I clearly enjoyed last weeks visit to Sutton Park as I went back this morning, what a lovely morning as well, frosty and crisp upon arrival and throughout morning as the sun came up there were some lovely blue skies and stunning views of the park.
I was going to go to another gate this morning but decided to go back to the Banners Gate entrance and do a slightly different walk but not get lost today as I did last week but I still headed in the direction of Longmoor Pool first.
Highlights were seeing Shoveler on Longmoor Pool, strangely only females though whereas there were only males present last Wednesday, hearing lots and I do mean lots of chirping Goldcrest amongst the Gorse, Nuthatch, Greeen Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, lots of Jay's, seeing a very impressive mixed flock of Fieldfare and Redwing feasting on a huge holly tree and observing plenty of Grey Squirrels burying nuts and conkers in the ground.
I didn't see as much fungi as last week but the one on the photo above was easily the most impressive, you can't really tell how big it is in the photo but it was huge.
Birds seen today were, Kestrel, Fieldfare, Redwing, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Wren, Robin, Mute Swan, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Moorhen and Coot.
Great visit to Sutton Park today, the decision was made to give this excellent location a much needed visit for a few reasons, obviously being one of Europe's largest park is good enough reason, at this time of the year it's also great for visiting birds and fungi as you can see and also even though I love birding and observing nature in Warwickshire I've been doing that too much this year and thus neglecting the West Midlands of which I'm rectifying of late.
Sutton Park really is a massive park and it's easy to get lost in and after many previous visits, the majority of which have been starting from the Banners Gate entrance as was today's visit, so I was going one of my usual routes when I decided to take a small detour and yes you've guessed it I ended up getting lost, it took me a asking a few people and a good ninety minutes to get to a place that was actually familiar, still at least the weather was nice and there was plenty of fungi to discover including many fine examples of Fly Agaric, which is a particular favourite of mine.
Before I actually got lost highlights were seeing Shoveler on Longmoor Pool, a great spectacle of a flock of c.50 Fieldfare, it may well have been a mixed flock which included Redwing but I didn't see any, either way it was great to see so many, there was also plenty of Goldrest to be heard in amongst the gorse, one even popped out, had a quick look at me before going back into the bush, I know Corvid's are not everybodies favourite bird but I like them as I do all birds and at Banners Gate they easily number in three figures and they loved the food and apples I took for them to feast on, always great to see so many when you enter the car park.
I've seen apples on the floor from the trees in the park before but not nowhere as many as today as there were thousands on the floor from the many apple trees which adorn the park which is good news for the birds with the harsh weather coming soon.
Birds seen today were, Goldcrest, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Robin, Starling, Fieldfare, Jay, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and Mallard.
Great to pay Plantsbrook Nature Reserve a much overdue visit this morning especially when one of my favourite water birds was on the biggest pool, I always love to see Shoveler, what a great looking bird, also great to see was a Muscovy Duck, another great looking bird.
There wasn't a huge variety of birds present but the birds that were there were represented in good numbers, shame I didn't see or hear any House Sparrow though, hopefully they are still resident at this location and I just happened not too spot any.
Talking of animals in good numbers there was definitely a lot of Grey Squirrels and Brown Rats, the Squirrels were there usual selves and were here, there and everywhere around you and finding any seed you put down for the birds, still they have to eat as well, there were far more rats than you'd normally expect to see and they were fairly tame as well, even though they'd run straight in front of you, they would then stop and have a good look at you, at least they are in their 'normal' habitat.
Plantsbrook is like any open space with trees at the moment, namely that of being a great place to visit, it's no good driving past somewhere in your car, or watching the television and saying look at all those wonderful colours, go out there and experience it for yourself especially when there is so much Fungi to find, what with the dead or dying trees and plentiful amounts of dead wood to be found at this location there were many great varieties to found today.
Birds seen today were, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Wren, Robin, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Blackbird, Cormorant, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Muscovy Duck, strangely there were no Canada Goose present at all, saying that on the drive there, plenty could be seen in the adjacent Pype Hayes Park.
Great to see so little litter and believe me I've picked up my fair share from here in the past and the general state of the place looked great as well, I don't normally give a 'plug' to anyone on here but if you're on Twitter be sure to give Friends of Plants Brook Local Nature Reserve a follow.
Nice to get out birding again today especially on such a lovely morning and to a great location.
Highlights of the day was seeing the amazing amount of House Sparrows as I always do on every visit, still no less amazing every time though, an amazing flock of very noisy c.200 Jackdaw who took to the skies when a pair of Buzzard entered the field they were foraging in, a flock of c.50 Woodpigeon and a flock of c.50 Goldfinch feeding in an area where John the farmer is growing seed for the wild birds for over the autumn/winter, they had a lucky escape when a Kestrel dived in at them and some of the Finches even pluckily 'mobbed' the Kestrel, it was an amazing sight to see when they took to the air, I never thought Goldfinch could be so local, ironically it all happened below the Buzzard in the last photo and it never moved once.
Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Kestrel, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Dunnock, Robin, Starling, Blackbird, Green Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Cormorant, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Mute Swan, Moorhen and Mallard.
This time of the year I always take out windfall apples to put on the floor for the Blackbirds/Thrushes and as I was walking through one of the fields the above sheep charged towards me, couldn't work out first why but it became clear that the thought my bag of apples was food for them, you had to be there to appreciate it but trust me though it was quite funny having a load of sheep running towards you.
Nice to pay Rookery Park in Erdington a quick visit today while I was in the area, birds seen were, Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Wren, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow and Magpie.
Nice to see that there were a lot of Woodpigeon juveniles as well as Grey Squirrels all around the park and with the large variety of trees that adorn the park there were also a lot of Tits and Finches foraging among said trees.
It's always always great to see so many leaves on the floor at this time of the year, in many different varied colours, hard to argue that Autumn is the most stunning season of the year, which also means there will be plenty of Fungi to be seen soon, although I didn't see any at Rookery Park I did see the following on my local early morning walk.
