Tuesday March 3 - Spernal STW

 Well you know what they say. It's not what you know, but who you know that matters. I have the good fortune to be friends with Tony and the Redditch Ringing Group, and they had the wherewithal to gain official access to Spernal STW.

So this morning I had the opportunity to spend a pleasant hour or so in their company within the hallowed ground of the sewage treatment works. 

While the ringers got on with what they do best, I spent my time trying to boost my year list. The first of at least two Cetti's Warblers piped up almost immediately. I scanned the small lagoon which is hard to see from outside the fence and counted 15 Teal, a few Mallard, three Moorhens, and eventually one of at least two Water Rails whose squeals had been heard.

A new highlight was two pairs of Mandarins which flew over, unfortunately wrong-footing me camera-wise. Actually I didn't manage decent photos of anything before I had to leave. A single Chiffchaff was singing, and at least three Reed Buntings were no doubt preparing for the breeding season.

Chiffchaff in the early morning light

Reed Bunting

I wish I could have spent longer there, but Cetti's Warbler and Mandarin were added to the year-list so it was mission accomplished.

Morton Bagot - Sunday March 1

Another month, the same old story. Dave and I went to Morton Bagot and saw pretty much the same birds as we saw last time. Shelducks, Teal, and Lapwings remain at the flash field. There are still plenty of Fieldfares and Redwings. Not much sign of spring.

Grasping at straws, a party of 16 Herring Gulls and nine Lesser Black-backed Gulls was probably our highlight, although I suppose seeing three different Red Kites and at least seven Buzzards was also better than usual.

Herring Gulls with Lapwings in the background

My garden has produced heightened levels of interest this week with a Wren building a cock's nest in a bird box on the side of our house, and both Robin and Blackbird being seen carrying nesting material.

March is always a waiting game and its a pretty safe bet that things will improve.

Thursday February 26 - Austy Wood and Morton Bagot

 I woke before dawn, and decided a pre-breakfast birdwatch would be in order. This is getting to be a habit. My destination was Austy Wood on the south-eastern edge of the Circle. 

As dawn approached, it became apparent that it would be a cloudy and breezy morning. Not ideal. I walked along a very muddy footpath from opposite Wootton Pool, up a steady slope until I reached the eastern edge of the wood. 

Most of the wood is private, and managed for shooting. The only part in my Circle which is available is a tiny section visible from the footpath.

So a lot of effort, but there was a small reward. A weedy field just before I got to the woodland was alive with 150+ Chaffinches, plus two Bramblings and 20 Goldfinches. It's really satisfying to find a good finch flock. The wood itself was busy with birds but I saw nothing scarcer than a Marsh Tit.

Scroll forward to the post-breakfast element. I slogged around Morton Bagot, failing once again to locate a single Coal Tit (needed for my PWC2026 3k list). Eventually I reached the flash field with its obligatory Teal, Lapwings, Shelducks, and Mallard. A single Snipe looked like it would be the only added variety.

However, persistence paid off as a wader appeared from behind the sedge which largely obscures any shoreline on the nearest flash.

I've never been so pleased to see a Green Sandpiper, the first of the year.

Tuesday February 24 - Morton Bagot and Spernal STW

It just so happened that I awoke at 05:00 and remembered I had bought a thermal imager. Time to creep out of the house and try the patch for owls. 

Without the imager I was blind, but with it I could immediately see Rabbits, Hares and an Owl. It was sitting on a post, but beyond that I couldn't be certain of the species. Then it took off and flew away. My strong hunch that it was a Barn Owl was confirmed when it gave the classic rasping call.

I could also hear Tawny Owls in the woods some way off, but identifying the white blobs in the fields was rather tricky. Fortunately most of them were calling and were Red-legged Partridges, the smaller dots eventually revealing themselves as Skylarks.

Once it got light, I dashed home for breakfast.

Part two of the morning involved a trip to the sewage works at Spernal. Neither of my two main targets, Mandarin and Cetti's Warbler, was present (or in the latter case maybe just not singing), but there was some compensation. A Goosander flew north, and after hearing at least one Chiffchaff singing from within the compound of the works, I located two more along the footpath on the way back.

Sadly, but unsurprisingly, no wing-bars were seen apart from on the several Goldcrests which were also feasting on the numerous gnats. One day maybe.

Morton Bagot - Sunday February 22

 A pleasantly mild, and mostly sunny morning. Lots of birds singing and even a few insects on the wing.

Wintering birds included at least 80 Redwings, 42 Lapwings, and a couple of Stonechats. There were plenty of photo opportunities.

I'm in a much better mood today.

Earlier this week I twitched a Brambling in my sister's garden at Tidbury Green, and saw a Goosander from our kitchen window as it flew over the garden. 

I've also seen one of these this week:-

Boom!

2025 Garden Moth review

 A few weeks ago the Warks micro moth recorder dropped by to collect my 2025 specimens. Unlike when you identify birds, a few moths cannot be identified while they are alive. The results are now in, and my 11 specimens turned out to be 10 moths and a "hairy fly". All of these creatures are tiny, and disappointingly only two turned out to be new for my garden. One of these, Epinotia abbreviana, turned out to have been a common moth (but still the first I had ever seen), and I should probably have been able to work it out myself.

Brown Elm Tortrix Epinotia abbreviana

The other "new" one was White-speckled Fungus Moth Nemapogon koenigi was only the sixth for Warwickshire and could not have been confirmed without dissection.

Nemapogon koenigi

The arrival of these results concluded what turned out to be my best year of moth-trapping since I began in 2018, and prompted me to review my garden moth list and discover I had overlooked about eleven species (and also counted one twice).

So here are some stats. My total garden list from 2018 to 2026 now stands at 472 species. In 2025 I trapped on 37 days and caught 2508 moths of 278 species. My previous best year was 2020 when I caught 2031 moths of 253 species (but trapped on 61 days). I'd like to think my good results in 2025 are down to the careful nurturing of our untidy garden, but its probably more because it was a very warm dry summer.

These are the 36 new moths for the garden in 2025 and their status in the West Midlands/Warwickshire:

Micros 

Rusty-dot Pearl Udea ferrugalis - A common migrant to the region

Cherry-bark Tortrix Enarmonia formosana - Locally common

Triple-spotted Nest Moth Tinea trinotella - Fairly common resident

Brindled Tortrix Gypsonoma minutana - Nationally Scarce B, and very scarce in Midlands

Gypsonoma minutana

Buff Mompha Mompha epiliobella - Very common locally.

White-speckled Fungus Moth Nemapogon koenigi - Sixth record for Warwickshire.

Dark Blackthorn-tip Moth Argyresthia albistriana - Common locally

Brassy Y Argyresthia goedartella - Very common locally

Southern Apple Moth Recurvaria nanella - Uncommon locally

Southern Apple Moth (aka Brindled Shoot) Recurvaria nanella

Italian Bark Moth Metalampra italica - A naturalised species, still rare but increasing.

Lettuce Bell Eucosma conterminana - Local and scarce.

Brown Elm Tortrix Epinotia abbreviana - Fairly common locally

Regal Piercer Pammene regiana - Fairly common.

Common Spruce Tortrix Epinotia tedella - Local.

European Corn-borer Ostrinia nubilalis - A rare migrant.

European Corn-borer Ostrinia nubilalis

Brindled Apple-tip Moth Argyresthia curvella - Fairly common.

Marsh Lance Bactra fufurana - Uncommon locally.

Large Tabby Aglossa pinguinalis - Local and declining.

Dark-barred Tortrix Syndemis musculana - Common.

Macros 

Figure of Eight Diloba caeruleocephala - Uncommon and declining

Cypress Carpet Thera cupressata - Uncommon but spreading.

Cypress Carpet

Frosted Orange Gortyna flavago - Fairly common

Red Underwing Catocala nupta - Fairly common

Small Rufous Coenobia rufa - Uncommon locally (a marshland species)

Plain Pug Eupithecia simpliciata - Uncommon locally

Plain Pug

Gypsy Moth Lymantria dispar - Probably naturalised and very rare.

Gypsy Moth

Garden Dart Euxoa nigricans - Uncommon and declining.

Lunar Hornet Moth Sesia bembeciformis - Common (but hard to find)

Red-belted Clearwing Synanthedon myopaeformis - Fairly common (very hard to find)

Yellow-legged Clearwing Synanthedon vespiformis - Local

Pinion-streaked Snout Schankia costaestrigalis - Common

Four-spotted Footman Lithosia quadra - Rare migrant, but increasing.

Four-spotted Footman

Brown Scallop Philereme vetulata - Uncommon locally

Broken-barred Carpet Electrophaes corylata - Common

Grey Birch Aethalura punctulata - Fairly common

Shoulder Stripe Eorophila badiata - Common.

Just four of the "new" moths were not caught by light trapping. The exceptions were the three species of Clearwing Moth/Hornet Moth which were caught in daylight using a borrowed pheromone lure trap, and the Argyresthia curvella, which was discovered while gardening.

I will resume trapping on the first Friday in March 2026, but already the first moth of the year has been attracted to the kitchen window. A micro called Agonopteryx heracliana/ciliella, another one I should have taken as a specimen. However, I did that once and it was heracliana, so I have left it as unidentified to species level.

Tuesday February 17 - Morton Bagot

A sunny morning at last. I headed for the patch with a degree of optimism. That didn't last long.

February often feels like a month in limbo. All the winter birds are settled, and it's too early for new arrivals.  Despite varying my normal route, I could find nothing unexpected. 

Still present were the pair of Shelducks, about forty Teal, sixty or so Lapwing, a few Snipe, a pair of Red Kites, and a pair of Stonechats.

Although there is plenty of standing water, the site is yet to record a Coot, a Green Sandpiper, or a Tufted Duck this year. 

One possible reason for this was a dog-walker shepherding five boisterous untethered dogs around. He himself was wearing a bright yellow kagoule, a wandering bird-scarer if ever I saw one. If he turns up every weekday, and I suspect he does, there will be a negative effect on the site's avian biodiversity. I noticed he did a smart about turn as soon as he saw me, but was still there when I left.

If I sound grumpy, it's because I am.

Sunday February 15 - Lower Bittell

 The day dawned wet, and neither Dave nor I fancied a soaking at Morton Bagot. Fortunately a window in the weather opened at around lunchtime and I decided it was wide enough for a visit to Lower Bittell Reservoir.

This decent sized pool had been hosting a couple of good birds this winter. One, a Cetti's Warbler, would almost certainly be invisible. As it turned out it was also inaudible, early afternoon being not the best time of day to even hear one.

By contrast my other target, a Great White Egret, couldn't have been more obvious. It was standing on the bank of the Mill Shrub (a sub-section of the lake which is often better for birds than the rest of it).

It remained in more or less the same place until, inevitably, a fisherman arrived and flushed it. Even then it only went as far as some trees eighty metres away. Almost all of the 31 Tufted Ducks, but only one of the six Great Crested Grebes also haunted the Mill Shrub.

My walk over the hill to the dam gave me the opportunity to visit Alvechurch Fisheries, a series of pools on the opposite side of the dam wall. On Friday an Oystercatcher had taken refuge from an all-day deluge, on one of the rafts at Earlswood. I reasoned that there must be a chance that it was one of the pair which had nested at the fisheries last year, and sure enough it was back on its island sanctuary today.

All in all I was pretty pleased with the visit. A few Siskins and a single Redpoll were also present, and I counted 100 Jackdaws in the field at Lower Bittell adjacent to where I'd parked.

It has to be said that the Lower reservoir is a shadow of its former self. I didn't, for example, see a single species of duck other than Mallard and Tufted Duck. Too many fishermen I suppose.

Thursday February 12 - Mappleborough Green

 I've been a bit unfortunate this week in the way that my available birding opportunities have fallen. Rain has dogged my every step. On Tuesday I finally went to the km square containing the HOEF's Gorcott Wood, only to discover that the wood itself appeared out of bounds because it was part of an educational facility. There were plenty of signs and CCTV which put me off any thoughts of sneaking in. 

There were a few footpaths nearby, which I followed. The most interesting "find" was a friendly householder who told that he occasionally sees a white owl perched on his garden fence. No prizes for guessing what species that will have been.

This morning I decided to give Mappleborough Flash an early look. I don't normally go there until the end of March when migrants are starting to move in. There were no real surprises in store. A flock of 33 Teal may include birds which visit Morton Bagot, less than a couple of kilometres away and I flushed a single Snipe.

I'm still in possession of Tony's thermal imager, and it allowed me to discover that the twittering of Siskins I could hear from a line of alders came from 39 specks of light. As it turned out, about half of the birds present were actually Lesser Redpolls. The Siskins were feeding higher up, where against the lead grey cloud they were little more than silhouettes. The Redpolls preferred to feed closer to the ground, so I at least tried to get some shots of them.

As I was leaving the site, two adult Common Gulls flew south. If only I'd seen them at Morton Bagot, they would have been a useful addition (barely annual) to the MB year list.

Sunday February 8 - Morton Bagot and Earlswood

It finally stopped raining this morning, so I joined Dave for our weekly stroll around Morton Bagot. Inevitably we ended the morning getting a little damp as the high cloud gave way to light showers. By that time we'd recorded 53 species with very little effort, so we were reasonably happy.

The highlight was a pair of returning Shelducks on the furthest flash, arguably our first summer visitors.

The Lapwing flock goes from strength to strength, reaching 147, although hardly any were actually on the ground. Indeed just a few Teal and Mallard were present in spite of there being far more standing water than usual.

Other birds seen included decent numbers of winter thrushes, especially Fieldfares, two Stonechats, another fly-over Yellowhammer, all the expected finches in very small numbers, and a couple of Red Kites.

During the afternoon I decided I really should go to Earlswood to see the Egyptian Goose which had been found at Mereside Fishing Pools yesterday. It was still present, and looked rather tame. But they all count.

Although by now the drizzle was getting heavier I decided a quick march around Engine Pool would be in order, and this plan at least produced a distant view of the fifth calendar year Yellow-legged Gull standing on a buoy on Windmill Pool.

Unlike the adult bird seen on my last visit the specific identity of this curious bird is not in dispute. John O has found a photograph of a very similar bird somewhere else on a Gull Forum on Facebook (to which I do not subscribe). That bird's bare part colour is attributed to a hormonal deficiency, so presumably the Earlswood bird is in the same situation.

Tuesday and Wednesday February 3 and 4 - Studley and Spernal Park

 On Tuesday morning I was awake early and in possession of Tony's Thermal Imager. The plan was to go to an area near the river Arrow at Studley where I understood a pair of Little Owls was in residence.

Unfortunately the weather was against me. A bitingly cold easterly and steady drizzle which rarely abated. Nevertheless I followed the directions and located what I thought was probably the right tree. In the twilight the kit confirmed an encouraging point of light exactly where you might expect a Little Owl to be sitting.

As it slowly got a bit lighter, through my scope, I could make out what did indeed appear to be a Little Owl sitting at the entrance to a hole. Then as I switched back to the Thermal Imager a second bird, most definitely a Little Owl flew into the tree and they both disappeared into the hole.

By the time it was light enough to see properly the show was over. You'd never know they were there. So no photo I'm afraid.

Little Owls used to be relatively common around here and many of the sites I have Birdtrack records for, list the species among my previous visits. But in the last twenty years they've become a lot harder to find and I currently only know of four places within 10 kms of our house where they now occur. They've certainly gone from two pairs to zero at Morton Bagot.

This morning I was keen to try the kit out in woodland, so went to Morgrove Coppice intending to walk around Spernal Park as I hadn't got any winter records for that wood. Within five minutes of my arrival the battery in the thermal imager died. Drat.

Nevertheless I struggled up the steep muddy hill to the top of the wood, and within minutes of reaching the summit, gasping for breath, a familiar call improved my mood considerably. A Common Crossbill flew right over my head and away towards Morgrove Coppice. My second year-tick in two days.

It doesn't look it, but trust me, the path through the trees was very steep

I commenced a circuit and noted several Marsh Tits, five Ravens, and a few more Crossbills. Unfortunately none of the good stuff was photographable, although I did briefly see one of the Crossbills perched in a tree.

Nuthatch searching the leaf-litter for food

Assessing how many Crossbills I'd seen was difficult, but I decided on a minimum of five. I therefore felt vindicated when, back at my car in Morgrove Coppice carpark, I heard more calls and counted five Crossbills flying from Spernal and away in the direction of Coughton Park.

It looks like more wet weather is on the cards, so I doubt I'll poke my head out of doors again until Sunday.

Sunday February 1 - Illshaw Heath and Earlswood Lakes

 This morning I chose to resume my local wandering, this time picking the countryside around Illshaw Heath. I must admit I hadn't been expecting much, but it wasn't too terrible.

The best area was a marshy field just west of the new development at Blyth Valley. Here I counted 19 Meadow Pipits, a Skylark which flew over, a Common Snipe, a Green Woodpecker, and a Reed Bunting. I don't see many Reed Buntings away from Morton Bagot.

On my way home I diverted to Earlswood where John O had found a female Pochard and the adult Yellow-legged Gull. I quickly saw both birds, and this time had my camera to hand. 

PS: Regarding the Yellow-legged Gull shown below. Its identity has been queried by Matt G as when he zoomed in on the orbital ring it didn't look red to him. It is thought to be the same bird we saw on Jan 6. Maybe it is a hybrid Gull. 

Unidentified adult gull. Either Yellow-legged Gull or Herring X LBBGull hybrid

Female Pochard

Friday January 30 - Morton Bagot

 This year I have been edging towards making a substantial purchase. Thermal Imaging kit is not cheap, and this morning Tony K joined me so that I could try his out. It passed the first test straightaway by being small enough to fit into my coat pocket.

The most obvious use is to locate cryptically patterned birds which hide in plain sight, so we marched straight to the scrape field.

Hiding in here were Reed Buntings, Meadow Pipits, and Common Snipe. But the target was none of these. Tony proceeded slowly, and eventually passed me the imager. A Jack Snipe was showing as an obvious white blob. Well it might have been for Tony, but I just couldn't work out where he was looking. The problem is that the landscape as seen through the imager is dark with very little definition. I just couldn't get my bearings.

We moved closer, and finally the bird was blindingly obvious. Tony intended to catch and ring it, but I just wanted to take a photograph. Now I knew where it was, the rest was very easy.

A lot of twigs and a Jack Snipe in hiding

Am I going to get one? You bet I am. Did Tony succeed with his capture? Not this time.

We parted company. The remainder of my visit can best be described as underwhelming. The Lapwing flock circling the flash field totalled 88, while 33 Teal and a few Mallard sat tight.

The low cloud and drizzle were no good for raptor spotting, but I did locate three Sparrowhawks over the adjacent woodland.

Wednesday January 28 - Morton Bagot

In years gone by I'd never had to make a special effort to record owls at Morton Bagot. There's always been at least a known Tawny Owl roosting tree I could rely on. But a few years ago the oak tree in question was damaged in a storm and the Tawny stopped using it. 

A different tree stump which had been good for Barn Owl has also become less of a shelter and seems to have been abandoned.

The only option was a dusk visit, so I resolved to pay a visit this evening. Arriving before the sun dipped below the horizon I was in time to see a few woodland species at the edge of Bannams, including a Goldcrest which was a belated patch year tick. I'd started to wonder whether I could hear them any more, but this one was audible before I spotted it so I'm ok for now.

A more pressing problem was the presence of a very loud farm vehicle strimming the branches bordering the wood. He kept this up until 17:00, by which time I was overlooking the scrape field counting the Pied Wagtails coming in to roost. 

Pied Wagtails approaching

Pied Wagtails

My highest count was 54 Pied Wags, although that assumed that each time they flew around I was looking at the same birds. As it got darker I saw twenty plus Redwings going to roost, two Grey Herons, a Peregrine, and what was almost certainly a Sparrowhawk. But no owls.

Finally, at 17:30 as I was heading back to the car, a Tawny Owl hooted from the direction of the church. Later on, another called from Clowse Wood. There were no Barn Owls to be seen, but I think the ringers saw one a month or two ago, so hopefully there will be another chance.

PS: Tony K was here ringing on Tuesday night and his thermal imager picked up at at least 120 Pied Wagtails, so I guess some of the flocks I saw were different birds causing me to under-estimate. He caught a Common Snipe and a Reed Bunting.

Sunday January 25 - Morton Bagot

For most of this morning the weather was cloudy with a light south-easterly, but the last half hour was marked by showers. Dave and I followed the usual circuit and saw most of the usual birds. By the time we reached the flash field we had a couple of Stonechats under our belts, and would go on to see two more, an immature Cormorant was perched on top of the tree overlooking the Kingfisher Pool (a favourite perch for the species), a Mute Swan had flown east, and a Yellowhammer had done likewise (this time being seen as well as heard).

At the flash field we were greeted by the sight of a substantial flock of Lapwings. Most of them took flight allowing a count to be made while only eight remained on the ground. The combined total of 121 was the best count here since 2014.

Most of the Lapwings

But let's not get too carried away, the 2014 count was over 200, and the highest count of all was 530 on 22 January 2012 just after I started this blog but pre bridge camera.

In those days wintering buntings regularly reached twenty or thirty of both Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings. Today I was quite impressed by my one Yellowhammer and a single Reed Bunting.

Reed Bunting

My 2026 list gained a couple of ticks today. Seven Red-legged Partridges were new for the Circle, and a couple of Mistle Thrushes  were Morton Bagot year-ticks. An immature Peregrine flew in, stooped at a Carrion Crow, and for a while perched on a pylon. This was new for Dave as he'd missed the one seen briefly last week.

Most of the Red-legged Partridges

Encouraged by all this ticking I decided to ignore the rain and walk along the road with Martin W who had arrived just as we got back to the cars. Martin mentioned he had had a fantastic view of a male Crossbill in the village some weeks ago (when pressed this turned out to be November 27 2025), so this was added incentive.

I was more interested in the prospect of adding a Coal Tit at the feeders set up by one of the householders. This proved a busted flush as all that was present were loads of Blue and Great Tits, but on the way there we heard a bird "tacking" from cover. I'm pretty sure it was a Blackcap, but as this would have been a first January record for the patch I chose not to count it. It's surprising that they don't turn up in winter here when they are perfectly regular in my Redditch garden.

Snowdrops

The roadside also provided a welcome sign that spring isn't too far away.

Midweek update - Forhill and Earlswood

Tuesday was best this week. I chose to wander around the Forhill area on a day of sunshine and a blustery southerly. Almost the first bird I saw was a Ring-necked Parakeet, my first of the year, which flew noisily overhead and was gone before I could get the camera out.

The rest of the visit skirted the edge of the Kings Norton Golf Course, but mostly took in a series of grassy fields and some muddy horse paddocks. Good numbers of Woodpigeons, Redwings, and Jackdaws were counted, but the species list was pretty limited.

Back at the car, as I was removing my wellies, a pair of Mistle Thrushes flew across the road and disappeared into trees. The significance of this event was that it was another year-tick. 

As I set off for home my Whatsapp pinged with news of a drake Pochard at Earlswood. I was conflicted. It shouldn't be the last available Pochard this year, but you never know. A shopping trip to Solihull with Lyn was unavoidable, but I had a cunning plan. On the way home I dropped the bird into the conversation and a brief detour to the lake brought me my third year-tick of the day.

The only downside was that I had only packed my binoculars and had taken no decent photographs around Forhill.

So this morning I headed back to Earlswood. There had been no sign of the Pochard on Wednesday and I rightly guessed it had gone. 

Even on a gloomy, damp morning, you can rely on the Great Crested Grebes to show well. Most were in winter plumage, but the closest bird was ready for summer.

Saturday/Sunday January 17/18 - Morton Bagot

 It's unusual for me to go birding at Morton Bagot two days running, but the recent switch to milder weather, encouraged me to think that the patch would be more like its old self. And so it was.

Saturday was the brighter day. I discovered John S and Sam McV busily ringing birds, handling a Redwing as I joined them. Winter thrushes have remained a staple this winter and I reckon at least 100 are on site, with Redwings slightly more numerous than Fieldfares.

Fieldfare

My main interest, having decided to take part in Patchwork Challenge again this year, was to boost my lamentable Morton Bagot year list. I'd somehow managed two visits this year without seeing a Dunnock or a House Sparrow. I soon put that right, also adding Moorhen, Pied Wagtail, Teal, and Little Egret during the course of Saturday morning. Its amazing how bad the patch can be when all the pools are frozen.

Little Egret showing breeding plumage aigrettes

I am also listing within the wider Circle, and managed three new birds. A small party of Linnets, and a fly-over Yellowhammer eluded my camera (the latter was heard only), but one or two Reed Buntings included a co-operative male which I noticed sported a metal ring.

Also present on Saturday was a flock of 81 Lapwings, 29 Black-headed Gulls, and four Stonechats.

This morning Dave joined me, and to begin with we sat despondently under the hatch-back of my car watching the rain pound down. Had we made a mistake coming at all? 

Fortunately, after half an hour the rain eased and then stopped altogether. It remained grey and a bit misty, but perfectly birdable.

Our first good decision was to try walking through the sedge at the old pool field. In no time at all we surpassed my Jack Snipe tally of the week before, flushing six plus seven Common Snipe. In years gone by the Common species would vastly out-number the wintering Jacks, but nowadays the numbers are almost equal. I suspect that this reflects a loss of UK breeding habitat for the mainly British Common Snipe.

Still on the look out for Morton Bagot year-ticks we added Treecreeper, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Tit and Peregrine to the list, but all were brief sightings and evaded my camera.

Mammals rarely feature in this blog, but today they stole the show. Dave spotted first one, then two, and finally three Red Foxes chasing each other around the newly planted area. I couldn't get them all in shot but did manage several of two of them.

I have to confess that I don't know all that much about Fox behaviour, but I do know that winter is the mating season, so I imagine that both sexes were involved. 

Back to birds. From a purely Morton Bagot perspective the best bird was saved to last. As we made our way across the ridge field we started to hear the "thrum thrum thrum" made by the wings of a Mute Swan. Amazingly it was at least 200 metres away when it finally appeared and ultimately flew past us. The sound of those wings carries an awfully long way. This was the first Mute Swan here for almost exactly a year. 

I understand its International Swan weekend, but the BTO qualify that by making it clear they are only interested in Bewick's and Whoopers, so our bird won't count.

Wednesday January 14 - Earlswood Lakes

 An overnight frost was followed by a sunny morning. I soon noticed small flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares flying south-west over the garden, and by the time Lyn was up I had counted 156 and 85 respectively. Could this be a sign of a hard weather movement?

Just after 10:00 the Whatsapp pinged. Matt had found an adult Mediterranean Gull on Engine Pool. I hastened to the spot and discovered that most of the ice covering the lakes still persisted. After an anxious sort through about 400 Black-headed Gulls I located the bird.

I didn't see one within the Circle last year, so I am grateful to Matt for finding the bird. 

Also present were four Common Gulls and the near adult Yellow-legged Gull still sporting a largely dark bill.

I didn't see any evidence that thrushes were moving at Earlswood, but a single Skylark heading over might point to some on-going movement.

I had to return home within an hour to resume my late breakfast.

Tuesday January 13 - Cruise Hill/Elcocks Brook

 I thought it was about time I got back to the random wandering. I was struggling to find a name for today's venue. The middle of nowhere was tempting, but I suppose it was half way between Cruise Hill and Norgrove Pool. 

I parked at Elcock's Brook, and immediately spotted a Little Egret standing sheepishly in a field containing sheep. I rightly suspected this would be the highlight.

Later I chatted to a friendly local out for a walk, and he asked me what I'd seen. Once I got past the Little Egret I was floundering. A Sparrowhawk was my first this year, a Raven, and eight Redpolls. He seemed mildly impressed by the latter sighting.

At least it didn't rain, and there were views. Mostly of sheep.

It's hard to believe that Redditch is just over the horizon.