Babbs Mill Nature Reserve, Solihull.

Today it was off to Babbs Mill Nature Reserve in Solihull on a very mild Winters day, where the day started off in the car park with a cup of coffee and gingerbread men waiting for it to get light.

To say the water levels were high around the lake and the adjacent River Cole would be an understatement, the lake was approximately six foot closer to the grass than normal, with the newly created and established reeds beds almost completely swamped and the island almost completely under water which is particularly bad news for the poor old Domestic Geese. The River Cole was flowing at a ferocious rate and easily four foot higher than normal, thankfully all this rain isn't occurring during the breeding season when either the eggs would get washed away or worse the young birds separated from the parents in the fast flowing water, something which I've unfortunately witnessed more than once over the years.

Apart from the weather being good for the waterfowl, highlights of the day included seeing a Green Woodpecker, which was once quite a rarity at this location but thankfully is more of a common occurrence now, other highlights were seeing a flock of c.50 Goldfinch foraging in amongst Silver Birch trees also seeing some Bullfinch and Reed Bunting.

Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Reed Bunting, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Redwing, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Goosdander, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Domestic Goose and Canada Goose.

If you read this blog you shouldn't need reminding, either way don't forget it's the RSPB Big Garden Watch next weekend (the 25th and the 26th of January) https://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/

Pype Hayes Park.

What with an illness, the terrible weather and a hugely enjoyable concert from Black Sabbath, today was unbelievably my first birding trip since 18th of December 2013, how people stay in the house day after day when they're fit and healthy is beyond me. Still it's nice to be back out birding again and seeing what nature has on offer.

Highlight of the day had to be seeing a flock of c.100 Redwing flying from tree to tree foraging for food. Also nice to see on my return from my birding hiatus were Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Nuthatch, Coal Tit, House Sparrow, Wren, Pied and Grey Wagtails as well as loads of friendly Robins and also seeing the Muscovy Duck still resident on the fishing pool. Needless to say it was great to see all the birds out and about foraging. The only downside of the visit was hearing that one of last years Cygnets has apparently been drowned by the Mute Swan Cob which doesn't bode well for the two remaining birds hopefully they'll fly off soon and be fine finding their own way.

Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Wren, Robin, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Redwing, Blackbird, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Muscovy Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.

Pype Hayes Park.

Nice early morning trip to a mild Pype Hayes Park that was bereft of the forecast rain and 'gale force' winds, no surprise there then.

Spot of the day was seeing a Kingfisher dash across the Plantsbrook, all too brief but very nice all the same. Coming a close second was seeing a flock of Bullfinch which held at least twenty birds, there could have been more but there was a Kestrel hovering around in the same area. There was also plenty of Redwing and Song Thrush hopping about from tree to tree, which is always nice to see. Sadly this years Mute Swan Cygnets have dropped from the original six to only three birds, on my last visit here in November one had been killed and eaten by our 'Eastern European' friends, but I didn't see any locals today so I don't know how this poor bird had met it's fate.

Birds seen were Buzzard, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Wren, Robin, Starling, Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Muscovy Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.

I also saw three trees that had been felled by the recent winds which is a shame because they looked otherwise healthy trees. I did take two large segments of a branch home, sawed them into six pieces and made a new log pile for the insects to have a new home in. 

I'd also like to wish everybody who takes the time out to read and hopefully enjoy my feathered friend musings, 'A Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year' and here's looking forward to another year's birding.

Babbs Mill Nature Reserve, Solihull.

An early morning trip to Babbs Mill Nature Reserve in Solihull yesterday, in fact I had to wait in the car before the sun even came up.

Spot of the day was on the River Cole where there are always plenty of Carrion Crow situated, as i approached this area going towards the lake when all of sudden fifty odd Carrion Crow flew to the air, the reason ? A Sparrowhawk flying across the river into a wooded area approximately four feet above the ground, the speed of the Sparrowhawk was enough to make me jump let alone the Crows. A more enjoyable spot was a seeing a flock of c.40 Siskin feasting on Alder berries, Siskin are always a pleasure to see, such a wonderful little bird. There were also up to 300 Redwing in the areas that I walked including c.100 on the school playing fields foraging on the grass which is always full of worm casts and c.100 in amongst a swathe of Rowan, Fieldfare are another bird that's always a pleasure to see, it's a pity you only see them for about six months a year but then again that makes you seeing them more pleasurable when you do. Talking of birds I love to see, there was a nice mixture of waterfowl present including the always impressive Shoveler, it's always makes me smile when I see them.

Birds seen today were Sparrowhawk, Siskin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Pied Wagtail, Redwing, Jay, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Shoveler, Gadwall, Wigeon, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Domestic Goose and Canada Goose.

Plantsbrook Nature Reserve.

First trip to Plantsbrook Nature Reserve in nine weeks and the change in the environment has been quite dramatic with all the leaves now on the ground instead of on the trees and practically all the waterside vegetation has now died back until next Spring.

There was way more activity on the water than there was in the trees apart from two small separate flocks of Goldfinch and Long Tailed Tit, in fact the most action I saw today was a noisy flock c.50 Redwing fly overhead.

Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Wren, Robin, Redwing, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck and Mallard.

I also went prepared with wood, hammer and heavy duty nails to fix the bird tables that the chavs have wrecked, hopefully the idiots will leave them alone this time, I doubt it though.

Edgbaston Reservoir.

Today was last birding trip out for this week and I rounded it off with the third visit to Edgbaston in five days, after the previous visits Canon Hill Park and Martineau Gardens it was time for a visit to Edgbaston Reservoir where even though it was nice to visit and see all the Autumnal colours it was unfortunately very quite bird wise and I only saw one Grey Squirrel which is highly unusual.

Highlight of the day was having a Robin (the same one ?) come up to me for food as I was sitting on the exact same bench having lunch as my previous visit and he even appeared from the exact same bush as the last time, needless to say he enjoyed some of my cheese as well as some bird seed that I always take everywhere with me. Like I said it was very quite bird wise, both on and off the water apart from a few mixed Tit and Finch flocks.

Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Starling, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard and Canada Goose.

Martineau Gardens, Edgabston.

Short visit to Martineau Gardens in Edgabston today which is nice little hidden away place were all the wildlife from birds, bats, hedgehogs and insects all have a safe environment away from our busy urban lives. At the moment they have plenty of bats residing in the bat boxes and there is a quality insect house and plenty of insect and bee boxes spread out through the gardens. There is also a big feeder by the coffee shop and a huge one with a metal frame that is easy for the song birds to gain access and is located in amongst the trees and bushes and is also right in front of the bird hide. The most frequent visitor to the table was Nuthatch followed by Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Dunnock.

Birds seen today were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Robin, Nuthatch, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow and Magpie.