Southfields Farm, Coleshill.

Great visit as always to Southfields Farm in Coleshill, North Warwickshire this morning, where the weather was just about perfect.

First off, I must mention how spectacular the two wildflower meadows are looking at the moment, they must be almost every wildflower imaginary present which makes for a wonderful riot of colour, they were literally buzzing with huge amounts of butterflies and insects which was great to see.

As I have said many times before, the sheer amount of House Sparrow you see on the farm is truly spectacular, hard to put a number on how many there are, but they are definitely in the 'hundreds' especially with this year's juveniles.

In the fields there were obviously Skylark, Yellowhammer, Blackcap and Chiffchaff as well as all the other birds you'd expect to see and hear on a farm managed with birds and the wildlife being a high priority.

Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Kestrel, Skylark, Yellowhammer, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Swift, House Martin, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Mallard. 

Due to many unsavoury visitors and incidents ever since Covid, public parking on site is now not permitted without a permit, you have been warned!

Newhall Valley Country Park and Mill.

 

Nice trip out this morning to Sutton Coldfield to first have a walk around Newhall Valley Country Park and then on to visit Newhall Mill for their first open day in three years.

It was great to see and hear so many Sedge Warbler in the park, which is probably down to the fact that the land isn't 'managed' and is in the large part left natural, who'd have thought that would have been a winner? It was also great to hear more than one Great Spotted Woodpecker as was the case with Nuthatch, which is probably yet again down to the fact that the land is left alone, and these birds can thrive on old and/or fallen trees, I sadly didn't see any waterfowl along the river even though I did see a Grey Heron and Grey Wagtail.

Birds seen today were, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Nuthatch, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Swift, House Martin, Grey Wagtail and Grey Heron.

Juvenile birds seen were, Blue Tit, Robin and Dunnock.

Edgbaston Reservoir.

Lovely visit to Edgbaston Reservoir even though it was mainly overcast throughout and the sun only decided to come out after I'd left, great to go there again for the first time in ages.

The only juvenile waterfowl seen were those of Coots, but saying that thirty nine were counted in total, as well as seeing at least a dozen nesting Coot, I actually lost count in the end, I made the schoolboy error of not making a written record, other juveniles seen were Wren, Blue Tit and Starling.

For the main part there wasn't much litter which was a pleasant surprise even though there were too many dog owners letting their dogs run riot, including into the water very close to birds on the nest, thoughtless people!

Birds seen today were, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Starling, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Mallard and Canada Goose.

Shustoke Reservoir.

Great visit to Shustoke Reservoir this morning, where a lot of my visit didn't actually consist of the reservoir itself, but the surrounding areas, I decided to deviate from the water early on and instead headed to the large fields in the direction of Whitacre Waterworks Pumping Station, and I'm so glad I did as one of the very large fields which has been left barren for as long as I can remember, and it looked absolutely superb with many fairly well established trees which were not evident at all on my last visit to that area a couple of years ago, there were also plenty of bushes and wildflowers, in that area I saw Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat and Blackcap of which the Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat who were also very vocal I didn't see or hear in any other location this morning which made visiting that area worth it for that alone.

On the reservoir it was amazingly quiet with not many waterfowl in evidence at all, all the same it was great to see a Grey Heron and the following juveniles, Canada Goose (4) and a lone Mallard Duckling, other juveniles spotted today were, Grey Wagtail, Long Tailed Tit and Robin, above the water it was a pleasure to see House Martin, even if their number was only small.

Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Blue Tot, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Starling, Pheasant, Collared Dove, Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Jackdaw, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Grey Heron, Canada Goose, Great Crested Grebe, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Mallard.

Obviously, it was also great to see all the trees, bushes and flowers finally coming into full bloom, which also has the added bonus of not only looking great but also gives the birds and other wildlife plenty of cover,

Shard End Lake.

Lovely visit to Shard End Lake this morning, where it was great to see all the juvenile birds, c.18 Coot, c.4 Moorhen and c.5 Canada Goose, as well as seeing various Coot still on the nest there was also a nesting Mute Swan in on the islands.

As per other visits here, there is still a very strong House Sparrow population, which is obviously helped with many homes adjacent to the lake, always great to hear them chirping away, the only surprising thing was the complete lack of Parakeet, they must have all been foraging at another location, again as usual there was the very large Carrion Crow numbers, at least they were content foraging on the grass and not going anywhere near the lake and the juvenile waterfowl.

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

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.