Tuesday May 26 - Bannams Wood, Morton Bagot and Earlswood

 It's been another action packed couple of days.

It started quietly enough yesterday, when a pre-breakfast visit to Earlswood was most notable for how neatly I avoided seeing a Little Ringed Plover which appeared on the shingle island (in front of John O of course), before flying off while I was completing an unproductive circuit of Engine Pool. Yellow-legged Gull and Egyptian Goose were two I did see.

Fortunately a detour to the farm at Morton Bagot to buy some eggs led me to add an undoubted Hobby to my year list as one flew across the road a couple of hundred yards short of the patch boundary. I took the opportunity to stroll into Bannams Wood, where a Willow Warbler was probably the pick of the species seen.

This morning I went back to Bannams, and this time was rewarded with a Spotted Flycatcher. Last year I missed the species by being too confident I would see one on autumn passage. 

I then decided I should walk into the adjoining Morton Bagot recording area, although as temperatures quickly soared I began to wonder if I'd made the right decision.

It turned out I had. As I was scanning the now almost dry nearest flash, looking at nothing better than Black-headed Gull, a single Goose flew from the west and pitched down onto the furthest flash. As it did so, the combination of chocolate brown head and neck and bright orange feet and legs surely meant it could only be a Tundra Bean Goose.

Obviously its pretty unlikely to be a wild bird heading back to the arctic tundra a mere three months after all its fellows had done so. Much more likely it is the long-staying Bittell bird of extremely doubtful provenance. I texted Rob W who said he hadn't seen it since January. Nevertheless, I'm sure its their bird and only an unprincipled scoundrel would tick it for the patch list. But I am that person....tick.

It took me a while to locate it on the furthest flash due to long vegetation, distance etc, but eventually it swam into view.

I was expecting that would be that for the day, but sometime around lunchtime Whatsapp ping'd. Matt Griffiths had found a Lesser Emperor dragonfly at Earlswood.

This used to be a really rare bird, and in fact Mike Inskip gets the plaudits for finding one at Morton Bagot which I think I'm right in saying was the first in the county. That was about ten years ago, and I'm still waiting for an opportunity to pull it back. Getting one at Earlswood would be almost as good.

So I stepped back out into the blazing heat and made my way to the causeway at Earlswood. Initially I could see no dragonflies at all, but then spotted a "red" Darter species. This wasn't what I'd been expecting, but given the early date and the fact it was red, it had to be another rare southern migrant, the Red-veined Darter. Unfortunately it was extremely unco-operative, but while I was trying to relocate it, the Lesser Emperor glided past. Experience of the British Emperor species told me that I would be unlikely to see it land, and so it proved. This is my most successful flight shot.

After a while I returned to the search for the Darter, and found it landing on stems sticking out of the water quite close to the causeway. The red veins in the wing from which it gets its name are actually quite hard to see. But I did eventually get a record shot.

Shortly afterwards I saw a female type which had the requisite two-toned eye colour, brown above, bluish below, confirming it was also a Red-veined Darter. I was even quite pleased with my record shot.

I gather these are not the first for Earlswood, John Oates having found four of them in early July 2019. But there had been none since.

I'm sure the recent heatwave is responsible for the arrival of both species from the continent, even though they are both now breeding in the UK.

Finally a moth. With the bathroom window left open it was inevitable that something would come in. We actually had two micros, Diamond-back Moth and House Moss-moth ag, but rather more impressive was a single very pretty macro, with the unimaginative name Barred Yellow.

I've seen the odd one before, and the name does it no justice at all.

Sunday May 24 - Morton Bagot

 Unfortunately the Spotted Sandpiper didn't quite stay until today, so my last view of it would be on a fleeting visit to Earlswood on Friday. It had posed nicely for me.

It's likely to be a long time before the next National Rarity turns up within 10 km of the house.

Morton Bagot had been somewhat neglected in the interim, but Gary and John C independently visited yesterday and reported a pair of Avocets, Cetti's Warbler, and Reed Warbler. 

I had spent most of Saturday dealing with moths. On Friday night my trap had been deployed in the garden as usual and in complete contrast to the previous week, I was deluged with moths. Well perhaps that's an overstatement, but 64 moths of 39 species including 23 which were new for the year kept me very busy. I'll come back to the moths later. 

This morning the ringers had been active and had caught a number of birds including a Sedge Warbler. So it was probably fitting that this species was the first Dave and I heard as we pulled up to the dragonfly ponds. It had been looking as though none would return to the partly cut down reedbed this year. In fact we later also heard a Reed Warbler singing there, so HOEF seem to have got the management right.

Another change we approved of was a new sign at the scrape field asking dog owners to leave their dogs on a lead to avoid disturbing any breeding waders. We saw a single Lapwing there, but the species has a lot of other concerns, chiefly Crows and Foxes, and I fear any attempt this year may already have come to a premature end.

We failed to find any Avocets at the flash field, but did see a pair of Little Ringed Plovers. However the highlight was when two drake Tufted Ducks flew over, and landed on the Kingfisher Pool. I had just about given up hope of seeing the species here this year.

Given that it was a very warm day, we quickly turned our attention to insects. I'd seen only Large Red Damselflies here up until today, but odonata was well represented, though hard to photograph.

Azure Damselfly

Broad-bodied Chaser

In addition to the species shown, we saw my first Emperor and Four-spotted Chasers of the year.

Butterflies too were on the up, with Common Blue, Holly Blue, and Brown Argus present along with an increase in Small Heaths.

Brown Argus

We also saw a nice day-flying moth, the Mother Shipton.

Mother Shipton

Which brings me back to Friday night's garden records. The highlight were a few migrants; namely two Silver Y, and my first ever Small Mottled Willow. This species breeds in Western Europe as far north as the Channel Isles, but regularly visits the south coast when the wind is in the right direction. Less frequently a few turn up inland, and Friday night was my turn to get one.

Small Mottled Willow

The other species in the trap were largely familiar spring moths, but included my second Homoeosoma sinuella, a pyrallid also called Twin-barred Knot-horn. A couple of the more attractive moths are shown below.

Oak Hook-tip

Pale Tussock

Rather than add a full list of the new ones seen, I would refer you to the 2026 Moth List page, if you are interested.

Thursday May 21 - Earlswood Lakes

John Oates has had an amazing week. Hot on the heels of Tuesday's Turnstone, he wandered down to the shingle bank off the causeway at Earlswood on Wednesday morning and found a Ringed Plover. I was technically unable to visit, but still managed to literally tick and run.

Ringed Plover

Later in the day he watched an Osprey from his kitchen window, and saw it again when it returned from visiting Bittell. This time I really couldn't go.

Never mind, this morning I was up early and intended to check on Morton Bagot. Instead, Whatsapp told me John had struck again and had found a Sanderling on the same gravel island. Well it was a no-brainer, I was back at Earlswood by 07:10 and happily the bird was still present. This was the second there this year, but the other one didn't land.

Sanderling

Well that was nice. John, Joe, Janet, and myself spent the next hour chatting (as you do), occasionally noticing other birds as they flew past; Little Egret, Kestrel, Yellow-legged Gull.

All the while, I suspect, the really BIG ONE was walking around on the dam just fifty metres away.

Finally John and Joe started making "well I must be off" noises. They headed back to their respective houses leaving Janet and I to keep tabs on the Sanderling. Suddenly I heard John shout. He came racing back towards us. He'd found a Spotted Sandpiper. This is MEGA. For anyone who doesn't know, Spotted Sandpiper is an American species and needless to say was a first for Earlswood.

Spotted Sandpiper

 Joe was summoned back, and the four of us watched it in a state of total disbelief. The Sanderling was kind of predictable, although it was still the first I had ever seen within my 10 k Circle. But the Spotted Sandpiper was the first anyone had ever seen in this vicinity.

Last night I was watching Villa fans glorying in their team's achievements. This morning was the birding equivalent.

Tuesday May 19 - Earlswood Lakes

If birding is a game, then today was definitely a game of two halves. In the morning I basically had a nightmare, but the afternoon brought salvation.

I had got up early to find rain pelting down. Obviously my enthusiasm kicked in. Why wouldn't it? I was birding at Earlswood by 06:05. The rain had pepped up if anything, and it caused my first wrong decision as I opted not to cross the causeway into the driving rain but rather to scan from the relative shelter of the Malthouse Lane side of Engine.

Thus after about an hour I had seen the Egyptian Goose and the usual Yellow-legged Gull plus a few hirundines, two Common Terns, and a Little Egret. My plan had always been to return home to get Lyn up, and to return later (incorporating a visit to my sister's house).

Just as I set out for the post-breakfast visit Whatsapp ping'd. Turnstone on Engine Pool (John Oates). I'd barely pressed the accelerator before he added the news it had flown. He was looking for it. 

I joined him, and we were joined by Mike Inskip. John had checked most of the likely spots, but Mike and I gave the Malthouse Lane side another look. Nothing better than a Kestrel hunting the causeway bank.

I went to my sister's, but called in again on the way back home. Almost immediately I got onto a Falcon heading away over the houses. Definitely not the Kestrel, this was a Hobby or a Peregrine. Initially it was mobbed by a large gull before briefly disappearing behind roofs. It then reappeared but just kept getting further and further away. My gut feeling was Hobby, but I was concerned that on the initial view it had looked a tiny bit too large. In the end I gave up on it. Hobby would have been my first this year, while Peregrine would have been a site tick (surprisingly). The Turnstone appeared to be absent, so I concluded it had gone.

But then....back home after lunch another message from John. Birdguides was reporting that the Turnstone was still present. I was back in the car, and pretty soon John confirmed he was watching it. 

By the time I arrived my adrenaline levels were no doubt high because I found myself sprinting the first section. 100 metres in about 30 seconds (not exactly Olympic standard). I joined John who pointed to the Turnstone. What a relief. Yes I know they are common on the coast, but this was only the third or fourth site record. It had presumably been forced to bail out when it met the wet weather this morning, delaying its migration back to the high arctic.

In contrast to my arrival, Janet and later John Sirrett, ambled up. Janet was in time to get good views, but John had only flight views before it flew off and disappeared around the trees masking part of the Malthouse Lane shoreline. We were sure it would reappear, but apparently it hasn't yet.

On the way back Janet and I watched a brood of Mallard ducklings leaping from the path alongside Engine Pool near Wood Lane car park as a curious Jackdaw ambled up, no doubt wondering whether it could tackle a duckling. The drop was the equivalent of a human jumping off the roof of a house, but of course they all landed unharmed.

Later in the afternoon the Turnstone was indeed relocated, allowing those who have to work for a living the chance to see it.

Sunday May 17 - Bannam's Wood

My patch is bordered by a rather splendid old deciduous (mostly) wood called Bannam's. From a patch point of view my only interest in it is the bit I can see from the road. However I should probably pay it more attention, so today I did.

The Millennium Way footpath winds its way up the south side of the wood from High Field Farm. At the top of the steep bit you reach the first of two benches, and it is around there it may be possible to find a Spotted Flycatcher. But not today unfortunately. Maybe too early.

 Throughout the walk birdsong rings out. By the time I reached the end of the wood I'd counted 17 Wrens, 15 Blackbirds, 11 Blackcaps, 11 Chiffchaffs, nine Robins, and eight Song Thrushes as well as numerous common Tit species. These probably make up the bulk of the sound.

Naturally I was more interested in finding the less common species. These included two Marsh Tits sufficiently distant from one another to represent half of two pairs, singing Willow Warbler and Whitethroat in the slightly less mature top of the wood, and two singing Garden Warblers.

Butterflies seemed in short supply today, perhaps because the weather is only starting to warm up now that the wind has swung round to a westerly direction. I did however finally confirm a single Small White. I'd seen several "whites" during the spring but most wouldn't stop flying and those that did had proved to be Green-veined White.

Small White pretending to be a leaf

My knowledge of plants is lamentably poor. This morning I happened upon a pretty little flower by the path which rang no bells whatsoever. Thankfully my Obsidentify App was able to name it as Crosswort. Ooh, never heard of it.

Crosswort

When I got home I looked it up. Had I found something unusual? Nah, the book said common, just one of a thousand plants I've walked passed without noticing.

I will try to pay another visit before the spring is out.

PS: Following Matt's comment it seems that Crosswort is near-threatened in Warwickshire with only 19 known sites.

Saturday May 16 - Morton Bagot

 Saturday is GMS moth morning, but as I surveyed my empty trap following a chilly night I reflected that it was a good job Tony had tipped me off that they would be ringing at Morton Bagot this morning. 

I arrived at 05:45 to find no ringers on site. Shortly afterwards Leigh and John arrived, Tony having apparently opted for Spernal STW with an eye on trying to catch "the other" male Cuckoo. Meanwhile at Morton Bagot a Cuckoo cuckoo'd in the distance.

John and Leigh set up their nets while I headed for the flash field which turned out to be empty of waders apart Lapwing, although the Cetti's and Sedge Warblers were singing by way of compensation.

Back at the nets two more ringers had arrived and warblers began to fall into their hands. First up was a female Blackcap which was aged as a "four". Leigh did explain how they'd reached this conclusion but I'm afraid I rather lost the thread when it came to understanding what that meant.

Female Blackcap

When I had arrived, a Grasshopper Warbler had been reeling near where the nets are usually placed. It wasn't long before it was caught, and turned out to be a frequent visitor, having been caught four or five times since 2024 when they first ringed it.

Grasshopper Warbler

Another good one to turn up was a female Garden Warbler, its brood patch proving it was in the process of incubating eggs. It was quickly processed and released.

Garden Warbler

An awful lot of sitting, or in my case standing, around is part and parcel of ringing studies. But while we were doing so, three Lesser Whitethroats were observed chasing each other around in the bushes and I managed a record shot.

Lesser Whitethroat

The ringers did catch a female Common Whitethroat, but on my way back to my car a nice male posed for me at the dragonfly ponds.

Common Whitethroat

To finish up this warbler related post, I can mention that yesterday I took part in the BTO's Birds in Green Spaces project by walking around Arrow Valley Lake. Highlights there were a singing Willow Warbler and no fewer than five singing Reed Warblers.

Reed Warbler

I was watching the excellent programme Iolo's River Valleys earlier this week, where the presenter stated he didn't really do warblers. He complained that they were all dowdy and not worth looking at. Needless to say, although I will admit they are generally somewhat similar, I disagree with his sentiment. I love looking at warblers and look forward to their arrival every year.

I also love waders. Could fate send some my way please.

Thursday May 14 - Morton Bagot

 It has been a somewhat frustrating week of birding at the patch. The weather has remained chilly with the wind stuck in the north. As a consequence insect numbers remain depressed, so I haven't had those to fall back on.

Meanwhile the flash pools continue to tantalise, producing just enough of a muddy corner to give hope of a wader arriving while the area in question is mainly hidden behind tall rushes.

On Tuesday a wader did arrive, but it was just a third Avocet, while the Little Ringed Plover continued to play hide and seek all week. Passerine migration is largely over, so it's just a case of trying to work out which summer visitors may be breeding. Today I thought there were three singing Willow Warblers which is the best for several years.

Willow Warbler wearing one of Tony's rings (probably)

Both Sedge Warbler and Cetti's Warbler were singing at the flash field on Tuesday, but I could hear neither today.

A couple of Starlings flew over on Tuesday. This species is very scarce here in spring and had not been recorded on the alldayer. Likewise a Grey Heron, another big day absentee, proved ridiculously obvious today.

Grey Heron in the Dragonfly Pond surveying the Water Crowfoot

The biggest frustration of all came today, when I glanced across the fields at what I initially thought would be one of the resident Kestrels only to find it was actually a Parakeet. Surprisingly it was silent and I had to watch it flying away to the north before I had a clear idea of what species it was. Obviously it should have been a Ring-necked Parakeet, but annoyingly there are known to be two Alexandrine Parakeets in the Alcester area (as well as a Ring-necked Parakeet) and it did give a very long-tailed impression when I first saw it.

The one that got away. Parakeet sp

I reluctantly decided to leave it unidentified. Ring-necked Parakeets are becoming common in the Earlswood and Wythall area, and it only seems a matter of time before they arrive in Redditch. 

Red-legged Partridges, on the other hand are fairly easy to see here, but are gold dust at Earlswood.

Red-legged Partridge posing

I did manage to see one or two non-birds here today. 

Roe Deer buck

Green-veined White

It's been very tempting to try Earlswood, but from what I can tell they have also had a rather steady week.