Sunday December 23

A grey, damp, occasionally drizzly morning.

Bannam's Wood under the low cloud

Given the weather I hadn't anticipated using my camera at all, but inevitably there was just enough to encourage me to do so.

A few thrushes, and a party of 12 Pied Wagtails were the highlights until I reached the Flash field. Here there was a reasonable selection of birds. The Little Egret flew to the furthest Flash, which also held about 60 Canada Geese and three Gadwalls.

The nearest flash contained about 18 Teal, 20 Mallard, a single female Shoveler, a Shelduck, and 19 Lapwings. Quite a bit better than it has been.

Shelduck

Shoveler and Mallard

Lapwings

The gloomy conditions were challenging for the camera. On the walk back I didn't add a great deal extra, but an apparently tail-less Redwing caught my eye.

Redwing

Sunday December 16

A sunny morning although it gradually clouded over from the south. A very light south-westerly breeze.

The first half of this morning's effort was rather uninspiring, the highlight being a flock of 22 Redpolls. Indeed the day reached a low point as we watched the water trickling out of the main pool through an unblocked pipe.

The Flash field was also largely devoid of birds and it seemed this would be one of our worst visits this year. Then things started to change.

I had noticed some large gulls flying west in the distance. One group in particular, which I had assumed were Lesser Black-backed Gulls, caught Dave's attention when he pointed out that one of them, the small one, was a Herring Gull. This obviously set alarm bells ringing as we realised they had to be Great Black-backed Gulls. This time I got a shot.

Great Black-backed Gulls (with Herring and Lesser)

At the time we thought they were five Geebs and a Herring, but I now think the right hand bird is a Lesser. Later on we saw more large gulls, and the final tally was 20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 13 Herring Gulls, and four Great Black-backed Gulls.

Herring Gulls

A little further on a Little Egret flew up from a ditch on the other side of a field and landed in a tree. This was the first here since February.

Little Egret

I am guessing this is the single Little Egret which was at Arrow Valley Lake last week.

The final bit of luck was both good and bad. When there are two of you walking around you are obviously hoping and expecting that you will both see anything worthy of note. So when I spotted three drake Goosanders flying south-west just behind Stapenhill Wood, I was anxious to get Dave on them. Unfortunately they were quite low and I could only see through a cleft between two bushes. Every time I tugged Dave to try to get him into a position where he would be able to see them the birds kept disappearing behind the bush. In the end we tried running to the top of the rise, but they had gone.

I did see one in the gloom of pre-dawn on my all day bird watch here in May, but they are generally pretty scarce here. Dave's only record dates back to 2012. So it was a bittersweet moment.

Finally, the livestock on the patch has recently become more biodiverse.

baaaah

Sunday December 9

Showers quickly cleared away to reveal largely sunny skies and a cool westerly breeze.

Just when we had given up on 2018, we go and get a year tick. Unfortunately no photographs were taken because it was a fly over and we wasted valuable seconds agreeing that we were indeed looking at a first-winter Great Black-backed Gull. This was the first here since December 2014, and was therefore pretty noteworthy despite being a gull which any coastal, or even reservoir, birder would barely give a second glance. It was flying with two adult Herring Gulls and two Lesser Black-backed Gulls so the large size was quite apparent.

The gull was the highlight of an enjoyable walk round. The Stonechats were still present, there were still about 120 thrushes (mainly Redwings) stripping the hawthorns, and the Flash field sported three Gadwall, six Teal, and at least 17 Mallard.

Redwing

Alarm calls from a Blackbird led us to disturb a roosting Tawny Owl from the plantation next to Stapenhill Wood.

Roll on the new year.

Sunday December 2

This morning was very mild with a light south-westerly. The early sun shone brightly beneath a bank of heavy cloud which eventually obscured it. Before that the contrast between light and dark encouraged me to take a landscape photograph.

The morning was also characterised by the presence of people and dogs. Three adults and a toddler, all wearing bright red coats, and three dogs, none of which were on a leash. One of them appeared to be lost and was dashing around the pool field no doubt providing an explanation for the lack of birds there.

Anyone lost a dog?

Speaking of mammals, we did see one creature I have never seen before; a Muntjac foal. It's back was spotted, and it was extra tiny. Unfortunately it disappeared under a tangle of brambles before I could get a shot of it.

As for birds, well there weren't many of them. There are still about 50 - 80 thrushes (Redwings and Fieldfares) in the area, the pair of Stonechats was still present, and a visit to the flash field was more productive than last weekend. It contained six Teal, five Snipe, a Green Sandpiper, six Wigeon, and top of the bill three Gadwall.

Gadwall

December eh !

Sunday November 25

Hazy sunshine and a very light easterly.

As predicted in my last posting, the Barn Owl was not present in the shed today. In fact for much of this morning Dave and I walked around gloomily reminiscing on winter days in the past when there were lots of finches and buntings here.

A large thrush approaching from the direction of Church Farm proved to be a Mistle Thrush, the scarcest of the regularly occurring thrushes here. In fact there had been a drop in the number of Redwings and Fieldfares since Friday.

Mistle Thrush

The Flash field contained five Wigeon, five Teal, three Snipe, and a Lapwing.

Happily, the visit was rescued at the very last second as we were climbing into our respective cars. Dave looked up and shouted "goldies". Sure enough eight Golden Plovers were heading east, high overhead. These were the first of the year, the last of the "bankers" and quite likely the last year-tick I shall get in 2018.

Friday November 23

A stroll around with Richard B in grey, slightly misty, conditions and a cold easterly breeze proved pleasantly productive.

A Peregrine was seen heading off into the mist at Netherstead, and a few minutes later it, or another, was seen on a pylon.

Peregrine

About 80 Redwings and 20 Fieldfares kept us entertained until we reached the Flash field where several Wigeon could be seen with Teal hiding behind clumps of rush. They were soon in flight, and we counted 13 birds as they kept reappearing, impatient for us to move on.

All but one of the Wigeon

The walk back took in a pair of Marsh Tits, they have been scarce lately and it were a tick for Richard. The highlight came as we walked past the shed Stapenhill Wood. Our chatting was loud enough to awaken and flush a Barn Owl which had been roosting therein. Good views, but it was gone before I could even think of using the camera. It hasn't been roosting in there all year, so I had not approached the shed with sufficient wariness.

I'll bet you it'll be absent on Sunday.

Sunday November 18

A sunny crisp autumn morning with a light easterly breeze.

Such conditions are good for photographing birds, and a Carrion Crow was an ideal subject.

Carrion Crow

I rarely try to photograph these because they are normally too jumpy, and you need good light to see the bird to best effect. Also present in the field at Netherstead was a Stonechat, much scarcer than the crow but much featured in this blog because they never hide.

Stonechat

As with last week there were lots of thrushes about, maybe 80 Fieldfares and 50 Redwings, and several parties of Linnets, Goldfinches, and Redpolls. Meanwhile a large Peregrine was dashing around over woodland to the south-west of the patch.

Lesser Redpoll

As we approached the flash field we heard a Little Owl calling. And the usual tree appeared to produce the bird in question. But look closely at the next photograph.

Just above the obvious Little Owl, peering through the dead oak leaves, is a beady eye. Unseen by us, but spotted by the camera, was a second Little Owl.

The nearest flash produced a nice surprise; a line of eight Wigeon. The first here for over a month.

Wigeon

Other than that it contained five Teal, two Moorhens, and five Snipe.

A better return than last weekend's nadir.

Sunday November 11

Sunny intervals and a fresh southerly.

It was back to earth with a bump today. Our walk round produced good numbers of thrushes; 140 Redwings and 80 Fieldfares, the pair of Stonechats appeared at Netherstead, a distant immature gull flying east which was probably a Common Gull, five Lapwings going south (the first for a while) and 100 Linnets.

The Flash field could only manage 13 Teal, four Snipe, and eight Moorhens.

Pretty dire.

Sunday November 4 - a good bird at last

Cloudy with a few light drizzly showers, but mild with a light southerly.

The first hour of this visit was very pedestrian, and I had resorted to counting the small parties of Stock Doves heading east (the total was 80 in you're interested). A Stonechat was still present. We were surprised, and a little depressed, to see that the puddle at the pool had reduced considerably in volume.

Never fear, things started to pick up when we reached the flash field. On the right hand edge of the furthest flash I could just make out a wader with a small group of Teal. To our surprise it was the first Redshank of the year. A scope would have helped, but I'd left it in the car to spare my back.

Redshank (honest)

The fact that Redshanks failed to turn up this spring was unusual, but not as much as seeing a November Redshank here. Normally its March to July, and that's your lot.

We continued down the hedge and reached the spot where you are closest to the nearest flash. From here we established that the Redshank had disappeared. While trying to relocate it we counted 27 Teal, and three Snipe.

Then I noticed a small grey bird pottering about on the shore of the nearest part of the flash. At first I thought it was a wader, but quickly realised it was a Pipit. The strong white wing-bars and pale flanks suggested one species in particular. A Water Pipit. I called to Dave, and he got onto the bird and noticed a second bird was present. That was also a Water Pipit. With no scope available, my bridge camera proved its worth, and despite the poor light I got several confirmatory photographs.

Water Pipit

Truly terrible shot showing both birds

After peering into the back of the camera at the shots we looked up to find that the birds had disappeared. A few minutes later Dave saw two Pipits fly off before he lost them almost immediately behind the foliage we were standing under.

We backtracked to the puddle in case they had gone there, but could only find half a dozen Meadow Pipits. More thrushes had arrived, and we estimated 100 Redwings, 80 Fieldfares, and 200 Starlings. I also got a shot of the Stonechat as it was a lot more obliging than the Water Pipits.

Stonechat

I thought I was going to go through the whole year without a category A bird at Morton Bagot, so the Water Pipits have rescued the year from total ignominy.

Some later news came from Mike I. He was unfortunately unsuccessful in his attempt to see the Water Pipits, but did see a first-winter Common Gull (the first here since last winter) and also managed to flush two Jack Snipes from the sedge in front of the main pool (puddle). Again, these are the first of the autumn, in this case because I thought the area would be too dry so I haven't tried for them.

Sunday October 28 (mostly)

A couple of recent visits can be amalgamated into a single post due to the general shortage of decent birds.

On Friday I wandered around with Richard B, the only thing come close to being noteworthy were a pair of Stonechats. This morning I was joined by Dave and in much brighter conditions we were a little more successful, although the Stonechats were nowhere to be seen.

Instead we began well with a couple of late Chiffchaffs in Netherstead plantation, and then a couple of Bramblings in the same general area. Neither had been seen on Friday, and neither offered up a photo opportunity.

Its looking promising for Redpolls this winter though. A small party was present on both visits, thought to be around 15 birds.

Lesser Redpoll

Also prominent was a flock of about 30 Redwings plus a handful of Fieldfares raiding the hawthorn hedges.

Redwing

Other than that it was all a bit underwhelming. The Flash field offering 34 Teal, a Snipe, and the first Mute Swan since the last of the juveniles disappeared a month ago.

Sunday October 21

Dave and I arrived just as the fog was clearing to reveal a sunny morning.

The clearance also revealed a small flock of finches by the Netherstead barns, mainly Linnets and Goldfinches, but including at least five Lesser Redpolls and the first Brambling of the year.

Initially we could only hear it calling, but eventually it perched up in the hedge some distance away.

Brambling

At least it was a male.  Around 50 Fieldfares flew south, with smaller numbers of Redwings and a Siskin also heading over. At this point it was starting to feel as though it could be a good day.

As it turned out, the only other decent birds we found were the first pair of Stonechats of the autumn. I had begun to wonder whether we would get any at all.

Female Stonechat

Male Stonechat

There were a few more Skylarks around than usual, at least 27, while a flock of 70 Starlings settled on wires over the ridge field. The Flash field was the usual disappointment, although there were at least 17 Snipe with the geese and Teal.

As the day warmed up plenty of insects were on the wing including a Small Copper, a Speckled Wood, and a Darter sp (presumably Common).

Small Copper

So a better visit than most recent ones.

Sunday October 14

Back at the patch after our Cornish break.

Its feeling properly autumnal now. For a start a slow moving cold front deposited a deluge of rain from just before dawn until early afternoon. Dave bailed out, and so did I. The thought of a soul-destroying morning slog in pouring rain was more than I could cope with. Instead, I waited until 14.15 when the rain was showing signs of abating before setting foot out of the house. The temperature was down to a chilly 10 degrees.

Autumn fungi

The signs of autumn were everywhere, from fungi like those shown (I have long since given up on trying to identify toadstools) to newly arrived autumn migrants.

The weedy field and hedge behind the pool (still a puddle) played host to 25 buntings, including ten Yellowhammers, and also 70 Goldfinches and 15 Linnets. A couple of Chiffchaffs are still hanging on, and I also heard a tacker which was bound to be a Blackcap.

A big flock of Greylag Geese announced my arrival by flying noisily from the flash field. The disturbance caused the dabbling ducks to take flight, but they all returned, revealing the first Wigeon of the autumn and a decent count of 52 Teal.

Of course you know autumn has really arrived when the winter thrushes turn up, so I was pleased to accumulate ten Redwings, typically silhouetted as they flew around. I also heard my first Redpoll of the autumn. Its normal to get the first Redwings a week or two before the first Fieldfare, so I was very pleased and surprised to discover a single Fieldfare on wires accompanied by a single Meadow Pipit.

Fieldfare and Meadow Pipit

I flushed five Roe Deer from the weedy field, a good count for this species. Several Brown Hares were also seen.

The final bird to report was a single Peregrine, presumably the one seen three weeks ago.

Thursday October 11

Yesterday's post ended with the prophecy that ropey weather would put paid to any further wildlife watching action.

This morning there was a southerly gale and driving rain. But at 11.00 am I glanced out at the rain-splattered patio as I headed to make us a cup of tea, and blow me there's a Black Redstart sheltering under the garden furniture.

Black Redstart

It didn't stay long, and I just managed a couple of poor shots before it hopped through a gap in the fence into the neighbours garden, and from there disappeared into the farm. The rain stopped an hour later, but I couldn't relocate it. There was another (or the same) Feathered Ranunculus in the porch though, and even more unexpectedly a Hummingbird Hawkmoth did a brief tour of the garden before being blown northwards.

In the afternoon the sun came out and the wind dropped. We headed to Tate St Ives to look around the  gallery at the 20th Century art housed within. Not everybody's cup of tea, but the views of St Ives were stunning.

On the way back we stopped for an all too brief look at the Hayle estuary. The tide had not come in yet, but there were plenty of trip ticks standing around. I don't get the chance to see many Mediterranean Gulls nowadays, so I was quite happy to settle for them. Arguably the Whimbrel on the RSPB reserve was a scarcer bird these days.

Adult and 1st winter Mediterranean Gulls

Whimbrel

So the weather really is supposed to be bad tomorrow. No chance of anything else...is there?

Wednesday October 10

Guess what. I'm on holiday. We are staying in a very nice holiday property in the middle of Cornwall, i.e. not where the birds are. The locality is Vose Farm near Tregony.

We came here in 2016, and I have to admit that part of the attraction was my determination to visit Dodman Point, a headland which juts out into the English Channel but which is rarely featured even on the Cornish Birds website. Surely an under-watched gem.

This time I managed to negotiate the narrow, high-banked roads to get to the National Trust car-park at its stem. It was largely cloudy on Monday but I spent a pleasant couple of hours there looking for migrants. The final tally was two Chiffchaffs, two Blackcaps, and a Wheatear. Oh well, at least I've been.

Wheatear

Meanwhile, Vose Farm has had its moments. The day after we arrived was a cold Sunday morning, and I found about 40 Swallows and a House Martin perched on wires, while a couple of Stonechats were visible just beyond the end of the garden. They evidently all migrated during the day, because not a single one has been seen since.

I couldn't fit the moth-trap into the car, so my only chance of moths came from the porch, which had an outside light. And as it turned out the single moth present on Monday morning was a Feathered Ranunculus, a coastal species which is virtually unknown in the Midlands (just two Warwickshire records).

Feathered Ranunculus

I should probably own up to the fact that I didn't know what it was, and tentatively identified it as a Brindled Green, only to be corrected by a couple of members of the Warwickshire Moth Facebook Group.

The following night I found five micros which were new to me; Eudonia angustea, but I am aware that they are quite common, even in the Midlands.

Yesterday Lyn and I went to west Cornwall to visit galleries. This included a stop at Mousehole where we witnessed a highly entertaining drama which involved a young chap being transported across to a rocky outcrop where he had lost a newly purchased £1.5k drone with which he had been filming seabirds when one of them took exception to it and brought it down.

The recovery mission in full swing

We had to leave before we found out what happened, but I have since discovered that he did find it and that it still works. While we were watching the drama, we saw a Peregrine making an unsuccessful swoop at a Turnstone.

Today, a trip to Trelissick Gardens was very pleasant. More importantly I had spotted that the venue was only ten miles from Devoran Quay which has held a Lesser Yellowlegs for about three weeks. So I arrived at 16.45 to find the tide rising rapidly. Fortunately the second group of Redshank I looked at were accompanied by the Lesser Yellowlegs. Less fortunately they were on the opposite side of the creek, so I was only able to snatch a few distant shots (the sun was against me too).

Lesser Yellowlegs (with Black-tailed Godwits in the foreground)

All the waders were then flushed by a man on the far bank and flew downstream, but they chose to land even further away so no better shots were possible. I think this is only the third Lesser Yellowlegs I have seen in the UK.

Its nice to end with a rarity. The forecast for the next couple of days is pretty ropey, so I doubt I'll be seeing anything else before we head home.

Sunday September 30

Cloudy with a very light north-westerly.

Dave joined me for a visit which can best be described as quiet....again. The middle period of autumn between the departures and the arrivals. No longer present were the hirundines, while still hanging on was the odd Blackcap and at least four Chiffchaffs.

The only sign of winter was a single Siskin, which flew over. There are still plenty of Meadow Pipits around, we estimated about 60. The Flash field remains disappointing, no Green Sandpipers, seven Snipe, about 30 Teal, 202 Greylag Geese, and 45 Canada Geese.

Common Snipe

I need a holiday.

Friday September 21 & Sunday September 23

During a pretty stormy weekend I was unable to resist taking a quick look at the Flashes on Friday in case it had been the beneficiary of a Grey Phalarope visit (there being five at three sites in Warwickshire as a result of the storms). It hadn't.

Instead I was left to count 51 Teal, a Shoveler, five Green Sandpipers, and two Snipe.

This morning the rain again intervened, causing a later start and messing up Dave's plans for his first visit in three weeks. As the rain abated just after 10.00 am I arrived to find a new dawn effect as numerous small passerines hunted the insects now emerging into the drying canopy of the Netherstead Plantation. To be fair most were Blue Tits (about 30), but there were several Chiffchaffs and best of all a Spotted Flycatcher. The first two Siskins of the autumn flew south calling.

In many ways it was a typical late September day, characterised by frequent views of Jays, hundreds of other corvids (mainly Jackdaws), 100 Stock Doves, 80 Woodpigeons, 120 House Martins, a few Swallows, and 110 Meadow Pipits. The latter appeared in a large loose flock over the grassy field south of Stapenhill Wood. I decided to investigate the field and flushed the cause of the panic, a juvenile Peregrine clutching something small, presumably a Meadow Pipit, in its talons.

The hunter

The hunter with victim

The prey

The trans-African migrant warblers have now gone, but some of the shorter-distance migrants still remain, and I counted six Chiffchaffs and four Blackcaps as I walked around.

Meanwhile the Flash field contained the same species as on Friday, but fewer of them. The only one bucking the trend was Greylag Goose. The flock now numbers at least 240.

Sunday September 16

Cloudy but mild with a light south-westerly.

I'm afraid this was a pretty abysmal visit. There were no real highlights. The Flash field produced 212 Greylag Geese, 13 Teal, 25 Mallard, six Green Sandpipers, nine Snipe, and a heard-only Kingfisher.

A large tit flock at Netherstead was accompanied by a couple of Chiffchaffs, but I saw no other species of warbler all morning.

At least 20 Meadow Pipits were in the area, but they didn't seem to be moving, and with the exception of a single Swallow heading purposefully south, the 60 or so hirundines were just feeding on any insects they could find.

Speaking of insects, it was left to a single Common Darter to provide me with my one and only photographic opportunity.

Common Darter

Hopefully next weekend will be better.

Friday September 14

A cloudy morning with a light westerly breeze.

A wander around with the Richards, armed with several plastic boxes for blackberry picking, turned out to be quite productive (for berries and birds). As usual we made very slow progress, and there was ample time for a fully grown Common Toad to crawl out of the way.

Toad

There was some evidence of bird migration as a handful of Meadow Pipits and Swallows were heading south. A large tit flock was carrying one or two Chiffchaffs, while several tackers tacked unseen.

The flock of Greylag Geese has reached 210, and the flashes also contained the usual thirty or so Teal, four Green Sandpipers, and half a dozen Snipe. As we arrived at the watchpoint I spotted a small, rather long-tailed duck flying over and just had time to get the bins on it to confirm my suspicions that it was a female type Mandarin. It headed south-east before the lads could see it.

We wandered back, looking at crickets, butterflies, and the like before I heard the unmistakable call of a Kingfisher. My luckless companions were a few yards away and didn't notice the call.

Among other insects I spotted a small moth which turned out to be a rather late-flying Bramble-shoot Moth.

Bramble-shoot Moth

It might seem as though I was hogging all the wildlife, but I'm pleased to say that enough was seen by all of us to make it a successful visit.

A visit to the Miller & Carter at Matchborough for lunch produced another Kingfisher on the Arrow, and this time we all saw it.

Sunday September 9

After opting not to take part in the West Midlands Alldayer (partly because I'd thought it was going to rain all day - pathetic I know) I was on site for my usual Sunday morning slot. It was a rather cloudy start, but soon brightened up. A light to moderate south-westerly was not especially encouraging.

The early signs were not good, but a Sedge Warbler which flew from the hedge by the pond was likely to be my last this year. Hirundines grew in number through the morning ending up at about 100 split 60/40 in favour of House Martins over Swallows. My first 10 Meadow Pipits of the autumn flew over the pool field and landed in the weedy field beyond.

Warblers were hard to pin down and apart from a few Chiffchaffs and the aforementioned Sedge Warbler, I recorded just a single Lesser Whitethroat. A couple of other tackers failed to reveal their identity though.

At the Flash field 192 Greylag Geese dominated, but the furthest flash did contain a single Shoveler, standing out from the dross. I wasn't sure if it was new for the year, but it appears I did see one in March.

Shoveler with Greylags

Waders remain disappointing; just four Green Sandpipers and 21 Snipe, while the Shoveler was accompanied by 34 Teal. One oddity was a Little Grebe bobbing up and down in the deepest part of the nearest Flash; the first of those since the spring.

The sun came out on the walk back, and I found myself looking at insects. Small Coppers seem to be having a better year, I saw four without really trying. Several second generation Small Heaths were on the wing along with several Small Whites and a Speckled Wood. One patch of nettles was being devoured by a host of Peacock caterpillars.

Peacock caterpillar apparently unaware of the large Spider to his right.

Dragonflies comprised a few mature Common Darters and several Migrant Hawkers, one of which was kind enough to pose for me.

Migrant Hawker

I'll be back with the Richards on Friday, but judging by the bounty on offer today, we'll probably be picking blackberries.