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.