Babbs Mill Local Nature Reserve.

It was back again to Babbs Mill this morning, where it felt more like late Autumn rather than early Spring, at least seeing juvenile birds and more leaves on the trees made it feel more like the actual time of the year.

As soon as I got out of the car there were juvenile waterfowl, namely five Canada Goose Goslings and two Mallard Ducklings, towards the end of the visit it was also nice to see five juvenile Coot who were right by the Mute Swan on the nest, who thankfully is still doing fine.

The most notable birdsong heard this morning was that of Reed Warbler who along with the Reed Bunting appear to be thriving in the large reed bed adjacent to the lake, other birdsong heard were Blackcap, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Wren, Dunnock, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Mistle Thrush.

Birds seen today were, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Mistle Thrush, Blackcap, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Parakeet, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Domestic Goose and Canada Goose.

Southfields Farm.

Another trip out today, this time to visit Southfields Farm in Coleshill, North Warwickshire, it was really overcast when I left the house but upon arrival to the farm it was lovely blue skies which was a pleasant surprise.

The farm looked and sounded great, with lots of bright colours to be seen and plenty of birdsong to be heard, the most notable song to be heard was from Skylarks, not only the loudness but also the sheer amount of locations it could be heard, let's hope they have a good breeding season, just like yesterday there were also plenty of Blackcap to be seen and heard, which is great news.

Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Skylark, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Starling, Pheasant, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Mallard.

As well as the birds the following butterflies were also seen, Orange Tip, Small White, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Babbs Mill Local Nature Reserve.

 

Lovely visit to Babbs Mill Local Nature Reserve in Solihull today where there was a riot of birdsong, most notably from Blackcap where I saw at least twelve who were 'paired up', other birds heard singing were, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush, on the lake there was a Mute Swan who is already sitting on eggs as well as least seven Coot either on the nest or in the process of nest making.

Also near the Mute Swan nest, there was a Reed Bunting darting in and out of the reeds who was presumably feeding young.

Clearly at this time of the year all the plant life is coming back into life with buds, leaves and flowers all in abundance finally kicking the dull Wintertime in touch.

Having not been to this location much for a couple of years due to anti-social behaviour etc, on the evidence of today's visit things appear to have greatly improved, so hopefully I shall be going back more.

Birds seen today were, House Sparrow, Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Green Parakeet, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Domestic Goose, Canada Goose, Coot, Moorhen, Tufted Duck and Mallard.

Sutton Park.

Nice to visit Sutton Park again today, it didn't feel very Spring like, but when does that ever matter.

It was great to hear all the bird song, especially with Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Nuthatch, Wren, Dunnock, Song and Mistle Thrush all heard in 'full song' most notably Chiffchaff and Wren who could be heard everywhere I went in the park.

As soon as I left the Banners Gate car park, I headed towards Longmoor Pool to see if there were any Mallard Ducklings about but ironically as soon as I got there two Treecreeper caught my attention, so I had to observe them first for a bit, great to watch them climbing up the trees, for the record there were no Ducklings, but there were three Coot and one Mute Swan on nests, one Coot wasn't on an ideal nest as it was right by the concrete wall, but the Mute Swan has chosen an awful nesting site which is right on the water bank where any ne'er-do-well can get near the nest and get up to no good, let's hope they remain there unharmed and successfully raise young.

The open portions of the park were on the whole very quiet, apart from Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Wren doing lots of singing and Woodpigeons and Corvids collecting plenty of nesting material.

Birds seen toady were, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Green Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Green Woodpecker, Jay, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck and Mallard.

Plantsbrook Nature Reserve.

 

Great visit to Plantsbrook Nature Reserve where it was quite evident Winter's on its way out and Spring's on its way, what with the bushes and flowers and pond life all starting to emerge back into life and even though I didn't see any evidence of the water fowl nest building I did observe Great Crested Grebe doing the 'courtship dance' and Wren, Blackbird and Blue Tit among others collecting nesting material.

Highlight of the day was an easy one today, not very often you see a mixed flock of c.50 Siskin and Lesser Redpoll, they looked truly magnificent with the backdrop of the clear blue skies, also worth noting was how noisy they were, a treat to see and hear any time you're lucky enough to do so.

As I always say, seeing any bird is a treat, so it was also great to see a very charismatic pair of Domestic Duck, a Nuthatch who actually was coincidentally seen 'among' the mixed Siskin and Lesser Redpoll flock, a rather resplendent looking Mistle Thrush who was catching the light from the sun perfectly, Parakeets who are definitely always noisy, Shoveler who always great to see even if they do always keep their distance and last but not least, Cormorants who always look great drying off their wings.

Birds seen today were, Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Nuthatch, Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Starling, Parakeet, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Domestic Duck and Canada Goose.

I must also thank the 'Friends of Plantsbrook Local Nature Reserve' who look after the park as it was basically litter free and is clearly looked after well!

Southfield's Farm.

Great visit to Southfield's Farm this morning, a bit muddy in places, but hey it is Winter.

Strangely for the time of the year it was very quiet, I was expecting to see Linnet numbering in the hundreds and I didn't see a single one, let's just hope they were in other fields to the ones I was in, apart from the 'resident' House Sparrow population, easily the bird I saw most was Chaffinch, and they did number in the hundreds, they were mainly attracted to the supplementary food John leaves for them over Winter, strangely though there were no Reed Bunting spotted in those areas which is also unusual. As always, it was good to get out about regrdless of what I did or didn't see.

Birds seen today were, Yellowhammer, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Mistle Thrush, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Mute Swan, Mallard, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Magpie.

Sutton Park.

 

Great visit to Sutton Park this morning which coincided with the first slight frost of this Autumn, which made for some great views of the vast scenery with the blue skies and sunshine.

It's always good to see any birds and wildlife that places have to offer but four spots were especially great to see today, first up was the sight of a flock of Redwing, along with many Woodpigeon, feasting on the berries from a Holly tree, it was especially nice as they are the first Redwing I've seen this Autumn, then almost straight after that I got a lovely view of a Yellow Wagtail which first landed on a bridge and then went for a forage in a brook and if those spots weren't good enough I had the pleasure of seeing a pair of Stonechat, male and female going from bush to bush looking for insects, I don't see many Stonechat so that really was a rare old treat, last was not least was seeing a small flock of Meadow Pipit looking for insects in among the moorland and ferns who flew up to a tree every time a dog appeared but soon came back down once the 'danger' had gone.

Longmoor Pool was as busy as you'd expect with three of this years Mute Swan Cygnets still hanging around, the Mallards were as cheeky as usual and the Coots were fighting as usual, I don't think they ever give it a rest, the only real surprise to see on the water was a good number of Little Grebe, they are lovely bird that you don't see nearly often enough.

Birds seen today were, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Nuthatch, Redwing, Jay, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Little Grebe, Coot, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.