Witton Lakes.
First off today it was a trip to Witton Lakes which ironically located in Erdington and not Witton for a walk around the two medium sized lakes. Highlight of the day had to be seeing five Ruddy Duck, I say highlight because there are now less than one hundred of them apparently left in this country and they'll be gone soon thanks to the government led cull, it's so far cost over £5million to kill around 6,500 of them, that's money well spent then. I actually didn't see a single song bird here at all even though I did here a Robin and some Goldfinch. But what did make up for a lack of song bird activity was a nice mixture of water fowl including around 30 Mute Swan. I also found two dead Carrion Crow here that had been shot by some arse hole, there are always a lot of Corvids at this site, but that doesn't make it right though.
Birds seen at Witton Lakes were Ruddy Duck, Shoveler, Wigeon, Pochard, Gadwall, Little Grebe, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Canada Goose, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon.
Then it was off to the nearby Brookvale Park which is fed water from Witton Lakes.
Brookvale Park.
So then it was a walk around Brookvale Park which is apparently exactly one mile all the way around where the highlight of the day was a no brainer, a pair of Goldrest, firstly because they a great little bird and I do mean little and secondly it's only the second time I've seen them in Birmingham. I first saw them hopping about near the top of a Willow tree and I thought they were a couple of Wrens but it did seem to high for Wrens being as they're normally seen in bushes on the ground, so upon closer inspection they were indeed a couple of Goldcrest, you can't beat that rush of excitement when you see that yellow stripe on top of there head and then that's it you've just got to follow them everywhere they go. Also worth mentioning is that there were over thirty Cormorant here, which is quite a lot for a medium sized lake, hopefully they'll be left alone and not get persecuted. On Swan Island there were also three Grey Heron including one of this years juveniles, which was half the size of the two adults. It was nice to see four Domestic/Greylag hybrid Goose, which I've never seen at this location before. If you've read this blog before you'll already know I've got an affection for the humble House Sparrow, so it was pleasing to see many here in two separate groups around the lake. Brookvale Park was also the place where the song birds were hiding as you'll see by my following list.
Birds seen at Brookvale Park were Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Robin, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, Pekin Duck, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Coot, Canada Goose and Domestic/Greylag hybrid.
Here are some links relating to today's musings.
Ruddy Duck extermination (this article is from March 2012)
Ruddy Duck.
Goldcrest.
US Rockers 'Wheatus' at Brookvale Park.
Another trip over to a slightly frosty Castle Bromwich. There was lovely blue skies everywhere but with large parts of Lady Bradford's being open grassland the sun wasn't helping any efforts on the birding front, it was still nice to see the sun thawing the frost of the bramble leaves creating an almost eerie mist.
Highlight of the day was seeing a large and very resplendent Mistle Thrush, it was sitting in the tree like it was king of the castle. There was also plenty of Goldfinch in attendance taking advantage of the thousands of Teasels that adorn this area. Every time I visit Castle Bromwich lately I always see at least one Nuthatch, which I hope continues right through the Winter. There was also many Blackbirds about today, so they hopefully had a good breeding season here. I also saw a Grey Heron fly overhead.
Birds seen today were Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Nuthatch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Robin, Starling, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon and Grey Heron.
I also had a walk around St. Mary and St. Margaret church grounds and the kirk yard, in said grave yard there are quite a few graves from pilots from both World Wars including that of Edwin Tufnell Hayne who was a genuine war hero who was awarded the DSC (Distinguished Service Cross) and the DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross). He actually survived the war but died a few months after the First World War ended aged 25, ironically crashing a plane he was attempting to land.
Click on any of the following links below for information related to the above article.
Edwin Tufnell Hayne.
Edwin Tufnell Hayne.
DSC (Distinguished Service Cross).
DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross).
Unfortunately today was a fairly uneventful trip to Ward End Park being as literally the moment we arrived there it started raining which steadily got heavier and heavier until after walking around the lake and a brusk walk around the park the rain did eventually stop play.
Birds I did actually see were Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Starling, Robin, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Moorhen, Coot, and Canada Goose.
The Great Spotted Woodpecker seen was hard to miss being as it came in overhead making a right racket. In the park it was great to see double figures of Pied Wagtail on the grass in amongst over fifty plus Canada Goose, there was also plenty of Starlings about, strangely enough though I didn't see any Redwing or what would have been my first Fieldfare of the year, this being a large park it's another one of their favourite Birmingham haunts.
The Slovenian Grebe seen at Shustoke Reservoir on Tuesday was a case of being in the right place at the right time, because it was the first ever recorded incident of one being there and if anyone is in the area and wants to see this wonderful little bird, it's still there at the moment.
Highlight of the day today is straight forward being as I've never seen one before and they are normally only seen in Scotland, it was the Slavonian Grebe as seen in the top picture, I'd actually seen it earlier in the day and the only thing then for certain was that I couldn't identify it but then towards the end of the visit twitchers were coming from everywhere to see the 'Slavonian Grebe.' I consider myself to be a birder and not a twitcher because I like to see any bird when I'm out and not just the 'special' birds like some people you speak too. Anyway back to the Slavonian Grebe, it was great to see it going underwater for fish with which it was successful most times, it was just a pity it was in it's winter plumage because it looks even more stunning in it's breeding plumage. Unfortunately I didn't see the Red Breasted Merganser that I mentioned on my previous post but apparently it was only at Shustoke for one day only.
I also saw a flock of thirty odd Redwing flying over the fields, also notable by their presence in large numbers were fifty plus Little Grebe and Pied Wagtails all around the Reservoir, it's also been a while since I've seen any Pochard, so it was nice to see them make a welcome return. When we arrived at about 8:30, there was plenty activity in around the car park, with many Tits, Finches and Blackbirds flitting all over the place.
Birds seen today were, Kestrel, Buzzard, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Pied Wagtail, Pheasant (Cock), Mute Swan, Cormorant, Slavonian Grebe, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.
For a change today we had a walk around the reservoir, then had a walk to the nearby village where 'The Plough Inn' is, which is a public house that's been there since the 1790's, then headed back and had another walk around the reservoir which must have been about a six mile walk.
As you can see by the above photo, my garden birds are not going to go hungry for the rest of Autumn and Winter, there are 5 20kg bags of premium wild bird seed there to go with the mealworms, sunflower hearts, suet blocks, suet pellets, peanuts, apples, sultanas and raisins etc.
Quick trip over to Castle Bromwich for a spot of birding and forage about in the undergrowth.
Birds spotted were Nuthatch (a pair at least), Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, House Sparrow, Robin, Starling, Jay, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon.
It was nice to see plenty of Jays still collecting their stash for the Winter, equally as pleasing was seeing what must have been at least fifty Song Thrush flying in and around the trees in the grounds of St. Mary and St, Margaret church, in fact their is probably too many for such a small place, what with them chasing and screeching at each other and the Blackbirds. I've not seen so many birds as I saw in the trees of the grounds of the church and kirkyard, they were a hive of activity with a lot of today's count seen in and around the church.
That's it for today, weather permitting I'm off to sample the Autumn goodness of Shustoke Reservoir where I'll hopefully see the Red Breasted Merganser which is reported to be there, even if I don't I dare say a good days birding and sifting through the undergrowth will be had.
Definitely the coldest morning for a while, on our trip to Plantsbrook, some of us had our coat open all day though and no need for gloves.
Highlight of the day is easy today, not only my first Redwing of the Autumn but two separate flocks of 100+, what a great sight they were appearing over the trees that flank the first pool and heading to the left where Pype Hayes Park is located, so presumably they were heading there especially being as it's always one of their favourite haunts. There were also plenty of song birds when we first arrived there including a large flock of Long Tailed Tits which we followed (or they followed us?) around today.
Birds seen today were, Kestrel, Redwing, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Grey Wagtail, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck and Mallard.
I didn't see much Funghi but then again the floor was covered with fallen leaves and what with it being windy, leaves were dropping to the from the trees all day.
