Always nice to visit somewhere new especially when it turns out to be a very good decision as was today's first visit to Whitacre Hall and Farm in Nether Whitacre, Warwickshire.
There are two great areas of established woodland which hold an impressive amount of trees and two large swathes of bluebells as well as two separate areas of honey bee hives, at the moment there is also a building in the farm with plenty of holes where there are hundreds of Red Mason Bee as well as another larger and darker bee, sadly I'm not a bee expert so I couldn't tell you what they were.
Highlight of the day was seeing a majestic Muntjac Deer crossing from one piece of the woodland to another, unfortunately I was too slow to get a photograph.
There were no shortage of Buzzards above the fields hunting as was the case on my journey there and back from the farm, it was obviously great to see Skylark, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and my first Willow Warbler of the year.
Sadly I didn't see or hear a single House Sparrow which could have been because there were no intensively bred cows or pigs, even though there is a 'wild bird cover' corridor, there are no wildflower meadows or fields which grow seed for the birds in the autumn and winter which may have been why there was not a sighting of any Yellowhammer.
Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Skylark, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Domestic Goose, Moorhen, Coot and Mallard, also on the farm there were Muscovy Duck, Domestic Duck, Chicken, and Peacock.
Whitacre Hall and Farm has a few open days in April and May, including tomorrow - Sunday 22nd April, as well as Open Farm Sunday on Sunday 10th June, there are two very well sign posted walks you can undertake, one of about 45 minutes and other of approximately ninety minutes, clearly I went on the longer walk especially as that consisted of the two woodland walks, when you've finished you can have a nice cup of tea or coffee and a slice of cake, all details can be found on their Facebook page. Whitcare Hall Facebook page.
Great visit to Kingsbury Water Park today where there was of course plenty of birdsong to be heard which including many Chiffchaff which is always good to hear.
I'm not one of those people that always have to see this or that bird when I'm out birding to make it worthwhile but it was especially nice to see Lesser Redpoll, Treecreeper, Blackcap (two males), Collared Dove as well as seeing a pair of Great Crested Grebe and Dunnock mating.
Birds seen today were, Lesser Redpoll, Treecreeper, Blackcap (male), Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Starling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Woopdpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose and the following birds on the nest, Great Crested Grebe (1), Coot (5) and Canada Goose (4).
Gripes from today are the usual ones, litter, dogs not on the lead, even though there are many signs requesting people to do so and one of the smaller pools has had every single tree felled, it now looks like a crappy barren mess where birds won't go now as there are no trees, bushes or vegetation, well done to the person behind that masterstroke of an idea.
Every time I state my future plans on here something crops up, be it bad weather or something else, all I say is that I'll hopefully make at least one more birding trip out this week.
The snow last week and other events this week have meant I didn't make my planned trip to Middleton Lakes but rest assured I will get there soon but all the same it was great to visit Southfields Farm in Coleshill.
As per usual you don't even have to get out of the car to hear the cacophony of noise coming from the House Sparrows, it really is wonderful to see and hear them literally everywhere you look in the 'car park', talking of singing birds it was great to hear Dunnocks in full song all morning long as was the aural delight of hearing Skylark singing in every single field I passed through.
On the tracks where there is seed left for the birds in the winter there was a mixture of the following birds, Yellowhammer (I will never get bored of seeing these wonderful little birds), Linnet, Reed Bunting, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon and Magpie.
I was expecting to see loads of Redwing and Fieldfare but apart from Blackbirds I didn't see a single Thrush, I also expected to see hundreds of Linnet but even though they were present they were in much smaller numbers, still great to see them all the same.
Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Skylark, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Starling, Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron (fishing in a 'pool' in one of the fields), Collared Dove, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Magpie.
As you can see from the above notice there is work being done in the fields that are adjacent to the River Blyhe to improve the water quality, fish migration and remove non native vegetation among other factors and when the work was being done on one of the days it was snowing approximately 300 Lapwing 'appeared from nowhere' to feed on the disturbed land of which John (the farmer) has some great photos, unfortunately they have now gone but hopefully they will return to breed especially has John has made provisions to encourage them to do so.
I thought I would upload some photos from the farm being as John was good enough to invite me onto the premises to have a look around, I'm so glad I'm a vegetarian especially as I saw these wonderful animals close up.
I've never visited Middleton Lakes without going down to the lakes before but as you can see from the above photos there was a very good reason for that and that was because there was a bird ringing event done not far from the car park organised by Tame Valley Wetlands and run by the British Trust For Ornithology , even though this event was free, future events will probably come with a small charge, judging by today it will be worth every penny anyway.
Even though it was a pleasure and honour to see so many birds (100+) so close up, the Redwing was still the highlight of the morning, what a truly magnificent bird with amazing colours, saying that all the colours close up were stunning, the other birds caught and rung were, Blue Tit (which was by far the most bird trapped), Great Tit, Coal Tit, Goldfinch and Dunnock, for anyone that thinks Dunnocks are 'little brown jobs', they have clearly not seen them this close up, as like House Sparrows, if you take the time out to look at them properly they are as stunning as any other bird we have in this country.
There was too much information garnered this morning to impart on this blog, so if there's ever another event like today's near you then I implore you to attend because you will learn so much and you will thoroughly enjoy it.
Aside from the 'ringing' birds seen today were, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Kestrel, Nuthatch, Siskin, Common Redpoll, Reed Bunting, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Starling, Redwing, Fieldfare, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Raven, Rook, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard and Canada Goose, not a bad list being as I barely left the car park.
There are approximately thirty pairs of Grey Heron already on the nest in the roosts near to the car park which is great news, the Siskin and Common Redpoll were in fairly large flocks of the respective birds, on the road on the way into the car park there was a tree which held c.100 birds, mainly Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling, which was an amazing sight, this was just a small portion of the tree showing Redwing and Fieldfare on the left and Starling on the right.
In my back garden I currently have 70+ House Sparrow visiting every day which is more than even I usually get, so possibly some have been displaced from another location or maybe they are newer birds have just recently found a new food source, unfortunately - or fortunately - depending on your point of view this has also meant the return of the Sparrowhawk(s), it has been making a visit at least once a week but I haven't seen it catch anything yet, just a few near misses, I also have good numbers of Blue Tit, Great Tit, Starling, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon (who are welcome in my garden by the way), as well as Goldcrest, Blackcap, Long Tailed Tit, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Magpie, who are all being well fed and being provided with clean and fresh water to drink and bathe in everyday.
Today's visit to Middleton Lakes has whetted my appetite for a 'proper' visit, so all being well expect a blog from me from that location next week, which this time will include a full report on the waterfowl and waders.
Nice walk around Rookery Park this morning, a great little location this with many varieties of trees but it's sadly blighted by anti social behaviour including arson and litter of which there was plenty of the latter especially beer and pop cans.
Birds seen today were, Nuthatch, Wren, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redwing, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow and Magpie.
There were Nuthatch in most locations in the park, it's only a small site but that's still quite impressive, there are also Treecreeper and Goldcrest always present but I didn't happen to spot any today, it was a pleasure to see a small flock of Redwing who upon my arrival were in the trees but as I left they were all foraging on the grass, I didn't actually see any House Sparrows but you could hear their unmistakable chirping coming from the bushes that back onto the houses.
It's always nice to see the buds emerging on the trees at this time of the year as is the arrival of daffodils and crocuses.
Finally I have to sadly report that a deceased Fox was found in the park this morning by a member of the public.
Great visit to Shustoke Reservoir where it was lovely, crisp and cold with lush bright blue skies which in my opinion is proper winter weather.
I thought the day was doomed before it had even started when shortly after taking photos of the above robin in the car park I dropped my camera on the floor, worrying it hit the floor with such a thud that the memory card popped out of it's slot, strangely there appears to have been no damage sustained, which is quite amazing considering the sound it made when it hit the deck.
Today was one of the days when there's a mixture of both good and bad news to report and they are both from exactly the same location which is the area just to the right of the Fly Fisher's Pool as you enter from the direction of the reservoir, first the good news, this area has a great mixture of trees which attract a wide variety of birds, in this small area alone all of the following birds were spotted this morning, a flock of Siskin, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow and Jackdaw, the bad news is that the River Bourne is going to be re-routed through this exact area to aid the fish which sounds great until you realise that this now means destruction of many of the trees and the immediate habitat, sadly none of the trees have 'Tree Preservation Order's,' even the trees the surveyors were marking the 'important trees' that will try to be saved will probably go, a lot of the trees that are now earmarked for felling are alder and ash which I pointed out were very important to feed the birds through the autumn and winter, sadly it fell on deaf ears, don't get me wrong, they are only doing their job but they were very unsympathetic to the habitat loss and knock on effect it will have for the birds and wildlife let alone the loss of yet more well established trees, as if that wasn't bad enough as I was told a lot of the trees 'will have to go' anyway because of getting the plant and machinery in and out of the location, as per usual I can't see this ending well for the wildlife, the work is due to take place in the next 1-2 years so if want to raise your objections/concerns then you have to contact Severn Trent Water who operate and 'maintain' the reservoir and the land, this project is totally down to them and not the fly-fishers.
It was a bit quiet on the water fowl front but at least the birds present were enjoying the sunshine and it was especially nice to see Teal, Pochard, Great Crested Grebe and Little Grebe as well as Mute Swan which you don't always see at this location.
Birds seen today were, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Siskin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Starling, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Pied Wagtail, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Coot, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.
When I was at the reservoir, in Coleshill and even in my back garden I've noticed House Sparrows checking out prospective or maybe even previous nesting sites, let's hope they raise as many young as they can as there's one thing for sure, you can never have too many House Sparrow's !
Regular readers of this blog probably thought I'd gone away but fear not I'm back again for my first post of 2018, hopefully there will be many more to come as well.
I thought it was only right and proper to start this birding year as I'd finished the last one, namely that of a visit to Southfields Farm in Coleshill to see all the good work that John does attracting and looking after the wild birds on his farm.
It was nice to see plenty of flocks of birds in good numbers, there were c.200 Linnet, c.200 Redwing, c.100 Starling and c.50 Woodpigeon, the Redwing and Starling flocks were in a field that backs onto houses where there is a lone tree, in that tree there was a very impressive looking Buzzard which kept flying down to the flocks of birds but strangely they moved just a few feet from wherever the Buzzard landed, clearly there was a rich food source that they didn't want to give up, also in among the Redwing and Starling there were Fieldfare but only about twenty or so, the Linnet were in one of the fields where the wild bird seed is sown, there was probably many more but they were flying to a tree and back to the floor again and the Woodpigeon were on a path which I rudely interrupted them from feeding from when I turned around the corner, they all flew into two nearby adjacent trees which made them slightly easier to count.
It goes without saying but there were hundreds of House Sparrow close to the outbuildings, they are always a treat to see and hear, in the tracks where John puts the seed down over the winter there were the usual delights which included, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Collared Dove and a large amount of Blackbirds.
Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Starling, Collared Dove, Redwing, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie and Pheasant (cock).
Hopefully you enjoyed reading this blog and all being well there will plenty more to come this year.
