On an ideal day for birding, mostly sunny and not much wind, I decided to resume my exploration of the Circle. I chose an area of farmland south-west of Redditch, and went on a four hour yomp north of Upper Berrow Farm across a mixture of pasture and arable fields.
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| The arable bit |
What you tend not to get in such countryside is any kind of scarce bird, and indeed I can report that the 40 species seen included not a single stand-out species.
On the other hand, you do see a lot of birds and that can be all you need to feel you've had a good morning. In terms of quantity the top of the tree were Starlings. The northwards walk took in mostly pasture and a few muddy farms, and it was mainly here that I counted 352 Starlings, along with 112 Redwings, and 56 Fieldfares. Ditchford Bank Farm right on the edge of the boundary had most of them, and also a minimum of 17 Collared Doves which is the most I have seen so far.
The arable fields accounted for flocks of 43 Skylarks, 16 Meadow Pipits, 17 Pied Wagtails and 10 Yellowhammers. The latter were in a field I couldn't get access to, as was a flock of 100 Stock Doves and 200 Woodpigeons. In the absence of any satisfactory bird shots, I decided to photograph the berries of Black Bryony which seemed plentiful in several hedgerows.
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| Black Bryony |
The flowers are extremely inconspicuous, but the berries more than make up for any deficiency. Needless to say I had my identification app to thank for a species I was previously unaware of.
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