Southfields Farm, Coleshill.

Great visit to Southfields Farm this morning just as the sun was rising where it was great to birds leaving their roost which included c.100 Woodpigeon and c.200 mixed Corvid.

Highlights of the day was seeing c.100 Linnet, a pair of Mute Swan who have raised six healthy looking juveniles this year, Skylark singing high in the sky as well as the usual high number of House Sparrow around the car park.

For some reason two birds I rarely see here are Magpie and Feral Pigeon, yet I saw both today, both were seen in fields were the soil has recently been turned over.

Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Skylark, Linnet, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Raven, Rook, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Mallard, Moorhen and Canada Goose.

Pype Hayes Park.

  

Great to pay Pype Hayes Park a visit this morning for the first time in a very long time.

The first thing that was very evident was how Parakeets have made their mark since my last visit, previously you wouldn't have dreamed of seeing one here whereas today, they were all around in the trees on the periphery of park and at one point .c50 flew overhead making a right racket, personally I think they make a great addition to the park and Birmingham in general, not sure the Corvids agree with me though because many a 'disagreement' was witnessed this morning. 

The pool was great sight with many birds on the water, in fact I've never seen so many Mallard so they probably had a great breeding season at this location this year, there was also five Mute Swan which included three of this years juveniles, also was great to see was a presence of a Domestic Duck, the only negative was seeing a Canada Goose with 'angel wing' which is something I always hate to see.

The adjacent river (the Plants Brook) was very quiet with only a Little Egret seen, I cut off the corner back to the park which is something I've never done before and ironically if I'd have stayed on my normal route I probably would have seen a Muntjac Deer because some of the locals had seen one there just before I would have been there, I have actually seen them before in that exact same spot, regardless of whether I saw it or not it's still good to know that they are still present at this location.

Birds seen today were, Parakeet, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Goldfinch, Wren, Robin, Dunnock, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Blackbird, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Domestic Duck, Mallard, Coot and Canada Goose.

Southfields Farm, Coleshill.

 

Much better visit to Southfields Farm this morning after yesterday's trip with the limited visibility, today there was brilliant blue skies but still a very low level covering of mist which was hardly noticeable once you were in the fields.

It was definitely worth a second trip within twenty four hours when I got to see the sheer splendour of the fields sown with wildflowers and seeds for the birds in the Autumn and Winter, the fields are absolutely huge and are rammed full of various plants and flowers which are beneficial to birds and insects, there was already a lot of bird activity in those fields this morning, it should be amazing in the Winter when visitors such as Linnet are here.

It was also great to see Yellowhammer which looked very resplendent in the sunshine, also good to see were many House Sparrow, Skylarks singing high in the sky and Buzzards hunting in the fields.

Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Yellowhammer, Skylark, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Wren, Dunnock, Wren, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Pied Wagtail and Moorhen.

Southfields Farm, Coleshill.

  

Strange visit to Southfields Farm in Coleshill this morning, even though it was great, the visiibilty was very poor due to heavy fog/mist, so on one hand it was great to 'see' the farm as I very rarely see it but on the other hand it was by far the worst bird count I have ever had there but it is what it is and it was still a great morning all the same.

The highlight of the morning was seeing (as much as I could) the massive amount of land that has been sowed for the birds in the Autumn/Winter, it was at least six fields given over especially to the birds, I also spoke to John and he is already refining how he manages the fields even more and even now is thinking of what to plant in time for Spring to attract in more insects which will in turn obviously attract more birds.

For the record birds seen today were, Buzzard, Pheasant, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Wren, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion crow and Magpie. 

Lady Bradford's, Castle Bromwich.

Nice trip to Lady Bradford's and surrounding areas in Castle Bromwich, Solihull this morning.

Highlight of the day was easy, that of seeing and certainly hearing the many Parakeet that inhabit the area, they definitely give the location an exotic feel, another highlight was having a Buzzard fly right in front of me about 12 foot away and head height, I could certainly appreciate it's impressive wingspan. other than that it was very quiet bird wise.

Autumn is fast approaching what with the leaves dropping in haste as well as turning many different colours now there job is done, also Acorn, Horse Chestnut and Sweet Chestnit were very much in evidence,  just as exciting is the emergence of more and more fungi, especially as I do love a fungi hunt, to admire and take photographs of as I never pick them.

Sadly there was also a few 'pockets' of litter which was mainly bottles, cans and takeaway rubbish, more worryingly there was a lot of discarded needles in one location, sadly there's no point in reporting it to the Council as they are just a waste of space, on the whole the site was mainly clean though.

Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Parakeet, Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow and Magpie.

Edgbaston Reservoir.

Great visit to Edgbaston Reservoir this morning where I know it's a Bank Holiday and a lot of people are off work anyway but the reservoir was very full even at 8 a.m. in the morning. 

In the trees and on the water it was very quiet which was probably partly down the breeding season all but over and the presence of boats on the water which meant most of the waterfowl that were present were on the sides of the reservoir.

There were still quite a few of this years juveniles to be seen and definitely heard,  Moorhen, Coot and a lot of Carrion Crow who have had a spectacular breeding year both in my garden and everywhere I've been on my travels.

Most surprising spot of the day was Parakeet, they are clearly making their presence felt wider and wider across Birmingham and the West Midlands, they certainly are a noisy bird, nice to see an 'exotic' bird while out walking all the same.

It's always a pleasure to see House Sparrow holding on to one of the few strongholds they have as they do here.

Surprisingly there were still House Martin present, which in it's self is not so strange but they numbered in three figures today which is great for this time of the year, on the flip side I didn't see a single Canada Goose, which can be very rarely said at a location like this with a large body of water.

Birds seen today were, Parakeet, House Sparrow, Robin, Wren, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Carrion, Crow, House Martin, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot and Mallard.

Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.

Nice walk along the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal yesterday (Monday 3rd August) from The Boat Inn at Minworth to Curdworth and back.

It was a great walk with some pleasant views, sadly it was not too great from a birding point of view but it's always nice to get out and about, especially with lovely blue skies. 

Highlight was seeing six juvenile Moorhen, which consisted of two juveniles each from three sets of parents, a good presence of House Sparrow and Starling especially where there are homes close to the canal and the farmers fields.

Birds seen today were, Buzzard, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Goldfinch, Robin, Wren, Starling, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Moorhen, Mallard and Canada Goose.

It was nice to see the farmer has left a fair sized margin in the fields to go back to nature and many wildflowers were present, the land was earmarked a few years back for development but this doesn't appear to have materialised, let's hope it stays that way.

Apart from a line of fishing wire and a few bread bags, the canal and paths were amazing mostly litter free and work of recently cleaning work was still evident and I did see a Canal and River Trust van in the area.