Tuesday February 17 - Morton Bagot

A sunny morning at last. I headed for the patch with a degree of optimism. That didn't last long.

February often feels like a month in limbo. All the winter birds are settled, and it's too early for new arrivals.  Despite varying my normal route, I could find nothing unexpected. 

Still present were the pair of Shelducks, about forty Teal, sixty or so Lapwing, a few Snipe, a pair of Red Kites, and a pair of Stonechats.

Although there is plenty of standing water, the site is yet to record a Coot, a Green Sandpiper, or a Tufted Duck this year. 

One possible reason for this was a dog-walker shepherding five boisterous untethered dogs around. He himself was wearing a bright yellow kagoule, a wandering bird-scarer if ever I saw one. If he turns up every weekday, and I suspect he does, there will be a negative effect on the site's avian biodiversity. I noticed he did a smart about turn as soon as he saw me, but was still there when I left.

If I sound grumpy, it's because I am.

Sunday February 15 - Lower Bittell

 The day dawned wet, and neither Dave nor I fancied a soaking at Morton Bagot. Fortunately a window in the weather opened at around lunchtime and I decided it was wide enough for a visit to Lower Bittell Reservoir.

This decent sized pool had been hosting a couple of good birds this winter. One, a Cetti's Warbler, would almost certainly be invisible. As it turned out it was also inaudible, early afternoon being not the best time of day to even hear one.

By contrast my other target, a Great White Egret, couldn't have been more obvious. It was standing on the bank of the Mill Shrub (a sub-section of the lake which is often better for birds than the rest of it).

It remained in more or less the same place until, inevitably, a fisherman arrived and flushed it. Even then it only went as far as some trees eighty metres away. Almost all of the 31 Tufted Ducks, but only one of the six Great Crested Grebes also haunted the Mill Shrub.

My walk over the hill to the dam gave me the opportunity to visit Alvechurch Fisheries, a series of pools on the opposite side of the dam wall. On Friday an Oystercatcher had taken refuge from an all-day deluge, on one of the rafts at Earlswood. I reasoned that there must be a chance that it was one of the pair which had nested at the fisheries last year, and sure enough it was back on its island sanctuary today.

All in all I was pretty pleased with the visit. A few Siskins and a single Redpoll were also present, and I counted 100 Jackdaws in the field at Lower Bittell adjacent to where I'd parked.

It has to be said that the Lower reservoir is a shadow of its former self. I didn't, for example, see a single species of duck other than Mallard and Tufted Duck. Too many fishermen I suppose.

Thursday February 12 - Mappleborough Green

 I've been a bit unfortunate this week in the way that my available birding opportunities have fallen. Rain has dogged my every step. On Tuesday I finally went to the km square containing the HOEF's Gorcott Wood, only to discover that the wood itself appeared out of bounds because it was part of an educational facility. There were plenty of signs and CCTV which put me off any thoughts of sneaking in. 

There were a few footpaths nearby, which I followed. The most interesting "find" was a friendly householder who told that he occasionally sees a white owl perched on his garden fence. No prizes for guessing what species that will have been.

This morning I decided to give Mappleborough Flash an early look. I don't normally go there until the end of March when migrants are starting to move in. There were no real surprises in store. A flock of 33 Teal may include birds which visit Morton Bagot, less than a couple of kilometres away and I flushed a single Snipe.

I'm still in possession of Tony's thermal imager, and it allowed me to discover that the twittering of Siskins I could hear from a line of alders came from 39 specks of light. As it turned out, about half of the birds present were actually Lesser Redpolls. The Siskins were feeding higher up, where against the lead grey cloud they were little more than silhouettes. The Redpolls preferred to feed closer to the ground, so I at least tried to get some shots of them.

As I was leaving the site, two adult Common Gulls flew south. If only I'd seen them at Morton Bagot, they would have been a useful addition (barely annual) to the MB year list.

Sunday February 8 - Morton Bagot and Earlswood

It finally stopped raining this morning, so I joined Dave for our weekly stroll around Morton Bagot. Inevitably we ended the morning getting a little damp as the high cloud gave way to light showers. By that time we'd recorded 53 species with very little effort, so we were reasonably happy.

The highlight was a pair of returning Shelducks on the furthest flash, arguably our first summer visitors.

The Lapwing flock goes from strength to strength, reaching 147, although hardly any were actually on the ground. Indeed just a few Teal and Mallard were present in spite of there being far more standing water than usual.

Other birds seen included decent numbers of winter thrushes, especially Fieldfares, two Stonechats, another fly-over Yellowhammer, all the expected finches in very small numbers, and a couple of Red Kites.

During the afternoon I decided I really should go to Earlswood to see the Egyptian Goose which had been found at Mereside Fishing Pools yesterday. It was still present, and looked rather tame. But they all count.

Although by now the drizzle was getting heavier I decided a quick march around Engine Pool would be in order, and this plan at least produced a distant view of the fifth calendar year Yellow-legged Gull standing on a buoy on Windmill Pool.

Unlike the adult bird seen on my last visit the specific identity of this curious bird is not in dispute. John O has found a photograph of a very similar bird somewhere else on a Gull Forum on Facebook (to which I do not subscribe). That bird's bare part colour is attributed to a hormonal deficiency, so presumably the Earlswood bird is in the same situation.

Tuesday and Wednesday February 3 and 4 - Studley and Spernal Park

 On Tuesday morning I was awake early and in possession of Tony's Thermal Imager. The plan was to go to an area near the river Arrow at Studley where I understood a pair of Little Owls was in residence.

Unfortunately the weather was against me. A bitingly cold easterly and steady drizzle which rarely abated. Nevertheless I followed the directions and located what I thought was probably the right tree. In the twilight the kit confirmed an encouraging point of light exactly where you might expect a Little Owl to be sitting.

As it slowly got a bit lighter, through my scope, I could make out what did indeed appear to be a Little Owl sitting at the entrance to a hole. Then as I switched back to the Thermal Imager a second bird, most definitely a Little Owl flew into the tree and they both disappeared into the hole.

By the time it was light enough to see properly the show was over. You'd never know they were there. So no photo I'm afraid.

Little Owls used to be relatively common around here and many of the sites I have Birdtrack records for, list the species among my previous visits. But in the last twenty years they've become a lot harder to find and I currently only know of four places within 10 kms of our house where they now occur. They've certainly gone from two pairs to zero at Morton Bagot.

This morning I was keen to try the kit out in woodland, so went to Morgrove Coppice intending to walk around Spernal Park as I hadn't got any winter records for that wood. Within five minutes of my arrival the battery in the thermal imager died. Drat.

Nevertheless I struggled up the steep muddy hill to the top of the wood, and within minutes of reaching the summit, gasping for breath, a familiar call improved my mood considerably. A Common Crossbill flew right over my head and away towards Morgrove Coppice. My second year-tick in two days.

It doesn't look it, but trust me, the path through the trees was very steep

I commenced a circuit and noted several Marsh Tits, five Ravens, and a few more Crossbills. Unfortunately none of the good stuff was photographable, although I did briefly see one of the Crossbills perched in a tree.

Nuthatch searching the leaf-litter for food

Assessing how many Crossbills I'd seen was difficult, but I decided on a minimum of five. I therefore felt vindicated when, back at my car in Morgrove Coppice carpark, I heard more calls and counted five Crossbills flying from Spernal and away in the direction of Coughton Park.

It looks like more wet weather is on the cards, so I doubt I'll poke my head out of doors again until Sunday.

Sunday February 1 - Illshaw Heath and Earlswood Lakes

 This morning I chose to resume my local wandering, this time picking the countryside around Illshaw Heath. I must admit I hadn't been expecting much, but it wasn't too terrible.

The best area was a marshy field just west of the new development at Blyth Valley. Here I counted 19 Meadow Pipits, a Skylark which flew over, a Common Snipe, a Green Woodpecker, and a Reed Bunting. I don't see many Reed Buntings away from Morton Bagot.

On my way home I diverted to Earlswood where John O had found a female Pochard and the adult Yellow-legged Gull. I quickly saw both birds, and this time had my camera to hand. 

PS: Regarding the Yellow-legged Gull shown below. Its identity has been queried by Matt G as when he zoomed in on the orbital ring it didn't look red to him. It is thought to be the same bird we saw on Jan 6. Maybe it is a hybrid Gull. 

Unidentified adult gull. Either Yellow-legged Gull or Herring X LBBGull hybrid

Female Pochard

Friday January 30 - Morton Bagot

 This year I have been edging towards making a substantial purchase. Thermal Imaging kit is not cheap, and this morning Tony K joined me so that I could try his out. It passed the first test straightaway by being small enough to fit into my coat pocket.

The most obvious use is to locate cryptically patterned birds which hide in plain sight, so we marched straight to the scrape field.

Hiding in here were Reed Buntings, Meadow Pipits, and Common Snipe. But the target was none of these. Tony proceeded slowly, and eventually passed me the imager. A Jack Snipe was showing as an obvious white blob. Well it might have been for Tony, but I just couldn't work out where he was looking. The problem is that the landscape as seen through the imager is dark with very little definition. I just couldn't get my bearings.

We moved closer, and finally the bird was blindingly obvious. Tony intended to catch and ring it, but I just wanted to take a photograph. Now I knew where it was, the rest was very easy.

A lot of twigs and a Jack Snipe in hiding

Am I going to get one? You bet I am. Did Tony succeed with his capture? Not this time.

We parted company. The remainder of my visit can best be described as underwhelming. The Lapwing flock circling the flash field totalled 88, while 33 Teal and a few Mallard sat tight.

The low cloud and drizzle were no good for raptor spotting, but I did locate three Sparrowhawks over the adjacent woodland.