Saturday December 31 - reflecting on 2022

 Yesterday afternoon I headed for Feckenham Wylde Moor for my final bit of birding of 2022. I ended up sitting in the little hide watching 18 Mallard, chatting to a photographer who had been hoping to see a Kingfisher, and ultimately watching hundreds of Rooks and Jackdaws gathering to roost somewhere to the east. A few Reed Buntings arrived to settle in the reeds for the evening, and a Lesser Redpoll showed well in the gloomy light as I prepared to leave.

It was at least a good opportunity to reflect on a truly excellent year. My final tick had been a Goldeneye at Lower Bittell in mid November, bringing me to a satisfying total of 140 species. But it wasn't all about the year list. I've also been recording birds throughout the 10 km diameter circle around our house. Here is a rather low-tech map of where I have managed to record birds since I started the project at the beginning of November 2021.

The central 10 km square is SP06 and Redditch occupies most of it.

So I've endeavoured to map everything I've seen on a one square km basis, and this includes birds, mammals, butterflies, moths, and dragonflies. The purple squares are winter visits, and the grey ones are breeding season efforts. I think it will take me ten years to do it properly, and then I'll have to decide where to show the information gleaned. Now that's what I call a proper project.

Inevitably I kept lists of the wildlife seen this year, and these are the highlights:

Best Finds

I've had to write descriptions for four species. The Honey-buzzard at Morton Bagot in mid July was easily the rarest of these. The others were the Osprey at Earlswood in September, the Black Redstart at Umberslade Park Farm in June, and the Little Gull at Earlswood in April (I wasn't in their WhatsApp Group at that time so I may not have been the first to see it, but I didn't know it was there).

I had to balance visiting new areas of the circle with continuing to visit my actual patch, Morton Bagot. I did this by going to Morton Bagot on Sundays throughout the year, and more often in April/May, and August/September/October. This worked quite well, and a Common Gull which Dave and I saw there in December was patch year tick number 110. So that's only about eight to ten species down on the years when I went nowhere else. Highlights included the aforementioned Honey-buzzard, plus Ring Ouzels, Whimbrel, Great White Egret, Garganey, and Pink-footed Geese. None these were patch ticks, but they were all quality finds.

Twitching highlights

Joining the Earlswood WhatsApp Group and assistance from the likes of Josh Toogood, Neil Duggan, Mark Islip, and Rob Wardle gave me the chance to see birds found by others. The rarest of these were a Red-crested Pochard at Arrow Valley Lake (and two more at Earlswood), some Common Scoters and a Rock Pipit at Earlswood, and a Whooper Swan at Lower Bittell.

If onlys

The year also had its frustrations. I always try hard to find good birds, but there's a fine line between trying hard, and try too hard. A cruel person might describe this as stringing, but I would prefer to call it the "if only" section. I wish it had been empty.

Back in March I was carefully going through the Golden Plover flock at Middletown, thinking if only there was an American Golden Plover with them. Then I found a "funny one" asleep, miles away. On this occasion I managed to teeter and then regain my balance. I concluded the views weren't good enough, and Golden Plovers in early spring vary too much, for me to call it.

If only I'd done the same in April when Dave and I concluded an otherwise excellent day by getting interested in a drake Teal just visible in the grass at the back of the furthest flash. 

We thought we could see the tops of two white lines bordering the breast. If only we'd waited a few more minutes before setting off to try to get a better view. The bird must have woken up in our absence and waddled to where we might have seen it properly. Instead, we made the call. Twitchers turned up, while I searched my conscience and fell on my sword. Just a Teal I think. Very embarrassing.

The final "if only" might have brightened an otherwise deadly dull December. Walking our usual route around Morton Bagot we heard a Tree Pipit-like call several times. We were thinking Olive-backed Pipit from the off, but couldn't see the bird. We weren't sure whether it was flying over, or flying around. In the end we gave up. Two days later an Olive-backed Pipit was found in Devon. If only we'd seen the bloody thing (and if only we were better birders).

The birds I missed

Although I was thrilled to see 140 species in the course of the year, other birds were available. Some were potentially twitchable, and I reckon the total seen within the Circle was around 150 species. 

There were at least three Oystercatchers, a Pied Flycatcher and a Wood Warbler which I might have seen if I'd been in the Earlswood WhatsApp Group at the time, an Arctic Skua and a Marsh Harrier flew over Earlswood when I wasn't there, and Black-tailed Godwits, Scaup, and several other species I can't call to mind right now which could potentially have formed a part of my list.

Other creatures

One creature I found this year is due to be featured in the April edition of Antenna no less. Never heard of it? No neither had I. But it is the Dipterist's quarterly magazine, and its quite a story.

Back in the summer I notice a tiny insect in the wash basin at home and decided to photograph it.

I couldn't work out what it was after an on-line search, so sent an image to the Royal Entomological Society. The reply was along the lines of "gosh what a smart insect". A day later I found it dead, so offered to send them the corpse. It ended up being posted to an expert in the Czech Republic who confirmed it to be a Gall Midge Lestodiplosis vorax. Not a first for Britain, but an unusual sighting in a little studied group. Fancy that!

My butterfly year was less impressive. I saw the bare minimum of what might be expected, and avoided seeing any White-letter Hairstreaks, Brown Hairstreaks, or Purple Emperors, all of which I believe were seen locally.

My moth tally was a lot better. A visit to a Heart of England Forest "event" added loads of species to my life list, while my garden trapping turned up one or two surprises. The best in terms of local rarity were Shaded Pug and Cream-bordered Green Pea, not to mention several Beet Moths (but everyone got some of those in a year which saw a massive range expansion).

Shaded Pug

Cream-bordered Green Pea

Finally, Dragonflies also brought me a new species. A Willow Emerald had been found by Sam MacVie at Morton Bagot, and after three attempts I managed to see it. Unfortunately it eluded my camera. Something to try for next year perhaps.

I get the feeling that the much trumpeted "#LocalBigYear" isn't going to happen in 2023, the emphasis in the birding on-line media seems to be on the relaunch of Patchwork Challenge. But I now have a figure to beat, and a project to continue.

So roll on 2023, let's see what it brings.

It only leaves me to wish you all a Happy and wildlife-packed New Year.

Tuesday December 27 - The Elephant in the room

 Towards the north-western edge of Redditch there lies a very promising pool. It is surrounded on two sides by woodland and has a substantial reed-bed along its north-eastern side. It has a reasonable pedigree of past avian visitors, and I should be visiting it. But there's an Elephant in the room. It lies wholly within the grounds of HMP Hewell. It's a prison.

There was a time when it could still be visited by simply driving into the prison carpark, knocking on the door, and signing the visitors book. In those days it was still a Worcestershire Wildlife Trust Reserve. Sadly, that is no longer the case.

Today I decided to try a different approach. I parked in Batchley, near the pond, and followed a footpath up the Batchley Brook until I was out of Redditch and heading for Hewell. I was hoping to finding an aspect from where I could view Hewell Grange Pool. The results were mixed.

A tantalising glimpse

I found a spot from where I could see a tiny fraction of the south-west corner of the pool in the distance. A Little Egret and a couple of Tufted Ducks being the only birds visible.

The course of the Batchley Brook did have a few compensations. A Kingfisher which made a sharp exit before I spotted it on a perch, another Little Egret, and a flock of at least 42 Siskins.

Siskin

I've been trying to decide how to approach next year. I certainly intend to repeat the #LocalBigYear format. One thought is to concentrate on the rivers and streams, and look out for dragonflies during the summer. I notice that Patchwork Challenge has relaunched itself, and I am a little tempted to enter Morton Bagot again as my patch. But I'm still undecided, I may have done it to death in previous years.

In the meantime, 2022 looks to be going out with a whimper.

Tuesday December 20 - winding down

 So the weather is back to normal, sunny and mild but damp under foot. Deep into December the chance of any new #LocalBigYear ticks seems poor. All that's left is a bit of exploring.

This morning I tried a few square kilometres in the Alne Wood/Jackson's Wood area. These woods are owned by Heart of England forest, and as I usually find when traipsing along footpaths within them, I soon got lost.

By the time I reached a road, I found I was next to the Dan Skelton racing stables, and was attracting a good deal of enquiring looks from the numerous equestrians. What I wasn't finding was anything unusual. The best was a Tawny Owl which was being mobbed by a small flock of woodland birds but still broke cover before I could locate its roosting place.

Given the sunny weather, I should have concentrated on trying to photograph stuff, but by the time I was clear of the woods I still hadn't tried. Once in open country a couple of Meadow Pipits gave me an opportunity.

Meadow Pipit

The run up to Christmas looks pretty busy so it may be a week before I can get out again. I guess I'm just winding down until it all starts again next year.

Friday December 16 - frozen

 It's been a difficult week. A wheelchair malfunction left me housebound as my caring role went a bit more full on. Thankfully we got it fixed yesterday, so this morning I was finally able to get out into the frozen landscape.

My target was Morton Bagot, in the hope that last Sunday's mystery caller was still there. The temperature was -5'C when I arrived, and still -2'C when I left at 11.00. A certain amount of hanging about left me unable to feel my toes. I also didn't hear or see the potential Olive-backed Pipit/Tree Pipit/something we didn't think of.

In some ways I was relieved. An OBP would be massive in regional terms, and releasing the news would create plenty of issues about parking and crowd management. I would have to get permission from HOEF first, and if that was denied my name would soon be mud with other birders. We would probably end up with some kind of Pied-billed Grebe fudge to spread the blame *See below.

Frozen pond

The only waterbirds I saw were four Snipe toughing it out in the flash field. However, there was also an extremely modest hard weather movement of 10 Lapwings heading west.

Some of the Lapwings

All the usual passerines were still present, including the Stonechat and 10 Meadow Pipits which were scattered by a charging male Sparrowhawk. 

Redwing

Stonechat

I later heard that Earlswood is now frozen solid, and that a party of five Whooper Swans flew over a garden at Hollywood (just north of my Circle).

It was definitely worth a punt today.

*A Pied-billed Grebe was suppressed by permit-holding birders at Westwood Pool in Worcestershire a couple of winters ago, causing a good deal of ill will among those who didn't get a call.

Sunday December 11 - "sounded rare"

 Some unexpected snow overnight made the drive to Morton Bagot rather more exciting than it usually is. My car slithered to a halt shortly after Dave had arrived, and we set out into some increasingly heavy snowfall.

As it's December we had no expectations of anything unusual, and were happy enough to see a Peregrine land on a pylon, and see a Stonechat (I think Dave saw two) the first for several weeks.

Peregrine

Stonechat

Redwings called as they left a tall hedge, and the Stonechats started tacking. Then we heard another call. It was a sharp, thin call, and immediately set the alarm bells ringing. I shouted "what's that?" and it called again. We scanned around in alarm. It called again, the same call. We could still see nothing. Was it flying over? We conferred and agreed it sounded rare. The call reminded me of Tree Pipit, but it's the middle of December. 

It called once more, but we still couldn't see it. We noticed five or six Meadow Pipits with some cattle, but they all looked and sounded like Meadow Pipits. After hanging around for fifteen minutes we heard no further calls, and decided to move on.

Fortunately this kind of thing almost never happens, but when it does, you are left with a feeling of a missed opportunity. Like England last night! 

The rest of the morning confirmed that the flashes were frozen and lifeless (apart from one Lapwing) and we ended up walking down the brook hoping for a miracle. In the event we flushed a "probable" Woodcock which rose steeply from the ground and away through the trees without either of us getting a decent view, and a first-winter Common Gull which was heading north.

We returned to the cattle field once I had grabbed my scope, and gave the mystery bird another go. All we added was a hunting Fox before the stockman arrived in a truck, setting the cattle off into a bout of excited mooing. 

The Fox

The Fox made a sharp exit, and after hearing nothing else to get us interested, so did we.

Tuesday December 6 - Now and Then

 This morning I opted to go exploring, and chose a route in the North Worcestershire area of my Circle, from Forhill to Hopwood via Lea End and back skirting Red Hill. Only I wasn't exactly going to untrodden territory. My Birdtrack notes reminded me that I had been here before...over 40 years ago.

As a recently fledged birder I was cutting my teeth by taking part in the BTO's Winter Bird Atlas, and my visit is dated February 1 1981. 

So I thought it might be interesting to compare the two visits. The habitat seemed broadly similar; fields of pasture and scattered woodland.

The view from Forhill towards Hopwood

The actual number of species seen was pretty similar, about 26 in 1981 and 24 in 2022. But the species involved, and the numbers seen revealed differences which I think would alarm young birders today.

There were a few positives. In 1981 I had no chance of Buzzard and Raven, and I didn't see any Goldfinches, Nuthatches or Great Spotted Woodpeckers, all in my notebook today. The bulk of species seen were Jackdaws, and Rooks. Blackbirds totalled 13, and that was typical of the counts of most of the the common passerines.

Compare that to my notebook for 1981.

Bittell birders may be interested to know that the scrawl above Lea End is for there

I would draw your attention to the following: A Willow Tit at Hopwood (which I did highlight among the "most interesting"), and the collection of finches, sparrows, and buntings feeding around a sheep feeding trough at Lea End. These included two Corn Buntings, 19 Yellowhammers, and three Tree Sparrows. I can still remember the Corn Buntings, which were definitely a surprise. The rest were just expected.

As for the numbers seen, 18 Blackbirds is a little more than I saw today, but what about 72 House Sparrows compared to just 18 today (and I thought that was quite good).

So what would you rather see, a smattering of Goldfinches and loads of corvids, or loads of Yellowhammers and their ilk? 

The countryside needs more messy bits, like the one shown below near the top of the Wast Hills. I'd like to think that one day the politicians will get that. Perhaps there will be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Pot of gold? Don't hold your breathe.

Sunday December 4 - Trying to make things happen

 A cold grey day with a very light easterly. I was just glad to be out birding after a week stuck in the house due to an accumulation of stuff and a funeral in North Wales.

Morton Bagot was the venue and Dave joined me as usual. We tried various options; the hedgerows gave us the usual thrushes etc, the marsh contained just one Common Snipe, the flash field held 15 Lapwings and 37 Teal, and the Kingfisher Pool a Kingfisher appropriately enough.

As we strolled back along the brook Dave suggested we try entering Stapenhill Wood. I took a deep breathe and agreed. Parts of it are almost impenetrable and we soon lost sight of one another. Shortly after I'd freed myself from yet another clump of brambles I heard Dave give a shout. He had flushed a Woodcock. He had evidently made better progress next to the brook than I had in the centre section. I scrambled on, and got a brief view of a Fallow Deer before I found myself approaching the metal barn.

Dave rang to say where he was, and as we discussed the best way of meeting up, the Woodcock flew past me on its way back to the jungle.

Once I finally met up with Dave he had some intriguing news. He had flushed a black bird from the centre of the brook. It was probably just a Blackbird, but he couldn't rule out Dipper. The bird had disappeared silently along the brook. With the whiff of an extraordinary patch tick in my nostrils we returned to where he had seen it, and then walked up and down the course of the Morton Brook, peering through the foliage to no avail.

On the positive side, we did spot a distant Red Kite circling Mars Hill.

Red Kite

In the absence of any potential patch ticks, this sighting was just enough to brighten an otherwise very dull day.