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

Friday November 6 - that morning after feeling

 Another bright sunny morning, this time with a hint of south-easterly in the breeze. I was up with the lark, despite having established last night that the ringers would be trapping somewhere else this morning.

In the absence of their nets, and particularly their feeders, relocating the Mealy Redpoll soon started to feel like a fool's errand. In fact it was hard to find any Redpolls at all, and in the end I had to settle for a handful of fly-overs.

Never mind, it was still glorious. 

Looking east towards Bannams Wood

For once, some of the local winter visitors were willing to pose for me.

Meadow Pipit

Redwing

One or two less usual visitors turned up. Two female-type Wigeon joined the six Teal on the nearest flash, three Mute Swans did a brief fly round, and a Lapwing by the furthest flash was the first for weeks. I also noticed three Buzzards tucking into something, probably the ailing Canada Goose seen on Wednesday.

While I was lurking under the trees by the nearest flash several birds landed conveniently close, having clearly not noticed me.

Mistle Thrush

Chaffinch

Three Siskins feeding in an alder managed to defy by best efforts to add them to this morning's gallery.

It may not be the best patch in the world for rarities, but I feel very lucky to have Morton Bagot on my doorstep.

Thursday November 5 - The ringers trap the big one

OK, its not a Red-flanked Bluetail, but its pretty decent.

Tony and Leigh managed to catch a Mealy Redpoll this morning, and have sent me some gripping photos. They also netted a Blackcap.

Mealy Redpoll - per Tony Kelly

 

Mealy Redpoll - per Tony Kelly

My decision to go there on Wednesday instead of Thursday is now looking pretty poor. Mind you, I probably walked past it oblivious of its presence.

In case anybody is wondering what a Mealy Redpoll is, you're not alone. For about half of my birding life, Lesser Redpoll was treated as the western European (mainly British) race of the Scandinavian Mealy Redpoll, so not a species. This meant we didn't have to care about them.

Then the taxonomists split them, and they became a species, confusingly calling the Scandinavian one the Common Redpoll. This created all kinds of problems. Quite apart from their similarity to Lesser Redpoll (they are bigger and paler), calling them Common Redpoll caused some  birders to confuse the names with the British Lesser Redpoll, which is the common one in the UK.

Are you keeping up? It gets worse. I thought that in the last couple of years they had been considered for re-lumping. That could have meant we would be back to square one, and that they were just a race again. Frankly I'm not sure whether that happened though, and it may have survived as a species.

Dave and I did see a definite Mealy Redpoll here one November a few years ago, and it looked just like the bird pictured. However a few years later, with record numbers of Lesser Redpolls, I saw a bird or two which looked Mealy-like. Unfortunately Dave was never really convinced, and it is possible that feather wear which tends to affect all Redpolls later in the winter, may have been leading me astray.

Blackcap - per Tony Kelly

Blackcaps on the other hand, are easy. A nice late record.

The full list was as follows:

Coal Tit 1

Blue Tit 27 (10)

Great Tit 7 (2)

Long-tailed Tit 6 (2)

Blackcap 1

Goldcrest 3 (1)

Wren 3 (1)

Redwing 1

Dunnock 1

Greenfinch 17

Lesser Redpoll 12 (1)

Mealy Redpoll 1

Goldfinch 5

They also noted substantial numbers of Woodpigeons flying overhead.

Wednesday November 4

 I picked today for a visit because the wind had abated, and the fog is not due until tomorrow. As far as that went I got it right. Wall to wall sunshine after a frosty start and a very light westerly breeze.

November can be good. November can be good. If I keep repeating this mantra, I tell myself, it will come true. However, as I hope the orange skinned halfwit across the pond will find out, repeatedly saying something will happen doesn't necessarily mean that it will.

So, just in case, I photographed the first bird which stood still long enough.

A shame about the traffic cones

It was probably just as well, because this was another pretty steady visit.

A Peregrine was perched on the pylons for the first time for a while, although it didn't make for a particularly attractive subject. At least it can be seen to be an adult.

Peregrine

There was a certain amount of overhead movement, but this chiefly related to Woodpigeons (550 south-west) and Starlings (100 south-west). All the usual winter species were present in moderate numbers, and as with my last visit, the highlight was supplied by Brambling. The first one was an unseen flyover by the main road, but later on I heard more calls along the Morton Brook, and saw two more flying by with Chaffinches. Finally, a fourth bird perched up on a distant Ash, and I managed a record shot.

A male Brambling

As for the rest of the visit, a kick through the marsh revealed no Snipe of any species although the ground under my feet was quite soggy. The flash field was again dreadful, just five Teal and a possibly injured Canada Goose. Whether the latter had been shot, it might just have been having a sit down, I don't know. I haven't seen any evidence of shooting this year, except circumstantially from the paucity of wildfowl.

There's always next time, November can be good.

Belated ringing update - re 23/10/20

 What with rare birds to see and some email issues, I have overlooked the results of a trapping session which took place here on Fri 23rd October. This brief post will put that right.

Tony and Leigh caught 70 birds as follows:

Blue Tit 2 (1), Great Tit 5(1), Goldcrest 1, Wren 1, Blackbird 1, Fieldfare 2, Redwing 1, Dunnock 2 (2), Greenfinch 12, Lesser Redpoll 37, Goldfinch 5 (2), Reed Bunting 1

They also mentioned that a Great Tit they had ringed here on 24 June 2020 had been retrapped at Arrow Valley culvert on 30 Sept 2020 by the team who a month later caught the Red-flanked Bluetail.

I have also heard from them that one of their controlled Lesser Redpolls had been ringed on Cannock Chase earlier in October. Unfortunately I seem to have lost that original email and I can't remember the precise details.

Sunday November 1 - reality check

 The new month dawned fresh and mild. October is in the rear-view mirror and Dave was able to join me for this morning's tramp round. 

Over the last few weeks I have been spoilt locally with rarities like Red-flanked Bluetail and Pallid Harrier, while Dave managed to twitch a Yellow-browed Warbler on the outskirts of Coventry. Even Morton Bagot came to the party, in a small way, with a Quail.

It would be nice to think that all this excitement will continue, but let's face it, it won't. Windy days are particularly unforgiving here, and we had almost nothing to show for three hours of effort.

Obviously there were birds, but they struggled to brighten the day. Four Cormorants flew over, five Stonechats remain, a Grey Wagtail was around the Morton Brook, and the hedgerow beyond provided shelter for 15 Greenfinches, scarcer here of late.

Not a Red-flanked Bluetail

We did detect one noteworthy bird. As we kicked through the weedy field in the faint hope that the Quail might still be here, we independently identified a single call note as belonging to a Brambling. It didn't call again, and we didn't see it, but there had been several small parties of Chaffinches flying west so it seemed not unreasonable to count it.

This gives me the opportunity to mention that I have completed The Project. Ever since the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) devised an on-line data entry site called Birdtrack, I have been an enthusiastic supporter. All my records of birds have been entered into their database since 2005. But I go back a lot further than that, and although I have also always submitted stuff to County Recorders, the raw data was only in my notebooks.

Not any more. The Project involved submitting all my old records back as far as the day I started writing stuff down into Birdtrack. So they now have all my records since November 1978, and I get a lot back.

I can, for example, tell you that my first Brambling was at Blackpill in Swansea on 24 January 1979, and that today's was my 311th record. I can also tell you that since my first visit to Morton Bagot in 2007, I have recorded 97 here, and that I have seen at least one on the patch every year to date. However, the best years were from 2010 to 2013 when arable farming dominated, and the maximum count of 43 came on 30 November 2011.

I am truly the nerd's nerd.

And having got that out of my system, here are some horses.

All I need now is a new project.