Brookvale Park and Rookery Park, Erdington.

                   Brookvale Park.

 

                   Rookery Park.

First off today was a trip to Brookvale Park in Erdington, then a trip to Erdington high street to do some shopping then a short visit to Rookery Park for some scran and a quick walk around the gardens. Without a doubt the highlight of the day was a stunning but very shy male Mandarin duck at Brookvale Park, apparently it visits Brookvale every year until it gets chased off by other water fowl. Mandarin ducks in Britain are the descendants of captive-bred ducks which escaped or were deliberately released. Mandarins are one of the few duck species which are not hunted for food - apparently they taste really bad ! Other notable bird species seen today were a healthy amount of House Sparrow, House Martin, Goldfinch, Starling, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Grey Heron, Cormorant, fifty plus Mute Swan, and some day old Goslings. I also counted 14 Coots, 2 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Mute Swan on nests. Notable bird species spotted on the short visit to Rookery Park were Wren, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Robin.

Chester Road Canalside Walk.

Had a walk along the canal from The Tyburn House public house up to the island by Asda at Minworth and back again just for a change of scenery. Notable bird species seen today were Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Mistle Thrush (eating the last of last years berries on some trees overhanging the canal by the old Cincinnati Machine Tool Company) Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wren, Robin, Collared Dove, Dunnock and House Sparrow. Also saw a couple of Canada Geese on nests as well.

Shard End Lake and River Cole.

A walk around a very sunny Shard End Lake and the nearby adjacent River Cole today. Prize spot of the day was my first Willow Warblers of the year, Tree Sparrows that numbered in the hundreds if you were to total up all the days sightings, so at least they're doing well along the River Cole and around Shard End Lake, also saw a Grey Heron sunbathing on the local school playing fields. Notable birds species spotted were Willow Warbler, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Starling, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Moorhen and Tufted Duck. As you can see by my photos I also saw a Crane ;)

Plantsbrook Nature Reserve.

A trip around a very warm Plantsbrook today. Notable bird species spotted were Treecreeper, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Wren, Robin, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Grey Heron, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Mute Swan also saw my first Goslings of the year, three of them. There was also plenty of Grey Squirrels, Bees and Flutterbuys about, but the strangest spot of the day was a Tortoise eating plenty of vegitation on one of the small islands, first time I've ever seen one in the wild. Sadly there was also an abandoned Canada Goose nest with two eggs in it, for some reason the nest was practically on a footpath which was a shame but there you go, but there was still a Great Crested Grebe, a Mute Swan, Canada Geese and Coots on nests which all will hopefully have hatched by the time of my next visit.

Lady Bradfords, Castle Bromwich.

A small walk around Lady Bradfords grounds and St Mary and St Margaret church and churchyard, mainly a litter picking up session with a bit of bird spotting thrown in. Notable bird species spotted were Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit as well as Mallard and Cormorant flying overhead. In Castle Bromwich kirkyard there's plenty of headstones reminiscent of Birmingham's and the worlds greatest Heavy Metal band of all time, the mighty 'Black Sabbath.' War Pigs is just as relevant today about Tony Bl***s illegal wars as it was when Sabs wrote it about the horrors of the Vietnam war at least I didn't see any 'Children From The Grave' although I have seen I few 'Rat Salads' over there in the past.

Babbs Mill Nature Reserve, Kingshurst.

Great weather for birdspotting and walikng today, even though a lot of the song birds appeared to be in hiding today, and there's a lot more leaf cover this time of the year. Notable birds spotted were Chiffchaff, Tree Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Great Crested Grebe (including one on a nest) Moorhen, Grey Heron, Tufted Duck and Moorhen, also saw a couple of cheeky Grey Squirrels. No sign of the Red Kite though that is nesting at a site in nearby Marston Green and has been seen recently at Babbs Mill by some of the locals. Babbs Mills is currently undergoing a bit of a redevelopment with a brand new picnic area (which is all very well as long as the chavs don't leave their litter behind, even though there's no hope of that judging by what I picked up today) they are also putting in recycled plastic fishing pegs similar to these britishrecycledproducts.co.uk There are currently about 10 pegs (all in use today) with more planned if these ones are not vandalised, yet again no hope of that ! Pity we can't have a chav cull.