Great day birding at Newhall Valley Country Park in North Birmingham where the sun actually came out to play for a change.
Highlight of the day was seeing and hearing my first Chiffchaff of the year which just pushed seeing a great flock of Siskin into second place, it's easy to forget what great birds both Chiffchaff and Siskin are when you haven't seen them for a while. Also great to see were a pair of Reed Bunting who were both females, Bullfinch and a nesting Canada Goose.
Birds seen today were, Siskin, Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Jay, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Grey Wagtail, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Mallard and Canada Goose.
Nice morning spent at Whitacre Heath Nature Reserve in North Warwickshire doing an 'introduction to Badgers' session courtesy of Tame Valley Wetlands and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, it was obviously not a birding trip but I did all the same record all the birds I saw, the highlight being seeing a small flock of Siskin near the car park.
Birds seen today were, Siskin, Reed Bunting, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard and Canada Goose.
Any event organized by the above agencies is always great and today's didn't disappoint, the only downside of the day was having to remove a freshly killed male Pheasant from the road on the drive there, I personally can't leave killed animals in the road just for some big truck to drive over.
A walk around Lady Bradford's fields in Castle Bromwich this morning which if you know the area is the patch of land behind Castle Bromwich Hall and Gardens and the Collector Road.
Upon my arrival there was plenty of birdsong as well as Tit and Finch flocks but then in went quiet for some reason and stayed that way for some unknown reason, it was nice to have a walk out in the fresh air anyway.
Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Wren, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Woopdpigeon, Carrion Crow and Magpie.
Two trips yesterday in the Edgaston area, even though I was in the area for other reasons I still took in a couple of visits to check what birds I could see.
First off it was a brief walk around the wonderful Cannon Hill Park where the was plenty of birds singing, highlight if the day was the cheeky chappy in the top photographs, I do love Squirrels just a pity I didn't have any food for him. This location has always been a stronghold for Grey Squirrels and today was no different as they were everywhere, the large Feral Pigeon population were also very evident.
Birds seen were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Godfinch, Robin, Dunnock, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Moorhen, Coot, Domestic Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.
Canon Hill Park is definitely on my list for another visit in the near future especially when there's lot's of juvenile birds about.
Then it was off to Birmingham Botanical Gardens for another brief visit, it was nice to see the place coming into it's own with Spring nearly upon us.
I didn't see many wild birds but I did see the following, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Greenfinch, Robin, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Magpie as well as Pintail (female) Tufted Duck and Moorhen in the open water enclosure.
I don't approve of captive animals by the way, I only took photographs to record what I saw.
Great morning spent at a lovely sunny Pype Hayes Park today.
Highlights of the day were seeing two Little Egret on the brook and the nearby grassland, apparently there are three present but I only saw two, it was great to see these birds for the first time ever at this location, it was also a pleasure to see the resident Stock Doves, one of whom didn't mind posing for quite a few photos, on the pool the resident Muscovy Duck was looking rather splendid and as well as the usual water fowl today he had a lone male Gadwall for company as well as a pair of Great Crested Grebe who have presumably returned to breed which will almost certainly end in disaster yet again because they nest by the island which is very small and the pool is very small as well and unfortunately the Grey Herons, Gulls and Corvids take their young every year.
Birds seen today were, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Little Egret, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Muscovy Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.
