Thursday March 19 - Mappleborough Green and Morton Bagot

 Another fine sunny day. My plan was to check out a large field at Middletown in the hope it might be in suitable condition for Golden Plovers (it turned out to have a growing crop in it and was totally unsuitable), and then visit Mappleborough Green Flash again.

At least there were some waders this time, but a Green Sandpiper and a Lapwing was not really what I had in mind. There were still plenty of Teal, but the bright morning sun shining in my eyes no matter where I could view the flash from soon put me off.

So at 10:00 with my plan complete, I reasoned there was time to fit in a shortened visit to Morton Bagot. Thank goodness I did.

All seemed pretty much as normal as I approached the flash field. Avocet numbers had increased to eight, the five Lapwings included a pair which were behaving territorially, the Shelduck pair was still present, and I counted two Green Sandpipers and 30 Teal.

But then, as I scanned across to the furthest flash, I spotted an Egyptian Goose emerging from behind the rushes. Ok I know its just a feral species which I'd already ticked off for the year at Earlswood, but the key issue is that it was the first I had ever seen here in nearly twenty years of watching. That made it special.

Egyptian Goose flanked by Avocet, Lapwing and barely visible Black-headed Gulls

I'm loathe to say with certainty that it was the first for the site because back in pre-blog days, maybe 2008 or 2009 I met a birder who casually mentioned he had seen an Egyptian Goose here "the other day". Unfortunately he didn't submit the record to the county recorder, and I never worked out exactly what date he'd seen it or who he was. So it never got recorded.

As I made my way back to the car I had another bit of luck. Walking across the scrape field I heard a repeated "poop" call, a bit like a Moorhen, but not really. I thought I knew what it was. Water Rail makes that call, as an alternative to the more familiar squeal. I approached the tiny pond choked with bulrushes and got out my mobile phone. The Merlin App, which I am fond of slandering as being not much use, might actually help me for once. The first bird it "heard" was a Skylark (and to be fair there was one singing). With the potential Rail still calling, the app blinked again and announced it as a Water Rail. I got closer and the noise stopped. I was clearly not going to see it.

Finally, with the temperature pushing 19 degrees, butterflies were on the wing. Along with Peacocks and Brimstones, I saw a Comma. The first here of the year.

Comma

Quite a morning.

I'll be putting the trap out tonight, so there should some moth data to come....which is:

41 moths of 5 species. The only new one being Double-striped Pug. It is also quite interesting that this year I'm catching almost as many Small Quakers as Common Quakers. Normally the proportion is around 80% in favour of Common Q.

Double-striped Pug

Tuesday March 17 - Mappleborough Green and Morton Bagot

 A pre-breakfast visit to Mappleborough Green on a largely sunny morning was aimed at boosting my wader list. Unfortunately, although the site still looks a good bet, no waders at all were seen. Instead my highlights were a pair of Shoveler among the Teal, and a drake Tufted Duck on the pond (along with Coot) just beyond the Boot Inn. 

Shovelers barely photographable through the trees masking the site

Tufted Duck going walkabout, watched by a female Mallard in the grass

My post-breakfast visit was to Morton Bagot, where I would have been delighted to see Coot, Tufted Duck, or Shoveler if only they'd fly the required mile from Mappleborough Green.

Instead I was greeted by the usual pair of Red Kites, and the female Stonechat still present since Sunday.

In fact almost all the birds seen had also been seen at the weekend, the only difference being the return of the pair of Shelduck, an increase in Avocets back up to six, and fewer Teal and Lapwings. The latter were showing no signs of defending territories.

The best thing about the visit was that the sun was out, and it felt warmer. As a result I saw my first few Brimstones of the year, and also a Peacock butterfly.

It really is starting to feel like spring is here.

Sunday March 15 - Morton Bagot

A sunny, but increasingly windy morning. Dave and I made a promising start by spotting the first Stonechat here for several weeks. Surely a passage migrant.

We ambled southwards towards the old pool field, currently hosting a reasonably substantial pool due to recent heavy rain. 

Before we got there a calling sparrow caused us to halt. We were about as far away from any buildings as you can get, but in the ideal spot for seeing a Tree Sparrow....twenty years ago. The call nevertheless sounded like a House Sparrow, and although we didn't see it, I expect that's what it was. An adventurous House Sparrow.

 We had split up, checking either side of the hedge. I was on the wrong side when I heard Dave shout Woodcock. I rejoined him and we proceeded in the direction it had flown before disappearing behind the tangle of scrub. I thought there was no chance, but just fifty yards later it got up and flew on, and not before giving us a pretty decent flight view. Woodcocks overwinter here, but being largely nocturnal they hardly ever seen during the day. This was my first here since December 2023.

A little further on Dave drew my attention to a passerine standing in the marsh. This is where a camera comes in handy. Setting my scope up would have taken too long, but a quick photo revealed it was just a female Reed Bunting before it hopped to the right and out of sight. Definitely worth checking though.

We arrived at the flash field and counted 14 Lapwings, 58 Teal, and four Avocets. A couple of Little Egrets were present in the field next to the Kingfisher Pool. Business as usual. Also present was a "Canlag Goose" a hybrid Canada X Greylag. It reminded Dave that he was missing a White-fronted Goose at his other patch, Marsh Lane GP. 

Shortly afterwards I was birding alone, and unfortunately saw very little else before reaching my car.

Saturday March 14 - Earlswood Lakes and the back garden

 After a sharp dip in temperature overnight (-1 deg C) I was not surprised to find very few moths in my moth trap this morning. In fact I was quite impressed there were five present; three Small Quakers and two Hebrew Characters. 

Having got up early for the moths I was about to try Mappleborough Green when my phone pinged with news of an Oystercatcher and a pair of Gadwall at Earlswood. So a change of plan took me there instead.

The Oystercatcher seemed to have gone, and I initially thought that the Gadwalls had too, but they must have been hiding among the willows because after I'd walked the length of Engine Pool they appeared as if from nowhere.

Gadwall

Yesterday had been a stay at home day, but it had been enlivened by the presence of a male Siskin on the feeders. I also noticed that one of the pair of Greenfinches which was visiting had been ringed.

Siskin and Greenfinch

Perhaps I need to suggest Tony comes round to try to catch the Greenfinch to see if it's one of his, and establish where he had caught it.

PS: The Oystercatcher was seen after my departure. Well they are hard to spot !

Earlswood Lakes - Thursday March 12

 I decided to give Earlswood a go this morning. It was cloudy and there was a strong south-westerly blowing. My mind was set on finding a Kittiwake. Unfortunately, although March is the peak month, and a windy day seemed a good bet, I didn't see any.

Trying to predict the appearance of such birds (or of any species) is a popular pastime for many birders, but personally I am seldom successful. All I could do was count the gulls on Engine Pool and bide my time, hoping for a slice of luck.

There are currently as many large gulls as small gulls there, and my tally was 45 Black-headed Gulls, 21 Herring Gulls, 23 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and one Yellow-legged Gull. The latter was the dark-billed near adult which has been present off and on since it was first detected a few years ago.

Herring Gull and Yellow-legged Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gulls with Yellow-legged Gull

The only other distractions were a male Bullfinch, singing Blackcap and Chiffchaff, and the presumed hybrid gull (or maybe just a darker mantled Herring Gull) which was found in January.

Hybrid (on left) with Herring Gulls

Checking the Bird Guides App when I got home I noticed Kittiwakes have turned up at Bartley Reservoir and Grimley near Worcester today, so it wasn't such a bad plan.

Tuesday March 10 - Spernal STW and Morton Bagot

This morning being calm, Tony and Leigh invited me to join them at Spernal STW for another ringing session.

They caught 18 birds of nine species, including re-traps. This was a little fewer than last week, but there was some quality. Although I could hear at least three Cetti's Warblers, my highlight was being able to see one in the hand.

Cetti's Warbler

For the most part the birds on view, or at least heard, were about the same as last week. Three Mandarins flew over, and at least 30 Teal were on site, many taking refuge on the circular tanks towards the centre of the works. A Water Rail was calling again, but this time I didn't see it. 

I was on hand when a female Siskin was ringed, but I mostly did my own thing.

Siskin

Fly overs included single Redpoll and Meadow Pipit, while at least two Chiffchaffs were singing.

As I was pulling off my wellies prior to departure there was a bit of a kerfuffle overhead and five Herring Gulls turned out to be mobbing a couple of Little Egrets.

Little Egrets and Herring Gulls

The ringing data was as follows:

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1

Blue Tit 3 (2)

Great Tit (2)

Long-tailed Tit (2)

Cetti's Warbler (1)

Robin 1

Goldfinch 4

Siskin 3

Reed Bunting (1)

The numbers in brackets refer to retraps of birds caught previously.

After breakfast at home I decided to head off to Morton Bagot for a quick circuit. The Avocets were reduced to four, but the pair of Shelduck had returned. A Red Kite glided over the edge of the flash field causing all the Teal to gather in the centre of the nearest flash, something I've noticed they do when an unfamiliar raptor turns up. The upshot was that I managed a higher than usual count of 66 Teal as well as 24 Lapwings and a Green Sandpiper.

I was on a bit of a mission to try to add a few species which have been conspicuous by their absence this year. Worryingly there are still no Coot on site and I'm wondering if they will be the latest bird to abandon us. There are still no Tufted Ducks either, but a quick diversion to the road below Bannams brought me a singing Coal Tit at last. 

Sunday March 8 - Morton Bagot

A cloudy morning, with low cloud covering the top of Bannams. I had heard that John C had seen four Avocets here yesterday, so we were pretty confident of at least one year-tick.

It didn't take long before we heard the first of four Chiffchaffs singing en route to the flash field. The first here this year, but not unexpected. In the first flush of optimism we found ourselves scanning the grassland for an early Wheatear, notwithstanding that we saw none here last year. Predictably, none were present, but one of the ever dwindling numbers of breeding Skylarks posed nicely.

Scanning over towards the flash field we found that the Avocets had indeed returned. A bonus came in the form of a fly-over Grey Wagtail, another one that was new for the year here.

Counting Avocets at Morton Bagot is not as straightforward as it should be. The rushes surrounding the nearest flash constantly obscured birds. We had agreed on six Avocets, until one of my scans produced seven. Bizarrely every attempt to repeat the count failed, and I was left wondering whether I had inadvertently included one of the pair of Black-headed Gulls which was sharing the flash. 

There was plenty of other interest too. At least 32 Teal, 12 Lapwings, two or three Snipe, a Little Egret, a Grey Heron, and two Green Sandpipers shared the flash. Strangely the Shelducks seemed to have gone.

Green Sandpiper

Noticeably absent were any Stonechats. In previous years there has usually been a spike in numbers reflecting the presence of passage migrants, but we haven't seen any here since the last of the winterer's departed in February.

A single immature Peregrine provided a good end to an already excellent visit.

As a postscript I will just mention that the Garden Moth Survey began again on Friday night. I dutifully put my trap out and caught 24 moths of five species. As usual the majority were Common Quakers, backed up by three Small Quakers, three Hebrew Characters, a Clouded Drab, and an Early Thorn. If I get anything unusual or new, I will be showing them on this platform.