Thursday November 13 - Umberslade Park

 I'm starting to run out of square kilometres within the Circle which I haven't visited. But today I picked a new one, being the area towards the west end of Umberslade Park. The downside of this area is that it's a shooting estate with plenty of signs making it clear wanderers would not be welcome. 

I was therefore restricted to a single track which runs bullet straight from the entrance to Umberslade House to Tanworth-in-Arden. The bit I was interested in fell about half way between the two ends.

I like to try target a species within my self-imposed boundary, and it occurred to me that the area might contain Linnets and that I wouldn't be a million miles away from Earlswood, where I had narrowly missed a pair of Twite last month.

Well I managed to find some Linnets, a flock of 43 in fact. However, they were in the middle of an enormous field with only Skylarks for company. I could count them when they flew, but even if I'd been brave and had strode into the middle of the completely off limits field, I couldn't see any other outcome than that they would just fly off to another distant field. Ideally you want Linnets to perch up in a tree so that you can look through them properly.

The only other noteworthy bird, and they are getting less worthy of comment every year, was a Red Kite. 

I did like the fact that it was an adult with a fox red tail, and also that it was photo-bombed by a passing Woodpigeon as I pressed the shutter.

Tuesday November 11 - Shortwood Roughs

 Today I walked along a canal in an area of woodland north-west of Redditch known as Shortwood Roughs. I'm fairly familiar with the area from decades ago when I used to do a BTO Common Bird Census there. Things were very different in those days.

The small area I concentrated on this morning contained just the expected parties of woodland Tits etc, some Redwings, and a few Siskins. At least the autumnal colours were nice.

In fact I saw nothing to top the three Blackcaps which turned up in our garden yesterday. These birds will probably have come from central Europe to winter here, and a November arrival is typical.

The images would probably have been sharper if I hadn't taken them through our kitchen window. It's obviously time I cleaned it.

Sunday November 9 - Morton Bagot

 The morning started on a bit of a bum note. Dave and I discussed the mystery warbler we had heard last week and which I had recorded the following day, and I agreed that I was no longer happy to call it a calling Cetti's Warbler. Unfortunately we also couldn't bring ourselves to identify it as anything at all, except that we were certain it was neither a sylvia warbler such as Blackcap, nor a Wren. It'll have to remain a mystery.

Ironically, a Blackcap was calling from a hedge near where I'd parked, and Tony K later caught three of them. Pretty unusual for November here.

Shortly after we left Tony catching yet more Redpolls, a young guy appeared and admitted to being a regular reader of this blog. Thankfully, he liked it. His name was Derry and he was keen to play us a recording made on his phone here at Morton Bagot in September. He believed it to be a purring Turtle Dove, and it certainly sounded like one. A singing Turtle Dove at Morton Bagot in September? I tried to think of an alternative, and rather lamely came up with the fact that Pheasants can make some odd noises. Unfortunately Derry had only heard the possible Turtle Dove that day, although he had also not seen a Pheasant. 

Birding is as much about hearing birds as seeing them, but it can be a frustrating business.

Derry joined us for a while, but had to decline our offer for him to continue with us for the rest of the morning. This was a pity because about half an hour later the sight of panicking corvids got Dave onto a Goshawk. I managed to see it, probably the adult female we saw last week, just before it disappeared into Bannams. Sorry Derry.

Unfortunately we saw no geese all morning, but the flash field did offer up 10 Wigeon, 55 Teal, 20 Lapwings, and a Snipe.

It's a bit sad really that the wintering Lapwing flock can no longer reach close to a hundred birds we were used to seeing here ten years ago.

Other birds recorded today including a male Stonechat, a Marsh Tit, and a decent flock of winter thrushes. Dave flushed a Jack Snipe which unusually flew off into the distance to the extent that I didn't even see it.

Finally, Tony had had a reasonable morning, showing us a photo of a female Sparrowhawk he had caught earlier.

Female Sparrowhawk - T Kelly

Over the last three days the ringing team caught an impressive 233 birds including seven Blackcaps. 

This is an amalgamation of their results for the last three days:

Sparrowhawk - 2 (an imm male and an ad female)

Blue Tit  - 106 (56) - One of the retrapped Blue Tits had originally been ringed in 2019

Great Tit - 13 (9)

Long-tailed Tit - 2

Blackcap - 7

Goldcrest - 1

Wren - 5 (2)

Redwing - 1

Song Thrush - 1

Dunnock - 4 (2)

Meadow Pipit - 5

Greenfinch - 11

Lesser Redpoll - 57

Goldfinch - 18 (1)

Looking slightly further back, they've had the results of three controlled Lesser Redpolls as follows:

Ringed Cannock Chase, Staffs 8/9/25 controlled Morton Bagot 24/10/25

Ringed Smallfield, S Yorks 12/10/25 controlled Morton Bagot 25/10/25

Ringed Stonehaugh, Northumbria 19/10/24 controlled Morton Bagot 26/10/25

So all three were ringed and controlled on passage southwards, although the Northumbria one relates to a bird ringed last autumn and therefore making a similar journey this autumn.

Fascinating stuff.

Saturday November 8 - Morton Bagot

 With the ringers present on site again, I was keen to join them in the hope that the mystery warbler might be caught. Unfortunately neither team set their nets near where the bird had been calling, and in any case I again failed to hear it. If you think this seems a lot of fuss over a Cetti's Warbler, you'd be right. The "rarity" I can't shake out of my head is Dusky Warbler. I guess I'll never know for sure.

It turned out to be a bit of a disjointed morning. As soon as the mist cleared I became aware  of large flocks of Woodpigeons heading south-west. I logged 1,130 before the tap was turned off, and no more appeared. 

Shortly afterwards I heard the calls of Greylag Geese and managed to see them heading north. Among them I spotted a smaller goose, and managed a quick shot of it before they all disappeared.

It's the fifth bird from the left

Even when I magnified the image in the back of the camera I couldn't be sure what it was, but suspected Pink-footed Goose. I mentioned the bird to the ringers, and although they hadn't seen it, one of them, Sam, was able to confirm that they had seemed to be dropping beyond the flash field.

I decided to go back to the car to get my scope. On the way I noted a male Stonechat which flew over the ringer's table (at some height) while the ringers were busy at their nets. 

So as I returned to the rise from where the flash field can first be viewed I was encouraged to see some geese two fields beyond it. I set the scope up, and was very pleased to discover a Pink-footed/Bean Goose among them. I texted Rob W at Bittell, and he confirmed that the long-staying Tundra Bean Goose was still there. Eventually I got good enough views to confirm I was indeed looking at a Pink-footed Goose.

Pink-footed Goose (third from left)

I think this is the third record for the site.

Unfortunately I ran out of time, and didn't even check the flash field. On my walk back I heard a Brambling which I presume is the same one as I had yesterday.

Friday November 7 - Morton Bagot

 A cloudy morning with a very light south-easterly. Tony was on site ringing, but not in the place where the presumed Cetti's Warbler had been heard. I headed back to the thick hedge in question, and recommenced the vigil. I can't quite shrug off the thought that the bird might have been something a lot rarer. Sadly there was no sign of it anyway. Instead a Brambling flew over calling (I have belatedly realised that this, and the one seen on my last visit, were the first here this year). A few Meadow Pipits were haunting the the scrape field, perhaps attracted by insects stirred up by the recently installed cattle.

Meadow Pipits

I rejoined Tony to touch base. He was starting to catch more Redpolls, so anticipated he could be quite busy. Some gunshots had blasted out from the direction of Castle Farm, and these had led to several small groups of Mallard flying around. I decided a visit to the flash field might be a good idea.

Half way there, a very distinctive Dunlin call split the air. I scanned around, hearing a couple of more distant calls but failed to latch onto the bird. Still a 10 k year-tick though, and also the first Dunlin here since 2023.

The furthest flash did indeed hold some new arrivals. Eight Wigeon were swimming out of cover. The nearest flash was less impressive, holding small numbers of the usual Teal and Snipe.

Most of the Wigeon

Other birds seen today included at least 210 Starlings heading west, about 150 winter thrushes roughly half of which were Fieldfares, a Stonechat, a fly-over Yellowhammer, and a Peregrine.

Spot the Wren competition (no prizes)

Pied Wagtail on the roof of my car

Wednesday November 5 - The moth-trapping ends with a flourish

 This weekend marks the last for the 2025 Garden Moth Survey, and as I want to save time for another attempt to see the putative Cetti's Warbler at Morton Bagot, I decided to deploy the moth trap early. It should also be said that it was a very mild night with not much wind, so pretty ideal.

The moths did not disappoint. I attracted 29 moths of 19 species, which is pretty good for November. These included one lifer, and five which were new for the year.

The garden "first" was a migrant micro called Rusty-dot Pearl. It's actually quite a common moth, particularly if you are lucky enough to be trapping on the south coast. Even inland they are not that rare, but our garden hardly ever gets migrants so I was thrilled to finally see one.

Rusty-dot Pearl

Rather more spectacular was a Mottled Umber resting on our fence. This was also my first since 2020, so it certainly floated my boat.

Mottled Umber

Hardly less impressive looking was my first December Moth since 2021. The gap in my records is probably a reflection of the fact I rarely try to catch moths after early November. 

December Moth

The same can be said for the next three new for the year moths; a Sprawler, three November Moths (ag), and a Winter Moth.

Sprawler

November Moth ag

Winter Moth

My full list, for those interested, was as follows:

Australian Orange-tip Tachystola acroxantha (2)

Oak Longhorn Carcina quercana

Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana (3)

Rusty-dot Pearl Udea ferrugalis

December Moth

Red-Green Carpet (6)

Common Marbled Carpet

Winter Moth

November Moth ag (3)

Double-striped Pug

Mottled Umber

Merveille Du Jour

Barred Sallow

Sprawler

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Turnip Moth

White Point

Vine's Rustic

Lesser Yellow Underwing

Tuesday November 4 - Tutnall

Now that it's November it is time for me to resume wandering the lesser visited square kilometres within my 10k Circle of interest. The random(ish) finger pointed to Tutnall in the north-west sector. I had previously visited just once, in June 2025, so I was keen to get in a winter visit.

It has to be said that this plan of campaign is very unlikely to produce any unusual birds, but this particular square did provide some nice views.

 The landscape was dominated by a short grassy sward upon which several herds of cattle grazed. Searching for birds in the more arboreal landscape towards the village was hampered by a fresh breeze and incessant road noise from the A448 dual carriageway.

The most obvious birds were corvids and pigeons, the former including a pair of Ravens and the latter a flock of 24 Stock Doves. Slightly less expected was a group of mainly large gulls resting in one of the fields.

I hadn't opted to take my scope, but as far as I could tell they were mainly Lesser Black-backed Gulls plus a few Herring Gulls.

My total species count was just 29 in two hours. Pretty typical I'm afraid.