Newhall Valley Country Park.

Great visit to Newhall Valley Country Park in Royal Sutton Coldfield, where it was actually quite warm, didn't stop both the neighbours having their heating on full blast when I got home, they have both had it on twenty four hours a day for over five months now but I digress, as I drew up in the car park this morning and there were Redwing foraging on the grass right in front of the car which was a nice surprise, then shortly after leaving the car park I spotted a Little Egret high up in a tree and actually managed to get under the branch to get some photos that is until a rude dog walker scared it off, I say rude as other dog walkers managed to walk by without scaring it off, there was quite a lot of birdsong to be heard with plenty of Song Thrush in particular in full voice.

Spot of the day had to be the sighting of a Goldcrest, saying that I've currently got (at least) one visiting my garden, which when I got home and was cleaning my boots was singing to me from the apple tree in my garden, as I've said before I do love to see all the birds, but it is nice to see something you don't see all the time, a bird seen more commonly of late is Parakeet which unusually wasn't seen until the very end of my visit today, last but not least it was a real pleasure to see many mixed flocks of Tit and Finch, especially as they will soon go their seperate ways when it's breeding season and food is more readily available.

Birds seen this morning were, Goldcrest, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Starling, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Parakeet, Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard and Canada Goose.

Plantsrook Local Nature Reserve.

Great visit to Plantsbrook this morning, even though it was very misty, I initially thought the weather conditions would ruin the visit, but it gave it a nice gothic feel with the odd splash of vivid colour.

It was great to see Shoveller, Goosander and Domestic Duck on the pool, shame there were no Mute Swan or Canada Geese present though, always good to see Cormorant in attendance as well, especially as they always dry their wings on the raft which is far enough away so they don't suffer and human interference.

As is anywhere in Birmingham at the moment, there were no shortage of Parakeet to be seen and heard, in fact it was nice to see plenty of birds singing, especially Song Thrush who were very vocal.

Birds seen today were, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Wren, Robin, Song Thrush, Jay, Parakeet, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Cormorant, Shoveller, Goosander, Domestic Duck, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Moorhen and Coot.

Pype Hayes Park.

Perfect morning for a spot of birding this morning, nice and crisp, frosty under foot, blue skies and that lovely low winter sun, exactly how I like it.

It was nice to see the odd small flock of Redwing who were barely visible foraging on the grass, just a shame they were frequently scared off by inconsiderate dog walkers, every time you go here it's the same, it's 'them' who 'own' the park and you're lucky that they let you visit it as well, still.

It was also great to see many Song Thrush present, especially as they were very vocal and who doesn't love to hear a Song Thrush in full song?

As was expected, there were many Parakeet situated in the Park, talking to a local they have now set up home from here right down to Sutton Park, let's just hope they don't get too invasive as to prompt Birmingham City Council to employ snipers to shoot and kill all the Ruddy Duck as they did on Witton Lakes or Sandwell Council slaughtering 220+ healthy Canada Goose, Councils do seem to love murdering birds for some reason as North Warwickshire and Solihull Council's have done the same as well.

Thankfully, there were still large parts of the pool that were still unfrozen, I always hate to see birds struggling over ice and not being to be able to forage properly around the water's edge, there were certainly plenty of Mallard (around c.70), who along with the Mute Swans, Ducks, Geese, Coots, Crows and Gulls were very appreciative of the bird seed I took for them, it certainly didn't last long.

Other than that, most birds that were seen were mixed flocks of Tits and Finches, there was a particular large flock of mixed Blue and Great Tit in the trees along the Plants Brook.

Birds seen today were, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Parakeet, Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Little Egret, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Domestic Duck, Mallard and Canda Goose.