December 29 - So long 2020

The year ended, fittingly enough, with another damp squib.

Dull and gloomy weather with periods of drizzle and a bit of sleet for good measure promised little and delivered less. A light north-westerly breeze would later produce more wet snow.

The flash field contained three Shovelers, 47 Mallard, 14 Wigeon, 26 Teal, four Lapwings, and 25 Snipe. This was actually not bad; both Wigeon and Snipe having apparently gone up in numbers, and the Shovelers were new.

I had parked by the church, and so the return visit took me through the pool field, flushing 16 Meadow Pipits and noticing that the Coot and a Stonechat were still present.

The top pool

I rarely visit the small top pool. It is deeper than the main pool, but is generally too small to encourage more than a cursory glance.

This route took me back along the line of the footpath and allowed me to locate a flock of 60 Linnets. They have probably been in the area all autumn, but I haven't often bumped into them.

So let's reflect on 2020. Not the best year I've experienced here. I missed April and the first part of May entirely due to following the government's stay at home guidelines to the letter. In spite of this I managed to see almost all of the regular species, and ended up with a patch year-list of 110. This equals my lowest ever figure, but given the circumstances I'll take it.

We even had some highlights. The one patch tick was a Pochard in late November, while the fly though Marsh Harrier in early August put in a strong bid for bird of the year. However, my personal highlight was flushing a Quail in late October, exceptional for the date and for the fact it was a visual record of a bird generally heard only (if it turns up at all). Redpoll numbers swelled in early October, but have since fallen back, and the ringers were able to catch a Mealy Redpoll among their number. Finally, a Crossbill flew south on a date in October and may have been one of those later found to be inhabiting nearby Morgrove Coppice.

I don't plan to get out again until January 1 2021, so I will wish a Happy (and healthy) New Year to everyone who reads this blog in the meantime.

Sunday December 27 - waterworld

 As storm Bella rattled our south-facing windows last night, I imagined what birds it might deliver to Morton Bagot in the morning. Then I woke up.

The truth is that such winter storms rarely produce anything inland, and definitely not to my patch. Dave joined me as usual, reporting a rather alarming flood affected journey down water-logged lanes to get here. We found that every pool was full to the brim, and wellies were an absolute essential.

The bright sunshine calm revealed lots of worm-loving birds; at least 80 Redwings and 75 Starlings were joined by a Buzzard hunting the easy pickings provided by earthworms caught between a rock and a hard place.

Common Buzzard

Redwing

Starling

We reached the pool field, which now definitely contained a proper pool. About 70 Mallard, 13 Canada Geese, and a few Teal deserted it, alerted by our less than silent approach. This did leave one bird which was a new arrival.

The first Coot since the summer

Though we were naturally thrilled by seeing a Coot, we were also disheartened to hear the sound of water gushing out of the pipe which prevents the pool from being a permanent feature.

We moved on to the flash field, also thoroughly saturated, where it was pretty much the same as usual, although bird numbers were up. We counted 20 Lapwings, 16 visible Snipe, at least seven Wigeon, and at least 35 Teal. Most of the wildfowl were on the furthest flash, some barely visible above due to a combination of grass and topography. 

The Snipe flock

If we were allowed into the field, no doubt many more Snipe would be discovered, but it remains strictly out of bounds.

The walk back produced a trickle of large gulls heading towards Redditch, and among them I noticed a black-backed gull that was noticeably larger than the Herring Gull it was accompanying. Unfortunately just as I realised it must be a Great Black-backed Gull the two of them disappeared behind the line of trees bordering the Morton Brook, and they eluded Dave's efforts to see them. 

The field beyond Stapenhill Wood was also waterlogged and did harbour a few gulls, but six Black-headed Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull was not really enough to encourage us to investigate further.

We only found one Stonechat on site today and the visit petered out in typical mid-winter fashion.

Thursday December 24

 With Christmas bearing down on us I have been almost too busy to look at birds. 

Glancing out of the kitchen window has produced regular sightings of a male Blackcap since a pair turned up at the beginning of the month.

This morning I was sent out on the usual last minute errands, one of which was to go the Purity Brewery to get stocked up. Three minutes away was Morgrove Coppice, and I had recently had a Twitter email from AdyG@punkygibbon telling me he had seen a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker there. So I called in for a quick look.

Needless to say I didn't locate the Lesser Spot, but I did find the ringers hard at work.  Whilst we chatted, a Morgrove Coppice tick flew over, a Peregrine. Not especially surprising given the close proximity of Morton Bagot. By the time I got the camera out it was too late to get anything more than a distant silhouette.

Chaffinch

I settled for a female Chaffinch which Leigh held up for me, then bid them a Merry Xmas and headed home.

Have a good one, and stay safe.

Sunday December 20 - more Crossbill action and ringing results

News that the ringers were setting up at Morgrove Coppice today led to a small diversion down the road, where I was optimistic we would have a chance to see the wintering Crossbill flock. Last week Mark C had counted five there.

Initially it looked fairly quiet and we picked our way through a small Tit/Goldcrest party hoping for something more exciting. After about 30 minutes we heard distant Crossbill calls, and Dave picked up a party of six as they flew into the pines. I soon spotted a pair, and then two adult males before they took off and flew southwards. On this occasion I definitely saw four birds.

A male Crossbill

Where the other week I had been uncertain of the sex of the bird I photographed, there was no doubt that this one was a male.

The best way to find these Crossbills is by latching onto their calls. A single bird makes a rather squeaky "kyip" call, and when a party get together they all call at once so you get a jumble of excitement calls. Its all very well telling you this, but what you really need is a bit of footage of a calling bird, and I'm pleased to say that 15 minutes after the first group had moved on, a single female arrived and perched (silhouetted unfortunately) in a deciduous tree. Game on.

It immediately started giving the "kyip" call which can be heard in this brief extract.

We went to find the ringers. They seemed quite content with their morning and had been catching a small selection of common woodland birds. Eventually we were able to point out another Crossbill as it appeared from the south, although it was always high up. So we may have recorded eight Crossbills altogether, and it wouldn't surprise me if there are even more in the area.

We returned to Morton Bagot to complete the morning, our arrival coinciding with the first shower clouds and sure enough we got wet. At least seven Stonechats were spotted on our circuit, a decent count for mid-winter.

A female Stonechat

The flash field was OK; 36 Teal, six Shovelers, 27 Mallard, 10 Lapwings, and 12 visible Snipe. I would also say that there are slightly more Fieldfares, Redwings, and Starlings around than is often the case in late December, maybe 220 birds all told.

It looks like lock-down mark two is just over the horizon. Thank goodness for wildlife.

Speaking of which, I can now add the results of the ringers' labours, kindly supplied by Tony Kelly.

They caught 35 birds as follows:

Long-tailed Tit - 1

Coal Tit - 1 (a retrap)

Blue Tit - 15

Great Tit - 7

Goldcrest - 2

Wren - 5

Blackbird - 1

Robin - 1

Dunnock - 1

Chaffinch - 1

The Coal Tit had previously been caught at Middle Spernal, a couple of miles away.

I particularly like a photo they took of the two Goldcrests in the hand. 

Goldcrests - per Tony Kelly

These are a female and a male. The female seems quite relaxed, while the male is flaring his crest showing the stunning flame-coloured centre to his crown indicating he is distinctly irritated. They usually do this when they see another male Goldcrest, and I'm guessing he saw his reflection in the camera lens.

Monday December 14

 The usual Sunday morning slog having been cancelled due to rain and wimpishness, I gave it a go in bright sunshine this morning. It is now very mild and there was a moderate south-westerly breeze. 

Actually I'm not all that fond of bright winter sunshine (there's just no pleasing some people), its fine if the sun is behind you on the walk to the flash field, but blinding on the walk back.

It was pretty quiet, so hard work trying to pick out any gems. I like seeing numbers of Starlings here in the winter. My count of 133 with a mixture of small flocks (counted) and a larger group at the flash field (estimated).

Starlings

An impression of the flock

Obviously this isn't the murmuration so popular with TV wildlife programmes, and they certainly won't be roosting here. Maybe Redditch town centre may be worth a look at dusk.

Actually the flash field was pretty good. I counted three Cormorants (in the usual tree), two Grey Herons, 40 Teal, 10 Wigeon, 46 Mallard, nine Shovelers, four Lapwings, and three visible Snipe.

Meadow Pipit

Small birds were thin on the ground; a handful of Meadow Pipits, 32 Goldfinches, 42 Redwings, 16 Fieldfares, and two Stonechats were about typical for December.

The morning's highlight came over the ridge field, where a Peregrine appeared overhead and seemed to be hunting, managing a brief stoop before disappearing from view.

Peregrine

I was pleased to get a shot of it, although the bright sunshine left it rather backlit. 

All in all, not too bad a morning.

Tuesday December 8 - Greater Morton Bagot

 After a rather gloomy visit on Sunday I was determined that today would be better. The weather was certainly playing ball, mostly sunny with a very light south-westerly, and I had a plan.

After parking at Netherstead I marched to the south-eastern tip of my patch, then crossed the road and walked into virgin HOEF territory. This little strip of newly planted trees led me on to the northern edge of Morgrove Coppice.

The plan was to head to the pines and relocate the Crossbills found by Mark last week. I reached the car-park (still out of bounds and being worked on by contractors) and veered to the right along the boardwalk. Having walked its full length I found myself facing the stand of scots pines and larch, and right on cue heard a burst of Crossbill calls. Now that's what I call a plan.

It took me a while to set eyes on any Crossbills, but eventually another call led me to a single bird at the top of a pine.

Crossbill

My feeling was that this was a dull male, but I must admit that looking at my photo it might actually be greenish rather than orangish, so maybe a female. It soon disappeared and I decided to return to the main track and edge north. This paid off when I found a definite male which I decided to film. It was briefly joined by a second bird, as you'll see.

These birds were annoyingly silent and soon slipped out of view. With no further sign I continued onwards.

A Raven was "kronking" from a tree, and I was able to get a shot. Further on a sizeable flock of Coal Tits, Goldcrests, and Long-tailed Tits kept me interested, particularly when they were joined by at least one Marsh Tit.

Raven

Marsh Tit

Several Redpolls were flying around, but I decided to return to the road and walk the five minute journey back to my patch. The last hour had left me entertaining the thought of extending the patch to include Morgrove Coppice, hence Greater Morton Bagot, but I won't. Mind you if there'd been a Two-barred Crossbill in there, it would have been a done deal.

Back at the south-end weedy field I was pleased to find about a dozen Lesser Redpolls, a similar number of Goldfinches, and at least eight Reed Buntings. It's still looking good.

Lesser Redpolls

A Stonechat was one of two I saw today, and a male Kestrel one of three across the patch.

Kestrel

The last hour was spent yomping over to the flash field. En route I met Mike Lane, who was making his latest Youtube video, the subject being how to film Redwings and Fieldfares. There are still plenty around. 

Shortly afterwards I spotted a Peregrine on the pylons and a Sparrowhawk, which later perched in a distant oak. By now the light was distinctly cloudy so I decided not to dazzle Mike with my photographic ability,

The flash field was somewhat quiet; six Black-headed Gulls, 12 Teal, four Shovelers, a few Mallard, and 11 Snipe. With time pressing on, I did an about-face and headed back to the car.

Definitely a better day.

Sunday December 6 - Dispiriting December

 As Dave and I trudged around the patch in the drizzle, raindrops constantly having to be wiped from binoculars, condensation and more rain being rubbed from spectacles, I tried to think of appropriate words to describe the day.

Damp, dreary, dispiriting, dull, December. I think that'll do it. 

Despite all this we managed to see a few birds. At least 53 Mallard, five Wigeon, five Shovelers, 22 Teal, and 17 Snipe graced the flash field. One of two Stonechats we saw today was also there.

We decided to venture into Stapenhill Wood once more, and for a brief moment we feel a surge of optimism. This was caused by the sound of 30 to 50 Fieldfares and Redwings calling in alarm, and more significantly, several Blackbirds and Jays doing likewise. Surely they were mobbing an owl. Unfortunately all the action was taking place on the other side of a huge bank of sloes and hawthorns. By the time we found our way to the other side of the bushes it had got a lot quieter. However we did hear a Little Owl which was perhaps the cause of the activity, and I had a terrible view of a Woodcock as it disappeared behind a hedge.

By the time we were returning to our cars my camera had barely made an appearance. This wouldn't do, so I decided to try to my luck from the car.

A dowdy Dunnock

A Redwing feeding on sloes added a splash of colour to the day.

Brighter days lie ahead.

Friday 4 December

 In my last post I referred to some ducks Sam had seen on Wednesday. These included six Gadwall, a species that hasn't been seen here for a little while. In fact, I was rather slow to realise I haven't seen any here this year. Oops. 

So this morning, with a year-tick in mind, I paid a visit. The overcast skies and cold northerly wind were not ideal, but initially things looked promising. The nearest flash was smothered in ducks. 

I counted 66 Mallard, four Shoveler, five Wigeon, 25 Teal, and hiding in the grass were at least nine Snipe. But no Gadwall. I heard a rhythmical whump whump sound of wings to my right and looked round to see four Mute Swans circling over the pool field. On my return journey I found that they had returned.

Mute Swans

By now it was starting to rain and I decided to give up. Ironically my best sighting of the morning occurred on the walk back to the road as four Yellowhammers flew out of the hedge bordering the footpath, the highest total this year.

As this was a disappointing visit, I have added a couple of uplifting garden sightings from yesterday, namely the return of a pair of Blackcaps and a Nuthatch which repeatedly returned to the feeder. I managed to get some footage of the female Blackcap as it tucked into an apple on our leaf-strewn lawn. Lyn inadvertently features half way through, her mind on my shopping list, by announcing that she hoped we didn't need butter. 

In case you're wondering, we didn't.

College Wood - Wednesday December 2

 A cloudy but still morning, good for surveying.

So I visited another HOEF site, this one being a patch of newly planted woodland between Studley Thorns and Morton Bagot.

The 37 species of birds on offer contained one or two mini-highlights. A couple of Mandarins were flying around over Studley Thorns. The pool behind the trees is private so I didn't investigate further. (I have subsequently discovered its not private at all - thanks to Mike Lane for the correction). A flock of 17 Long-tailed Tits was a pretty decent size, and a Marsh Tit hammered away at a seed defying my efforts to photograph it. I settled for snatching a brief bit of film.

A few Redpolls, Siskins, 19 Goldfinches, and at least 18 Redwings flew around, while a quick look around the churchyard where I had parked produced six Greenfinches and a similar number of Chaffinches.

For a change I was able to record a mammal species, or to be more accurate evidence of a mammal, with the presence of a few molehills.

There were fewer dog-walkers than on some of the other HOEF sites where I have completed Spotter Sheets.

Meanwhile at Morton Bagot Sam was counting six Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, a drake Wigeon, about 12 Teal, at least 12 Snipe, two Stonechats, and a Grey Wagtail. But the place we both should have gone was Morgrove Coppice where Mark C was photographing a couple of Crossbills.

Unfortunately the car-park there is closed for improvement work for the next 10 days and the official HOEF advice is to park at Haydon Way carpark, about half a mile away, and walk from there.

Ringing News

 The ringers have recently been concentrating their efforts on other parts of the Heart of England Forest, but they have let me know of another control of a Lesser Redpoll which had been ringed elsewhere.

This one was caught at Netherstead on 11 October 2020, and was found to have been ringed by the Merseyside Ringing Group on 22 September 2020 at an SSSI in the Conwy Valley called Morfa Uchaf. The site appears to be near Tal-Y-Bont.

Although this may imply that the bird was from North Wales, it was likely to have been on migration in late September. This record gives an insight into its direction of travel, which was south-eastwards.

Sunday November 29 - Patch tick

The morning began quietly enough. Fog had tried to form, but then thought better of it and we were left with one of those grey misty mornings that photographers hate and birders love. It's a good job I'm a birder.

 Dave joined me, and with no sign of the dog we crept past its house and headed along the road towards Bannam's Wood. A couple of Yellowhammers flew over, reminding us of the days when they were common here. 

Not everything is different. A Tawny Owl has occupied the same oak tree for all of the thirteen years we have been working the patch, and sure enough we peered through the mirk to see it standing sentinel in the entrance to its nest hole.

Tawny Owl

In late November your expectations are low and you take whatever you can get. The next thing we got was a Jack Snipe which we unexpectedly flushed from the route we follow behind the pool field pretty much every visit. I imagine it had been disturbed from its preferred habitat in the marsh, and it certainly headed back there when flushed.

Shortly afterwards we approached the flash field which has been so disappointing of late. Not this time. A couple of white blobs proved to be the breasts of two drake Shovelers and panning to the left from them I found myself looking at a female POCHARD. 

Pochard

Before you yawn, consider this. Even in the days before the pool drained away, I dreamed of finding a Pochard here. We used to get Tufted Ducks a plenty, but there was never anything with them. Since the pool has gone, even Tufted Ducks are becoming scarce. I thought my chance had gone. The flash pool has been unusually full of water this year, but it's still only about two feet deep I reckon. Not great for holding flocks of diving duck.

Shoveler and Pochard

We scanned the rest of the flashes and came up with 15 Teal, a similar number of Mallard, four Shoveler, a Wigeon, and two Snipe. About 15 minutes later we arrived at a point nearer the flash and found it empty. The ducks had gone. Clearly the Pochard had realised its mistake and had gone to look for water deep enough to sustain a dive longer than half a second.

The walk back along the Morton Brook was a cheerful one. A flock of 10 Bullfinches flew up from the trees, while numerous Fieldfares, Starlings, and Redwings were still keeping us entertained. Dave commented that he was glad he'd been here to see the Pochard and that led onto a "birds I've seen here that Dave hasn't" conversation. I only mention this because one of those birds is Woodcock, and as we happened to be walking past Stapenhill Wood, the last place I saw one, he suggested we have a look.

This small wood is about as overgrown as they come. I picked my way across tree stumps and through drooping nettles through the centre of the wood, while Dave disappeared from sight behind a huge bank of brambles and fallen trees as he followed the course of the brook. Suddenly I flushed a Woodcock, shouting and pointing I turned to see no sign of Dave. Eventually he emerged dejectedly from the undergrowth and we resolved to stick closer together.

Ten minutes later we were out of the wood and I flushed it again. "There it is !" as it shot through a gap in the hedge. This time Dave did see it, but without having time to raise his bins. We felt a little better. Patch tick number two for Dave. But the bird hadn't finished with us. Ten more minutes later, as we skirted the ridge field, I picked it up again. This time we saw it well as it headed past us determinedly returning to the safety of Stapenhill Wood. I have a slight regret that my camera was back in my bag, but I may not have got a shot anyway.

Now that's what I call a good day.

Haydon Way Wood - Friday November 27

 The thing about winter is that it's slow. The pace of change is glacial, especially if your local patch consists of a few weedy fields and a couple of shallow scrapes/flashes. Yesterday Sam from HOEF went to Morton Bagot and saw a Barn Owl and a few Wigeon. So it was a golden opportunity for me to go exploring, safe in the knowledge that I'm probably not missing anything rare on the patch.

I chose Haydon Way Wood. The expected fog failed to materialise and instead I got a little light cloud followed by sunshine and barely a breathe of wind. Pretty good.

The wood is about two kilometres south of Morton Bagot and has a car-park managed by HOEF. Expectations were modest, and so I busied myself with recording every bird for their Spotter Sheet project. 

The stand-out highlight came when a couple of Lesser Redpolls repeatedly returned to a plant (which I decided was Dock) totally disregarding my presence only 10 yards away. Who needs a hide when the birds don't care that you're there.

Lesser Redpoll

I wish I could say that this kind of thing happens all the time, but it really doesn't.

The rest of the thirty-one species recorded were pretty much what you'd expect. I logged 44 Redwings, two Fieldfares, an impressive seven Song Thrushes one of which was singing, a grand total of 15 Lesser Redpolls, a Reed Bunting, a Grey Wagtail by the river, and fly-over Yellowhammer and Skylark.

There were of course plenty of walkers and dog-walkers (the car-park was almost full when I arrived), but the site is surprisingly large and it wasn't difficult to socially distance.

Perfect.

Late moth night - 24/25 Nov 2020

 As it was a mild night, perhaps the last of the year, I decided to put my trap out.

By late evening I was in a quandary. There were moths in the trap and on the fence, but the weather forecast was for heavy rain around dawn. I decided to turn the trap off and log what I could see. The downside of this is that photos taken under the house lights or torch light are never very good. This is a pity because I found eight moths of five species, four of which were at least new for the year.

The full list was:

December Moth - 4

Light Brown Apple Moth - 1

Mottled Umber - 1

Winter Moth - 1

Agrochola sp (very worn) - 1

The last named moth was a very worn example of whatever it was, and my photo was especially blurry so I decided to leave it in the pot until morning and have a closer look at it then. Unfortunately it must have been on its last legs because this morning it was dead, and I'm still not sure which species it was. My money is on Red-line Quaker based on what I could see last night, which would be a first for the garden, but it could also be a Yellow-line Quaker or a Brick which would both be new this year.

December Moth

Winter Moth

Mottled Umber

Red-line Quaker

As the Agrochola has had the misfortune to die, this does at least mean that its identity can be resolved by the recorder and his microscope.

It's a shame that my photo was so awful and that the moth was so worn. Nigel S examined and dissected the body under a microscope and discovered it was indeed a Red-line Quaker.

This is supposed to be the commoner of the two late autumn Quakers, but the only one on my garden list had been the other one, Yellow-line Quaker. A couple of moth-ers had suggested from the photo I had posted on Twitter, that this 2020 moth was actually a Yellow-lined, so its nice to have its actual identity confirmed.

Tuesday November 24 - unfinished business

 Although I saw the Hen Harrier in the Wolverton area at the weekend, the views were poor and it felt like unfinished business. So this morning I went back.

It was rather cloudy, but the breeze was still light and south-westerly. Shortly after arriving, I noticed a Little Owl on a barn roof. A good omen perhaps.

Little Owl

I moved on towards the site, and initially had the place to myself. After about 15 minutes the Harrier appeared, and so did a number of other birders at the opposite end of the field. It occurred to me that they were closer to the bird than I was, so I joined them.

The bird was clearly catching voles and mice and was disappearing into the long grass periodically, presumably to eat what it had caught. It was a lovely ring-tailed Hen Harrier, and may well have been an adult female.

Hen Harrier

At one point it flew along the hedge at the opposite side of the field and I managed to film it (commentary from Glen G).

Other birds present included plenty of Meadow Pipits and a few Siskins, and I was told the area had also hosted a Merlin at the weekend, which didn't surprise me at all.

Its a wonderful local patch for the finder, but he may not have it all to himself this winter. I hope he doesn't mind.

PS Meanwhile Neil D was visiting Morton Bagot, recording a Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, 20 Redpolls, and two Stonechats.

Sunday November 22 - last ditch recovery

 A sunny morning with a very light south-westerly augured well for the day. Dave joined me at Morton Bagot, but we hadn't gone far before the scruffy dog found us. Walkies ! We had no chance of shaking it off and the pooch had an absolutely marvellous time haring through the long grass flushing Brown Hares, Pheasants, and numerous passerines.

We kept an eye on its progress hoping it would find something good, but the best it could manage were three or four Snipe. Our own efforts weren't much better. Four Mute Swans were mercifully spared the dog as they were on the other side of a hedge.

Mute Swans

The flash field has reverted to type, and contained only five Teal, a few Mallard, and two Grey Herons. 

The area towards Stapenhill Wood was considerably better. We heard a Brambling, and estimated 40 Lesser Redpolls, 30 Goldfinches, and 20 Linnets along with a smattering of Reed Buntings and a Yellowhammer. 

But by the time we were back at the car we felt it was time for a change. Dave had suggested we twitch the Hen Harrier at Wolverton, and had brought a map and some directions, so off we went. 

Unlike my abortive attempt in the week, we drove through Norton Lindsey and down the Wolverton Road and then Snitterfield Road to a straight stretch where we could park. We then followed a footpath north to the field it had been frequenting.

The field

If only it had been in this field we would have got some great views. In the distance we could see three birders, and they had their backs to the field and were looking south-west into the sun. We looked to our left and spotted several birds which looked worth a closer view.

I immediately got onto a raptor, but it was a Peregrine. Meanwhile Dave was on a much more promising subject. He was watching the Hen Harrier. Once I followed his directions I had time to dash off a couple of distant silhouetted shots before it circled and drifted away over the gentle hillside towards Snitterfield.

Hen Harrier

Obviously we were hoping it would return and allow a better view, but an hour later we had only seen the Peregrine again, although it was entertainingly chasing Woodpigeons and even struck one, sending it tumbling out of view. Meanwhile the field we would have liked the harrier to be in hosted a Stonechat and two Kestrels.

In order to show where this bird is, I've had to push my limited technological knowhow to the precipice. But I have put a dot on the below map showing the field I understand it prefers.

I am very tempted to try again in the week.

Thursday November 19 - messing up the morning

 This morning I had three options; 1. go to Morton Bagot, 2. do another Spotter Sheet Walk, or 3. Try to see the Hen Harrier seen recently in the Snitterfield/Wolverton area. 

I opted for options 2 and 3. So I went back to Morgrove Coppice and went on the trail which took me across to Spernal Park. I was a bit unlucky because a heavy shower drenched me shortly after arrival and just as I got onto the only tit flock I saw. As I sheltered, they all headed away and for the rest of the walk I saw very little.

Meadow Pipits

A couple of Meadow Pipits were the subject of the only photo I attempted.

If you thought that was bad, it was nothing to my attempt at option 3. This consisted of driving along the winding road past Wolverton, where the Harrier was seen on Monday, looking for somewhere to park. In the end I gave up and drove to Snitterfield Bushes which overlooks an airfield which I thought might be the sort of place a Hen Harrier might go.

After an hour I had seen a couple of Buzzards, a Kestrel, a Stonechat, and a mixed flock of 60 Linnets and Goldfinches. A hedgerow full of hawthorn berries had attracted about 30 Redwings and a few Fieldfares. 

I should have gone for option 1.

Monday November 16 - Spotter Sheet debut - Morgrove Coppice

 Although my Morton Bagot patch is largely on HOEF (Heart of England Forest) land, it also comprises areas they do not own, and they have not built any car-parks here to service the good dog-walkers of Redditch, so I pretty much carry on birding as I did before they formed.

However, I do appreciate that where they have located car-parks, they have created a wonderful wildlife-friendly amenity. Earlier this year I paid my subs and joined as a volunteer. Naturally I was keen to avoid any hard manual labour, like planting trees, what a wimp, but when they came up with the idea of volunteers completing Spotter Sheets for land accessible from one of their car-parks, I jumped at the chance of joining in. It was something I could do without unduly troubling my ailing muscles.

The idea seemed simple enough. I was to go to a wood, I chose Morgrove Coppice as I was familiar with it, and record everything I see. Everything? I quickly decided to ignore the plant kingdom on the grounds that I only have a tenuous knowledge of plant identification, and if they didn't know that Larch, Scots Pine, Birch, Oak, Hazel, and Bramble was there in proliferation there was no hope for them.

Insects seemed absent (it was a morning visit), and I didn't see any mammals other than humans and dogs. That just left birds, which by a happy accident is what I do.

I had two options; the accessible path Lyn and I know well, or the Wild Walk which would take me up into Spernal Park. I picked the former, and set about recording.

A couple of hours later I was back at the car looking at my 30th (and best) sighting, a female Stonechat.

Stonechat - A Morgrove Coppice tick, no less

Prior to this find I had been entertained by a singing Song Thrush, a tit flock containing numerous Goldcrests and a few Nuthatches, Treecreepers, Coal Tits, and a Marsh Tit, and a few fly-over finches, the best of which was a Brambling. Actually that may have been calling from trees, but I couldn't see it anyway. At least 23 Redwings was probably an underestimate of the numbers in the wood.

All I then had to do was go home and email my sightings to HOEF. Easy-peasy. 

The continuing mild weather encouraged me to put the moth-trap out. My neighbour's wasps seem undaunted by the approaching winter and were well-represented around the trap this morning. Moths, on the other hand, weren't. I could only find two; a Ruddy Streak (common and boring), and a Red-green Carpet. 

Red-green Carpet

Quite an attractive late autumn moth, this was my fifth this year.

Sunday November 15

The only bit of luck today concerned the weather. I arrived in pouring rain, but within five minutes it had cleared and sunshine dominated.

Dave arrived and we headed for the south end with high hopes. However, it soon became apparent that the finch flock was much reduced. Only about 27 Lesser Redpolls and 10 Linnets remained.

Lesser Redpolls feeding on Mugwort

 We resumed our normal circuit, and succeeded in flushing a single Jack Snipe from the pool field, actually a disappointing return compared to previous winters, while the nearest flash was a little better than recently, containing 47 Mallard, 14 Teal, a Canada Goose, three Wigeon, and two Grey Herons.

We counted three pairs of Stonechats in the usual places, and noticed that thrush numbers had dropped to about 20 Redwings and two Fieldfares.

Female Stonechat

There comes a time each year when nature seems to flick a switch from autumn into winter, and mild as it was, that day was today.

Thursday November 12 - The wrong kind of pale

 A sunny morning with a very light south-westerly. The balmy weather may have been partly responsible for the fact that there were more birders and walkers in the area than I have ever seen before.

Fieldfare

I decided to venture into the marshy area of the former pool field, and hadn't gone far before I flushed medium sized mammal. It wasn't large enough to be seen above the level of the rushes, but it was sufficiently alarming to flush a Jack Snipe, then a Common Snipe and another Jack. Needless to say I was not able to get a shot of them in flight.

I saw the first of six Stonechats here, and then moved on to the Flash field. Here, a cacophony of Chaffinch calls indicated that they were mobbing an Owl, and eventually a Little Owl broke cover. Meanwhile the nearest flash was considerably more interesting than at the weekend. It harboured 18 Teal and three Wigeon including a nice adult male.

Wigeon and Teal

A flock of 45 Goldfinches was still present in the weedy field, and a few Lesser Redpolls feeding on Mugwort (thanks to my Twitter correspondents who identified it for me.) I decided to head down to the south end to see whether the main flock was present.

By the time I got there it was late morning and the flock was found feeding close to the public footpath. This meant that the steady stream of walkers and dog-walkers who stopped for a chat were unwittingly making getting a good view of the Redpolls quite challenging. Actually I didn't mind because they were all very pleasant and had plenty of interest to say.

Meanwhile I had spotted a pale Redpoll among the flock. Unfortunately it was the wrong kind of pale. Each time they flew it was easy to pick out by its pale milky tea primaries and tail feathers. It was clearly a leucistic Lesser Redpoll. I wanted to get a shot of it to prove it wasn't anything better, but it was hard to locate once it had disappeared into the crop. Eventually I had a millisecond to get a record short when it joined the other Redpolls on telephone wires.

The leucistic Lesser Redpoll to the right of normal ones

It actually didn't look as impressive on the wires as it did in flight. I think this flock will prove a draw for the rest of the winter. Expect confusion.

Wednesday November 11 - bits and bobs

 Since the weekend I haven't been doing much. 

A visit to Morgrove Coppice with Lyn may well prove to be our last of the year in spite of our stated aim to visit once a month. The problem was mud clarting up the wheelchair's wheels. It required a sustained attack with kitchen roll on our return.

Our reward for making this visit was a calling Brambling, about 30 Redwings, and a few Redpolls for me, and some nice views of woodland in afternoon sunshine for Lyn.

Back at the house a couple of nights ago a brown Lacewing, possibly Hemerobius micans, flew into the utility room. I should point out that this identification is based on an internet search and is subject to the proviso that the species cannot be identified for certain without a microscopic examination. However, the above species is a plausible fit, and it did make me think I should have another go with the moth trap.

So last night the trap went out and this morning contained three micro-moths of two species and a caddis-fly. Two of the moths were the common migratory species, Diamond-back Moth, but the other one was something new, a tortrix called Acleris sparsana. 

Acleris sparsana

All right its not the prettiest moth in the book, but it brings my total for the year up to 1,997 moths. Clearly I'm going to have to keep going to break to 2,000 barrier.

The lacewing Hemerobius (micans?)

A Brambling flew over calling as I strolled to the paper shop. It seems to be an above average autumn for them.

It will back to proper birding tomorrow.

Sunday November 8 - heaving with birds

 There are days in early November which can be pretty exciting, all you need is the right conditions, lots of birds, and a major rarity hopping onto a hedge in front of you. Well, two out of three ain't bad. We had the weather, we had the birds, and that was it.

The sky was steely grey and the breeze virtually non-existent. Even as I arrived I could see Blackbirds and Song Thrushes bursting out of the hedges. A good sign. Better still, I scoped the weedy field at the south end of the site, where we had seen record numbers of Redpolls a few years ago and I could see finches. A very good sign.

Dave arrived and we made our way there. Sure enough there was a large flock of Lesser Redpolls in the field feeding on seeds. A few Goldfinches and Linnets were with them but the Redpolls seemed determined to stick together. A quick estimate put their number at 80 to 100, but the following snatch of video suggests over 150 finches, and I would say they were nearly all Redpolls.

Of course we were mainly interested in relocating the Mealy Redpoll trapped during the week. After about thirty minutes we had seen no sign of it, so maybe it has indeed gone.

Lesser Redpoll

While watching the Redpolls we were aware that there were loads of other birds flying about. Hundreds of Fieldfares and Redwings were going over, with plenty of Starlings, a variety of finches, and a single Yellowhammer. 

So we abandoned the field and struck out northwards to see what else we could find. In the event it was more of the same, but no less impressive. Our estimate of numbers rose steadily, but with the birds all so mobile our estimates of 380 Redwings, 200 Fieldfares, 100 Starlings, 15 Blackbirds, and 10 Song Thrushes may wildly underestimate the true numbers. It seemed that everywhere you looked there were birds.

Fieldfare

We amassed nine Stonechats across the site, saw a single Snipe in flight, and noted down about a dozen Greenfinches. 

The only place to disappoint was the flash field which produced a paltry three Teal. 

A rarity may well be hiding somewhere. At one point I tried to convince Dave I could hear a Red-flanked Bluetail (based on hearing a tape of one in Lion Wood), but he just grinned and I realised I was going mad. 

Next time, maybe.

Saturday November 7 - Its a numbers game/ringing update

 This morning I was not entirely surprised to discover my moth trap empty, apart from two wasps. So I switched my attention to birds, and specifically to vizmig.

The thing about vizmig (visible migration) is that you have to get up early. By the time I generally get to Morton Bagot its pretty much over, and all I get is its tail end. But in order to beat the predators to the moths I have to be up early, while Lyn sleeps, to empty the trap. For most of the year I am too busy studying the insects before me to look up, but today was an opportunity.

It was quite impressive. The sky was at times full of Woodpigeons, particularly between 07.00 and 07.30. But I gave it an hour and came up with the following counts:

Woodpigeon - 895

Stock Dove - 2

Fieldfare - 13

Redwing - 74

Starling - 25

Chaffinch - 5

Redpoll sp - 2

Woodpigeons over Redditch

Most parties were between 20 and 30 strong, but the largest contained 180 birds. The thing is, at this time of year in calm conditions this movement happens everywhere. You just have to get up.

Going back to moths, I have finally got around to adding a page showing my garden moth list. After just three years of garden trapping it has reached 319. That's just in my garden.

Compare that to birds. In 16 years since we moved here my garden bird list has struggled up to 81 species. My Morton Bagot list, also recently revamped, stands at 154 after 13 years of watching. My Worcestershire list, thanks to the recent addition of Red-flanked Bluetail is on 256, and my West Midland Bird Club region list is on 299.

So I've seen more species of moth in my garden in three years than I have birds in the West Midlands in my entire life.

Wow!

Mind you, there are about 2500 moths on the British list compared to a little over 600 birds, so I won't be seeing them all.

Stop Press: While I was titting about in the garden Tony and Leigh spent a little time at Morton Bagot trying to catch Meadow Pipits. They caught six in all, and have kindly sent me a photo of one.

Meadow Pipit - per Tony & Leigh Kelly