Sunday 31 January 2010

Red head Smew



A quick visit to Broomey Croft after work paid dividends with a 1st winter Smew hidden away on the island at Broomey Croft.
A search from the Skan hide for the Jack Snipe failed, But there were 2 normal Snipe.
Light conditions were good for photographing from the hide and a pair of Teal posed nicely for about 5 minutes.Also present was a large flock of Canada Geese (215 counted) and a Little Grebe.
Seems strange that the people manning the bird club portacabin didn't notice the Smew, maybe if they looked out every once in a while..

Friday 29 January 2010

Fishers Mill in the artic wind


Having only ever seen one Glaucous Gull before, I headed to Fisher Mill where there has been a second winter bird reported.On arrival there was the usual large gulls loafing on the far shore which included 1 Yellow legged Gull.
On closer inspection there was a Buffy coloured bird with no dark primaries which was staying away from the other gulls.
After consulting with those far more knowledgable than myself, the gull in question was ID'd as avery pale Herring Gull, NOT the 2w Glaucous Gull.
From Fishers Mill I ventured up to North pit where there were 2 Greensandpipers and 7 Shelduck amongst the normal birds.
Two word's of warning for anyone venturing to these two locations,wear wellies!

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Couple of days





Having blanked on the Greensandpiper & Redshank on Monday, I decided to try for the "mealy" redpoll that have been sighted along the canal at Bodymoor heath.
After a stroll around for half hour, I bumped into S Cawthry who said he'd just had the redpolls including 2 mealy, He then went on to give me precise instructions on the best place to view the bird from.
Needless to say the instructions were spot on and I was soon enjoying views of the two types of redpoll. The only downside was that they were to high in the canopy and too flitty for me to get any type of photo.

Wednesday

Tried again for a photo of the mealy redpoll, But the birds were way to flighty and the light was poor.Manage a year tick in the form of a Green Woodpecker and also snapped a Great Spotted Woodpecker high in the canopy.

Monday 25 January 2010

In search of red & green



Flying visits along the Tame valley today looking for Greensandpipers and Redshank with no success.
Started at Debbie's day boatyard where 2 Greensandpipers had been reported on the flooded fields, then onto Middleton's main lake where there were 3 Shelduck.
Straight to Kingsbury Water Park after this, where the water level is slowly receding, But that hasn't managed to attract any Redshank.
Along the path to the hides there was a nice Oyster (Pleurotus) mushroom.With the way the gill are branching I'd say it was Cornucopiae, but I'm no expert.
Also nice to see our old friend JW coming into his breeding plumage a bit before the other cormorants.

Tuesday 19 January 2010

Year ticks




Had an almost full day out in the field today, so i decided to try and get my year list up to a respectable tally.
Red legged Partridge was a good bird just before Middleton village, But visits to Middleton feeding station and Broomey Croft failed to turn up anything new. The 2 Red Crested Pochard were still present however.
Popped into Coton for the Pintail with no luck, but added Snipe and Water Rail. Also bumped into Bob "the birder" Duckhouse and caught up on all the local sightings and gossip.
Moved onto Eddison outflow for a very productive lunch break where I added Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail and Goldcrest.
From there it was straight to Ladywalk where Marsh & Willow tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Shelduck and Tawny Owl were all added.
All in all a very enjoyable day meeting old & new friends and the list is up to 83.

Monday 18 January 2010

Red Crested Pochard




Cliff pool at Broomey croft can sometimes be a real pain, the same birds day after day, and then, every once in a while it comes up with the goods.
Well today was one of those day with a pair of stunning Red Crested Pochard. The bird drifted in front of the hide, feeding as they went, offering pretty good photo opportunities.
There was also a male Smew reported, But searches failed to find the bird.
Also of note was a Little Egret on Middleton Hall lake.

Sunday 17 January 2010

Water,water everywhere





Another quick couple of hours after work.Stopped at Fazeley bridge to check the height of the river to find that it was starting to break it's banks. A few Canada Geese, a couple of Mute Swans and the commoner dabbling ducks were present here on the flooded pasture.
On to Broomey Croft where the water level on Cliff pool is above all of the islands, however the ice is receding and there was a good selection of ducks including double figures of Goldeneye.
Also back amongst (had it ever left?)the Cormorants was the red ringed bird J/W which I seem to recall was ringed in the Netherlands in 2001.
Have got Tuesday to Sunday off this week, so there should be more birding done but the forecast doesn't look good with Heavy snow for Wednesday followed by rain for 2 days!

Thursday 14 January 2010

Caravans are good for something!




Oh yes they are, they have made the road to Broomey Croft almost passable.
That being said there were only the usual ducks plus Pochard, Shoveler & wigeon.
The light was terrible with the mist closing in, so there were no photo oppourtunities.
I then nipped up the road to Middleton Hall to put a bit of food on the feeding station and to try to get a descent photo of a Nuthatch.
There were a couple feeding at regular intervals, if only the light had been better.

I'm also starting to run out of excuses for the poor photos!

Tuesday 12 January 2010

Coton in the gloom


Popped into Coton yesterday afternoon to try and add Smew to my year list.On arrival I realised that I'd left my camera adaptor at home, so the poor quality of the photo today is due having to use the digital zoom on my camera at almost max!
On entering the hide I was greeted by Alan Dean who informed me that 5 Smew were still present but had moved to the extreme left of the lake.
If you haven't checked out Alans "Gulls in the west midlands" you really should as it is a fantastic resource.
Well after scanning the lake for 15 minutes 3 redheads flew past with a single individual dropping in front of the hide for about 5 minutes before disappearing.
Also bumped into John Harris who informed me that there is a Blackcap visiting the feeding station at Ladywalk.

Thursday 7 January 2010

Beautiful, But cold!



For those of you who don't know me I do most of my travelling on a 125cc scooter.
Well today I took my life in my hands and went to Broomey Croft where the access road is a sheet of ice!After skidding and snaking my way to the car park I found the lake had frozen even more and that there were fewer ducks.(Maybe they have all moved to Coton?)
Managed a couple of pictures of a Dunnock and a few of the severe conditions.

Monday 4 January 2010

Once Bittern....






There are two birding cliche's that strike fear into me when I'm going to see a rare bird, they are " It's showing well" and "It's guarenteed".
Well on the walk down to the riverwalk hide at Ladywalk today I had both of these said to me within the space of 10 minutes.
So it was with a heavy heart that I opened the door to the riverwalk hide, only to be told that the Bittern had been showing well upto about 5 minutes ago.
Never being one to give up easily I scanned the reedbeds for about 5 minutes and then not one, but two Bitterns appeared on the ice by the waters edge.
I frantically snapped off a few photo's and then enjoyed really clear views of these normally very hard to see birds.

Saturday 2 January 2010

Snow,snow,quick,quick,snow!




Had a full day in the field today with my brother Mark and good friend John Foulds.
The day started at Stubbers Green, where the gulls included Yellow Legged & Caspian.
A couple of hours at Chasewater gave us double figures of Goosander and Goldeneye but the reported Med Gull could not be found.
This is were the snow in the title started to fall.As the forecast only said light flurries, we shot off to our next port of call which was kingswood lake, a gathering of over 2000+ gull.If you have never been here and like gulls, it's a must.
we then stopped at the dam at Blithfield.A quick 15 minute scan failed to pick up the Great northern Diver but a distant female Scaup was some cosulation.
Brookleys lake and the Ferruginous Duck were the next target and this is where the snow really started to come down, sometimes completely obscuring the far side of the lake.After picking out the Ferruginous we decided to make a tactical withdrawal.
At this point, the snow was about 2 inches deep and offering very little traction and at one point us passengers had to get out & start pushing!
After a quick debate we decided to return to Blithfield to look for the Green Winged Teal, whick was showing well but distant.It then started to snow heavily again and the descision was made to call it a day before we got snowed in!
Photos are Yellow legged Gull, Goosander & Caspian Gull.(I hope!)