Sunday April 28 - Zipping about (Earlswood, Mappleborough Green, Morton Bagot)

 One thing I rarely do any more is flit from place to place, preferring to pick a spot and stick to it. But this morning it was raining steadily, and being late April it seemed likely that any watery habitat might be worth a visit, so I tried to do them all.

The Earlswood plan seemed pretty sound. Rain should mean terns, or that's what I've always thought. The dearth of early messages on Whatsapp should have been a clue, and as it turned out the only terns present were five Common Terns, and the only wader a Common Sandpiper. The best bird was a Yellow Wagtail which Matt and I saw flying across Engine Pool as we chatted on the causeway. (He gave me a gripping account of his encounter with the Redshanks a few days ago. There were actually 42 of them and they flew back and forth for quite a while, allowing Matt to film them on his phone). There were plenty of hirundines as you might expect, but no Swifts to brighten the mood.

It was still raining when I reached Mappleborough Green, but it was easing off and this was by far the most productive venue today. I began by seeing a Common Whitethroat rather well, and hearing a Lesser Whitethroat.

Whitethroat

Down at the main flash things looked quiet, so I quickly moved on to the overflow flash. At first this didn't seem much better, but then I spotted the bird of the day, a male Whinchat.

Whinchat at Mappleborough Green

It was not close, and it turned out to be very elusive. After twice disappearing from view, it returned for a few minutes to allow a record shot, before completely vanishing. A Little Ringed Plover flew around after being disturbed from the other flash by a lady feeding her horse, and I eventually decided to return there. The result was a pair of Shelducks which I hadn't seen earlier.

After lunch the rain abated completely and it brightened up. I went to Morton Bagot to see what I'd been missing. Not very much as it turned out. There was no sign of the Lapwing pair, let alone the chick, no Avocets, and no unusual migrants. The highlight was a fly-over Yellow Wagtail which I only heard. A Little Egret was present, and most of the resident warblers sang and hid from view as usual.

I started looking at plants (it was that bad), and it was actually quite pleasant. I rather liked the look of a Wood Spurge along the road below Bannams Wood.

Wood Spurge

Tony has been around in the dead of night this week counting singing Grasshopper Warblers, tallying four, and ringing two of them. I didn't hear any this afternoon, but I'm sure this was just a time of day thing, and they are still here.

Thursday April 25 - Morton Bagot

 The chilly weather of the last ten days continued today. I completed the normal circuit at Morton Bagot and counted singing birds diligently. There were no new arrivals but migrants are getting through in spite of the weather. Although I didn't cover all the patch, the seven singing Lesser Whitethroats heard this morning equals the site record. In addition a single Grasshopper Warbler, three singing Sedge Warblers, ten singing Chiffchaffs, ten singing Whitethroats, and two singing Willow Warblers was a decent return for the effort.

The highlight of the morning was arguably the discovery that the single pair of Lapwings on the flash field has managed to produce a chick.

Lapwing and chick

Although it was nice to witness the event, it brings me mixed feelings. Over the last decade the breeding pairs here have reduced steadily and this may be the last pair here. The problem is probably chick survival, and I'm afraid it is more than likely that this little mite will disappear in the next few days.

On a more positive note I saw a Tawny Owl in the shed, my first here this year. Two male Stonechats in different fields also bodes well for the breeding season. A pair of Teal and the two drake Gadwalls remain on the nearest flash, and a pair of Tufted Ducks on what remains of the Kingfisher Pool were the first for weeks.

I'm hoping warmer weather on the horizon will get the spring rebooted.

Monday April 22 - Earlswood and Mappleborough Green

 There is a saying "April is the cruellest month" TS Elliot I believe (miserable bugger). I would like to refute that by asserting that April is the month that keeps on giving. I love it.

What it gave me today was an early morning "bleep" of the phone. Thirty-five forty-two Redshanks had circled Earlswood at 05:48, and five Common Scoters were on Windmill Pool. Naturally the Redshank were gone in a flash about 45 minutes, having flown back and forth low over Engine Pool allowing Matt to film them (its easily the largest number ever seen there, and also the biggest flock in my circular recording area), but the Scoters sounded twitchable. 

I arrived as the drizzle which was no doubt responsible for all this activity continued to fall. Undeterred I made it up the steps from the road and was quickly able to find the birds, three males and two females, huddling together not far from the causeway.

Common Scoters

These birds are sea ducks, but also night migrants, and evidently a proportion of those migrating back to their northern breeding grounds in spring are quite happy to take a shortcut from the Severn to the Wash. Only damp weather will slow them down and give the Midland birder a chance to see one, or in this case five.

I didn't have very long, but there was still time to see two Common Terns which had also arrived overnight.

April can be like this. Migration happens in fits and starts, days of not much and then suddenly there are birds everywhere.

By late morning I was itching to give Mappleborough Green a look. Those Redshank had got me dreaming of waders, and the flash seemed like a good bet. 

The plan paid off, but not for waders. A Little Ringed Plover was still present on the overspill flash, but I had heard a Yellow Wagtail call, and to my delight found it was showing brilliantly.

Yellow Wagtail

It's not my first this year, but it is the best view I've had of one for years. Decades ago they were pretty common and perhaps I took them for granted, but sadly they are on the decline and every opportunity to see one is a little victory.

PS: I put the trap out overnight. It remains too cool overnight though and I attracted just two moths, both worn Brindled Pugs.

Sunday April 21 - Morton Bagot

 It remains on the cool side. Dave and I were joined by Andy G. He had been on site for an hour by the time we arrived and had been rewarded with views of a Tawny Owl in the hedge running down the hill from the north-west corner of Bannams Wood. Unfortunately for us it was being chivied by mobbing birds and had flown off.

We persuaded Andy we should walk along the road to check out Bannams Wood in the hope of finding a Wood Warbler or a Pied Fly. Needless to say we failed to find anything remotely that good. 

Plenty of Whitethroats are now singing away, and we also accumulated four singing Lesser Whitethroats, six singing Blackcaps, and two Grasshopper Warblers, but could find no new summer migrants. A pair of Stonechats was present again, the male is the colour-ringed bird and it seems likely that they will try to breed.

A pair of Little Egrets led us to the flash field where the Avocets were absent (it's a weekend!) but we did have a year tick in the form of four Gadwalls. Initially they were on the furthest flash and my ropey record shot was at least enough to show that they were three males and a female. Later two of the males landed on the nearest flash, briefly joining two pairs of Teal.

Gadwall

The four together (but distant)

A single Sand Martin and a Swallow was flying around, but the local House Martins have not yet returned.

I will probably not take part in the West Midlands all-dayer this year because I no longer have an X account, but maybe I'll gatecrash team Earlswood. 

NB: At about the time we were leaving Morton Bagot, a White Stork was seen flying high over Lower Bittell. Wrong place, wrong time....for us anyway.

Friday April 19 - Morton Bagot

 This morning I had arranged to take a friend, Jason, around the patch so he could see what I keep going on about. Ideally I would have picked a warm sunny day, but what we got was a cloudy, frequently damp, start and a fresh north-westerly wind. 

This was a shame because Jason was particularly hoping we would see a Grasshopper Warbler or two. We even tried a quick visit to Morgrove Coppice with them in mind. Well there were none there, and at Morton Bagot we had to settle for a brief distant snatch of the reeling call.

Basically it was hard work to get views of anything. A singing Lesser Whitethroat showed only fleetingly in flight, the numerous Common Whitethroats were mainly out of view. A pair of Willow Warblers were nicely visible, but were only calling and not singing.

Willow Warbler trying to hide

Fortunately Jason professed to be thoroughly enjoying his morning. A Red Kite was flying around, two pairs of Avocets were on the nearest flash, while four Teal and a pair of Lapwings were further to the back.

Towards midday the sun came out, and we saw a few butterflies; Speckled Wood, Green-veined White, and Brimstone before Jason spotted some Green Longhorn moths, my first of the year.

Green Longhorn Moth

Also present in the same area were several bees and hoverflies. These included a Nomad Bee sp, and the following:

Syrphus ribesii/vitripennis (and a Melanostoma ag)

Melanostoma ag (scalare/melinus)

It looks as though hoverflies are going to be tricky. My photos fail to show various important features to fully identify them.

However mediocre our visit had been, we'd had a lot better day than a certain Helmeted Guineafowl whose feathers we found spread across the path.

An ex-Guineafowl

If anyone's lost one, we know what became of it.

Tuesday April 16 - Rough Hill Wood and Mappleborough Green

 Since the weekend the doorway to spring has been slammed shut. Cold northerly winds have set in and it seems likely that there will be fewer new migrants getting through until warm winds return.

Today I decided to pay another visit to Rough Hill Wood in the hope of finding some interesting woodland species. The result was just a few Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, and Willow Warblers. But arguably the highlight was a Marsh Tit which was, just about, photographable.

Marsh Tit

Distinguishing between silent Marsh Tits and Willow Tits has always been difficult. This one was calling (and obviously Willow Tits appear to be locally extinct), but one "feature" which is said to be pretty reliable is the presence or absence of a white mark on the upper mandible. I've never really looked for it on a fast moving live bird, but a camera helps to freeze time. I believe that this photo does show that feature, further confirming that it is indeed a Marsh Tit.

Upon leaving the wood I drove up the road to Mappleborough Green to see if there was anything there. This proved to be a good move. The Cattle Egret was absent, the only Egret being a single Little Egret, but I was really hoping for waders, and there was indeed something new on the main flash. Ok, it was just a Common Sandpiper, but it was still a sign that birds are moving despite the weather.

Common Sandpiper

Also present was a Green Sandpiper and three Little Ringed Plovers. These were mainly on the overflow flash, where I also noticed a Pipit. I'd left my scope at home so it took me longer than it should have to establish that the only Pipits present were Meadow Pipits (four of them).

However, whilst I was creeping about, an interesting Alba Wagtail appeared. I immediately suspected it was a different sub-species from the several Pied Wagtails which were also present. It was indeed a White Wagtail.

White Wagtail

Female Pied Wagtails can look pale mantled, and indeed there was a pale mantled female Pied with the black-backed males, but it didn't look quite as pale as this bird.

For the removal of all doubt it is desirable to see how far down the rump the pale grey extends. For a White Wagtail it needs to go almost down as far as the tail. This bird passed the test.

Lots of pale grey on the rump, though the bird's a bit distant

That'll do

It appears to be still in winter plumage, and maybe it's a female because of the extent of grey leaching onto the crown. 

This bird is probably en route to Iceland, which shares the nominate race with the rest of western Europe. Our Pied Wagtails are almost restricted to the British Isles.

White Wagtails are fairly frequently encountered in mid April, but I rarely see more than one or two a year around here.

Sunday April 14 - Spring comes early at Morton Bagot

 Today was again on the warm side, and this time the sun shone all morning. The patch is getting popular, we saw two other birders.

It didn't take long before we started adding spring arrivals to the year list. A Sedge Warbler was singing from near the pond where the ringers often set their nets, and the first of two (or three) Grasshopper Warblers was singing from the hedges bordering the Chat field beyond. Frustratingly, none of the above was actually visible, and the same could be said of a Lesser Whitethroat which sang briefly in the distance. Common Whitethroats, Blackcaps, and Willow Warblers sang across the patch, and we actually managed to see some of those.

One of six Willow Warblers we logged today.

Shortly afterwards a pair of Shelducks and a Little Egret flew north, a Red Kite circled, and we located the ringed Stonechat in the scrape field (so not the one I saw on Thursday).

We met up with Gary J near the flash field. Another pair of Shelducks was present on the nearest flash and also another Little Egret, but the Avocets were absent. At least one pair of Teal and a few Lapwings lurked towards the furthest flash, and four Sand Martins briefly appeared. This became more significant later in the morning as another seven flew north, pushing the record Morton Bagot count into double figures.

Scanning the tree guards has been proving profitable and today was no exception. In the distance we could see three Chats. Two were Wheatears, and the third something smaller.

Can you see them?

Clearly we needed to check them out. Edging closer, we eventually established that the mystery Chat was a stonking male Whinchat. This was easily the earliest Whinchat I have ever seen in the UK.

Whinchat

There was some uncertainty about the sex of the Wheatears, personally I thought they were both females, but on reflection one was probably a first-summer male. 

Apart from seeing a Marsh Tit along the Morton Brook, we didn't add anything else of significance birdwise. However, butterflies were on the wing; Orange-tips, Peacocks, and Speckled Woods, and numerous bees and flies hummed and buzzed across the blossom filled hedges. It really felt as though spring was a week early.

Tawny Mining Bee (one of easy ones)

My new interest in hoverflies was given a fillip by the discovery of a particularly striking one.

Tiger Marsh Fly Helophilus pendulus (with a Bluebottle sp)

Nearby a nondescript solitary bee reminded me that bees are too hard.

Bee sp

I love the spring.

PS: The other main prize at Morton Bagot eluded us. Mike Holley saw a Common Swift during the morning. This is easily the earliest ever for the site, and is an excellent early date for the West Midlands. Fortunately Mike puts his records on Birdtrack, so it will be published in the WMBC Annual Report in due course.

Well done Mike.

Friday April 12 - Morton Bagot

 Not every visit to Morton Bagot is going to result in the discovery of something unusual, but at this time of year expectations are heightened, and even the ordinary can make you feel good.

This morning I was out a little earlier than usual. The weather has warmed up a little and I was feeling optimistic. A couple of Willow Warblers were my first here this year, but after an hour I hadn't found much else.

Willow Warbler (fortunately it was singing)

I'd been hoping for a Grasshopper Warbler, or at least a Sedge Warbler, but neither seems to have arrived yet. But all was not lost, the rattling song of a Lesser Whitethroat signalled the presence of my first of the spring, and it was quickly followed by the "chuurr" of a Common Whitethroat. At least I managed to see it, and later two more singing birds, but they were too flighty for me to get a shot.

Scanning the large field next to the scrape field eventually paid off as a male Wheatear and a pair of Stonechats were visible in the distance.

Wheatear

Two Egrets flew off as I approached the flash field, one was definitely a Little Egret and the other presumably also one (but you can't be sure nowadays). Two pairs of Avocets, two pairs of Shelduck, and five Teal were also present. The usual pair of Red Kites were being mobbed by a Raven. It's amazing how times have changed since I first started birding here just fifteen years ago. None of these birds would have seemed at all likely, although for balance, I would have seen more than the single Lapwing present today (and would certainly have seen a pair of Curlews, and plenty of Yellowhammers and Tree Sparrows). Three Sand Martins were flying around, and I heard a Yellow Wagtail call three times as it flew north.

As I turned to head back along Morton Brook I watched a dog-walker whistling at her free-roaming terrier as it dashed around, disturbing the breeding Skylarks in the field. Another change. 

At least I noticed the male Stonechat had ignored the disturbance, and this may mean that one in the ridge field later on was a new bird. It was also showing very well. One other noteworthy species was a singing Marsh Tit at Stapenhill Wood. It's good to be reminded of its simple song once in a while.

Stonechat

My earlier start meant that I was almost back at my car before the sun had started to properly warm the day, and as a result I only recorded one species of butterfly.

Speckled Wood

This Speckled Wood was my first this year. The plan is to add to it with a few garden moths, so I'll be putting the trap out tonight.

The result of that was 22 moths of nine species. None were particularly scarce, but White-shouldered House Moth, Oak-tree Pug, Muslin Moth, and Early Grey were new for the year. Here are the most photogenic:

Muslin Moth

Early Grey

Lunar Marbled Brown

The only surprise was that I attracted two Oak-tree Pugs. The date is a little early, but the oddest thing is that I have yet to catch its close relative, the Brindled Pug, this year. It's a bit like seeing House Martin before Swallow.

Tuesday April 9 - Earlswood Lakes (and Mappleborough Green)

 The weather has lurched from mild and sunny yesterday (when I couldn't get out), to cold windy and wet today (when I could).

Earlswood seemed the obvious choice. John Sirrett had found an extremely early Garden Warbler there yesterday, and I reasoned that even if that wasn't showing the wind and rain might drop something in.

Predictably this was not a day for seeing or hearing new summer migrants. Instead I had to make do with the hangers on. A single Common Sandpiper remained on Engine Pool, and this time it showed really well.

Common Sandpiper

One expected feature of the day was the presence of lots of hirundines. I estimated 60 Swallows, and 20 Sand Martins, and saw two House Martins with them.

Mostly Swallows

It's interesting that despite the availability of three lakes, they all chose to fly exclusively around Engine Pool. Perhaps the presence of the two rafts with their safe bushes was the deciding factor. Certainly, up to thirty Swallows and Sand Martins were regularly perching there.

Beyond that I didn't see very much at all. Three Willow Warblers and three Blackcaps were singing (I didn't walk around Terry's Pool), while a Kingfisher took advantage of the lakeside vegetation at Windmill Pool.

During the afternoon the sun came out. I was back home so I thought it could be worth a quick look at Mappleborough Green Flash. 

I arrived to find it was even windier than this morning, but that hadn't stopped three Willow Warblers from singing. One of them was a mixed singer. The incidence of mixed singing, a Willow Warbler including some Chiffchaff like phrases in its song used to be quite rare, but it now seems to be a regular occurrence around here. 

Down at the flash I quickly established that the Cattle Egret was still present, and was accompanied by six Little Egrets. This time it was close enough for its orangey crown to be visible.

Cattle Egret

The zoomed in version

Also present were three Little Ringed Plovers and the Green Sandpiper. 

Green Sandpiper

This time I managed to get some decent views of the overspill flash without causing everything to fly off.

Sunday April 7 - The big ones

 A day of strong, arguably gale force, south-westerlies is not the sort of day you would think would produce a lot at Morton Bagot. But it's a Sunday, and being creatures of habit, Dave and I met for the usual stroll around the patch.

It didn't take long for the first sign that this might actually be an extraordinary day. Four House Martins and a Swallow shot southwards into the teeth of the gale. This was my earliest Morton Bagot House Martin record by one day, beating one in 2016. 

We reached the scrape field and despite seeing only a Mute Swan and a Little Egret, decided to walk along the footpath which cuts the corner. A Pipit got up and gave a single thin "tsee" call. Possibly as much to engage Dave's attention as anything I said "Water Pipit". It gave another short single call which didn't sound quite like Meadow Pipit and we got onto it, noticing it looked grey and had white outer-tail feathers. We watched helplessly as it flew off into the wind but then turned around and dropped into some longish grass next to the path. We were very keen on it. But how could we get a proper view? We decided Dave would try to encourage it to walk to the shorter grass where we might be able to see it properly.

At this point everything started to unwind disastrously. Dave told me he could see it in the long grass, so I went to join him. He said he'd had a brief view of its head, but he hadn't noticed a white supercilium. Then we realised we could hear voices. Three joggers were running along the path towards us. Inevitably they flushed the bird which took off without calling and eventually dropped into the juncus surrounding the scrapes. Attempts to refind it produced two pipits, but they both looked more like Meadow Pipits and maybe hadn't got up from the juncus. After half an hour we decided we hadn't got enough to claim it.

We moved on to the next field and as Dave veered off to check out another Pipit, I glanced to the north-east and spotted six large birds approaching. A second later I was bellowing "Cranes". Dave heard the shout and rushed up as I pointed to where they were. They weren't close, but there was no doubt what they were.

Six Common Cranes

They started to circle and looked as though they were checking out the flash field.

But they obviously thought better of it, and drifted higher and away initially north-eastwards and then eastwards in the direction of Henley.

We'd been feeling pretty down after the Pipit episode, so its fair to say this was just what the doctor ordered. 

We carried on to the flash field, noting a Shelduck, three Lapwings, 10 Teal and a pair of Shovelers. This was more like the Morton Bagot we knew so well.

The pair of Shovelers

However, we also added three Sand Martins and more Swallows before Dave returned the compliment by shouting to attract my attention. In the distance over Bannams he could see not only a Red Kite, but also a Goshawk. It was too far away to even attempt a photo, but was distinctive enough for all that. The local crows and pigeons must also have seen it because there was a great panic of birds scattering before it.

We decided to give the scrape field one more try in case the Pipit had returned, but it hadn't.

This Skylark was standing close to the spot where we had last seen the Pipit.

What a day it was, but what a day it could have been. We are left to reflect that we reckon we find one decent bird annually at Morton Bagot....so its probably not worth us going again this year!

Saturday April 6 - A confusing gull at Earlswood, and plenty of migrants

 This morning I went to Earlswood Lakes to try and see an interesting gull, thought to be a Yellow-legged Gull which was found by Joe Owen yesterday. I found the bird quite quickly, and concluded it was indeed a Yellow-legged Gull. I thought a third calendar year bird, but its dark bill suggests something younger.

Since getting home I have struggled to find an image of YLGull which matches the bird seen. Although the bill looks too broad and chunky for Caspian Gull, to me it has a bit of a Caspian look about it. Perhaps it's one of those Caspian x Herring Gull hybrids. Inevitably my shots aren't top notch, but here they are in case someone wants to make their own mind up.

Here it is chasing a similarly aged Herring Gull

With a similarly aged Lesser Black-backed Gull

Bill looks short and chunky in this shot.

Wing pattern looks like Yellow-legged Gull in this shot, and mantle quite dark

Fortunately most birds are a lot easier to identify. Six Common Sandpipers were newly arrived, and spent most of their time on the rafts. I couldn't get all six in frame, so here's one of them.

Common Sandpiper

My morning's highlight came shortly after thirty or forty hirundines appeared as the wind got up. The hirundines were about 60:40 Sand Martins over Swallows, plus a single House Martin. While I was failing to get a decent shot of any of them I heard a Yellow Wagtail call. Ten seconds later it called again, and I finally got a view of it as it flew north-east up Engine Pool.

Another highlight was bumping into several Earlswood regulars; Joe, Mike, and John S for a natter. 

Changing the subject to moths, I put the trap out last night and caught just 12 moths. It was probably a little too windy. There were however a couple which were new for the year; Brindled Beauties (four), and Lunar Marbled Brown (my first since 2021).

Brindled Beauty

Lunar Marbled Brown on the fence

My attempt to take a picture of the Lunar Marbled Brown on a leaf failed completely as it flew off shortly after being awakened.

PS: The consensus on the Gull seems to be Yellow-legged Gull. Fair enough.

Thursday April 4 - Cattle Egret brightens up the week

 This morning, with limited time to spare, I decided to try visiting Mappleborough Green Flash. It had rained all night (again), and I was optimistic there might be some waders there. Choosing not to take the scope was almost a major blunder.

I arrived to find the main flash almost devoid of birds. I couldn't see any Little Ringed Plovers on the stony field (the scope might have helped as I've since heard there were three on Tuesday). There was a distant Little Egret well beyond the flash. I headed for the overspill flash. 

A Willow Warbler was singing, but after negotiating the flooded ditch which crosses the footpath, the water almost over the top of my wellies, I was faced with more disappointment. Just eight Teal and no waders.

Returning to the main flash I saw that there were now two egrets present. The new bird looked less dazzlingly white than the original. My heart started to thump a little quicker as I realised I also couldn't see any long plumes sprouting from its back. You cannot enter the field, so my only option was the camera. Through the zoomed in lens I could see it had a pale bill. I was sure this was the Cattle Egret I had twitched at Arrow Valley Lake a week and a half ago.

Cattle Egret (just about qualifies as a record shot)

Ironically this does not get on any of my lists. I don't have one for Mappleborough Green Flash (perhaps I need to think about that), its not a year tick, not a Warwickshire tick, and it probably doesn't qualify as a find as it was a re-find of the Arrow Valley Lake bird. 

A visit to Earlswood Lakes on Tuesday coincided with a bright sunny morning, which explains why I still haven't seen a Sand Martin yet this year. The nearest thing to a highlight was seeing and hearing the mixed-singer Willow Warbler at Engine Pool.

The Willow Warbler at Earlswood on Tuesday

The Cattle Egret is slowly getting closer to Morton Bagot. The farmer needs to put his cows to pasture.