Babbs Mill Local Nature Reserve.

Good and bad visit to Babbs Mill Local Nature Reserve and Yorks Wood Local Nature Reserve in Solihull this morning.

The bad was definitely the sight of so many dead birds on the water which was one Grey Heron, two Mute Swan, six Canada Goose and countless Mallard just as bad was seeing people still feed the waterfowl, it certainly doesn't look very good for the forthcoming Autumn and Winter.

Talking of the Autumn, it was great to see so many spectacular colours of leaves today, it is easily the best time of the year apart from Spring when the birds are breeding, the only downside was the Autumnal weather, it was raining when I left, sun and blues skies when I got there, a pattern which carried on throughout the visit, of course this season also means another thing, the return of Fungi with lots of species spotted today including, Southern Bracket, Honey Fungus, Sulphur Tuft and Candlesnuff Fungus.

On the lake it was great to see one of my favourite birds, namely that of the Shoveller, it was a pleasure to see the following migrants, Gadwall and Wigeon sadly the number of Mallard was shockingly low, the avian flu appears to have already taken a devastating toll on their population.

The Parakeet residents are in good numbers, they could be seen and heard all throughout today's visit, it was also good to see fairly good numbers of Blackbird who already doing their best to strip the trees and bushes of their berries.

Birds seen today were, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, House Sparrow, Nuthatch, Wren, Dunnock, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Shoveller, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Greylag Goose, Domestic Goose and Canada Goose.