Short trip to Plantsbrook Nature Reserve this morning where it was nice to see that the Muscovy Duck and Domestic Goose are still resident but the Indian Runner Duck has mysteriously disappeared, apparently it went missing back in May some time, it was also great to see two great looking Great Crested Grebe chicks.
Birds seen today were, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Wren, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Muscovy Duck, Domestic Goose and Mallard.
Ironically the highlight of the day was actually after leaving Plantsbrook which was catching a rare glimpse of a Peregrine Falcon which was flying from the canal towards the Fort Dunlop at a rate of knots, hard to see if it had any prey because I was in the car and it so quick, awesome sight all the same.
Nice trip to Shustoke Reservoir in North Warwickshire apart from there were originally four benches on the grass near the car park a couple of years ago and there's now only one, with one being wrecked and thrown on the bushes whilst a Severn Trent wooden plaque has been torn from it's hinges and the bird feeders that were in the tree are now nowhere to be seen, bloody mindless morons !!!
Back to the birding, it was great to see the waterfowl have a good breeding season here this year because they don't normally fare very well here, it was great to see eight juvenile Mute Swan (one pair had seven while another pair unfortunately only had one survive), five Great Crested Grebe (three and two) which is amazing because you very rarely see juvenile Great Crested Grebe at Shustoke, there were at least four juvenile Little Grebe plus there were countless Mallard and Coot birds going into adulthood, as well as that there were also plenty of Pied Wagtail juveniles including one poor individual with only one leg.
Birds seen today were. Kestrel, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Wren, Robin, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Swift, House Martin, Swallow, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Common Tern, Grey Heron, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Shoveler, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.
First trip to Pype Hayes today for while which is mainly due to the heavy roadworks going on around the roads to the park over the summer holidays.
Highlight of the was seeing a rather resplendent looking juvenile Robin, other juveniles seen were Bullfinch, Reed Warbler, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie and three Mallard Ducklings.
Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Bullfinch, Nuthatch, Reed Warbler, House Sparrow, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard and Canada Goose.
I didn't see the resident Muscovy Duck today but it could have been asleep on the island which is very overgrown and it's impossible to see what's on there.
The only other news is bad news, after the female Mute Swan was decapitated last year the male has now been run over and killed on the road between Pype Hayes Park and Plantsbrook Nature Reserve, the roads around the park are a nightmare and are well known for 'speeders', in fact there was collision on Monday (17/08/2015), but how you manage to run over and kill a Swan is beyond me, they aren't exactly known for the speed when on terra firma.
The only birding trip out this week and it was off to Cole End Park Local Nature Reserve in Coleshill, North Warwickshire for a walk around the fields and a stretch of the River Cole.
On the whole it was quiet but there were still plenty of flocks of Tits around and it was also nice to see juvenile Chiffchaff and Dunnock. There were also two adult Buzzard in the air with at least three of their fledglings in the trees and sitting on a pylon.
Birds seen today were Buzzard, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Starling, House Martin, Swallow, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Woodpigeon.
Today's trip was originally going to be to Middleton Lakes but with it supposed to be so hot I decided to put that off until it cools down a bit, so I decided to go to Newhall Valley Country Park, that was until I was greeted with the sight of dozens of traveller caravans (do you like dags ?!) they'd only arrived the night before and the park was already full of litter and human faeces so there was no way I was leaving the car in the car park so in the end it was off to Sutton Park, parking in the Banners Gate entrance and having a walk around Longmoor Pool and then off the moorland and Longmoor Valley.
On the pool it was nice to see that the four tiny Cygnets that I saw back in the first week of June all now look big and healthy, there was also five very small Mallard Ducklings and three juvenile Coot.
Up on the moorland it was nice to see male and female Bullfinch, male Blackcap, Whitehroat as well as many flocks of Tits and Finches.
Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Robin, Starling, House Martin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Coot, Mallard and Canada Goose.
There wasn't large numbers of butterflies about apart from many Meadow Brown and the odd Small White and Small Skipper.
This is the reason why I didn't go to Newhall Valley Country Park.
Back to Sutton Park today mainly because you may have noticed that I've purchased a new camera, I did want to get decent photos of the Mandarin Ducks but only the female was there again. If you already like my photos hopefully my future ones will be even better.
Blackroot Pool was very quiet today with only the female Mandarin Duck, a couple of Coot, but plenty of Mallard and Black Headed Gull present, it was nice to see five small Mallard Ducklings though.
I visited the pool at the beginning and the end of my visit with the rest of the morning compromising of walking around large parts of the wood and heathland where I heard many Great Spotted Woodpecker and obviously saw plenty of Rabbits.
Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chiffhcaff, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Mandarin Duck (female), Moorhen, Domestic Duck, Mallard as well as the following juveniles, Mallard Duckling (5), Carrion Crow and Magpie.
Also worth a mention was the sighting of a Sparrowhawk swopping in front of the car on the journey there which promptly landed on a rooftop, it was very lucky not to get run over.
