I missed a text from Chris L a few days ago. He had been to Morton Bagot and had seen a Shelduck and a Wigeon. These would both be year-ticks, but they are species I expect to see without too much difficulty this year.
Potentially more exciting, he also had two Tree Sparrows at Castle Farm, literally within sight of the patch. Just three fields away, but it might as well be an ocean because Tree Sparrows are site faithful to a ridiculous degree.
Nevertheless it proves the area did not lose all of its Tree Sparrows in that fateful winter five years ago.
Slightly further away, Neil D alerted me to the presence of 14 Hawfinches at the Virgin Mary Church near Studley castle. Lyn and I called in on the way back from Hillers, but without binoculars, and they seemed to have disappeared. Definitely a place to watch though.
Finally, if you followed the link to Neil's blog out4aduck.blogspot.com/ you will see that there has been a mini-murmuration of Starlings visible from the top of the car-park in the middle of Redditch this week. Worth a look.
Thursday, 22 February 2018
Sunday, 18 February 2018
Sunday February 18
A cloudy morning with hardly a breathe of wind. The rather mild weather was encouraging more songbirds to sing, including Chaffinches, Skylarks, and Reed Buntings. Both Mistle and Song Thrushes were also in full voice, although they have been at it for over a month.
Apart from 40 Lesser Redpolls, there were very few finches on the site again. The pool contained 16 Teal and four Tufted Ducks, the latter being an entirely predictable year tick. The Tawny Owl was visible in its usual tree.
The flash field was better than last week, although that's not saying much. It contained 28 Lapwings, 23 Teal, two Snipe, five Black-headed Gulls, a Green Sandpiper, and the male Stonechat.
And that was about it.
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| Song Thrush |
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| Tufted Ducks |
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| Teal taking fright |
And that was about it.
Sunday, 11 February 2018
Sunday February 11
Sunny intervals and cold with a fresh south-westerly breeze.
It was hard work again today. The flash field contained a Green Sandpiper, a Lapwing, five Black-headed Gulls and at least 39 Teal.
Walking past Stapenhill Wood I could hear lots of Pheasant alarm calls. The cause became clear as a Fox appeared in the field beyond.
Finally, I managed to get some shots of displaying Ravens over Bannams Wood.
Not a sniff of a year tick though.
It was hard work again today. The flash field contained a Green Sandpiper, a Lapwing, five Black-headed Gulls and at least 39 Teal.
Walking past Stapenhill Wood I could hear lots of Pheasant alarm calls. The cause became clear as a Fox appeared in the field beyond.
Finally, I managed to get some shots of displaying Ravens over Bannams Wood.
Not a sniff of a year tick though.
Sunday, 4 February 2018
Sunday February 4
A rather chilly but sunny morning. A light north-westerly. Dave and I did our best to raise the patch from its current malaise but it was hard going.
In the end the only year tick was an adult Peregrine which was upsetting the birds resting in the flash field. The latter comprised 60 Teal, and 53 Black-headed Gulls.
The pool was also disappointing; three Coot and 10 Mallard. I suppose the game cover is pretty much exhausted as, apart from 63 Lesser Redpolls, the finch and bunting numbers barely reached double figures.
It's always a bad sign when the only photo in the posting is a Blackbird.
In the end the only year tick was an adult Peregrine which was upsetting the birds resting in the flash field. The latter comprised 60 Teal, and 53 Black-headed Gulls.
The pool was also disappointing; three Coot and 10 Mallard. I suppose the game cover is pretty much exhausted as, apart from 63 Lesser Redpolls, the finch and bunting numbers barely reached double figures.
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| Blackbird |
Sunday, 28 January 2018
Sunday January 28
Cloudy but mild. A very light south-westerly. Dave and I struggled to get out of first gear today.
The sum total of a couple of hours' effort was Green Sandpiper, two Stonechats, 53 Teal, 20 Mallard, a Coot, and 13 Lapwings on the Flash Field, four more Coots on the pool, and a Little Egret which appeared briefly in flight just west of the recording area.
Later on we could see another 76 Lapwings flying around miles to the south-west.
Examination of a couple of likely spots produced several Barn Owl pellets.
There will be better days.
The sum total of a couple of hours' effort was Green Sandpiper, two Stonechats, 53 Teal, 20 Mallard, a Coot, and 13 Lapwings on the Flash Field, four more Coots on the pool, and a Little Egret which appeared briefly in flight just west of the recording area.
Later on we could see another 76 Lapwings flying around miles to the south-west.
Examination of a couple of likely spots produced several Barn Owl pellets.
There will be better days.
Sunday, 21 January 2018
Sunday January 21
It's very frustrating. You wait all week for Sunday to come around and it rains, or its foggy. Today it snowed, and then it rained. Dave bailed out the night before, and I resolved to go only when/if the weather improved.
At about 13.30 it seemed to be easing, so I set out. Ironically the star bird chose to appear half a mile from the start of my patch. I was just pulling across the crossroads at Outhill, when I saw a Woodcock flutter down to the roadside. I pulled up level with it and watched it walk up the verge and into the wood. Needless to say, my camera was in the boot.
I can hardly remember the last time I saw a Woodcock on the ground, and doubt I have seen them in those circumstances more than five times in my entire life. The species also has an annoying habit of turning up just outside the Morton Bagot patch boundaries. I have flushed singles from the middle of Bannam's Wood, from fields to the west of the patch, and have seen one flying across the road not far from today's sighting. Only two have been seen, by me anyway, within the patch territory over the last ten years.
I arrived at Church Farm, and was disconcerted to note that the rain had started falling again as I was pulling my wellies on. I trudged down to the flash field where I was pleased to see that there were at least 86 Teal and a pair of Gadwall. The ducks all panicked as soon as they saw me, and although they initially sat in view on the nearest flash, they soon headed for the furthest.
With the rain still pelting down I didn't feel inclined to risk my camera (it hates the rain), and after confirming that the main pool was birdless I decided to cut my losses and head home.
It stopped raining five minutes after I headed off.
At about 13.30 it seemed to be easing, so I set out. Ironically the star bird chose to appear half a mile from the start of my patch. I was just pulling across the crossroads at Outhill, when I saw a Woodcock flutter down to the roadside. I pulled up level with it and watched it walk up the verge and into the wood. Needless to say, my camera was in the boot.
I can hardly remember the last time I saw a Woodcock on the ground, and doubt I have seen them in those circumstances more than five times in my entire life. The species also has an annoying habit of turning up just outside the Morton Bagot patch boundaries. I have flushed singles from the middle of Bannam's Wood, from fields to the west of the patch, and have seen one flying across the road not far from today's sighting. Only two have been seen, by me anyway, within the patch territory over the last ten years.
I arrived at Church Farm, and was disconcerted to note that the rain had started falling again as I was pulling my wellies on. I trudged down to the flash field where I was pleased to see that there were at least 86 Teal and a pair of Gadwall. The ducks all panicked as soon as they saw me, and although they initially sat in view on the nearest flash, they soon headed for the furthest.
With the rain still pelting down I didn't feel inclined to risk my camera (it hates the rain), and after confirming that the main pool was birdless I decided to cut my losses and head home.
It stopped raining five minutes after I headed off.
Sunday, 14 January 2018
Sunday January 14
I managed to get down a little earlier this morning and with a backdrop of leaden skies and barely any wind I set about hoovering up the easy year-ticks I had inexplicably missed on my previous visit.
The first was a pair of Collared Doves which I noticed from the car as I drove passed Church Farm. They were sitting in their usual place on the telephone wires. At Netherstead a Weasel dashed across the path, and I counted 18 Lesser Redpolls before scoping a single Redwing. The ludicrousness of not seeing any Redwings on my last visit was laid bare by a flock at least 75 of the blighters in the field at High Field Farm.
As Dave arrived disaster (in birding terms) struck. He had just emerged from his car and I was walking towards him. "What are those?" Over my shoulder two swans were heading north towards Bannams Wood. They flew silently, no wing noise and no calls. We both considered that they were not Mutes, so they were either Whoopers or Bewicks. I made a futile attempt to get my scope up, but with Dave was calling out directions such as "they're about to disappear behind the wood" I didn't even see them again. Whichever species they were they would have been the second record for Morton Bagot, but with no positive identification they have to remain as a frustrating near miss.
We decided to take the road past Bannams Wood as most of the species I was missing were woodland birds. First to fall was Marsh Tit, as there was one on the feeders at the barn conversions. The walk along the road added three Goldcrests, and we ended up seeing at least 28 Long-tailed Tits. From within Bannams Wood came the sound of a singing Mistle Thrush, and a calling Treecreeper.
The walk back down through the fields took in the Tawny Owl in its usual spot, and we found that the Linnet flock had swelled to 200. They were being marauded by a female Sparrowhawk.
We were always going to walk through the marsh today, so we jumped the gate and soon added a couple of Meadow Pipits before we got to the really gloopy bit. A total of 24 Common Snipe flew out of the sedge, and eventually so did our main target, a single Jack Snipe.
We finally got to the flash field where at least 47 Teal were keeping company with 26 Black-headed Gulls, two Stonechats, and a Lapwing.
On the return journey we could see about 20 Greylag Geese and two Mute Swans behind a hedgerow, and counted 10 Siskins as they flew over.
I finally got my camera out.
The last year tick was on the dragonfly ponds. A Coot.
So that was thirteen year ticks in the bag, and one which went begging. The day's list of mammals was good too: Roe Deer, Muntjac, Brown Hare, Grey Squirrel, Weasel, and vole/mouse sp (there were several sightings in the pool field whilst scanning for Jack Snipes.)
The first was a pair of Collared Doves which I noticed from the car as I drove passed Church Farm. They were sitting in their usual place on the telephone wires. At Netherstead a Weasel dashed across the path, and I counted 18 Lesser Redpolls before scoping a single Redwing. The ludicrousness of not seeing any Redwings on my last visit was laid bare by a flock at least 75 of the blighters in the field at High Field Farm.
As Dave arrived disaster (in birding terms) struck. He had just emerged from his car and I was walking towards him. "What are those?" Over my shoulder two swans were heading north towards Bannams Wood. They flew silently, no wing noise and no calls. We both considered that they were not Mutes, so they were either Whoopers or Bewicks. I made a futile attempt to get my scope up, but with Dave was calling out directions such as "they're about to disappear behind the wood" I didn't even see them again. Whichever species they were they would have been the second record for Morton Bagot, but with no positive identification they have to remain as a frustrating near miss.
We decided to take the road past Bannams Wood as most of the species I was missing were woodland birds. First to fall was Marsh Tit, as there was one on the feeders at the barn conversions. The walk along the road added three Goldcrests, and we ended up seeing at least 28 Long-tailed Tits. From within Bannams Wood came the sound of a singing Mistle Thrush, and a calling Treecreeper.
The walk back down through the fields took in the Tawny Owl in its usual spot, and we found that the Linnet flock had swelled to 200. They were being marauded by a female Sparrowhawk.
We were always going to walk through the marsh today, so we jumped the gate and soon added a couple of Meadow Pipits before we got to the really gloopy bit. A total of 24 Common Snipe flew out of the sedge, and eventually so did our main target, a single Jack Snipe.
We finally got to the flash field where at least 47 Teal were keeping company with 26 Black-headed Gulls, two Stonechats, and a Lapwing.
On the return journey we could see about 20 Greylag Geese and two Mute Swans behind a hedgerow, and counted 10 Siskins as they flew over.
I finally got my camera out.
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| Redwing |
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| Coot |
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