I've never visited Middleton Lakes without going down to the lakes before but as you can see from the above photos there was a very good reason for that and that was because there was a bird ringing event done not far from the car park organised by Tame Valley Wetlands and run by the British Trust For Ornithology , even though this event was free, future events will probably come with a small charge, judging by today it will be worth every penny anyway.
Even though it was a pleasure and honour to see so many birds (100+) so close up, the Redwing was still the highlight of the morning, what a truly magnificent bird with amazing colours, saying that all the colours close up were stunning, the other birds caught and rung were, Blue Tit (which was by far the most bird trapped), Great Tit, Coal Tit, Goldfinch and Dunnock, for anyone that thinks Dunnocks are 'little brown jobs', they have clearly not seen them this close up, as like House Sparrows, if you take the time out to look at them properly they are as stunning as any other bird we have in this country.
There was too much information garnered this morning to impart on this blog, so if there's ever another event like today's near you then I implore you to attend because you will learn so much and you will thoroughly enjoy it.
Aside from the 'ringing' birds seen today were, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Kestrel, Nuthatch, Siskin, Common Redpoll, Reed Bunting, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Starling, Redwing, Fieldfare, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Raven, Rook, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard and Canada Goose, not a bad list being as I barely left the car park.
There are approximately thirty pairs of Grey Heron already on the nest in the roosts near to the car park which is great news, the Siskin and Common Redpoll were in fairly large flocks of the respective birds, on the road on the way into the car park there was a tree which held c.100 birds, mainly Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling, which was an amazing sight, this was just a small portion of the tree showing Redwing and Fieldfare on the left and Starling on the right.
In my back garden I currently have 70+ House Sparrow visiting every day which is more than even I usually get, so possibly some have been displaced from another location or maybe they are newer birds have just recently found a new food source, unfortunately - or fortunately - depending on your point of view this has also meant the return of the Sparrowhawk(s), it has been making a visit at least once a week but I haven't seen it catch anything yet, just a few near misses, I also have good numbers of Blue Tit, Great Tit, Starling, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon (who are welcome in my garden by the way), as well as Goldcrest, Blackcap, Long Tailed Tit, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Magpie, who are all being well fed and being provided with clean and fresh water to drink and bathe in everyday.
Today's visit to Middleton Lakes has whetted my appetite for a 'proper' visit, so all being well expect a blog from me from that location next week, which this time will include a full report on the waterfowl and waders.
Nice walk around Rookery Park this morning, a great little location this with many varieties of trees but it's sadly blighted by anti social behaviour including arson and litter of which there was plenty of the latter especially beer and pop cans.
Birds seen today were, Nuthatch, Wren, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redwing, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow and Magpie.
There were Nuthatch in most locations in the park, it's only a small site but that's still quite impressive, there are also Treecreeper and Goldcrest always present but I didn't happen to spot any today, it was a pleasure to see a small flock of Redwing who upon my arrival were in the trees but as I left they were all foraging on the grass, I didn't actually see any House Sparrows but you could hear their unmistakable chirping coming from the bushes that back onto the houses.
It's always nice to see the buds emerging on the trees at this time of the year as is the arrival of daffodils and crocuses.
Finally I have to sadly report that a deceased Fox was found in the park this morning by a member of the public.
Great visit to Shustoke Reservoir where it was lovely, crisp and cold with lush bright blue skies which in my opinion is proper winter weather.
I thought the day was doomed before it had even started when shortly after taking photos of the above robin in the car park I dropped my camera on the floor, worrying it hit the floor with such a thud that the memory card popped out of it's slot, strangely there appears to have been no damage sustained, which is quite amazing considering the sound it made when it hit the deck.
Today was one of the days when there's a mixture of both good and bad news to report and they are both from exactly the same location which is the area just to the right of the Fly Fisher's Pool as you enter from the direction of the reservoir, first the good news, this area has a great mixture of trees which attract a wide variety of birds, in this small area alone all of the following birds were spotted this morning, a flock of Siskin, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow and Jackdaw, the bad news is that the River Bourne is going to be re-routed through this exact area to aid the fish which sounds great until you realise that this now means destruction of many of the trees and the immediate habitat, sadly none of the trees have 'Tree Preservation Order's,' even the trees the surveyors were marking the 'important trees' that will try to be saved will probably go, a lot of the trees that are now earmarked for felling are alder and ash which I pointed out were very important to feed the birds through the autumn and winter, sadly it fell on deaf ears, don't get me wrong, they are only doing their job but they were very unsympathetic to the habitat loss and knock on effect it will have for the birds and wildlife let alone the loss of yet more well established trees, as if that wasn't bad enough as I was told a lot of the trees 'will have to go' anyway because of getting the plant and machinery in and out of the location, as per usual I can't see this ending well for the wildlife, the work is due to take place in the next 1-2 years so if want to raise your objections/concerns then you have to contact Severn Trent Water who operate and 'maintain' the reservoir and the land, this project is totally down to them and not the fly-fishers.
It was a bit quiet on the water fowl front but at least the birds present were enjoying the sunshine and it was especially nice to see Teal, Pochard, Great Crested Grebe and Little Grebe as well as Mute Swan which you don't always see at this location.
Birds seen today were, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Siskin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Starling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Pied Wagtail, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Coot, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.
When I was at the reservoir, in Coleshill and even in my back garden I've noticed House Sparrows checking out prospective or maybe even previous nesting sites, let's hope they raise as many young as they can as there's one thing for sure, you can never have too many House Sparrow's !
Regular readers of this blog probably thought I'd gone away but fear not I'm back again for my first post of 2018, hopefully there will be many more to come as well.
I thought it was only right and proper to start this birding year as I'd finished the last one, namely that of a visit to Southfields Farm in Coleshill to see all the good work that John does attracting and looking after the wild birds on his farm.
It was nice to see plenty of flocks of birds in good numbers, there were c.200 Linnet, c.200 Redwing, c.100 Starling and c.50 Woodpigeon, the Redwing and Starling flocks were in a field that backs onto houses where there is a lone tree, in that tree there was a very impressive looking Buzzard which kept flying down to the flocks of birds but strangely they moved just a few feet from wherever the Buzzard landed, clearly there was a rich food source that they didn't want to give up, also in among the Redwing and Starling there were Fieldfare but only about twenty or so, the Linnet were in one of the fields where the wild bird seed is sown, there was probably many more but they were flying to a tree and back to the floor again and the Woodpigeon were on a path which I rudely interrupted them from feeding from when I turned around the corner, they all flew into two nearby adjacent trees which made them slightly easier to count.
It goes without saying but there were hundreds of House Sparrow close to the outbuildings, they are always a treat to see and hear, in the tracks where John puts the seed down over the winter there were the usual delights which included, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Collared Dove and a large amount of Blackbirds.
Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Starling, Collared Dove, Redwing, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Pheasant (cock).
Hopefully you enjoyed reading this blog and all being well there will plenty more to come this year.
