Tuesday January 6 - Earlswood Lakes

 As intimated in my last post, I was irresistibly drawn back to Earlswood this morning in the hope that the Caspian Gull might drop in again.

Sadly, it didn't. The morning was nevertheless spent staring at gulls. Unfortunately the hole in the ice around and on which almost all the birds were gathered was closest to the north-west side of Engine Pool. This meant watching from that the closest observation point left us (me, John O, and Matt) looking south-east in the direction of the sun. There was some cloud cover, but probably not enough.

We all like looking at gulls, and the main feature was another good count of Common Gulls. In the context of Earlswood our best tally of 27 was pretty decent and I now know that John's count of 30 yesterday and the one made today both beat the previous record of 26 flying over in April 2018. Thanks to John O for the heads up.

Eight Common Gulls in this shot including three 1st winters

The fifth calendar year Yellow-legged Gull was once again present, but the Little Grebe seemed to have departed overnight.

Inevitably we soon found an "interesting" gull to look at, in this case a Yellowish-legged Gull. White-headed and somewhat darkly grey mantled with legs which it could be argued were straw coloured it was tempting to consider it as a possible Yellow-legged Gull or a hybrid. Eventually it wing-flapped allowing us to see that the fifth primary had a narrow black band across it. This feature meant Yellow-legged Gull could not automatically be dismissed, but at the same time didn't prove it was a Yellow-legged Gull. Gulls eh!

We also had trouble assessing the colour of the orbital ring. It generally looked dark, but in the photo shown above looked more yellowish (bad for Yellow-legged Gull). Looking again at the photo of it flapping its wings, is there too much grey extending into the bases of the sixth, seventh and eighth primaries? 

I think the identification was left as indeterminate. I headed to my sister's house in Tidbury Green where I added a year-tick. Coal Tit, definitely.

PS: Actually, the adult Yellow-legged Gull got the thumbs up from my fellow observers so I was clearly being too cautious. 

Monday January 5 - Earlswood Lakes

 My plan to spend a quiet day in the house was abruptly changed when a Whatsapp message announced the presence of a Caspian Gull at Earlswood.

Overnight snow made it one of the slowest twitches ever, and by the time I got there the finders, Matt and John, had not seen it for a while. The lakes were almost completely frozen and hundreds of gulls were standing on the ice.

Disappointingly the Casp could not be relocated. In its place was a small group of consolation year-ticks. These included at least 24 Common Gulls (John reckoned at least 30 were present), the long-staying Yellow-legged Gull now in its fifth year and still showing a largely dark bill, and legs which are only just starting to turn straw coloured, a Little Grebe in one of the holes in the ice, the long-staying drake Wigeon, and a fly-over Grey Wagtail.

Yellow-legged Gull on left, Common Gull on the right

I doubt whether I'll be able to resist trying again tomorrow.

Sunday January 4 - Morton Bagot

As I left the house this morning the temperature recorded on my car's dashboard was -6 degrees C. So I already knew that Morton Bagot was not the best choice of venue. But it was a chance to catch up with Dave after Xmas and we're nothing if not predictable.

As suspected the patch was frozen solid, indeed just getting there proved quite challenging. I've decided to reinstate my Morton Bagot year-list so at least adding to that kept us going. The final total was a paltry 33 species, none of which could be described as unusual.

I only managed to take one photograph, and normally it wouldn't have made the cut. But in the absence of any competition my out of focus, over-exposed Redwing makes the blog by default.

The nearest we came to excitement was when we spotted a flock of geese in fields beyond the flash field. They prompted me to return to the car for my tripod, but eventually proved to be just 90 Greylag Geese and 50 Canada Geese. So we were not able to join in the wild goose bonanza which has been experienced by several Midland sites since the cold weather set in.

Absent today were Stonechats, Snipe, Gulls, Ducks (apart from Mallard) and even Moorhen. However I did add eight species to my overall year-list; Pheasant, Fieldfare, Bullfinch, Green Woodpecker, Greylag Goose, Lapwing, Buzzard, and  Kestrel.

Hopefully better days lie ahead.

Thursday January 1 - Earlswood Lakes

 It's possibly my favourite day of the calendar. New lists begin, and this year I've started by adding a new Circle Year List (which reached 50 by the end of the day), and also a Garden Year List for the first time ever. No doubt more lists will follow.

So, the first bird I heard after clambering out of bed was a Robin. Isn't it always. By the time I set off for Earlswood I was up to 19 species. I'd chosen Earlswood Lakes because the Scaup which I'd twitched on Xmas eve was reportedly still present yesterday. What a great addition to the 2026 list it would be. Well, spoiler alert, it could not be found. Maybe last night's festivities were just too loud and unsettling and it's now swimming around on the sea where it ought to be.

Fortunately there was some back up. Pride of place went to the Water Rail lurking among the willow roots at the bottom end of Terry's Pool. It took me two attempts to see it, and even then I required the assistance of John Chidwick to finally track it down. Once it actually appeared, the views were excellent.

Water Rail

This was actually the first one I'd ever seen at Earlswood, my only previous one being one I'd heard calling in the Scrublands.

Also present around the bottom of Terry's Pool were a host of woodland birds including Marsh Tit, and Treecreeper, and a slightly less expected drake Teal.

Marsh Tit

Teal

Treecreeper

My search for the Scaup eventually yielded 22 Tufted Ducks, two drake Goosanders, at least 13 Common Snipe, a Little Egret, and a female Shoveler as my final bird of the day.

Goosander

Shoveler

Elsewhere at Earlswood Matt Griffiths was reporting a Red Kite and two Common Gulls, but I failed to lay eyes on them. Not to worry, there's another 364 days to pull them back.

Happy New Year.

The birds of 2025

 I usually don't bother with a review of the year, but as my most recent forays into the lesser visited parts of the Circle (farmland north of Umberslade and around Shelfield Green) proved pretty dire I thought I'd give it a go.

My strategy for the year was to concentrate on 1km square bashing in winter and summer, and switch to Morton Bagot and Earlswood during the more potentially exciting spring and autumn periods.

Morton Bagot had its moments but failed to deliver anything new for the Circle, or indeed the site. However, it is still my main patch and there were some decent birds there. Back in January and February the Hawfinch influx of the previous autumn provided regular opportunities to see up to two birds there.

In fact Hawfinches were also seen in Winyates (where the above shot as taken), and Studley Churchyard among other places.

Spring at Morton Bagot produced a Whimbrel and a record count of 12 Avocets. That species even went on to make a breeding attempt (the first for Warwickshire) due to the low water-levels although the attempt was abandoned when the farmer who owns the land flooded it to ensure his cattle didn't go thirsty.

After the breeding season, migrants started trickling back. These included a Wood Sandpiper, a long-staying Garganey, and in November a Pink-footed Goose. 

My final score for the site was 113 species. To these could have been added Spotted Flycatcher, Woodcock, and Turtle Dove seen, caught or heard by others. And don't get me started about the mystery warbler heard calling in November.

The three Circle ticks I saw in 2025 all came from Earlswood, and were all twitched. So I owe a debt of gratitude to the birders contributing to its Whatsapp Group. In chronological order the birds in question were two juvenile Little Stints in September, a Brent Goose in October, and a Scaup in December.

In fact, at the time of writing, the Scaup is still there, some I'm hoping it will remain into next year to give my 2026 year an early boost.

Other notable species I travelled to see at Earlswood included Ruff, Little Gull, Ring Ouzel and Black Tern. I don't keep an Earlswood list, but Birdtrack tells me my site list was 104 species. I missed a number of birds during the year including Twite (the rarest species seen this year), Mediterranean Gull and probably others I can't bring to mind.

The dominance of Morton Bagot and Earlswood is demonstrated by the fact that there were only five birds on my final Circle list (140 species) which I didn't see at either site. They were Cetti's Warbler, Little Owl, Redstart, Gadwall, and Woodcock. 

Why do I waste my time wandering around the rest of the Circle? Well for a start I enjoy the challenge. I've also got the bit between my teeth having decided from the outset (in autumn 2021) to visit every single square kilometre. One thing I don't generally share with this blog are the little paper maps I add to after each visit, but to give you an idea this is my progress to date.

I'm sorry its low tech (no tech would be more appropriate), but my IT skills are practically non-existent. I live in south-east Redditch which is at the centre of the Circle. The purple 1k squares are all the ones I've recorded birds in during winter since 2021 (the grey ones are places I've been in summer but not winter) and the white ones remain to be bagged.

Bring on 2026.

Wednesday December 24 - Earlswood Lakes

 Do you know, as I was typing the words "I don't think I'll be posting anything more this side of Xmas" a little voice inside me said "don't tempt fate". Or maybe it should have been well done for tempting fate.

Because this morning, as we awaited the arrival of family for a pre-Xmas present exchange, my Whatsapp pinged to say there was a Scaup at Earlswood. I was of course stuck...for a few hours.

By early afternoon I was free to go, and thankfully the bird did not want to spoil Xmas.

This was only the sixth for Earlswood, the last being in 2017. I hadn't seen any of them. It is a female, and judging by the vermiculated grey feathers on the mantle, perhaps an adult. It just goes to show that, even in December, a burst of easterlies can blow in something special.

I just had time for a quick march around Engine Pool, and so was able to find a 1st w Common Gull and count 28 Snipe on one of the rafts.

Also, with the sun out at last, a Fieldfare posed for me (admittedly behind vegetation). 

It's a bit better than trying to photograph a silhouetted dot at the top of a tree, which is what I usually end up doing at Morton Bagot.

Once again, Merry Xmas everyone.

Tuesday December 23 - Clowes Wood

 This morning the dice was rolled and told me to try Clowes Wood. Another grey cloudy morning was probably not ideal for visiting a tract of mature woodland, but I reminded myself that there were historical records of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Firecrest, and (in summer) Wood Warbler for this wood. Maybe I'd get lucky.

I only had an hour or so to spare, and predictably my only woodpecker was Great Spotted Woodpecker, and my only 'crest a Goldcrest.

In fact my best birds were a pair of vocal Marsh Tits, but they were being disturbed by a couple of dog-walkers and their five barking dogs, so I barely got a view of them. 

Anyway, I don't think I'll be posting anything more this side of Xmas, so seasons greetings to everyone who reads this blog.