Sunday April 15

After the first warm day of spring yesterday, today was a bit of a setback weatherwise. The grey skies were back and despite a moderate southerly breeze it was rather chilly again.

Any thoughts of walking along the road were scuppered by the presence of a cycle race, and indeed a nasty crash at the bottom of the slope before the Netherstead turn. We later saw two ambulances and hope that the cyclists involved were not too badly injured.

While I was waiting for Dave I saw the first House Martin of the summer, although it disappeared thereafter. The only other new migrant we could find was Lesser Whitethroat. In fact we recorded three singing birds around the site and even glimpsed two of them.

Disappointingly, the ploughed fields were almost devoid of birds with the exception of about 80 Linnets still feeding on the field by Morton Common Farm. The real frustration is that the Flash Field is still not pulling many migrants in. A single Green Sandpiper and a pair of Little Ringed Plovers were the only waders other than Lapwings (and there were only four of them).  The situation was a bit more positive as far as ducks are concerned. In fact six Gadwall was a record count for the patch, while there was still a single Shoveler and about eight Teal.

Drake Gadwall

At the end of the visit our morning was summed up as we struggled to convince ourselves we had heard a distant Willow Warbler near Clowse Farm. In the end we gave up, but I did see an interesting looking bee on the fence.

Clarke's Mining Bee Andrena clarkella

It is some kind of mining bee, probably Andrena clarkella, but I suspect the slightly out of focus photo may not prove acceptable as a record shot.

Upton Warren twitch - Glossy Ibis

A wet Tuesday morning and at 08.00 my phone pings with a message. I am oblivious to this and carry on to work. At 10.00 another ping, and this time I hear it. The message, from Terry, says the Glossy Ibis has just flown off. I check my phone and find the earlier message which said Glossy Ibis at Upton Warren NOW. (Quick apology; when I changed phones lately I lost all my saved contacts and am slowly building them up again, so I'm not sure who sent the original text, but thank you anyway).

During the day it became apparent that the Ibis hadn't gone far, and it was reported several times back at the Flashes. So this evening I was making a quick about turn, and whizzing over to Upton.

The bird was standing in a field just beyond the reserve, and I took some terrible photos in the terrible light. However, luck was on my side. I decided I really should go and look at some Avocets, so I left Mike W, Gert, and Dave W watching the bird and headed that way. I was then delayed by some half-heard snatches of birdsong which, I must admit, I couldn't quite identify. Next thing I know Mike W is striding towards me with news that the Ibis has flown in the direction of the Flashes.

We hurried to the main hide and scanned the grassy edges thinking it could be there, but to no avail. So I started looking at the hundreds of Black-headed Gulls, and dozen or so Avocets in front of the hide. And there it was, right in front of us.

Glossy Ibis

It was very nice to be back at Upton Warren. It's so different from the 1980's when Black-headed Gulls were quite scarce, Lapwings were everywhere, and the prospect of a Glossy Ibis turning up was too fanciful to be on anyone's wish list.

You didn't see any of these either:

I asked Mike about the hybrid Mediterranean Gull X Black-headed Gull. He scanned for a nano-second and showed me the bird.

Hybrid MedxBHG

A very interesting bird, properly black (not chocolate) headed with a classic 2nd winter Med Gull wing pattern, but no bigger than a B H Gull, and with a slender B H Gull sized bill.

Fans of reading about me seeing bugger all at Morton Bagot can be assured that normal service will be resumed at the weekend.

Sunday April 8

This morning was cloudy with hardly any wind. I suspected I was going to have a better day when I spotted my first two Swallows of the year here as I was driving past Church Farm. The light was terrible but you've got to haven't you.

Swallow

Dave joined me and we headed towards the pool. A pair of Green Woodpeckers were playing hide-and-seek on a telegraph pole.

Green Woodpeckers

The pool contained two pairs of Tufted Ducks and a Coot. Undaunted, we kept on to the Flash field. Here we quickly discovered that a pair of Little Ringed Plovers was in residence.

Little Ringed Plover

Also present were a Little Egret, four Shovelers, four Gadwall, 14 Coots, 10 Teal, and four Lapwings. We were about to move on when an immature Peregrine swooped across, causing mayhem, not least me dropping my scope. I had just picked it up and was folding away my tripod when we heard a Curlew calling. The tripod went the same way as the scope as the bird came into view.

Curlew

This former breeder is always a good one to get on the year-list.

We headed back along the footpath, discovering a Treecreeper entering a gap in the bark of a dead tree where it was clearly making a nest. Then Dave spotted two probable White Wagtails in the ploughed field. I got them in the scope and confirmed he was right, but they flew off before I could hand the scope over. Dave was now on a roll, because he then noticed a female Wheatear at the top of the same field.

We came up with a plan. If this field had been ploughed, maybe the ones at the south end (the direction the wagtails had flown in) would be too. On the way there we counted 27 Lesser Redpolls, heard a singing Blackcap, and saw the Peregrine again.

The hunch paid off because the south field had indeed been ploughed and was alive with birds. These included 40 Linnets, a Chaffinch, six Pied Wagtails, the two White Wagtails, and another female Wheatear.

White Wagtail

Wheatear

Sadly, the Snowy Owl proved a bit of a disappointment.

Friday April 6

Light cloud cover with some sunshine and a light to moderate south-easterly.

Important note to self; keep your optimism levels in check and never ever compile a target list of species you hope to see.

This morning I set myself the target of adding six new species to the year list, and decided that four would be a par score, and less than two almost unimaginable.

As I headed away from Netherstead, four Fieldfares flew east. A Meadow Pipit called. Movement, I thought. I decided to head along the road and before I had got too far the odd singing Chiffchaff was joined by a singing Blackcap.

Shortly afterwards I got a phone call from Lyn. To cut a long story short my Dad is very poorly at the moment and my Mum, being fiercely independent, believes she can cope. But sometimes she can't. I pulled the plug on the birding and headed to Birmingham.

By mid afternoon the situation there had improved, and I was able to return home. I went back to the patch, and found Mark leaving the site with a rather limited list of species from the Flash field. I went down to try my luck but was only able to confirm a pair of Gadwall, three Shovelers, three Snipe, four Lapwings, and six Teal. Mark had seen three Green Sandpipers, but I could find only one.

At least a contractor has started ploughing, so Wheatear habitat is being created. The wander back added a Peacock butterfly, the Peregrine, and about a dozen Redpolls.

My next visit will contain no expectations.

Sunday April 1

A cold cloudy morning with a light northerly breeze.

It feels more like late February than early April. My visit to the patch this morning was a bit disappointing.

There were a few highlights; boxing Brown Hares, 45 Lesser Redpolls, and a Peregrine on a pylon.

Peregrine

The Flash field was a great disappointment. Just eight Teal, a pair of Shovelers, a pair of Shelduck, a Green Sandpiper, and four Lapwings. I eventually added three Meadow Pipits which were crawling through the soggy grass.

At least a couple of birds posed nicely for me, but just look at the hedgerows they are sitting in. Scarcely in bud, the hawthorns are miles behind where they usually are at this time of the year.

Kestrel

Reed Bunting

Its hard to believe that in two or three weeks time the whole place will have transformed. Bring it on.

Sunday March 25

Rather a pleasant morning, the very light north-westerly kept the temperature on the low side, but it was mostly sunny.

Although we were on the lookout for summer migrants, the horse paddocks at Netherstead reminded us that winter still hasn't loosened its grip. At least 39 Fieldfares and a few Redwings hunted for worms, and were accompanied by a small flock of Starlings.

A Peregrine flew from the direction of Bannams Wood and headed off across the ridge field.

We arrived at the pool to find no Tufted Ducks, and no Little Grebe. The flash field still looks pretty good, but the Gadwalls have gone, to be replaced by a pair of Shelducks. At least 16 Teal and about 10 Snipe were all that was left after many of both species disappeared into the channels between the clumps of sedge at the back of the nearest flash. There are now five Shovelers and three Green Sandpipers, but only about 10 Lapwings. The Coot flock has reduced to 21. It was all a little disappointing.

Walking back along the hedge line we spotted a remarkably striking glossy-green Pheasant in the field beyond. It strode to the field edge where it disappeared. I'll try to keep an eye open for it next time.

We reached Stapenhill Wood where a single Chiffchaff announced its presence in song. I tried to get a decent shot, but it was chasing gnats in between song phrases and I only managed one blurry image.

Chiffchaff

For once, the final part of the circuit managed to generate some interest. A flock of 27 Lesser Redpolls flew past us, and then all hell broke loose as flocks of thrushes and particularly Starlings burst out of the hedge. The Starlings swirled in a mini-murmuration before most of them landed on the top of a pylon. A dot-count of a photograph of the main flock has revealed 254 birds, which was remarkably close the Dave's estimate of 250.

Some of the Starling flock

About a minute later a Sparrowhawk appeared, almost certainly the cause of the panic.

Sparrowhawk

Finally, with the day beginning to warm up I managed my first insect shot of the year. A Red-tailed Bumblebee landed in the meadow and was crawling groggily around the grass stems.

Red-tailed Bumblebee

Its a good job she hasn't seen the weather forecast.

Friday March 23

A cloudy morning with just a couple of brief sunny intervals and a rather brisk and surprisingly chilly southwesterly breeze. It didn't feel spring-like at all. Having missed out on a visit last Sunday due to snow, I was hoping to make up for it today.

The early signs were not promising, no Chiffchaffs, no Wheatears, and just three Meadow Pipits none of which were actively migrating. On the other handed there was a party of about 12 Fieldfares, and another of 20 Starlings moving south-west.

The pool did at least show some promise. A flock of 13 Tufted Ducks, mainly on the top pool. was just shy of the site record. Then a diving dot in the middle of the main pool resurfaced to show itself to be the first Little Grebe of the year.

The Tufted Duck flock

Little Grebe

The Little Grebe did what they always do, after allowing me a couple of crap record shots, it disappeared completely. No doubt cowering among the sedges at the back of the pool.

This late spring has left the hedgerows and trees well behind where they normally are in terms of leaf cover, and as a result it is impossible to sneak up to the border of the flash field without flushing everything. So today I was left to estimate the numbers of waders and ducks as they scattered from the nearest flash. The whole field is very wet, and looks very promising indeed. The first thing I noticed was the number of Coot present. Adding the small numbers from the other little pools I ended up with a count of 27 which is more than double the site record.

I estimated 30 Teal and 16 Snipe as they rushed to get out of sight, and I suspect there were more than this. Also present were two pairs of Shovelers, one pair of Gadwall, at least 15 Lapwings, a pair of Greylag Geese, and two Green Sandpipers.

The return to Netherstead was pretty uninspiring, one or two March Hares failing to get frisky and although the temperature was apparently 12 degrees there was scarcely an insect in sight.