Black-tailed Godwit

Saturday July 7 - This afternoon I was lounging in front of the telly watching England stuff the Aussies at cricket, when I glanced at my pager as it flashed a message at me. Black-tailed Godwit at Morton Bagot. It is fair to say I was off like a shot, stuffing my sketch book into my bag and phoning non pager owners as I left the house.

I arrived to find the whole area sodden after Friday's rain, but thankfully soon saw the unmistakable sight of a summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit feeding up to its haunches in the middle of the second flash.


sketches of Black-tailed Godwit

John arrived to tell me that he had met the finder, John Chidwick, as he was leaving. I believe John mainly birds around Earlswood, but is evidently frequently here on a Saturday afternoon. Thank goodness he put his find on the pager. 

Black-tailed Godwit

It was such a lovely bird I couldn't resist doing a colour version of one of the sketches when I got home. It was a locality tick for me, my list now 137. There has been one previous record I know of, involving a bird seen last March by Alan Smith.

The higher water levels meant that I could only see one Green Sandpiper, but a look at the pool confirmed the continued presence of the female Tufted Duck and her brood of eight ducklings. On the way back to my car I worked out the location of the Spotted Flycatchers' nest high in the corner of the barn as the parents continued to feed their brood of fledglings.

An evening of surprises

The recent bad weather finally abated today, and I was keen to get out. The rather sultry evening was also hinting to me that it could be worth a visit. It certainly was. I decided to park at Morton Bagot church for a change, and had barely crossed the road when my eye was drawn to a movement in a big open tractor barn. Perched on one of the vehicles was a Spotted Flycatcher, and seconds later another, this one with a beak full of insects. Clearly they were breeding.


Spotted Flycatcher

When I first visited the patch in 2007, the species bred at Netherstead Farm, and did so again in 2008. But since then I have only seen them in the autumn. I was therefore very pleased to find this pair.

I continued to the flashes after ringing John. When I got there I immediately saw an Egret flying off. I got on it again after it emerged from behind the hedge and headed south into the sun. Clearly a small Egret I assumed it was a Little Egret. I had noticed there were waders on the flash, and as I started to count what turned out to be nine Green Sandpipers, I heard a Greenshank call, and found that there were two adults with the Green Sandpipers. I tried to subtly shift position to check the other flash pool, but in doing so I flushed everything. John rang to say he had arrived and couldn't see the Spot Flys, so I had to report that everything else had flown off. I have to say I was feeling quite guilty. Fortunately by the time John joined me he had seen the Spotted Flycatchers, and at least eight Green Sandpipers had returned. In the meantime I had seen at least two Tufted Duck chicks on the main pool. Matt had found them last week, I somehow missed them on Saturday, and Dave had counted nine Tufted ducklings, plus 8 - 10 Green Sandpipers on Sunday. Back to tonight, a remarkable 15 Skylarks were suddenly in the air together, and shortly afterwards the Little Egret returned in time for John to see it, before it dropped out of sight beyond the far side of the flash field.

Not a bad evening.

Saturday June 30

A rather blustery day with a mixture of cloud and sunshine. Not my favourite conditions for birding, and by the time I had got to the flash pools it was proving as disappointing as I had suspected it would. There were now five Green Sandpipers present, which is very good for the time of year. I couldn't find the brood of Tufted Ducks which Matt Wilmott had discovered in the week, and the flash flooding which had affected the area on Thursday had left little trace, although the waterlevel in the pool did look a bit higher.


A view of the set-aside borders

I soon became tempted to concentrate on the wildlife beneath my feet. The long grass bordering the fields is fantastic for plants and mini-beasts. The latter included Small Skipper, Small Copper, Common Blue, and Red Admiral butterflies today. I really struggle to name the plants, so I took a few pictures with the intention of trying to identify them later. 

Grass Vetchling

I think the tiny pink flower between my fingers is Grass Vetchling, possibly only locally distributed in Warwickshire. Finally, I had a good view of the Tawny Owl in the barn, which remained asleep throughout the time I was watching it.

Autumn wader passage begins

I returned to the patch after missing last weekend. Dave and I slogged round to no great effect, seeing two Small Heath butterflies, the Tawny Owl in its shed roost site, two Teal and six Tufted Ducks. Fortunately for us John Yardley was having more success, and he rang to say he had found a Dunlin. We headed back to the flash and eventually located his summer plumaged Dunlin on the furthest flash. Mike turned up and also saw it. I then noticed that four Green Sandpipers had appeared in the corner of the nearest flash. Presumably they had been in the long grass earlier on. Autumn passage has begun.


Dunlin

This is the first Dunlin I have seen here in June. On balance we felt it was probably returning south rather than still heading north. Perhaps it was just too late on the breeding grounds to find a mate.

Sunday June 10

A nice day for a stroll, but the birds at least were in short supply. I wasn't surprised that the Garganey had gone, but the apparent absence of the Little Grebe was disappointing. Dave and I also found the dismembered remains of a juvenile Kestrel under this year's nest site. I would imagine it had been taken by a Fox after leaving the nest too soon.

Goldfinch

It wasn't all bad news though. The Cuckoo was still calling, and Dave counted four Reed Warblers shortly before I got there. We also saw a fledged juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, noted that the brood of four Lapwing chicks was still intact, and saw plenty of Goldfinches feeding recently fledged young. Finally, the Tawny Owl was again roosting in the shed.

This was one of the few warm sunny days I have spent on the patch this year, so we paid more attention to the insects than to the birds. Butterflies recorded including Red Admiral, a female Common Blue, and Peacock, while I finally saw some proper dragonflies (Four Spotted Chasers), and several damselflies, Common Blue, Azure, Large Red, and Banded Demoiselles. Day-flying moths included Mother Shipton and Silver Y, plus several others I couldn't identify. I must start taking my moth guide into the field.

Speaking of moths, Craig Round has identified the mystery moths I saw in the week as lekking Ghost Moths. The You-tube link he suggested left no room for doubt. Thanks Craig.

Garganey

I received an e-mail, via Lyn, from Mike Lane stating that he had found a drake Garganey on the main pool at 10.00am. I managed to leave work pretty sharpish and tried to let other regulars know about the bird before hurrying to the site by about 6.00pm. Initially the signs were worrying. The bird was not present on the main pool. However, as the sun briefly came out, I located it on the left hand flash.


Garganey

I had left the house in such a rush that I forgot my camera, so I was obliged to sketch it as it initially dabbled on the far side of the flash before apparently becoming alarmed and swimming across the water towards me. It then settled down and started preening.

Thus far, only Matt Wilmott has managed to twitch it, the inclement weather detering Mike and Dave, while John is on holiday in Cornwall.

There have been two previous records at the site, both eclipse drakes, in July 2007 and August 2008 respectively, but this is the first adult drake to be found. A slightly atypical date, I always imagined a spring bird would be more likely to be found in April. Congratulations and thanks go to Mike Lane for finding it.

Wednesday June 6

This evening I decided to start late and stay well after dusk. As I walked down to the main pool a familiar trill told me that a Little Grebe had taken up residence for the first time this year.


Little Grebe

This species formerly bred each year, but has not done so since the water level in the pool had dropped. Hopefully it may attract a mate as it may not be too late for another attempt. Further surprises came in the form of a juvenile Cormorant roosting in the dead tree at the end of the pool, and a Peregrine roosting on one of the masts. As the light faded both Tawny and Little Owls were seen, and Roe Deer barked from Bannams Wood. The night was warm enough to encourage moths to fly, and in particular a curious large white moth, many of which danced above the long grass like little kites on a line of thread. They wouldn't settle and I have no idea what species they were. The peace of the evening was slightly spoilt by the sound system of an open air concert, the noise of which drifted over from Studley or Redditch, but it was still a wonderful place to be.