With the weather now set fair, for at least two days, I decided to take a bit of a punt on Tardebigge Reservoir. It sits near the top of a hill with views stretching as far as the Malverns to the south and Clee Hill to the north-west, Upton Warren seems but a stones throw away.
Maybe some hill-top specialists might have paused for a while? Perhaps an Osprey might glide north? Or maybe not.
I did have one passage bird en route to the hills, but it was just a male Wheatear occupying the middle of a ploughed field below the famous canal locks.
I stood around for nearly an hour watching almost nothing passing overhead. A couple of Swallows which looked suspiciously like local birds on a feeding sortie, six Black-headed Gulls presumably from Upton, and a pair of Mute Swans on a day out.
Eventually some raptors got up, and among the circling Buzzards was a single Red Kite. But they're not quite the novelty they once were.
I was struck by how many Chaffinches were singing, double-figures compared to the ones and twos I now hear at Morton Bagot. At least one, probably two, Willow Warblers were present, with a similar count of singing Blackcaps. But the main warbler on show was the Chiffchaff, with at least nine present.
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| Chiffchaff eyeing me suspiciously |
So I suppose the plan was unsuccessful, but I still enjoyed the morning.
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