Bearded Tit at Napton, Warks.

Bearded tit, Napton Res. Warks. - I know, I know but the little blighter was quite nippy.

Monday October 2010

Bearded Tit is an infrequent visitor to West Midland counties. So when one was found at Napton Reservoir in Warwickshire I was eager to add it to the County year list which had again ground to a halt. Conditions were good when I arrived with watery sun and only a light breeze. I had to wait almost half an hour before the first brief flight view. I was joined my Mark Phillips who heard the bird call as it flew again. That was it for the next 4 hours. We were joined by Terry Southgate and Mo, Dave Hutton, Colin Potter and Andy Hale but as the wind got up the bird refused to show. People had better things to do than to stare into a Reed bed for 4 hours and only Andy and myself stuck it out for the duration. We were rewarded with some excellent flight views of an adult male Bearded Tit (173) in the early afternoon.

There was also visible migration to enjoy with two large flocks of Fieldfare and Starlings going over. One flock had well over 100 birds. Skylarks were also seen in ones and twos. The only other bird of note was a solitary Raven.

On the way back I stopped at Draycote Water but it was very quiet with just a handful of Meadow pipits on the banks and a single Goldeneye seen on the water but I only walked to Toft bay and back so there may well have been much more along the North shore.

Year listing will become increasingly desparate as the months slip by but, as I missed a lot of 'winter' species early in the year; Geese and Owls for example, I'm hoping to top the 180 target for Warwickshire

Total No. of species reported in Warks so far this year = 195