A day off work today was largely packed with non-birding stuff, but I did get down to Morton Bagot for an hour and a half this morning. As I was pushed for time I parked at the church, hearing a Brambling shortly after getting out of the car. A couple of gunshots from the wood while I was still close to the road caused a great birdy panic as Woodpigeons, corvids, and Mallard rose in the distance. Amongst them I could see a party of eight Wigeon. By the time I reached the flash, it was virtually deserted.
The pool was slightly better, a pair of Wigeon, the Little Grebe, a Teal, and a pair of Mute Swans were in residence. Overhead a few winter Thrushes were flying over, and I eventually logged 24 Redwings and 11 Fieldfares. I decided to cut across the marsh, ironically the course of the public footpath, and here I flushed the first Jack Snipe of the year.
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| Jack Snipe |
Typically it flew just a few yards and pitched back into the long grass. This was actually the first since 2010. I used to flush one each autumn, but then the great drought started and by 2011 the whole site became unsuitable. Fortunately the marsh is back and I had been optimistic that the species would return.
I continued back to the road, but then couldn't resist scoping some Geese which were now on the flash. They were just Greylags, and with them were 11 Black-headed Gulls. Then another Gull joined them, a first-winter Common Gull, the second year-tick of the morning. Common Gulls are surprisingly scarce in this area, and I often only manage a single individual in a year.
My year list now sits at 116.
Common Gull seem to be on the move at the mo Richard, i've had 2 in last few days at Lutley moving through SW, I also normally only get one or two records a year if i'm lucky. I noticed one or two have been turning up at other Midland sites so obviously part of a wider movement.
ReplyDeleteHi Craig
DeleteYes, its a pretty typical time of year for them. I don't know why they are so scarce in central and north Worcestershire. In previous years at sites like Upton Warren I thought I detected a tendancy for increased records after easterlies, perhaps birds which would normally be moving through central warwickshire from roosts like Draycote following a more westerly track.