Wednesday January 4 - The streaming begins

 Towards the end of last year I decided that this year would have a theme, and that would be river valleys...within the Circle of course.

This morning I made a start, at the beginning (nearly) of the River Arrow. It had never really occurred to me, before, that the tiny stream which trickles into the Mill Shrub just north of my Circle is actually the start of the River Arrow.

I decided to pick it up along the Old Birmingham Road just north of Alvechurch. I wasn't able to follow it north towards Lower Bittell as it flows across private land, but a short detour saw me rejoin it on the Canal Dam by the reservoir.

The Arrow as it flows under the Old Birmingham Road

My most unexpected find came in the field which last year hosted the Old Birmingham Road Flash. Today it was dry, but to my surprise it harboured 15 Common Snipe.

Common Snipe(s)

The reservoir proved a bit of a disappointment. A drake Mandarin was presumably the bird present last autumn, but I couldn't see any Teal, Wigeon, or Great Crested Grebes. Just a Gadwall and a few Little Grebes, Tufted Ducks, Coots, Grey Herons, and Mute Swans to move the year-list on. There was a lot of fishing activity.

A Kingfisher was calling from the canal moat which surrounds the reservoir. I then walked along the canal to Alvechurch and looped back to rejoin the Arrow just south of where I'd started.

About 20 years ago I twitched a juvenile Dipper which had been found by Mike Inskip along the road from Cofton Hackett to Bittell Reservoirs. It wasn't well and was picked up and released on the Arrow just north of the Mill Shrub. 

Maybe there is still a pair of Dippers lurking on the streams running into the Arrow north of Redditch. I aim the find out.

Monday January 2 - Unfinished business

 A sunny calm day passed without me setting foot outdoors....until just before 16.00 when I decided to return to Morton Bagot to try to see the Barn Owl.

Walking down from the road, along the Millennium Way, you reach a small metal gate. Step through that and you are faced with the Pool Field. There is no need to go any further.

The top pool, bordered by reed-mace

A pleasant 45 minutes was spent counting Pied Wagtails as groups of them flew in, and eventually dropped into the reed-mace bordering the top pool and a smaller one nearby. I counted 52 individuals which comfortably beats my previous record count for the site.

Eventually the Barn Owl appeared, although it spent most of its time out of sight, quartering the Chat Field. The hedgerows were also occupied by numerous thrushes; Redwings, Song Thrushes, and Blackbirds which were also trying to roost.

The evening was to have one final twist. Driving home I spotted a Woodcock as it banked prior to landing (probably) in fields at Haye Pasture near the Dog Island.

Sunday January 1 - Morton Bagot

 So here we are, another year dawns. As is traditional I spent the day at Morton Bagot, and as it was a Sunday, Dave was able to join me.

Unusually for an alldayer, I missed the darkness before dawn. However I still had an hour of birding before Dave rolled up, putting it to good use by ticking off Siskin, Redpoll, and Yellowhammer all as fly-overs.

The morning was mild and sunny with an increasingly irritating south-westerly breeze. We strolled to the pool field, where all the little scrapes are now full of water. A Stonechat popped up before we waded into the damper bits. We were soon rewarded with two Common Snipe, and eventually a small area containing five Jack Snipe, the most for several years. Needless to say, despite proceeding with great caution, we failed to see any of them before they took off silently at close range.

The Flash field initially looked birdless, but eventually we found 42 Mallard which looked suspiciously like cage-reared cannon fodder, and a flock of 27 very nervous Teal. A single Cormorant was sitting in a tree, and during the afternoon I saw two more.

As we walked back along the brook Dave glimpsed a Red Kite, so we detoured to the top of the ridge where we were pleased to see it still present.

Red Kite

The last day-tick before we got back to the cars was a single Linnet, species number 51.

After a couple of hours break, I was back in the field. The afternoon was cloudy, but at least the wind had dropped. I concentrated my efforts along the edge of Bannams Wood before heading down to the flash and then completing a huge circuit via Netherstead and Bannams again before returning to my car, which I'd parked at the church.

This considerable effort was rewarded with just six more species: Green Woodpecker, Jay, Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Kestrel, and finally a couple of hooting Tawny Owls in the half-light at about 16.30.

There was time for one unexpected discovery. At least 32 Pied Wagtails heading to roost over Netherstead. A previously unrecorded phenomenon here.

Last year I saw 60 species on day one, this time 57. So I'm a bit down, total-wise, but its a marathon not a sprint.

PS: While I was watching the Pied Wagtails heading to roost over Netherstead, John Chidwick was watching a Barn Owl hunting over the pool field and witnessed dozens of Pied Wagtails flying in to roost in the bulrushes...so that's where they were going.

Saturday December 31 - reflecting on 2022

 Yesterday afternoon I headed for Feckenham Wylde Moor for my final bit of birding of 2022. I ended up sitting in the little hide watching 18 Mallard, chatting to a photographer who had been hoping to see a Kingfisher, and ultimately watching hundreds of Rooks and Jackdaws gathering to roost somewhere to the east. A few Reed Buntings arrived to settle in the reeds for the evening, and a Lesser Redpoll showed well in the gloomy light as I prepared to leave.

It was at least a good opportunity to reflect on a truly excellent year. My final tick had been a Goldeneye at Lower Bittell in mid November, bringing me to a satisfying total of 140 species. But it wasn't all about the year list. I've also been recording birds throughout the 10 km diameter circle around our house. Here is a rather low-tech map of where I have managed to record birds since I started the project at the beginning of November 2021.

The central 10 km square is SP06 and Redditch occupies most of it.

So I've endeavoured to map everything I've seen on a one square km basis, and this includes birds, mammals, butterflies, moths, and dragonflies. The purple squares are winter visits, and the grey ones are breeding season efforts. I think it will take me ten years to do it properly, and then I'll have to decide where to show the information gleaned. Now that's what I call a proper project.

Inevitably I kept lists of the wildlife seen this year, and these are the highlights:

Best Finds

I've had to write descriptions for four species. The Honey-buzzard at Morton Bagot in mid July was easily the rarest of these. The others were the Osprey at Earlswood in September, the Black Redstart at Umberslade Park Farm in June, and the Little Gull at Earlswood in April (I wasn't in their WhatsApp Group at that time so I may not have been the first to see it, but I didn't know it was there).

I had to balance visiting new areas of the circle with continuing to visit my actual patch, Morton Bagot. I did this by going to Morton Bagot on Sundays throughout the year, and more often in April/May, and August/September/October. This worked quite well, and a Common Gull which Dave and I saw there in December was patch year tick number 110. So that's only about eight to ten species down on the years when I went nowhere else. Highlights included the aforementioned Honey-buzzard, plus Ring Ouzels, Whimbrel, Great White Egret, Garganey, and Pink-footed Geese. None these were patch ticks, but they were all quality finds.

Twitching highlights

Joining the Earlswood WhatsApp Group and assistance from the likes of Josh Toogood, Neil Duggan, Mark Islip, and Rob Wardle gave me the chance to see birds found by others. The rarest of these were a Red-crested Pochard at Arrow Valley Lake (and two more at Earlswood), some Common Scoters and a Rock Pipit at Earlswood, and a Whooper Swan at Lower Bittell.

If onlys

The year also had its frustrations. I always try hard to find good birds, but there's a fine line between trying hard, and try too hard. A cruel person might describe this as stringing, but I would prefer to call it the "if only" section. I wish it had been empty.

Back in March I was carefully going through the Golden Plover flock at Middletown, thinking if only there was an American Golden Plover with them. Then I found a "funny one" asleep, miles away. On this occasion I managed to teeter and then regain my balance. I concluded the views weren't good enough, and Golden Plovers in early spring vary too much, for me to call it.

If only I'd done the same in April when Dave and I concluded an otherwise excellent day by getting interested in a drake Teal just visible in the grass at the back of the furthest flash. 

We thought we could see the tops of two white lines bordering the breast. If only we'd waited a few more minutes before setting off to try to get a better view. The bird must have woken up in our absence and waddled to where we might have seen it properly. Instead, we made the call. Twitchers turned up, while I searched my conscience and fell on my sword. Just a Teal I think. Very embarrassing.

The final "if only" might have brightened an otherwise deadly dull December. Walking our usual route around Morton Bagot we heard a Tree Pipit-like call several times. We were thinking Olive-backed Pipit from the off, but couldn't see the bird. We weren't sure whether it was flying over, or flying around. In the end we gave up. Two days later an Olive-backed Pipit was found in Devon. If only we'd seen the bloody thing (and if only we were better birders).

The birds I missed

Although I was thrilled to see 140 species in the course of the year, other birds were available. Some were potentially twitchable, and I reckon the total seen within the Circle was around 150 species. 

There were at least three Oystercatchers, a Pied Flycatcher and a Wood Warbler which I might have seen if I'd been in the Earlswood WhatsApp Group at the time, an Arctic Skua and a Marsh Harrier flew over Earlswood when I wasn't there, and Black-tailed Godwits, Scaup, and several other species I can't call to mind right now which could potentially have formed a part of my list.

Other creatures

One creature I found this year is due to be featured in the April edition of Antenna no less. Never heard of it? No neither had I. But it is the Dipterist's quarterly magazine, and its quite a story.

Back in the summer I notice a tiny insect in the wash basin at home and decided to photograph it.

I couldn't work out what it was after an on-line search, so sent an image to the Royal Entomological Society. The reply was along the lines of "gosh what a smart insect". A day later I found it dead, so offered to send them the corpse. It ended up being posted to an expert in the Czech Republic who confirmed it to be a Gall Midge Lestodiplosis vorax. Not a first for Britain, but an unusual sighting in a little studied group. Fancy that!

My butterfly year was less impressive. I saw the bare minimum of what might be expected, and avoided seeing any White-letter Hairstreaks, Brown Hairstreaks, or Purple Emperors, all of which I believe were seen locally.

My moth tally was a lot better. A visit to a Heart of England Forest "event" added loads of species to my life list, while my garden trapping turned up one or two surprises. The best in terms of local rarity were Shaded Pug and Cream-bordered Green Pea, not to mention several Beet Moths (but everyone got some of those in a year which saw a massive range expansion).

Shaded Pug

Cream-bordered Green Pea

Finally, Dragonflies also brought me a new species. A Willow Emerald had been found by Sam MacVie at Morton Bagot, and after three attempts I managed to see it. Unfortunately it eluded my camera. Something to try for next year perhaps.

I get the feeling that the much trumpeted "#LocalBigYear" isn't going to happen in 2023, the emphasis in the birding on-line media seems to be on the relaunch of Patchwork Challenge. But I now have a figure to beat, and a project to continue.

So roll on 2023, let's see what it brings.

It only leaves me to wish you all a Happy and wildlife-packed New Year.

Tuesday December 27 - The Elephant in the room

 Towards the north-western edge of Redditch there lies a very promising pool. It is surrounded on two sides by woodland and has a substantial reed-bed along its north-eastern side. It has a reasonable pedigree of past avian visitors, and I should be visiting it. But there's an Elephant in the room. It lies wholly within the grounds of HMP Hewell. It's a prison.

There was a time when it could still be visited by simply driving into the prison carpark, knocking on the door, and signing the visitors book. In those days it was still a Worcestershire Wildlife Trust Reserve. Sadly, that is no longer the case.

Today I decided to try a different approach. I parked in Batchley, near the pond, and followed a footpath up the Batchley Brook until I was out of Redditch and heading for Hewell. I was hoping to finding an aspect from where I could view Hewell Grange Pool. The results were mixed.

A tantalising glimpse

I found a spot from where I could see a tiny fraction of the south-west corner of the pool in the distance. A Little Egret and a couple of Tufted Ducks being the only birds visible.

The course of the Batchley Brook did have a few compensations. A Kingfisher which made a sharp exit before I spotted it on a perch, another Little Egret, and a flock of at least 42 Siskins.

Siskin

I've been trying to decide how to approach next year. I certainly intend to repeat the #LocalBigYear format. One thought is to concentrate on the rivers and streams, and look out for dragonflies during the summer. I notice that Patchwork Challenge has relaunched itself, and I am a little tempted to enter Morton Bagot again as my patch. But I'm still undecided, I may have done it to death in previous years.

In the meantime, 2022 looks to be going out with a whimper.

Tuesday December 20 - winding down

 So the weather is back to normal, sunny and mild but damp under foot. Deep into December the chance of any new #LocalBigYear ticks seems poor. All that's left is a bit of exploring.

This morning I tried a few square kilometres in the Alne Wood/Jackson's Wood area. These woods are owned by Heart of England forest, and as I usually find when traipsing along footpaths within them, I soon got lost.

By the time I reached a road, I found I was next to the Dan Skelton racing stables, and was attracting a good deal of enquiring looks from the numerous equestrians. What I wasn't finding was anything unusual. The best was a Tawny Owl which was being mobbed by a small flock of woodland birds but still broke cover before I could locate its roosting place.

Given the sunny weather, I should have concentrated on trying to photograph stuff, but by the time I was clear of the woods I still hadn't tried. Once in open country a couple of Meadow Pipits gave me an opportunity.

Meadow Pipit

The run up to Christmas looks pretty busy so it may be a week before I can get out again. I guess I'm just winding down until it all starts again next year.

Friday December 16 - frozen

 It's been a difficult week. A wheelchair malfunction left me housebound as my caring role went a bit more full on. Thankfully we got it fixed yesterday, so this morning I was finally able to get out into the frozen landscape.

My target was Morton Bagot, in the hope that last Sunday's mystery caller was still there. The temperature was -5'C when I arrived, and still -2'C when I left at 11.00. A certain amount of hanging about left me unable to feel my toes. I also didn't hear or see the potential Olive-backed Pipit/Tree Pipit/something we didn't think of.

In some ways I was relieved. An OBP would be massive in regional terms, and releasing the news would create plenty of issues about parking and crowd management. I would have to get permission from HOEF first, and if that was denied my name would soon be mud with other birders. We would probably end up with some kind of Pied-billed Grebe fudge to spread the blame *See below.

Frozen pond

The only waterbirds I saw were four Snipe toughing it out in the flash field. However, there was also an extremely modest hard weather movement of 10 Lapwings heading west.

Some of the Lapwings

All the usual passerines were still present, including the Stonechat and 10 Meadow Pipits which were scattered by a charging male Sparrowhawk. 

Redwing

Stonechat

I later heard that Earlswood is now frozen solid, and that a party of five Whooper Swans flew over a garden at Hollywood (just north of my Circle).

It was definitely worth a punt today.

*A Pied-billed Grebe was suppressed by permit-holding birders at Westwood Pool in Worcestershire a couple of winters ago, causing a good deal of ill will among those who didn't get a call.