Yesterday's exploring was a bit of a non-starter because the area I chose, west of Bouts Farm near Holberrow Green, consisted of a number of houses and gardens which masked the start of the footpath I wanted to take so thoroughly that after half an hour's searching for it I gave up.
Fortunately I had a plan B which was to drive a mile up the road to Feckenham Wylde Moor, a Worcs Trust reserve. The one bird I was confident of seeing here was Reed Warbler, and indeed five were singing from within the extensive reedbeds.
I do rather like this reserve, but it has very little open water so its better for dragonflies than birds.
Anyway, those Reed Warblers were my 120th species of the year. From now on the going gets tougher list-wise. In all likelihood I will see about twenty more species by the end of the year to add to my Patchwork Challenge 2025 total. This might sound a bit unexciting, but I've no idea what they will be.
The total number of species ever seen by all observers within my circular patch is 243. These include birds now extinct locally and extreme rarities. So if you take off the birds I've personally never seen within the patch, the list reduces to 192. There is therefore the potential for at least 52 species. I still have plenty of year left. It's all to play for.
This morning I made a pre-breakfast visit to Morton Bagot. The attraction was the continuing drought and the possibility of waders exploiting the broad muddy edge.
One bird had arrived to do just that, but it was only a Shelduck, the first for several weeks. Other than that it was just a Little Ringed Plover, and three pairs of Lapwings. The unusually short grass in their field has meant that their nests are especially vulnerable this year and I don't think any chicks have hatched.
Earlier I had heard all the expected warblers including Grasshopper Warbler, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, and Willow Warbler so I was pretty satisfied with the visit.
However, I decided to scan the furthest flash with my scope just in case, and that paid off with only my second ever Barnacle Goose at the site. The last was in 2016. If I'm not sounding as excited as I did when I found the Whimbrel, there is a reason. The bird will just have been of feral origin, or maybe even an escape. Also, I've already seen one this year courtesy of a quick twitch to Earlswood in February.
It looked a bit on the scruffy side to me, so I checked on line when I got back to see if I could rule out a CanadaxBarnacle hybrid. I felt it just about qualified, although some back-crosses can look scarily like either species.
Finally, the Cuckoo called loudly as I was leaving, but was out of view and then flew off. Another new arrival, which is less likely to be leaving is a curious development next to the Kingfisher Pool.
Presumably this is confirmation that the owners intend to stock it with fish and are concerned about the single Cormorant which occasionally turns up in winter.
Perhaps it's time to rename it the Freddie Mercury Pool.
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