Wednesday January 29

A morning of frequent sunny intervals and a light westerly. I didn't feel that my last visit to the patch did it justice, so I tried again this morning. Another opportunity to play with my camera. I eventually concluded that it was better on auto for extremely distant birds and also for flying birds, but better on manual for birds in trees.

About 80 Redwings and four Fieldfares were feeding in the paddocks, and there were also a few Meadow Pipits and 42 Linnets.

Redwing and Fieldfare (auto)

Bullfinch (manual)

Walking towards the flash field I was pleased to see a pair of Stonechats in the chat field, and could just see the Tawny Owl in its usual tree. I also took some shots of birds in flight.

Kestrel (auto)

Skylark (auto)

Recently, the flash field has been pretty poor, but today it was a lot more entertaining. A drake Shelduck was on the back flash with the Greylag flock, and a pair of Wigeon (first here this year) and three Teal were on the nearest flash.

Shelduck

drake Wigeon

duck Wigeon

Teal

A dead goose floating in the sedge hinted at the reason it has been so poor for wildfowl lately.

On the walk back I heard a burst of Siskin song from Stapenhill Wood, and further investigation revealed at least two birds feeding in the alders.

Siskin (manual)

This species eluded my photo year-list last year, so I'm pleased to get some reasonable images.

It's not such a bad place in winter.

Sunday January 26

Back at the patch this morning. There was a hint of sunshine first thing, but cloud soon arrived from the south-west.

My new camera arrived yesterday, a Nikon P900, and I was keen to see what it could do. Having faithfully followed NQS's advice from when he got his camera I got set up quickly and easily. Compared to my Canon Sureshot, it is alarmingly bulky, but surprisingly no heavier.

So scanning around for something to photograph, some Long-tailed Tits were too quick for me, and I had to settle for a single Redwing, which called just as I pressed the shutter.

Redwing

The light was better than for the rest of the morning and I was reasonably happy with this first attempt. At the far side of the field beyond was a Carrion Crow carrying something in its bill.

Carrion Crow and corn cob

Zooming in on the above shot I could see it was carrying a cob of maize.

I tried photographing birds flying over, but the results were very disappointing blurred blobs. I'll need to study the instruction manual, but it may simply be no better for that than my Canon.

Dave arrive and we walked around seeing pretty much nothing noteworthy. Three Coots, 21 Linnets, and one Teal was about the best of it.

At the flash field the light was poor, so I tried photographing a party of Mallard to see how they looked.

Mallard

On the walk back I was pleased to see some Roe Deer.

Again, the light was poor, so the results are acceptable to me.

Yes I know, I'm not a photographer.

Draycote Water - Great Northern Diver and Gulls

Cloudy all day, with a very light westerly and a hint of mizzle in the afternoon.

After a ten year gap in my attendance I decided it was high time I headed back to one of my old stamping grounds, Draycote Water. I arrived at 10.30am, the lateness partly due to the fact I took a wrong turn on the A roads bordering Coventry. It really did seem an age since my last visit.

I parked in the Country Park and walked clockwise around the five mile perimeter. Study of social media in the last few days meant that I did know that one or two desirable birds were likely to be present, and it didn't take me long to spot the first of these, a Great Northern Diver.

Great Northern Diver

Obviously this isn't a bird that will ever turn up at Morton Bagot, so I haven't seen one for a while. It remained pretty much mid reservoir throughout the day. In the past my visits were confined to weekends and so there was much more likelihood of yachts sailing around, pushing everything to the edges. Today not a single boat set sail.

Nevertheless quite a few birds were close to the edge, and were irresistible targets.

Goosander

Great Crested Grebe

It was interesting to reflect on the difference between today and ten years ago. A Little Egret was present, these were still scarce back then. On the other hand, and perhaps because the water level was so high, where were all the dabbling ducks? Where were all the Pochard? I recorded just one Pochard, two Shoveler, six Teal, and one Wigeon.

Some things were familiar; about 300 Lapwings swirled around, 70 Golden Plovers flew over, and I found two Chiffchaffs, which was rather ironic considerable the effort put into sewage works exploration earlier in the week.

Chiffchaff

I counted 201 Tufted Ducks, 157 Coots, and 30 Goldeneyes as I walked round, but until I reached Toft Bank another target species was not on the list. Happily that was to change as the two drake Scaups were feeding on mussels with Goldeneyes close to the dam.

Scaups

Throughout the afternoon gulls were arriving. I knew from many hours of Gull roost watching in the 1980s and 1990s that the best bet for finding a rare large gull was from Farnborough Bank. So after a cup of tea I headed there and set up my scope.

Now I have to admit I am likely to be rather rusty on gulls, and was particularly nervous about identifying Caspian Gulls without the reassuring support of the current crop of Draycote Gull experts. But by mid afternoon I had not seen another birder, and so I had a go on my own.

After about an hour I had seen three Gulls which I think were Caspian Gulls. I attempted some photographs in the poor light, but eventually decided to go home. I hadn't got far when the cavalry arrived. Specifically a young birder called Theo greeted me and asked what I had seen. I mentioned my Caspian Gulls and he looked, how can I put this? Uncertain whether to take the report seriously. I couldn't blame him. I attempted to show him my evidence in the back of my camera, which had behaved itself all day. The image flickered and died. A new camera is on its way.

So these are my Caspian Gull shots.

Gull A - back of the flock

Gull A again - front of the flock

Gull B - behind the GBB Gull

Gull C

If they are all Caspian Gulls, I would age them as possible second-winter, possible first-winter, and possible adult or fourth-winter. Gull B may be the hybrid Caspian x Herring Gull which has featured on Twitter.

I joined Theo and within a couple of minutes he put me onto a cast iron immature Caspian Gull. I think it was Gull A. It was in the same general area anyway. He went on to find a couple of adult Yellow-legged Gulls, I had tentatively identified one or two before then, but it's very tricky in late January at a roost when legs can't be seen and the white head is no longer relevant.

We searched for a white-winged gull and eventually I found one, but unfortunately it was a bit too white, and was a leucistic Lesser Black-backed Gull, thanks to Theo for the guidance. After a while he decided to point his scope at the smaller gulls in the middle of the reservoir and after about five minutes found an adult Mediterranean Gull. It took me about 15 seconds of staring through his scope before I saw it. This boy was good.

By 4.30 pm it was getting very gloomy, and I was getting very cold. Cold and old, not a good combination. But Theo had one more trick up his sleeve. He pointed out a murmuration of Starlings over Toft shallows, and then a Peregrine high above the centre of the res.

I decided to go, and left Theo confident in the knowledge that he would find the Glaucous Gull. Twitter tells me he did.

On the drive home I spotted four moths fluttering in my car headlights, so the trap has gone out for my fifth attempt this year to catch a moth of any sort.

Sewage Works

This morning I decided to stray a mile down the road from Morton Bagot, and instead of following the crowds, to follow my nose. My first destination was Spernal sewage works (officially called Redditch STW).

I visited the place a few times in the 1980s, but not since. I can remember a small building and a water filtration bed upon which was crowded a large party of Snipe. Birdtrack tells me I also saw a Turtle Dove there on one occasion.

Times have changed. It is now an enormous complex surrounded, not surprisingly, by an impenetrable fence.

One thing my scene setting photos don't show is much sign of the sewage works. That's because it was pretty much impossible to see anything beyond the fence and walls. It was like trying to peer into a prison.

My dreams of finding a rare phylloscopus warbler, or even a Chiffchaff, were soon dashed. Even the extensive perimeter woodland and scrub contained only common birds, the best being two Goldcrests, and 13 Long-tailed Tits.

That's not to say that the visit didn't have a few little gems. A Peregrine flew across the ploughed fields to the west of the site, and given the close proximity of Morton Bagot, two adult Common Gulls were worth recording.

Peregrine disappearing into the distance

Common Gull

Time for Plan B, Inkberrow sewage works. I had located it on a map last night, and so now was my chance to get acquainted.

My initial reaction was completely positive. It was very small and easy to view, and on the opposite side of the road a pasture field was full of thrushes.

The down side was that after an hour of hanging around, being eyed suspiciously by a steady stream of dog-walkers and locals out for a stroll, I hadn't really seen very much. The highlight was the thrush flock which contained about 300 Redwings, 25 Fieldfares, and a few Starlings. Typically I was about two-thirds of my way through counting the flock when the whole lot flew up and landed in the surrounding trees. This always happens.

Turning my attention back to the sewage treatment centre itself I drew another complete blank for Chiffchaffs, and had to settle for a single Grey Wagtail as the most noteworthy bird.

I still enjoyed the morning, you can't beat a bit of exploration.

Sunday January 19

Back on the patch today. A sunny and frosty morning. Everywhere was pretty much frozen and the roads were rather dicey.

Both Owls were showing well this morning, but I was mainly interested in the Little Owl as it was my first sighting this year.

Little Owl

The flash field added 39 Lapwings and three Grey Herons, before about 80 Greylag Geese and 26 Mallard flew around and away having been disturbed from somewhere nearby.

Walking back we recorded three Siskins along Morton Brook and even got a poor photograph which would have made last year's photo year-list, this species being one of the few I didn't get any image of at all. But I'm not showing it here, I have my standards ..ha ha.

Back at Netherstead a Common Buzzard flew over close enough for a flight shot.

Common Buzzard

Meanwhile we pondered whether, if I scoped a blob on the top of Studley Castle I could count it as a Black Redstart on my Morton Bagot list.

Studley Castle from Morton Bagot

I'd have been tempted if it had been showing.

PS: Some news from yesterday. Neil Duggan (and possibly someone else) was on the patch yesterday and recorded both owls and a similar list of other species as today, while the ringers were also active and caught a lot of new Blue Tits. Their full list was:

Blue Tit 78 (inc 20 retraps)
Great Tit 13 (inc 4 retraps)
Long-tailed Tit 7 (inc 6 retraps)
Redwing 1
Robin 7 (inc 4 retraps)
Dunnock 6 (inc 4 retraps)
Greenfinch 1
Lesser Redpoll (2 retraps)
Goldfinch 3

Redwing

Bittell Reservoirs - Black-necked Grebe

Back in 1977 I had just joined the West Midlands Bird Club and the bulletin plopped onto my parent's doormat for the first time. My teenage hands tore it open and I scanned the latest reports section to see where I should go birdwatching. A place that stood out as being sufficiently local that I could get there by bus, and also quite good for birds was Bittell Reservoirs. My first visit on a frosty morning in January 1978 is a distant memory, all I can recall is that the upper reservoir was partially frozen. I didn't start recording birds in notebooks until July 1979, but by 2008 I had visited about 800 times, and had seen in excess of 180 species there. Then I stopped going.

It is somewhat ironic that although Bittell seemed convenient from Kings Heath, I lost interest in it when we moved to Redditch, barely 15 minutes away. One reason for the change of heart was discovering Morton Bagot on my doorstep, but another was that Bittell had its drawbacks. In the early days access was easy from the north-east corner of the upper reservoir, and the lower could be seen quite well over a low point in the surrounding hedge. Eventually however, Barnt Green Fishing Club and the Sailing Club started to make life difficult. Fencing appeared, and heavy wrought iron gates. It became necessary to apply for a permit (and only a small number was given out) if you wanted to see birds properly. I did so, but even then the bailiff left you in no doubt that he wasn't happy if you found a bird and broadcast the news. We did anyway, and soured the atmosphere further. Eventually I handed my key back.

So now I'm a visitor, and am obliged to park at the end of the access road under the welcoming signs.

A Black-necked Grebe had been present on the upper reservoir for almost a month, so that formed an obvious target. I was also keen to see how the place had changed in the 11 years since my last visit.

I reached the dam by the public footpath, and surveyed the reservoir. Its pretty big.

A scope is essential. I knew that the grebe was on the far side, and guessed it would be off the point, which it was. It was too far away for a photograph which would be any good, but when did that ever stop me.

Black-necked Grebe (honest)

I was actually quite impressed by the birdlife I could see in the distance. In the north-east corner were 38 Pochard and a few Tufted Ducks. In my day diving ducks were nearly always confined to the lower reservoir. There were a few Great Crested Grebes a bit closer, 26 in total, and a Little Grebe was diving off the point to catch out the unwary birder searching for the Black-necked.

A throng of 353 Black-headed Gulls bobbed around the middle, and I was surprised to see a Yellow-legged Gull on a buoy. This species has become a lot commoner since it was elevated from being the Mediterranean race of the Herring Gull.

Yellow-legged Gull

Great Crested Grebe

To get to the lower reservoir it is necessary to walk along the bridle path past the Mill Shrub. The alders which proliferate have always attracted Siskins and Redpolls, and so a large party coming down to drink in the stream made me feel that things had hardly changed at all. Certainly the track was as muddy as ever.

Actually, probably muddier. Any birds on the Mill Shrub can be viewed very easily from the road, and today it contained a nice assortment of common ducks and Little Grebes. Crossing the road to look at Lower Bittell I was in for some nice surprises. For a start virtually the whole area could be seen because the hedge had been removed in this one spot, and secondly there were a lot of ducks.

Shovelers numbered 41, Gadwall 10, and Wigeon 16. At least 55 Tufted Ducks and 68 Coots were in view along with a dozen or so Cormorants. This would have been a very good day at Morton Bagot.

Shoveler

A pair of Gadwall

It wasn't all better than the olden days though. I didn't see any Teal, which was strange, and Goldeneyes and Goosanders were also absent.

I retraced my steps snapping at anything which came in range.

Jay

So its much as I remembered, with a few tweaks. I didn't see another birder, although a photographer within the permit zone in front of the club house made no attempt to wander over for a chat.

The whole area is in the green belt, and always felt a world away from Birmingham. I noticed that things are changing a little though.

These houses weren't there in 2008. The march of progress?

Some impossible moths identified

Mothing is very different from birding. With birds identification can be achieved by sight, and occasionally with a camera. Very rarely certain cryptic species are now being confirmed through DNA analysis. The days of taking specimens are thankfully long gone.

Not so for moths. Many entomologists have long accepted that certain species can only be identified under a microscope, and broadly speaking the smaller the species the more necessary the specimen.

As a birder I resisted the urge to take specimens in my first year and attempted all identifications by eye and camera. Even with the larger moths this meant a few species pairs (Dark or Grey Dagger for instance). But in 2019 I reluctantly "took" a handful of tiny ones as I wasn't even certain what family they were.

The drill is that at the end of the year the recorder does a sweep of moth trappers to pick up their specimens for examination. Actually, one or two of mine simply expired in the trap (although these turned out to be ones I had already recorded).

Anyway, the point of all this waffle is that Nigel Stone, the recorder, has now established what my motley collection were. They included two species from my garden which were new to SP06 (the 10km square shared by my house and Morton Bagot), and one which I had not seen before.

The good ones in the garden were Coleophora laricella, and Oegoconia quadripuncta, the latter I had guessed at, the former stood no chance of visual identification.

Coleophora laricella under a hand lens - 31/05/2019

Oegoconia quadripuncta - 24/07/19

At least the Recorder's Guide states that these species cannot be identified without a specimen analysis. Not so a third moth, Acrobasis advenella which should have been identifiable from a photo and wasn't even a garden tick (although that honour had gone to a very worn moth which I had some doubts about).

Acrobasis advenella

At least I now know it does occur in the garden.

Finally, I retained one moth from my Morton Bagot trapping session at the end of July 2019. I thought I recognised it as Cnephasia ag, one of which I had briefly detained in 2018 before learning that identification was not possible from a photograph. In fact is has turned out to be a species called Eana incanana which is at least on the same page of my Field Guide as all the Cnephasia moths. Actually it was so similar to the one in the garden in 2018 that I suspect that was also this species, but I'll never know for certain.

Eana incanana

At least the guide did confirm that this moth cannot be identified with confidence from a photograph.

To those who may be totally opposed to specimen taking I can only say that I will keep the dark art to an absolute minimum this year.

So far I haven't caught a single moth in 2020.

Sunday January 12

A morning back on the patch. It was rather blustery, westerly with a few light showers and sunny intervals.

The morning past rather uneventfully, with some attempt to mop up the easier year-ticks missing so far. We walked along the road, vaguely hoping for a second chance with Dave's small woodpecker. Nothing came to pass, apart from a sighting of a Goldcrest, which at the time I hadn't realised we needed for the year, and it took until we were overlooking the pool field before we got the another  new bird for the year, a Sparrowhawk which was being harassed by corvids in the far corner of the field.

Dave fancied a kick through the marsh in the hope of recording the Water Rail. After flushing five Snipe and two Jack Snipe we did at least record a genuine arrival in the form of a Coot. We reached the flash field and were disappointed by the dearth of birds, just 32 Mallard, another Coot, a Moorhen, three Grey Herons and four Black-headed Gulls. By hanging around for thirty minutes we did manage to add a fly over Cormorant and a fly through Rook to the year-list. Riveting stuff!

A handful of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew over, but by the time we were back at the cars I still hadn't felt the urge to photograph anything.

This posting was saved from being unillustrated when I noticed a Kestrel dismembering a small mammal on a post as I drove back down the track.

Kestrel

Morton Bagot ringing news

Tony and the other members of the ringing group had another session at Morton Bagot on Friday. Their figures were as follows:

Great Spotted Woodpecker 4 (2 retraps)
Blue Tit 24 (10 retraps)
Great Tit 3 (2 retraps)
Long-tailed Tit 7
Robin 1
Dunnock 3
Greenfinch 1
Lesser Redpoll 7
Goldfinch 13 (3 retraps)

Its good to see a few Lesser Redpolls getting themselves trapped, it may lead to a clearer idea of just how many are using the area.

They also mentioned that one of the Great Tit retraps was a bird which had the pox when it had been caught last year, but was now showing no symptoms. So the can recover.

This morning they trapped in Bannams Wood, but this is largely outside my patch boundary so I will only say that all the retraps they caught had been ringed at Morton Bagot.

Studley Castle - Black Redstart

A few days ago I heard on the local grapevine that a (or the) Black Redstart had been found on buildings by the poly tunnels in the Studley Castle area. One had been seen there last winter, and my one attempt to see it had been a failure, so this morning after a text prompt from John (two days ago...I sometimes forget to check my phone for days on end) I thought I'd give it a go.

Initially it looked like it would be the same old story, so I started to wander. Specifically I headed towards Studley Castle, which is now a hotel in the Warner Group, and walked along the footpath past it. This was unproductive, but as I was returning to my car I scanned the central turret and spotted this.

A dot on a pole

Promising I thought, so I strolled up the drive and chatted affably to the security guard. Further views convinced me I was looking at a silhouetted Black Redstart, so I got permission to walk around the back from where I found the light was great but loss of elevation meant I couldn't see the bird.

I was heading back down the drive when I looked at another turret.

A dot on a turret

Promising I thought...again. This time I zoomed in and sure enough it was a female type Black Redstart.

Black Redstart

Other birds seen during the visit included a fly-over Yellowhammer, 47 Redwings, and a Fieldfare.

This site is even closer to my home than Morton Bagot. I wish twitching was always this easy.