Newhall Valley Country Park.

Great visit to Newhall Valley Country Park in Royal Sutton Coldfield, where it was actually quite warm, didn't stop both the neighbours having their heating on full blast when I got home, they have both had it on twenty four hours a day for over five months now but I digress, as I drew up in the car park this morning and there were Redwing foraging on the grass right in front of the car which was a nice surprise, then shortly after leaving the car park I spotted a Little Egret high up in a tree and actually managed to get under the branch to get some photos that is until a rude dog walker scared it off, I say rude as other dog walkers managed to walk by without scaring it off, there was quite a lot of birdsong to be heard with plenty of Song Thrush in particular in full voice.

Spot of the day had to be the sighting of a Goldcrest, saying that I've currently got (at least) one visiting my garden, which when I got home and was cleaning my boots was singing to me from the apple tree in my garden, as I've said before I do love to see all the birds, but it is nice to see something you don't see all the time, a bird seen more commonly of late is Parakeet which unusually wasn't seen until the very end of my visit today, last but not least it was a real pleasure to see many mixed flocks of Tit and Finch, especially as they will soon go their seperate ways when it's breeding season and food is more readily available.

Birds seen this morning were, Goldcrest, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Starling, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Parakeet, Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard and Canada Goose.

Plantsrook Local Nature Reserve.

Great visit to Plantsbrook this morning, even though it was very misty, I initially thought the weather conditions would ruin the visit, but it gave it a nice gothic feel with the odd splash of vivid colour.

It was great to see Shoveller, Goosander and Domestic Duck on the pool, shame there were no Mute Swan or Canada Geese present though, always good to see Cormorant in attendance as well, especially as they always dry their wings on the raft which is far enough away so they don't suffer and human interference.

As is anywhere in Birmingham at the moment, there were no shortage of Parakeet to be seen and heard, in fact it was nice to see plenty of birds singing, especially Song Thrush who were very vocal.

Birds seen today were, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Wren, Robin, Song Thrush, Jay, Parakeet, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Cormorant, Shoveller, Goosander, Domestic Duck, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Moorhen and Coot.

Pype Hayes Park.

Perfect morning for a spot of birding this morning, nice and crisp, frosty under foot, blue skies and that lovely low winter sun, exactly how I like it.

It was nice to see the odd small flock of Redwing who were barely visible foraging on the grass, just a shame they were frequently scared off by inconsiderate dog walkers, every time you go here it's the same, it's 'them' who 'own' the park and you're lucky that they let you visit it as well, still.

It was also great to see many Song Thrush present, especially as they were very vocal and who doesn't love to hear a Song Thrush in full song?

As was expected, there were many Parakeet situated in the Park, talking to a local they have now set up home from here right down to Sutton Park, let's just hope they don't get too invasive as to prompt Birmingham City Council to employ snipers to shoot and kill all the Ruddy Duck as they did on Witton Lakes or Sandwell Council slaughtering 220+ healthy Canada Goose, Councils do seem to love murdering birds for some reason as North Warwickshire and Solihull Council's have done the same as well.

Thankfully, there were still large parts of the pool that were still unfrozen, I always hate to see birds struggling over ice and not being to be able to forage properly around the water's edge, there were certainly plenty of Mallard (around c.70), who along with the Mute Swans, Ducks, Geese, Coots, Crows and Gulls were very appreciative of the bird seed I took for them, it certainly didn't last long.

Other than that, most birds that were seen were mixed flocks of Tits and Finches, there was a particular large flock of mixed Blue and Great Tit in the trees along the Plants Brook.

Birds seen today were, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Parakeet, Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Little Egret, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Domestic Duck, Mallard and Canda Goose.

Babbs Mill Local Nature Reserve.

Nice to visit Babbs Mill Local Nature Reserve for the first time in a while this morning, where it wasn't particularly cold but it definitely had a wintery feel, it's always great to see the trees in full bloom and colour but they also have a different kind of beauty at this time of the year with the gothic vibe when they are bare.

I didn't realise until I got there, but there is a run around the lake on a Saturday morning, which has the unfortunate side effect of all the extra activity not being conducive to the birds and wildlife, don't get me wrong though I'm not complaining about the runners as they were doing what they want to do and is actually beneficial to them, it was just a bit regrettable that it put paid to seeing any birds such as Redwing and Fieldfare foraging on the large expanses of grassy areas, on the plus side it did mean that most dog walkers actually had their dogs on a lead for a change.

I had a little venture into the Yorks Wood to leave some windfall apples for the Blackbirds and Thrushes etc, in the woods there were at least three Great Spotted Woodpecker, all pecking away looking for hidden insects or maybe checking out potential nesting sites, there was also a lovely mixed flock of Blue Tit, Great Tit and Long Tailed Tit with the latter being the largest in number, obviously there was also good amount of Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock and Wren seen foraging around on the floor, in the trees there was more than one Song Thrush in full song, which was a pleasure to hear.

The lake didn't have hardly any winter visitors which was a shame, in fact the only bird out of the ordinary was Wigeon, they were still great to see all the time, at least for the birds that were there most of the lake was unfrozen for them.

Birds seen this morning were, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Parakeet, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coot, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Domestic Goose and Canada Goose.

Southfields Farm, Coleshill.

Great visit to Southfield's Farm this morning where it was very frosty underfoot and hardly a cloud in the sky with a very bright winter sun to round things off.

After predicting it would be a birdwatching fest for most of the visit there was hardly a bird to be seen or heard which just shows what I know, thankfully there was still plenty to see at the beginning and ending of the proceedings, of course it was great to walk around the farm all the same.

The best was definitely saved to last as in the last field there was a good number of mixed Redwing and Fieldfare with strangely there was actually more Fieldfare than Redwing, hard to tell their number as I was looking into the sun, but it was around seventy five, it was nice to see many flocks of mixed Tit and Finch, also there was a good number of Blackbird and Robin to be seen, including the very friendly Robin you can see above.

Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Grey Heron, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Starling, Redwing, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Magpie.

 

Southfields Farm, Coleshill.

Great visit to Southfields Farm in Coleshill this morning where the ground was lovely and frosty, gorgeous blue skies and the sun was just coming up upon my arrival which made for some excellent scenery and photographic opportunities.

I sadly didn't see any Yellowhammer which was a shame because I expected to do, but I did see c.200 Linnet, (two flocks or the same one twice) of c.50 Redwing and last but not least Fieldfare.

Overall, it was actually quite quiet, but it was obviously nice to get out regardless, it probably hasn't been cold enough for a long period yet for a huge amount of winter visitors yet, I was quite surprised to see so many Linnet, but they've clearly remembered from previous years that there's always food grown for them on three sizeable sections on the farm.

Birds spotted today were, Linnet, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Robin, Redwing, Fieldfare, Jay, Blackbird, Starling, Pheasant, Woodpigeon, Raven, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Moorhen and Mallard.

Shustoke Reservoir.

Great visit to Shustoke Reservoir today, where it was actually nice for it to be windy, overcast and dull, partly because all the Autumnal colours really stood out, and it's also nice to embrace this time of the year rather than sitting in the house all day constantly scrolling down your phone with the heating on full blast like my neighbours.

Song bird wise it was very quiet with not many seen at all, the wind didn't probably help as it was hard to hear the birds as there was a lot of noise 'coming off' the water, around the water's edge there were good numbers of Goldfinch and Linnet feeding as well as a fair few Pied and Grey Wagtail, there was also c.50 Lapwing who always seem to settle by the Shustoke Sailing Club probably because there's minimal human and arrogant and selfish dog walkers, as per usual there was plenty of the latter who despite all the signs saying dogs must be kept on a lead and under control at all times still let their dogs run riot, also as per usual any of them that said morning to me got the cold shoulder, I don't like being ignorant, but I have no time for these people. 

On the reservoir there was obviously all the water fowl you'd expect to see but also with the nice additions of Pochard and Gadwall.

In the farmer's fields there were huge numbers of Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon and Black-Headed Gull, it was also brilliant to see my first Redwing of the year plus a nice little flock of Starling, it's actually a real pleasure to see these magnificent birds in their natural habitat and not in some shopping centre seeing them scrabbling around for food people have dropped, it's obviously always nice to see Starlings, but I'm sure you know what I mean.

Being as it's Autumn, you're clearly going to see many wonderful colours as the leaves die and drop off, but it's also the best time to see lots of wonderful Fungi, even though there was plenty around to find, it was especially exciting to find slime mould, with some great examples of Dog Vomit and Salmon Coloured Slime Mould to be found, don't know why, but I always find it quite exciting to find some.

Birds seen today were, House Sparrow, Linnet, Goldfinch, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Redwing, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Starling, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Lapwing, Cormorant, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Mute Swan, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.