Pype Hayes Park and Plantsbrook Local Nature Reserve.

Two visits this morning, first off it was to Pype Hayes Park which like both locations visited this morning was very quiet both birding and people wise, pity I can't normally have the park almost all to myself, sadly the pool was a disgrace, as you can see it was a 'carpet' of green algae, why it's been left to get in this state God only knows, terrible shame to watch the waterfowl wading through those murky waters, wouldn't expect anything better from Birmingham City Council though to be honest, it was nice to see a lone Teal on the water though, as well as the resident Grey Heron and a large army of Mallard.

Around the park itself as well as the usual suspects there could be Nuthatch heard, Parakeet flying over and a lot of Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon present.

Birds seen this morning were, Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Cormorant, Parakeet, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Domestic Duck, Moorhen and Coot.

Then it was off to Plantsbrook Local Nature Reserve where the water apart from the two smaller pools were in much better condition, the main problem from a birding point of view was that you could hardly see any of the water as the trees and bushes have completely taken over, which I suppose does have the advantage though of making the water an even safer haven away from humans, ironically the tree vandals from Birmingham City Council turned up towards the end of the visit, you couldn't miss them they were the very loud, shouty sweary people, luckily there were no young children around as their language was appalling!

As was the case with Pype Hayes Park there wasn't a single Canada Goose present which was highly unusual, it was great however to see Great Crested Grebe, a pair of Domestic Duck and Cormorant, sadly no Mute Swan seen though.

Birds seen here this morning were, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Parakeet, Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Domestic Duck, Moorhen and Coot.

Shustoke Reservoir.

Great visit to Shustoke Reservoir this morning which was obviously to see the birds and wildlife but also to see how low the water levels are and it didn't 'disappoint', they were shockingly low which I suppose is no real great surpise, still amazing when you see it with your own eyes, it is currently being topped up by water from the adjacent Fly-Fishers Pool, can't see that making much of a difference but at least they are trying to do something about the situation all the same.

On the water itself that was also fairly strange, not a single Mute Swan or Canada Goose but there were a lot of (maybe over fifty in total) Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail and even Yellow Wagtail with plenty of this year's juveniles in attendance, I've never seen so many at one location, they were clearly loving the waters edge where there will still many insects in and around the algae, there are also a lot of Teasel and wildflowers just down from the grass on the edges of the reservoir of which Linnet have taking a real liking to, first time I've ever seen them venture that far away from the fields, that could possibly be though as some of them have been intensely farmed and there are clearly plenty of seeds and insects around the reservoir, good to see a fair number of Cormorant on the water as well today, above the water there were a few Swift and Swallow but the House Martin number were in their hundreds, always great to see them flying overhead, it was also good to see Lapwing and Common Sandpiper it fairly decent numbers.

Birds seen today were, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Linnet, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Lapwing, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Common Sandpiper, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Great Crested Grebe, Liitle Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck and Mallard.

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.