Sunday January 30

 A fine sunny morning at Morton Bagot. By the time Dave joined me I had been snapping away at a group of Lesser Redpolls and one of a pair of Stock Doves at Netherstead.

Lesser Redpoll

Stock Dove

I know they're not rare, but you have to make hay while the sun shines.

The rest of the morning had its moments. We flushed a Jack Snipe and three Snipe, a Yellowhammer flew over, the usual Teal and Lapwings were present despite the nearest flash being frozen.

The small upper pool in the pool field still has water in it and is surrounded by reed-mace which was supporting a Stonechat, five Reed Buntings, two Blue Tits, and two Wrens, but sadly no Penduline Tits. One day maybe.

Wren

The delay in this post is the result of an email from the moth recorder, and a Barn Owl whose pellets I collected from an old roost site. The mammal list will be boosted by the skulls within them as soon as I have worked out what they are, and was enhanced by an all too brief sighting of a Stoat.

Saturday January 29 - A quick twitch

 This morning I had no further ambition than completing the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch. I put Lyn in charge of watching the front feeder (whilst simultaneously playing Scrabble against the computer), while I watched the back garden.

Eight species, none of them unusual or in good numbers, in case you're interested.

A phone call from John Coombes reminded me of the Pintail at Kinwarton. It's one of those birds I think I should see anyway in the Circle during the year, but would have to admit I might not. John had seen it this morning, and described exactly where it was. He said it was on a garden pond between Glebe Farm and Hoo Mill.

It was indeed easy to find, although I would describe the site as a man-made pool in a field. The drake Pintail was vaguely keeping company with a flock of Mallard of doubtful provenance, but it was definitely discomforted by my arrival and kept swimming behind a small island and keeping as much distance as it could. I think it was genuinely wild despite the setting.

Pintail

So that's #LocalBigYear bird number 81 on the list.

It was a bit of a tick and run effort, but I did notice a flock of 40 Linnets in a nearby field, two Grey Herons, and a Cormorant.

Friday January 28 - hidden treasure

 I'm starting to feel spoilt for choice. The field of dreams was an option this morning. I could visit Kinwarton where Gary Jilks had tipped me off about a drake Pintail, or I could carry on exploring.

I chose the latter course and headed for Headless Cross. Not an obvious place to look for birds, but I noticed that a short walk would take me to Pitcher Oak golf course, and beyond that the Pitcher Oak Wood.

The wood was a gem. I only had time to explore a tiny fraction of it, having made the mistake of parking in a two hour restricted spot. 

For the next hour I was mesmerised by a succession of fast moving tit flocks and their associated species. Nothing rarer than Marsh Tits, of which I saw four, but I felt tremendously optimistic.

Marsh Tit

Goldcrest

Large, mature woodlands hold loads of potential, a fact reinforced by a conversation with a guy who told me he had been living nearby since 1943. He knew his birds, and told me he had seen all three woodpeckers in the wood, and his dog had flushed a Woodcock last week.

My hour produced the likes of Goldcrests, Nuthatches, Treecreepers, and Siskin. Just typical woodlands birds, some might say dross, but I wouldn't.

It amazes me that I've lived in Redditch for 16 years and have never visited this wood. What other hidden treasures await discovery in my #LocalBigYear?

Time will tell.

Tuesday January 25 - The field of dreams

 This morning I joined Mike Inskip again and took him to Ham Green where I understood from Neil D there were a number of Bramblings. I had seen a tweet of his about two weeks ago, which referred to over forty, so I was keen to see them. When I texted Neil last night, mentioning that Mike would be with me, he told me to look for the sunflowers.

All became clear as soon as we arrived. A hill top field full of dead sunflowers and several other bird-friendly crops. I had been wondering why I hadn't seen many finches locally, and now I know. They're all here!

It was fantastic. Probably over 600 finches primarily comprising three species; 148 Bramblings, about 100 Chaffinches, and about 300 Linnets. It was like Morton Bagot used to be ten years ago.

Mostly Bramblings

Mostly Linnets

Bramblings are wonderful birds. They are genuine Scandinavian migrants, and they're just superb to look at.

Stunning Bramblings

We noticed that the species tended to form discrete flocks in different parts of the field, Bramblings and Chaffinches nearest to the road, Linnets at the top of the hill, and a few buntings in the back hedge.

We counted 10 Yellowhammers and a similar number of Reed Buntings, but only two or three Greenfinches. 

So nice to see a few Yellowhammers

The other prominent species was the Stock Dove, and we estimated 300, although there were a few Jackdaws mixed in with them.

Mostly Stock Doves

A Red Fox was trotting across a neighbouring field. Clearly this oasis in the green desert of pasture was a major draw. The only thing missing was the sun (and some raptors would have been nice).

PS: Although there is a footpath around the field, I saw only one parking space in the lane. Anyone considering visiting the location may need to consider parking in Feckenham and walking from there (about two miles) if the spot is taken.

Sunday January 23 - a dull day at Morton Bagot

Today was pretty gloomy, and yes I'm talking about the weather. Grey, no breeze, little hope. Dave turned up to add moral support.

And I duly added the 80th species to my #LocalBigYear list, when we noticed that the pylon had attracted an adult Peregrine.

Peregrine

We confirmed the continuing presence of a Stonechat before discovering that the flash field was ice-free. Counts of 27 Lapwing and 16 Teal were less than impressive though. A Cormorant arrived, and a Grey Heron put in a brief appearance.

The rest of the site wasn't quite dead, but it was pretty dire. About eight Siskins and four Lesser Redpolls fed in the alders along the brook, and a flock of 24 Goldfinches was worth recording (although I saw 34 from our kitchen window yesterday which rather puts it into perspective).

I'm afraid Morton Bagot is not what it was in winter. Fortunately, Spring is just six weeks away.

Friday January 21 - Spot the bird competition

 This afternoon was cold and grey. Time for some more exploring. I headed for the excitingly named Middletown, a collection of houses just south of Studley. I was vaguely aware that this area has some pedigree, Neil D having seen a Merlin somewhere around here last winter.

I quickly found a massive ploughed field, and within a few minutes got lucky. A small party of Golden Plovers circled in the distance and dropped into the field.

They're in there somewhere

Even with the scope (which I had remembered to bring this time), and knowing where they had landed, it took me several minutes to locate the brown birds against the brown muddy field.

Near impossible (there are three in this shot somewhere)

Time to zoom in for a closer look.

This is your best chance, four in this shot.

If you're still struggling, the most obvious one (ha ha) is left of centre of the shot just beyond the strip of darker soil. Good luck.

As for the rest of the walk I counted 186 Redwings, 16 Fieldfares, 35 Meadow Pipits, a Sparrowhawk, 16 Skylarks, and 535 Woodpigeons.

On the debit side, there were very few finches and no buntings. There must be some somewhere in the Circle.

Wednesday January 19 - Earlswood Lakes

 This morning I was pleased to join my old friend Mike Inskip for one of his first birding days half way through his hospital treatment. He is doing well, but could only spend an hour with me at Earlswood Lakes where we'd agreed to meet.

I had a shopping list of #LocalBigYear birds I was hoping to connect with, and spotted Tufted Duck and Coot before Mike arrived. I'm clearly taking the mantra "its a marathon not a sprint" to heart. My defence is that Arrow Valley Lake is terrible, and Morton Bagot has been frozen for most of January.

We spent most of our hour at Terry's Pool, with a quick look at Engine Pool. At the former there is likely to be a Little Grebe, but as Tony Philp confirmed, it had been very elusive. Having failed on that, we tried for a Pochard which had been on Engine Pool yesterday. Again we failed, although this time it may have gone.

There were quite a few gulls present, mainly Black-headed Gulls, but a few Herring and Lesser Black-backed. At one point a second-winter gull arrived which I concluded was the Yellow-legged Gull which had been reported recently. 

Yellow-legged Gull

It's a bit on the small side, which could bring a hybrid Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gull into the equation, but could equally mean its a female Yellow-legged Gull. I would have thought that a hybrid would not have been so white headed, although it could be a bit late to be relying on that. Anyway, I'm ticking it as a Yellow-legged Gull, which puts me on 77 for the year.

However, I'm short changing you with just one picture of an interesting bird, so here are some more shots.

Unfortunately I didn't get a shot of it in flight.

Less tricky were a group of Common Snipe resting on one of the man-made islands, a pair of Shovelers, and a pair of Goosanders (another year-tick).

Common Snipe

It would have been nice to spend a bit longer there, but any regret in that regard was vastly outweighed by seeing Mike back in the field.

Tuesday January 18 - Ullenhall

 This morning's effort, another pin in the map job, was a bit half-hearted. It remains frosty, but the sun was out initially before cloud appeared later in the morning. I visited the village of Ullenhall.

My main goal was to locate a small sewage works and fishing pool on the south side of the village, and in this at least I was successful. A very small marsh looked enticing so I had a quick kick around, flushing four Common Snipe in the process.

The marsh

The pool was predictably frozen solid, and the sewage works failed to produce anything interesting. Some alders beside the pool did host 10 Siskins and two Lesser Redpolls, while on the grassy fringe stood a partially leucistic Blackbird.

Siskins

Black(and white)bird

I returned to the church where I had parked and surveyed the field opposite. It now contained thirty or forty Redwings and a Green Woodpecker.

Green Woodpecker

That was about as good as it got. I must try harder.

Sunday January 16 - Morton Bagot

 A largely sunny morning with a few swirls of fog first thing.

Dave and I walked around the patch, and we got lucky. It is no secret that Barn Owl is resident here, but most views are of hunting birds at dawn or dusk, which means we don't often see one.

Today we did.

Regrettably, this bird was peaking out of what might be a breeding hole later in the year, so I am going to leave it a bit vague about where it was. We had never seen one there before, and left it undisturbed after I took the above shot.

The Owl was the stand out highlight of a typical visit, but it was nice to see that the nearest flash, though still frozen, was hosting 27 Teal and 30 Lapwings.

Note how the sedge now obscures the front of the flash completely. It's getting harder and harder to watch.

Good numbers of Stock Doves remain on site, I counted 78 but as we were back at Netherstead Dave reckoned about 150 were dropping below the ridge. Also at Netherstead were a pair of Stonechats surviving the recent chill.

Friday January 14 - A pin in the map

 There are two ways to approach the #LocalBigYear challenge. One is to target particular sites at particular times of the year, to visit good habitats with possible scarce species in mind. This seems like the best way to go, and I'm sure I'll be doing just that...sometimes.

The other is to take a pin and stick it randomly in the map of your Circle, and go there to see what you can find. That is what I did today, and it probably explains why I didn't see anything thrilling. But it was fun.

My pin found an area called Heath Green, a few miles north of Redditch. Apart from a foggy start it was a gloriously sunny day and I trudged across fields of improved pasture, though muddy gateways, down a very muddy bridlepath, and back past an equestrian centre with nothing better than a singing Mistle Thrush, a surprise flock of 46 Lapwings, over 100 Redwings, and loads of Robins, Blue Tits, and their ilk to show for the day.

One thing I didn't mention about this middle of nowhere place, I parked next to Lion Wood. Ring any bells? Its a deciduous wood full of holly bushes which in 2020 hosted a Red-flanked Bluetail, a strong contender for the bird of the decade in the West Midlands.

And another thing. Previous pin in the map efforts this winter have brought me a Black Redstart and a covey of Grey Partridges. So yes, I'll be targeting the good places, like Morton Bagot, but I won't be forgetting the unknown random spots. How else are you going to stumble on the next good place?

In the absence of unusual birds to photograph, I opted for arty farty.

There are two Brockhill Woods in the Circle, this is the pretty one.

Tuesday January 11 - Exploring in Worcestershire

 On a cloudy morning, a little milder than lately, I decided to investigate Lower Park Farm Pools. There was a period about ten years ago when these pools were being created, that they sounded like a very promising habitat.

My one and only visit was a quick twitch to see a Bar-tailed Godwit one day in early May. It shared the pools with Common Terns and Oystercatchers, and evidently earlier years had produced more good waders. But the writing was probably already on the wall, for it was to be a series of fishing pools. The records dried up.

I decided to walk along the public footpath which skirts the western edge, and quickly discovered that an impenetrable Leylandii hedge very effectively screened the pools from prying eyes. Not to worry, the huge muddy field I was walking through looked like it had once sustained an oil seed rape, or maize crop (I'm pretty rubbish at crop identification) and in the far corner was a stand of maize acting as a game crop. Such places can be good for finches and buntings so I made a beeline.

A Jackdaw magnet

On arrival I quickly established that there were at least 30 Chaffinches, a few Greenfinches, and a Reed Bunting feeding in there.

Walking around its edge I flushed three Partridges, and to my great surprise they were Grey Partridges. I was very pleased to find them. I last saw the species at Morton Bagot in about 2013, and they were more than a little plastic as I knew they were the survivors of a failed re-introduction scheme.

One of the Grey Partridges

Grey Partridge was not on my radar as a potential Circle tick....but it should have been. Since getting home I have checked a few recent West Midland Bird Reports and there they are, present at Lower Park Farm/Rowney Green in 2018. Not the great discovery I had thought.

But this is a declining species, particularly in Worcestershire where the 2019 Report could name very few records.

Anyway, still floating on air, I retraced my steps and located a decent flock of 220 Redwings and 57 Fieldfares. I cursed my decision to leave my scope at home, it would have been very handy. A few Skylarks occupied the big field, and a fly-over Grey Wagtail was my second year-tick of the morning.

Once back at the car I decided to gatecrash the pools, driving in through the open gates and seeing whether the place might be worth further visits. It was very disappointing, a few Moorhens and Mallards plus a Grey Heron was hardly worth the possible ignominy of having to explain my presence to an irate fisherman.

I have clearly taken my eye off the ball as far as Worcestershire is concerned, and am looking forward to seeing what else I can "discover".

Sunday January 9

A cold sunny morning at Morton Bagot. I bid Dave a Happy New Year, and we proceeded to have a pretty uneventful morning.

The main issue was that most of the pools and flashes were still ice-bound. Consequently the flash field contained just 14 Lapwings, a Common Snipe, seven Teal, and five Mallard. Not exactly the stuff of dreams.

The rest of the site was equally uninspiring. We located one Stonechat, a party of 17 Goldfinches, 10 Bullfinches, and all the other usual birds in small numbers.

Fieldfare

The star bird was waiting for me at home, or more precisely in the garden. A male Blackcap appeared on our fat balls for only the second time this winter. It left before I could get the camera into operation, and an hour long vigil during the afternoon hoping it would return proved fruitless.

Friday January 7

I have managed two ninety minute birding fixes since my last post. On Wednesday the weather seemed pretty calm and dry so I thought I'd spend an evening at Morton Bagot in the hope of connecting with a Barn Owl.

It was like old times, thousands of corvids and no Barn Owl. If anything, the Jackdaw roost seems even larger than it was in the days when I used to rush down after work. 

The flash field gave me some compensation, a female Shoveler being a year tick, while three Wigeon and  37 Teal kept it company.

This morning I decided to resume the exploring. I headed for Dagtail End, just south of Crabbs Cross, and stared into an impressive, but strictly private, wood called New Coppice. A public footpath skirted the wood and took me through sheep pastures to a stubble field.

Stubble

I'm very fond of stubble fields, but this one wasn't particularly productive. It did, however, give up a year-tick when a Common Snipe flew up and away. I also flushed four Skylarks and found a moderate flock of Redwings. 

Redwing

In a quiet moment I have calculated how many species I might expect to see in the Circle by the end of February without finding anything remotely unusual, and came up with a figure of 86. 

This afternoon I decided that the parties of Feral Pigeons on the bridges across the duel carriageways around here should be added, they are not racing pigeons and they don't spend the night in a pigeon-loft,  perfectly tickable then.

Tuesday January 4 - making the best of it

 Well, as I'd feared, Lyn's fall has tweaked an ankle muscle, and she needs plenty of hands on care. So I'm grounded for a day or two, or nearly so.

Yesterday, Josh Toogood, whose own Circle intersects the north end of mine, messaged me with news that he had seen a male Merlin off Brockhill Lane just north-west of Redditch, and within my own area. I was now not only stuck, but potentially dipping on a good bird.

So last night, ignoring falling temperatures, I put my moth trap out to try to bring the wildlife to me. This morning I was pleased to find I'd attracted a moth. The Pale Brindled Beauty isn't much to look at, but its only the second I have caught, mainly because I don't bother much in the winter.

Pale Brindled Beauty

This is not a rare moth, but is one of the earliest non-hibernators to fly. The males are out seeking the flightless females, and are clearly not deterred by low temperatures. Actually I'm planning to do less mothing this year. We'll see how that pans out.

By late morning Lyn and I formulate a plan which gives me a one hour window to go and look for the Merlin. I have no real hope that this is long enough to get lucky, but at least I'll be able to see the habitat in an area with which I am unfamiliar. I even got a year-tick on the way, as one of the local Grey Herons was standing on its favourite post as I drove past Ipsley Alders.

The fields north of Brockhill Lane turn out to look ideal for a wintering Merlin, and I can well imagine seeing one here.

Big sky, big field, no Merlin

The field shown above contains 158 Woodpigeons, and 42 Fieldfares. If I'd had time to explore properly there is every chance of seeing more raptors than the Buzzard and Kestrel which I did spot.

Two of the Fieldfares

Never mind, as several Local Big Year Challenge birders have commented, it's a marathon not a sprint.

Sunday January 2 - A cautionary tale

 Note to self: Never, ever again, go birding to Arrow Valley Lake on a Sunday. 

This morning, keen for some cheap ticks and not wishing to be out for much more than an hour, I headed off to my nearest lake. On arrival I soon began to wish I hadn't bothered. The weather was quite pleasant, sunny intervals and a mild southerly, and it may have been this that caused the hordes of fellow Redditch residents to descend en masse.

There were times when I was literally queuing while parties of chatting dog-walkers discussed whatever it is normal people talk about. Adding to my misgivings, the sailing club was open and yachts ploughed furrows through the lake's surface.

The one highlight for me (now self-identifying as not a normal person) was the presence of a fellow birder. I ran into Mark Islip half way round and we spent a while discussing how awful it all was. This is Mark's patch and he has some pretty decent finds on his CV, but he certainly has to put in the hours for them.

Anyway, despite it all, I did get a few cheap ticks.

Tick

Tick

Tick

In addition to the above, I added Mute Swan, Cormorant, and Mistle Thrush to the year-list.

You might think this would be the end of my cautionary tale, but more problems lay ahead. I arrived home to find Lyn sitting on the floor of the utility room. Not a good sign. She had missed her wheelchair in a particularly tricky transfer, and once she's down, she's down.

Fortunately her descent had been slow and we are hopeful that no physical damage was done either to her, or to me when I hauled her back onto said wheelchair.

There is however the possibility that birding may be suspended, dependant on there being no muscular ramifications.

Saturday January 1 - A new challenge, but making the most of Morton Bagot

 So here we are, a new year and a switch in emphasis. Gone is the Morton Bagot year list, in its place is the Circle year list. But it's a bit of a tradition to start before dawn, and to bird all day at Morton Bagot. So that's what I did.

Mind you my first two birds, Robin and Blackbird were heard from the bathroom while it was still pitch black. I arrived at Morton Bagot at 07.26 just as it was starting to get light. Too dark to see the writing in the notebook, but light enough to see a Woodcock appear from around the side of Bannams Wood and disappear into the scrub on the Morton Bagot side of the road. What a start. I failed to find any in 2021.

For my first hour my intention was to find owls, so I had left the camera at home. A hooting Tawny Owl was my only success in that regard, but any disappointment was more than made up for by a calling Brambling which flew west (probably from a nearby roost site). I guess its my advancing years, but like the previous two this winter my eyes failed me when I tried to locate it.

After returning for breakfast, I was back in the field by 09.30. This time I brought my camera, but my arrival coincided with the passage of some heavy rain. A Collared Dove was noteworthy in Morton Bagot terms as they seem to be getting scarcer here.

Collared Dove and admirer

Once the rain had passed, I wandered down to the south end gathering the usual suspects as I went. A couple of Coal Tits at Netherstead, and a flock of 25 Goldfinches were nice to see. 

One bird firmly on the day's wish list was Jack Snipe, and after a bit of blundering about I finally flushed one. Oddly there were no Common Snipe in the marsh. A Yellowhammer flew over, and I even managed to see it. Later in the day five more flew over me near the church, my best count here for a few years. If only they would land.

The flash field was OK. A flock of 32 Greylag Geese poked their heads out of the grass, the nearest flash contained 22 Mallard, and some Wigeon. The furthest flash produced more Wigeon, giving a figure of nine for the whole site, 24 Teal, and 13 Lapwings.

Greylag Geese

Wigeon

The hedgerows in this area contained numerous Redwings, and Fieldfares, four Stonechats, and at least eight Bullfinches. A brief diversion to Stapenhill Wood produced a calling Marsh Tit.

A splash of colour on a grey day

By lunchtime I was up to 57 species, and was keen to get back for the afternoon session. 

A series of annoyingly heavy showers curtailed the day, and probably put paid to my chances of Barn Owl. But at least I finally recorded some Gulls as a group of seven Lesser Black-backs and two Herring Gulls flew west. I was destined to miss out on Black-headed Gull all day.

The final bird, my sixtieth species, was a Kingfisher which called loudly from the Morton Brook as I was scoping the flashes one last time.

However, the most spectacular sighting came as dusk drew in and thousands of corvids gathered to roost  in the Morton plantation, and on the distant Mars Hill. The vast majority were Jackdaws, although about 10% were Rooks. My estimate came out at 1480 Jackdaws and 130 Rooks, but I suspect there were far more than that. Quite a sight.