Shard End Lake.

 

Lovely visit to Shard End Lake this morning, great little lake this especially if there's not much litter around and I'm glad to say there was very little present there today.

It's always a real pleasure to see juvenile birds and there were sixteen Coot and three Mallard on the lake this morning, also seen were the following nests, Mute Swan (1), Coot (3) and Canada Goose (1).

The House Sparrow population here are certainly thriving as they were active by the adjacent houses as well as the trees and bushes all around the lake, hopefully the place will have plenty of juveniles very soon.

Birds seen today were, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Blackcap, Greenfinch, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.

Ward End Park.

 

Nice visit to Ward End Park this morning apart from the litter but you can probably say that wherever you go.

Obliviously it's always great to see juvenile birds and this morning it was a pleasure to see Mallard Duckling (11), Coot (3) and a Robin, also observed on the nest were Mistle Thrush (2), Mute Swan (1), Coot (1) and Canada Goose (4).

It was also great to see an Indian Runner Duck which is presumably a rescued bird, a pair of Little Grebe,  as well as various birds collecting nesting material including a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Birds seen today were, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Mistle Thrush, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Feral Pigeon, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Little Grebe, Indian Runner Duck, Mallard, Tufted Duck and Canada Goose.

Southfields Farm, Coleshill.

Great visit to Southfields Farm in Coleshill this morning which was bathed in lovely blue skies but still a bit chilly which is exactly how I like it.

Highlight of the day was seeing not one but two small flocks of Siskin who were seen on two sections of the farm where John the Farmer grows supplementary food for them, the Goldfinch also thought these area were irresistible.

Also good to see in the same areas of the farm were lots of pairs of Skylark, hunting Buzzard, singing Chiffchaff and a Hare, other parts of the farm were reasonably quite but it was still a pleasure to walk around all the same especially as I took a slightly different route to the ones I usually do.

Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Siskin, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Starling, Robin, Skylark, Mistle Thrush, Jay, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Raven, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Magpie.

Kingsbury Water Park.

 

Very strange visit to Kingsbury Water Park as when I arrived there it was snowing, then there was bout of bright sunshine, followed by more snow, then sun and finally back to snowing again, no matter what the weather it was an enjoyable visit all the same. 

Highlight of the day was seeing a pair of Egyptian Goose, not only is it the first time I've seen them here it's actually the first time I've ever seen one, sadly as soon as they saw me they went onto an island so I didn't manage to get any photos, still great to finally see one all the same, other highlights were seeing Goldcrest, Blackcap, Little Egret, House Martin who numbered in their hundreds along with Swallows.

It was good to see a whole set of new trees had been planted and even better still they have been planted using biodegradable tree guards.

Birds seen today were, Goldcrest, Blackcap, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Starling, Blackbird, Woopdigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, House Martin, Swallow, Egyptian Goose, Little Egret, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Gadwall, Coot, Greylag Goose and Canada Goose.

Also seen today were the following waterfowl on nests, Great Crested Grebe (1), Mute Swan (2) and Coot (4).

Southfields Farm, Coleshill.

 

Great to get out and do a first birding trip of 2021 now the restrictions have been eased sufficiently.

Unusually the first two highlights of the day are not even birds but those of other animals who inhabit the farm, as if seeing one Muntjac Deer wouldn't have been great enough I was lucky enough to spot a pair of them and that was just after seeing a Hare in the previous field, always great to see either of these species as I don't get to see them too often.

As has been said by me many times before, John the Farmer does a great job of (supplementary) feeding of the birds and managing and maintaining the farm and land to the benefit of the birds and wildlife, testament to this is the sheer amount of House Sparrow that inhabit his house and the surrounding buildings, they easily number in three figures and are not even scared of humans which even the ones in my garden are.

Bird wise apart from seeing and hearing all the House Sparrow highlights were the high numbers of Yellowhammer which were seen in nearly every field I walked through, Linnet, Nuthatch, Song and Mistle Thrush, lots of Chiffchaff singing away, my first House Martin of the year.

Birds seen today were, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Nuthatch, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, House Martin, Pied Wagtail, Cormorant, Mallard, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Magpie.

Church of St Peter and St Paul, Coleshill.

Birding trip with a bit of a difference today, namely that of a visit to Coleshill Parish Church (Church of St. Peter and St. Paul) in North Warwickshire and a couple of the surrounding fields.

Highlight of the morning was definitely the sighting of mixed flock of c.100 Redwing and Fieldfare who were busily foraging away in one of the adjacent fields, it was also great to see smaller mixed flocks of Tits and Finches, near the houses there was a large presence of House Sparrow as is the fact for most of Coleshill apart from the new-builds which are desolate and void of any wildlife.

In the grounds (in my opinion) too many trees have been polarded, even though it seems to have been done better than most times I have seen it done, long term I very rarely see that it's ever been beneficial to both the tree and wildlife, as is which is normally the claim, at the back of the nearby Fire Station all the bushes have now been ripped out and replaced with tree saplings, those bushes were homes to and provided cover for all types of birds including, Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock and Wren, now those birds have been left with nothing and as per usual it's just down to laziness and a cost cutting exercise because the trees can now be left and hey presto there's no work to be done on the bushes. 

Birds seen today were, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Starling, Pied Wagtail, Redwing, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw and Carrion Crow.

Pype Hayes Park.

Great visit to Pype Hayes Park this morning, I did plan to go somewhere else originally but I wanted to pay another visit here after the washout last Thursday and that decision more than paid off as I was blessed with some great early morning views of the park bathed in the low Autumn sunshine and a lovely mist just above the surface which made for some great photographic opportunities.

The park itself was awash with birds including a very impressive flock of .c50 Long Tailed Tit and that's a conservative estimate, a gorgeous Song Thrush who for some reason was singing away, obviously there was also plenty of Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin,  Blackbird and large amounts of Parakeet, the pool was much the same as previous visits with the resident Grey Heron, Shoveler, Gadwall, Domestic Duck and Mute Swan all present, then it was off to the adjacent river (the Plants Brook) where there were still pleasant surprises to be seen, first off it was notable how many Robins were to be seen along the stretch of the river I walked, they could be literally seen along the entire path I took which is always great to see, then it was great to see a pair of Bullfinch who were always just in front off me as I walked along the path, roughly in the middle of my walk along the river it was great to see my first Redwing of the year as they along with Blackbirds were feasting on the large amount of berries that there were to be found, also great to see was a Little Egret and I even saw a pair of Jackdaw foraging in the river which is not something you see everyday, the river itself is amazing clear and clean which is positive for all the wildlife that depend on it.

Birds seen today, Parakeet, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Starling, Nuthatch, Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Mute Swan, Shoveler, Gadwall, Domestic Duck, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Moorhen, Coot and Canada Goose.