Lady Bradfords, Castle Bromwich.

A small walk around Lady Bradfords grounds and St Mary and St Margaret church and churchyard, mainly a litter picking up session with a bit of bird spotting thrown in. Notable bird species spotted were Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit as well as Mallard and Cormorant flying overhead. In Castle Bromwich kirkyard there's plenty of headstones reminiscent of Birmingham's and the worlds greatest Heavy Metal band of all time, the mighty 'Black Sabbath.' War Pigs is just as relevant today about Tony Bl***s illegal wars as it was when Sabs wrote it about the horrors of the Vietnam war at least I didn't see any 'Children From The Grave' although I have seen I few 'Rat Salads' over there in the past.

Babbs Mill Nature Reserve, Kingshurst.

Great weather for birdspotting and walikng today, even though a lot of the song birds appeared to be in hiding today, and there's a lot more leaf cover this time of the year. Notable birds spotted were Chiffchaff, Tree Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Great Crested Grebe (including one on a nest) Moorhen, Grey Heron, Tufted Duck and Moorhen, also saw a couple of cheeky Grey Squirrels. No sign of the Red Kite though that is nesting at a site in nearby Marston Green and has been seen recently at Babbs Mill by some of the locals. Babbs Mills is currently undergoing a bit of a redevelopment with a brand new picnic area (which is all very well as long as the chavs don't leave their litter behind, even though there's no hope of that judging by what I picked up today) they are also putting in recycled plastic fishing pegs similar to these britishrecycledproducts.co.uk There are currently about 10 pegs (all in use today) with more planned if these ones are not vandalised, yet again no hope of that ! Pity we can't have a chav cull.

Lady Bradfords, Castle Bromwich.

Another trip to Castle Bromwich today for a walk around. Notable bird species spotted today were Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Song Thrush, Kestrel, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin and Starling. I also found a Woodpecker feather, hard to tell if it's from a Great or Lesser Spotted, still nice to find one though. Spotted my first ever Goldfinch in the back garden yesterday, which was nice, other species seen yeterday were Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Blackbird, Dunnock, Tree Sparrow, Robin, Starling, Carrion Crow, Song Thrush, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon.

Shustoke Reservoir.

Another good day birdwatching and wildlife observing at a sunny Shustoke Reservoir. It was nice to see my first Swallows and House Martins of the year darting over the reservoir searching for insects. Notable birds spotted today were Swallow, House Martin, Nuthatch, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Buzzard, Grey Partridge, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Grey Heron, Cormorant and 6 Mute Swan and 2 fully grown Cygnets. The people from Exe Valley Fishery were back again today, restocking the Shustoke Fly Fishing Pool with 500 Rainbow Trout. Also spotted today were Sheep, Lamb, Rabbit and a Stoat.

Pype Hayes Park and Plantsbrook Nature Reserve.

Best day weather wise of the year so far, nice to be out in summer clothes and not wrapped up in your comedy gloves etc... It was Blackcap City today (Police Squad reference there ala Tuba City from The Butler Did It, R.I.P. Leslie Nielsen) being as everywhere I went today I saw Blackcaps (males.) Notable birds spotted at Pype Hayes were Blackcap, (a pair of) Nuthatch, Chiffchaff, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Dunnock, Starling, Grey Heron and Tufted Duck. Notable birds seen at Plantsbrook were Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Robin, Buzzard, Grey Heron, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Moorhen and a pair of Mute Swan. It was also nice to see lot's of water fowl on nests including Great Crested Grebes, Mute Swans, Coots and Canada Geese, I counted al least ten nests with birds on them.