Thursday June 25 - Morton Bagot and Spernal STW

 After a week's non-birding (mostly) holiday in the Cotwolds I was back on the patch today, keen to see what I'd been missing. Dave and John had each visited Morton Bagot at the weekend and had seen the usual stuff, with Dave's drake Shoveler being the nearest to something unusual.

I can't really say I managed to beat that. My best birds were a first summer Peregrine back on the pylons, a singing Garden Warbler (Dave had recorded two), a single Green Sandpiper on the nearest flash which remains largely full of water thanks to the farmer's efforts, a pair of Stonechats again, and proof that the pair of Lapwings in the scrape field have bred successfully. A single well-grown chick, large enough to be seen.

I didn't count them, but even on my early morning visit it was apparent that there were lots of Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns on the wing.

Speaking of insects, I took up Leigh and Tony's invitation to join them at Spernal STW on Friday morning to see what moths Leigh had caught overnight in the inaugural moth-trapping session for the site. As it was Leigh's trap, she will have the burden of reporting the findings to the recorder, while I was just free-loading and hoping to add to my personal moth list. Not that I know exactly what moths I've seen. But I know what I've seen in my garden, so the following were new to me:

Minor Shoulder-knot

Dark Umber

Silky Wainscot

Calamotropha paludella (Bulrush Veneer)

Many of the moths caught were reed-bed specialists, with lots of Smoky Wainscots, many Obscure Wainscots, some Common Wainscots, a Drinker, and several Scarlet Tigers in the haul of about 45 moths. Quite a lot escaped before we could examine them.

I'll be trapping in the garden tonight.

Tuesday June 16 - Earlswood Lakes and Morton Bagot

 Any thoughts of easing off on the birding have been temporarily shelved due to a continuing trickle of birds of interest.

While we were enjoying the delights of Morton Bagot on Sunday morning, an Osprey put in an appearance at Lower Bittell. You may recall I went there on Saturday afternoon on the off chance the Earlswood bird had gone there. Evidently it had. Unfortunately an Osprey was seen over Belvide Res in Staffs an hour or so after the Bittell sighting. It may not have been the same bird, but has made me think twice about a second visit to Lower B.

This morning, as I returned from a relatively fruitless visit to Morton Bagot (three Avocets, 46 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and 10 Herring Gulls), a Whatsapp message caused me to dash to Earlswood.

Ok I admit Redshank is not a bird most people would twitch, but in this corner of Warwickshire/Worcestershire it could be the only one of the year. It was a bit flighty, but eventually it settled on the shingle spit where close views revealed it to be a juvenile.

I wonder how far it had travelled before discovering Earlswood? Probably not far.

I've had a nice garden tick this week. The micro White Plume is not a rare moth (I've even seen one at Morton Bagot) but a spot of gardening yesterday was paused as I rushed for a pot.

So it's back to catching up on football highlights and lost sleep for me for the next few days. Probably.

Sunday June 14 - Morton Bagot and Lower Bittell Reservoir

This morning I was back at Morton Bagot with Dave. Considering we are now in deepest June it was a pretty successful visit. Most birds are mid-breeding season, which means that recently fledged juveniles abound. But there is still room for the odd surprise, and the oddest of these was a female Gadwall which flew past us apparently accompanying a male Mallard. The Gadwall was the first here for a couple of years.

This was close to the nearest flash, where we went on to hear Cetti's Warbler and Sedge Warbler. More surprising was a party of 34 large Gulls, mostly Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and with them six Avocets.

Although there was virtually no muddy edge, up to three Green Sandpipers and a Little Ringed Plover appeared from time to time, mainly in flight.

Continuing with birds, as we returned to our cars we located a pair of Stonechats. This suggests a pair may have been present this spring in one of the less visited fields.

There was no sign of any juveniles so I suppose their breeding attempt had been unsuccessful.

New butterflies and dragonflies for the year comprised several Marbled Whites, a Ringlet, a Small Skipper, and a Black-tailed Skimmer.

I also spotted a new moth for the site as a Scarlet Tiger hurried away over the dragonfly pools near Netherstead. Unfortunately I couldn't get Dave on it.

Speaking of moths, my moth-trapping in the garden on Friday night produced 60 moths of 29 species headlined by my first ever Obscure Wainscot, one of a number of reedbed specialists which are hard to find and harder to identify. I'm guessing the gusty wind on Friday night may have blown it towards our garden from Arrow Valley Lake, the nearest reeds.

Sorting through the moths in the trap took much of Saturday morning, and I was soon ready for lunch. Preparation of which was interrupted by a message that there was an Osprey at Earlswood Lakes. Evidently it hung around just long enough for Joe and Yvonne to see it (John had found it of course), but it was soon seen gaining height and heading north-west.

That's why I decided to pay a rare visit to Lower Bittell. It was a long shot, but perhaps it had gone there. Well it may have done, but I didn't see it. Instead my constant scanning produced something else.

Several Black-headed Gulls were flying over the reservoir, and a pair of Common Terns chased anything that came close. I presumed they were nesting, or thinking of nesting, on a purpose-built raft which the Bittell birdwatching group were presumably responsible for. After about half an hour I noticed two pure white black-headed Gulls high above me. They chased one another briefly and circled away to the west. They appeared to be adult Mediterranean Gulls, I could see no trace of any black under their primaries at any stage. Unfortunately when I say high above, I really mean high. Too high to attempt a photograph? Well I had a go, literally seeing nothing but sky through the lens. Two shots were of just that, but one did contain a gull. 

I think I can see a tiny smudge of grey near the tip of the left primary which possibly indicates the bird in the shot is a second year, rather than adult Mediterranean Gull.

Tuesday June 9 - Earlswood Lakes and Morton Bagot

 In strictly chronological order I will deal with this morning's visit to Morton Bagot first. I slipped out early, and it turned out to be time well spent. The Cetti's Warbler was singing again, but I was stunned to discover a male Stonechat as I walked back to the car. There have been no sightings since April 5, and I can't think we've overlooked such an obvious species since then. So what was it doing here in early June? I did photograph it before it disappeared, but the shot is a bit of a shocker so I'll see if its still there tomorrow. Oh what the heck (it wasn't seen next day).

Stonechat

At about the same time the first Sand Martin here this year showed very well, but eluded the camera. Some House Martins were more co-operative as they gathered mud for their nest.

House Martins

This afternoon I was back out again, this time to Earlswood. 

Sometimes local places have a purple patch. This year Earlswood is excelling itself. This time John Oates was the finder, and the bird I needed to see was a Little Tern. 

I arrived within fifteen minutes of its discovery, and thankfully it was still there. The last one was in 2012, and more typically it had been in and out.

Little Tern with Common Tern

Perhaps the shingle spit, no longer an island, off the causeway encouraged it to stick. It's a tiny little tern compared to a Common Tern, and much less regular in the Midlands than it used to be due to a national decline.

Little Tern towered over by Black-headed Gulls

As with the Spoonbill a couple of days ago it caused a mini-twitch for the local birding group.

Some very happy birders

Perhaps June isn't such a bad month for birding.

Sunday June 7 - Earlswood Lakes and Morton Bagot

 I was just in the middle of posting something, basically moaning about how rubbish June was for birding when my Whatsapp ping'd. Spoonbill at Earlswood ! I was out of the house in seconds, and I'm pleased to say I got there in time.

The bird had been found by Yvonne Heward who'd photographed it after spotting it from her car as she drove across Engine Pool Causeway.

I arrived somewhat hot and bothered having run down Malthouse Lane. 

Phew. The first view as I arrived.

The news was that the bird was colour-ringed so the first task was to read it. We established it was ringed in Holland, and no doubt fuller details will emerge in due course.

Adult summer plumaged Spoonbill. What a bird.

Initially the bird was content to walk around Engine Spit and all the local birders managed to arrive in time for great views. After about fifteen minutes it flew away down Engine, but landed again at the far end before later returning to the little bit of mud in front of the Wood Lane car-park. Unfortunately I had to leave, and on getting home heard it had flown off over New Fallings Coppice.

This is the first record for Earlswood. It's also a 10k Circle tick for me.

Now, back to the original post. June is the close season for birds blah blah blah. But with birding anything can happen.

At Morton Bagot this morning very little was happening. Dave and I slogged round and were quite pleased to find the first returning Green Sandpiper at the back of the nearest flash. The Cetti's Warbler which I hadn't heard for a couple of visits announced its continued presence very loudly (but we still didn't see it), before giving a further burst of song from bushes a long way off.

As it was fairly cool there weren't all that many insects to see, but the first Meadow Browns of the year were out and about, along with a Darter with yellowish inner wings. Unfortunately there have been no Yellow-winged Darters seen in Britain this year, so I guess it was just a Ruddy Darter. They can show some yellowish wing venations. 

Presumed Ruddy Darter

Female Blue-tailed Damselfly (the orange torso variant)

Earlier this week I'd wandered around Arrow Valley Lake counting the local Canada and Greylag Geese and their numerous offspring. I also noticed that the Little Egret colony was now more visible and there were several young Egrets which had recently fledged.

Recently fledged Little Egret

Also during the week I had been tempted to twitch a Privet Hawk-moth which John Oates had caught in his garden trap.

Privet Hawk-moth

My own trapping on Friday night was rather less successful. The forty moths caught included an Elephant Hawk-moth (impressive but regular) and a Cypress Carpet which was only my second, following my first last year. They are another example of a moth which was once very rare in Warwickshire, but is now tolerably widespread.

Cypress Carpet

I now need to consider whether to return to the patch, the Spoonbill having flown off south-west. It probably isn't there, but you never know.

Saturday/Sunday May 30/31 - Morton Bagot

 This weekend's story actually starts with a little confusion on my Thursday visit. I didn't mention it at the time because I was, well, confused. As I arrived at the flash field I had heard in the distance a rather Quail-like call coming from the far side of the field. It stopped as soon as it started, and didn't sound quite right so I left it.

Late on Thursday night Joe Owens at Earlswood recorded a definite singing Quail after hearing calls from his bedroom, and later the same night John Sirrett's Nocmig detected one passing over his garden at Monkspath.

So by Saturday morning as I completed my moth trapping session, I had almost convinced myself I'd thrown away a Quail record. After being unable to join the ringers at the sewage works, I called in at Morton Bagot but only had time to get to the field where the last Quail had been singing, a couple of years ago. There was nothing, and only a fly over Little Egret lightened the mood.

Later that afternoon John Chidwick paid a visit to the flash field and walked into a Greenshank and two Avocets. I was keen to see the former, so hurried over and was delighted to find the birds, and indeed John, still present. The most relevant thing to this story is that I heard that call again, and its source was revealed as the Avocets. I'm perfectly familiar with the normal "poop poop" call of the species, but they evidently make a conversational call which has much the same tone as the "whit...whit, whit" of a Quail. But the rhythm is different. It's more "whit..whit..whit..whit". I had a look in BWP when I got home and this call is described as being made between an established pair of Avocets. 

Greenshank

Avocets flying in (and Greenshank)

No doubt I should have known this call, but in my defence I saw no Avocets at all on Thursday. The rushes at Morton Bagot could hide a flock of Avocets and you'd be none the wiser. It's unusual to see a Greenshank here in spring, nearly all previous records having been from July to September, so hats off to John for a great find.

Today Dave and I were disappointed that the Greenshank and Avocets had gone, and we could find nothing better than a sub-adult Peregrine and a female Tufted Duck. 

Fortunately there were invertebrates to look at, and these included our first White-legged Damselflies of the year.

White-legged Damselfly

Banded Demoiselle (male)

Wasp Beetle

Painted Lady on Ox-eye Daisies

The Crab Spider Misumena vatia lurking beneath an Ox-eye Daisy

Finally, I should revisit Saturday morning's moth trapping as it delivered 55 moths of 32 species including 18 new for the year and two new for the garden.

Large Nutmeg (first for garden but apparently fairly common)

Orange-tipped Nest Moth (first for garden but also fairly common)

Eyed Hawk-moth (my first in the garden since 2018)

I was amused to see that none of the eleven (at least) Silver Y moths which had spent the evening feasting on the nectar of our Valerian plants, found their way into the trap which was standing just 12 feet away. Clearly some species are less susceptible to the draw of the light than others.

Thursday May 28 - Earlswood and Morton Bagot

 The weather continues to be warm, and inevitably things have started to settle down.

I've still been tempted to pay early morning visits to Earlswood, yesterday joining Joe Owens on the causeway in time to see two distant waders turn out to be nothing more exciting than two Common Sandpipers. A single Red Kite made up the numbers. This morning a solo vigil following impressive overnight thunderstorms was rewarded with a Little Ringed Plover and thirty Swifts.

Little Ringed Plover

After breakfast I opted for Morton Bagot. The birding highlight was discovering that the pair of Lapwings at the flash field now has three tiny chicks in tow.

Lapwing with one and a half chicks if you look closely

The nearest flash has been reflooded, so we are back to square one where the mud is concerned. Another pair of Lapwings was still quite agitated on the HOEF scrape field, so it's still possible there is a second brood there.

Skylarks seem to be doing quite well this year. I'm not sure how many pairs there are, but my guess would be a minimum of six across the site. Most views are of flying birds, usually singing. Today however one sang from the top of a small bush.

Skylark with crest most definitely not erect

With relatively little new bird activity to talk about, the time is approaching when this blog becomes rather insecty.

A couple of days ago we saw our first Humming-bird Hawk-moth of the year in the garden. Plant some Red Valerian, and the species is almost guaranteed to turn up. Another migrant insect which is getting commoner year on year.

The blur of wings that is a Humming-bird Hawk-moth

This morning I saw Common Blue butterflies, and a newly minted Large Skipper. Dragonflies were all over the place, but unlike at Earlswood a few days ago they were all the expected resident species.

Common Blue

Large Skipper

Four-spotted Chaser

Sleepy summer is just around the corner.