else.
Juvenile birds spotted today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Whitethroat, Pied Wagtail, Green Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Lapwing, Buzzard, 6 Canada Goose Goslings and 58 Mallard Ducklings including one Mom with 10 !
I didn't even have to step out of the car and I'd already seen a pair of juvenile Green Woodpecker, a lone Song Thrush and six Woodpigeon, then it was on to the reservoir where apart from Ducklings and Goslings it was Pied Wagtail juveniles aplenty, hard to put a definite number on them but there were upwards of thirty, I saw two flocks of Tits which included many Blue, Great, Long Tailed and Coal Tits, there were also many Whitethroat juveniles to be seen and heard, they must have had a good year breeding because I see them every time I go out, it was nice to see some baby Lapwings especially as they were on the far side of the river which is hard for people to access, last but not least was the sighting of a juvenile Buzzard who was in a wooded area just past the reservoir which is a favoured location for songbirds including today one of the flocks of Tits I saw.
Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woopdecker, Song Thrush, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Swift, House Martin, Swallow, Pied Wagtail, Common Tern, Common Sandpiper, Lapwing, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.
At least this mini heatwave will be good news for the insect hunting fledglings.
Another trip to North Warwickshire today, this time to visit Kingsbury Water Park in the hope of seeing some juveniles birds and I certainly wasn't let down, highlights were seeing juvenile Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Blackcap and House Martin, the Sedge Warbler were obvioulsy spotted along the waters edge in amongst the reed beds, while the Whitethroat and Blackcap were seen foraging amongst the many trees and the House Martin were spotted resting on a fallen tree along the waters edge preening. Other juveniles seen today were, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Cygnet (5), Great Crested Grebe (2), Moorhen (4), Coot (7), Canada Goose Gosling (14), Mallard (16) and there was also a nesting Coot. While it always a pleasure to see juvenile birds it was nice to see juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, Robin, Blackbird and all the Tits and Finches.
Birds seen today were, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chiffhcaff, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Jay, Blackbird, Collared Dove, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Swift, House Martin, Swallow, Common Tern, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Greylag Goose and Canada Goose.
I was looking forward to seeing how the Greylag Goose Goslings were doing but unfortunately I didn't see any so presumably they were all located on one of the various islands at this location.
Butterflies seen today were Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Small White and Ringlet also worth mentioning was sightings of Rabbit and Grey Squirrel because there lots of them.
Today is was time to visit Plantsbrook Nature Reserve in Pype Hayes again, primarily to see if the Mute Swans have had any Cygnets, worryingly the nest was empty and there were two adult Mute Swan on the pool but no sign of any Cygnets, they may have be a different pair of Mute Swan and the pair with the Cygnets may have relocated to Pype Hayes Park like they always do but I won't know until week I visit the park next week.
There were plenty of juvenile waterfowl on the four pools with approximately thirty three Coot, three Great Crested Grebe, three Moorhen and three Mallard, also seen was a large flock of Tits and Finches which held Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit and Chaffinch juveniles.
It was nice to see the Muscovy Duck, Domestic Goose and India Runner Duck are still present and looking rather fine and have got used to the new home.
Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Common Tern, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Muscovy Duck, Domestic Goose and Indian Runner Duck.
It was nice to see the meadow hasn't been mowed down again this year and at the moment there are plenty of Betony, Wild Blue Geranium and Bird's-foot-trefoil present with hopefully many species to come over the summer months.
Another trip to North Warwickshire today to visit the wonderful Shustoke Reservoir.
Highlights again were seeing all the great juvenile birds, I hadn't even got out of the car when I saw a huge flock of birds flying into the pines trees, birds in the flock were Blue Tit, Great Tit and Goldfinch which included many juveniles of all three birds. Other juvenile birds seen today were Woodpigeon, Magpie, Cygnet (7), Canada Goose Gosling (7), Mallard Duckling (24) and one Great Crested Grebe and eleven Coot on the nest.
Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, House Sparrow, Robin, Starling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Swift, House Martin, Swallow, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Lapwing, Common Tern, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.
As on my last visit the reservoir and the fly fishers pool were woefully low on waterfowl, at least the ones that were present all looked fit and healthy.
It was great to see many Rabbits about in the fields especially the juveniles.
Another trip to Babbs Mill Nature Reserve in Solihull and the nearby Shard End Lake after my last visit three weeks ago today.
I popped to Shard End Lake primarily to see what juvenile birds were on the water and how the twelve Canada Goose Goslings were fairing, well as you can see all twelve Goslings are doing fine and they all look fit and healthy, also on the lakes were (at least) one juvenile Great Crested Grebe, eleven juvenile Coot and two Coots on the nest. Other juveniles spotted were Whitethroat, Blue Tit, Great Tit and House Sparrow.
Then it was off to Babbs Mill Nature Reserve were the spot of the day had to be first ever sighting of a Hobby at this location, it was all very brief though because it was being very heavily mobbed by four Carrion Crow. Back to juveniles, there were plenty of juvenile Whitethroat about foraging amongst the trees where there were plenty of adults singing, also spotted were juvenile Chiffchaff or Willow Warbler, impossible for me to tell when they are that young I'm afraid, it was still nice to see them all the same. Other juveniles spotted at Babbs Mill were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, and Blackbird. Also seen were the seven Cygnets who like the twelve Canada Goose Goslings at Shard End all look fit and healthy, seven Coot, three Canada Goose Gosling, and three nesting Great Crested Grebe and Coot as well as another pair of Coot nest building. Conspicuous in there absence were any
juvenile Domestic Goose, I know in the past the council have killed
their young or destroyed the eggs of these birds on the island, what
makes it even stranger was seeing a dead juvenile on the island, strange
in my opinion to see a deceased juvenile Domestic Goose and no other
young ones spotted at all !
Birds seen today were Hobby, Buzzard, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Reed Warbler (there were plenty singing), Whitethroat, House Sparrow, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, House Martin, Swallow, Swift, Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Domestic Goose and Canada Goose.
Another trip back to Cole End Park Local Nature Reserve in Coleshill, Warwickshire where it looked great with the foliage around and all the juvenile birds foraging from tree to tree.
Juvenile birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock and Starling, I only saw one flock of birds with Greenfinch juveniles and two baby Dunnock but I saw numerous flocks of birds which contained Blue Tit and Great Tit which was great to see, I also saw a flock of c.100 Starling foraging on the grass in a meadow where up to fifty percent were juveniles.
Other birds which were great to see were Green Woodpecker, Reed Bunting and many House Martin and Swallow swooping over the large open grassland for insects.
Birds seen today were Buzzard, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Robin, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Starling, House Martin, Swallow, Green Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Jay, Blackbird, Collared Dove, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon and Mallard on the River Cole.
As you can see in the last photo I also saw some tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum) which covered the entirety of a maple tree, if any passing birds found these, they certainly wouldn't have gone hungry because there must have been thousands there.
Last birding trip out for the week today which was to Sutton Park in North Birmingham where it was nice for most of the morning and only went overcast towards the end of my visit.
Apart from this being a great park to visit the main reason for today's trip was to see if the Mute Swan's have had their Cygnets and they have, talking to a local four hatched and as you can see, thankfully there are still four. It was quite a good day for seeing juvenile birds with following spotted, Whitethroat, Dunnock, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Cygnets (4) and at least four Coot, it was hard to tell exactly where there because they were on the nest on the mother and all I could see was four heads popping out from underneath her. Especially nice to see were the Whitethroat, Coal Tit and Dunnock juveniles but it's obviously a pleasure to see any baby birds. Also nice to see was a Blue Tit nest in the hole of a tree and a Great Tit nest in another, with the parents in both nests flying in about every thirty seconds with food.
Another highlight was seeing a pair of Skylark catching insects in the air and taking them to the same spot on the heathland. obviously feeding their young, thankfully the nest was in a location where most people don't go.
It's also nice to see the free roaming cows at this site, I've never seen so many as today where I saw at least fifty.
The only downside of the day was seeing the usual large amounts of arson including large swathes of gorse and grassland and the disgraceful act of vandalism to the pine tree in the last picture.
Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Skylark, Whitehroat, Treecreeper, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Swift, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Jay, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Mute Swan, Coot, Tufted Duck and Mallard.
When I got home there sadly was also a deceased juvenile Starling in the back garden, suffice to say it's now had a decent send off and is now buried in the garden.
Nice trip over to Solihull today to visit Meriden Park, a place which is a great little urban oasis where most people that live there don't even notice and certainly don't appreciate what with the arson and heavy littering that goes on at this location, I counted six trolleys in the River Cole in a short distance and the edges of the lake were in a disgusting state !
Anyway, the good things about today was seeing a juvenile Song Thrush, Mallard Duckling, Juvenile Coot and Canada Geese and plenty of juvenile Blue Tit, Great Tit and Long Tailed Tit. Also nice to see and hear were the usual large amounts of House Sparrow. especially in the bushes near the houses and foraging for insects in the nestles along the lakes edge and along the River Cole. Another great spot was seeing a pair of Little Egret in the River Cole which is something quite rare for a location like this.
Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Wren, Starling, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Collared Dove, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Coot, Mallard, Domestic/Greylag Goose hybrid and Canada Goose as well as the following juveniles, Mallard Duckling (13), Coot (4), Canada Goose (3), Song Thrush, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Long Tailed Tit.
The last two pictures I've posted are for different reasons, the fourth photo is too illustrate how lovely and green it is along the River Cole and Colebank Nature Reserve something which will be very lucky if it remains that way for very long because of the heavy development and construction work going on around this area including a couple of hundred homes, this area is home to plenty of rabbits, I saw a lot today which is amazing when you consider it's a stones throw from a town centre, and is also home to many wildflowers which in turn attract daytime moths such as the Five Spot Burnet as well as many other moths and butterflies and obviously plenty of birds. The fifth photo is a dead Canada Goose which has apparently been dead in the water for over a week now and the council and ranger seem like they don't want to get the bird out of the water even though it's been reported to them, I bet if there was a camera crew on the way, an MP was visiting or it was up for it's green flag award again (that's a laugh !) then they'd be down like a shot to sort out the problem. The funny thing is that Solihull Council and it's residents think they are better than Birmingham yet all the above incidents show they are no better or worse in fact they are worse when you see how the council and some of the residents treat Solihull in general and the green spaces that they still have left.
The above is a photo of one of the many juvenile Dunnock visiting my garden at the moment. it's great to watch them foraging about in the back garden.
