Monday 29th May 2011
The Bank holiday brought out the usual crowds to Drayton Manor Park but a new attraction up the road at Middleton Lakes RSPB also pulled in the visitors. Despite a fresh wind and sporadic showers hardy Midlands birders were drawn to the newish reserve and there were plenty of birds on view. I hadn't got out of the car before a Hobby flashed over the Car park scattering the flock of House Martins feeding over the Reedbed next to the Heronry. On the new reedbed 'pool' the Curlew Sandpiper flock had increased to 3. There were still 2 Dunlin, 2 Little Stint, a Redshank, several Ringed Plovers and a couple of Little Egret. A Greenshank was also heard from the direction of the Fishers Mill pool. Scanning for waders on the Fishers Mill pool is much more difficult because of thr number of reed covered islands. From the screen the Greenshank was eventually located in company with a smaller wader I couldnt ID. The birds only showed their backs and quickly disappeared around the back of an island. At this point I was pleased to see J A, the Simon King of the West Midlands(although not quite as tall) I told him about the mystery wader. Fortunately it wasn't too long before it showed again and JA had it sorted straight away, juvenile Wood Sandpiper. There were still a few Common Swift and the odd scarecrow about as I walked back to the car to conclude a good couple of hours birding.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Warts and all
Caterpillar of the Buff Ermine Moth
Sunday 28th August 2011
Blogging isnt just about tales of jollying off to see a bird thats just turned up in the Tame valley or Brandon Marsh. Oh no, its much more hit and miss than that. Silly Bloggers like me only tell you about the good times, about birds theyve found or got crippling, once in a life time views of. Today I failed, I dont mind admitting it. OK it was only the Black necked Grebe at Shustoke and as I'm not doing a County year list this year its not so important to see it, but it was irritating not to find it. I did get some exercise though as I practically ran round the pond as Jan was waiting patiently in the car on our way to Sutton. You see you get the real story on this blog, warts and all, not just the glamour. The only bits of hot news I can dredge up involve a sighting of a young Common Whitethroat in the garden yesterday and a Hobby at Shustoke today. Add to this the only photo Ive taken in the last 2 days is of a Buff Ermine caterpillar and you can see I'm really scrapping the barrel. Talking of scrapping the barrel I did get some amazing glamour shots of the Draycote regulars Messrs BH, RH and CP returning from their daily romp but having taken advice I'll just post the Moth larvae.
Blogging isnt just about tales of jollying off to see a bird thats just turned up in the Tame valley or Brandon Marsh. Oh no, its much more hit and miss than that. Silly Bloggers like me only tell you about the good times, about birds theyve found or got crippling, once in a life time views of. Today I failed, I dont mind admitting it. OK it was only the Black necked Grebe at Shustoke and as I'm not doing a County year list this year its not so important to see it, but it was irritating not to find it. I did get some exercise though as I practically ran round the pond as Jan was waiting patiently in the car on our way to Sutton. You see you get the real story on this blog, warts and all, not just the glamour. The only bits of hot news I can dredge up involve a sighting of a young Common Whitethroat in the garden yesterday and a Hobby at Shustoke today. Add to this the only photo Ive taken in the last 2 days is of a Buff Ermine caterpillar and you can see I'm really scrapping the barrel. Talking of scrapping the barrel I did get some amazing glamour shots of the Draycote regulars Messrs BH, RH and CP returning from their daily romp but having taken advice I'll just post the Moth larvae.
Saturday, 27 August 2011
The New Reedbed pool, Middleton
Saturday 27th August 2011
May I begin with an apology to those people who post comments about the blog. I have tried to reply, but recently my setup wont let me. I shall keep trying! Yesterday I was relieved to get a message from Geoff Williams via Tom P. that there was a Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint at Middleton lakes. With heavy showers still about there was a good chance of more 'drop ins'. So having been 'Kept in' by the persistent rain most of the day it was a good excuse to get out. I met Steve Cawthray in the car park and walked round to the 'new reed bed' pool. In reality this scrape has the least number of reeds of all the pools on the reserve and being very shallow with a large area of exposed mud is superb habitat for migrating shorebirds at the moment. It would be a tragedy if it is eventually covered over with yet more Reedbeds.
Steve and I soon located the juvenile Curlew Sandpiper as well as 2 Little Stint, 2 Dunlin, a Common Sandpiper, maybe 10 Ringed Plovers, several Little ringed Pover, a Greenshank and a flyover Green Sandpiper. We also had 10 Swift overhead. With the rain coming down again it was time to move on. I had a date - with a pint of Hop Gun.
May I begin with an apology to those people who post comments about the blog. I have tried to reply, but recently my setup wont let me. I shall keep trying! Yesterday I was relieved to get a message from Geoff Williams via Tom P. that there was a Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint at Middleton lakes. With heavy showers still about there was a good chance of more 'drop ins'. So having been 'Kept in' by the persistent rain most of the day it was a good excuse to get out. I met Steve Cawthray in the car park and walked round to the 'new reed bed' pool. In reality this scrape has the least number of reeds of all the pools on the reserve and being very shallow with a large area of exposed mud is superb habitat for migrating shorebirds at the moment. It would be a tragedy if it is eventually covered over with yet more Reedbeds.
Steve and I soon located the juvenile Curlew Sandpiper as well as 2 Little Stint, 2 Dunlin, a Common Sandpiper, maybe 10 Ringed Plovers, several Little ringed Pover, a Greenshank and a flyover Green Sandpiper. We also had 10 Swift overhead. With the rain coming down again it was time to move on. I had a date - with a pint of Hop Gun.
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Draycote Water
Sanderling, Draycote Water
Sanderling
Black tern
Sanderling
Sanderling with Dunlin
Sanderling
Sanderling with Dunlin
Juvenile Ringed Plover
Wednesday 24th August 2011
With water levels at there lowest for several years the prospects for a bumper crop of shorebirds at Draycote Water in September looks good. Prospects for photography, however, are not so good with the shoreline getting further and further away from the dam walls. Today there were just 7 wader species on show with Sanderling, Dunlin, Ringed plover, Little ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper in the region of the Farborough spit and Greenshank and Ruff at the Inlet. A further 3 Ruff flew past the inlet towards Rainbow corner but were not relocated. There was no sign of the Black necked Grebe reported yesterday but a juvenile Shelduck and 2 Wheatear were seen. There were also 3 Black terns a juvenile Arctic tern and 2 or 3 Common terns over the water.
Monday, 22 August 2011
Migrants on the Move
Whinchat, Caldecote, Warks.
Whinchat
Whinchat - 2 of the 4 at this site
Common Redstart, Sutton Park N.N.R.
Spotted Flycatcher
Typical scene in North Warwickshire
Monday 22nd August 2011
With rainfall forecast over the next few day it could well be worth exploring a local patch for migrants. Certainly there are a good many birds on the move at the moment judging from todays evidence. Caldecote flood meadows near Nuneaton produced 4 Whinchats, 2 Wheatear and a Stonechat while Sutton Park NNR had up to 20 Common Redstart, several Spotted Flycatchers and a Crossbill.
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Birds,Banter and Beer
Saturday 20th August 2011
A walk round Caldecote Hall on Thursday produced a Stonechat, 20 Skylark, 6 Yellow wagtails, 200 Lesser black backed Gulls and 3 Herring gulls. On Friday I went to the Birdfair at Rutland Water. The car park was further away from the marquees than ever but there was no queuing, except for the toilets. A bonus though was the Village Hall where the ladies of the village had excelled themselves with an impressive display of home made cakes at very reasonable prices as opposed the the ridiculous prices inside the show. Every year I wonder why I go, perhaps I'm curious to see what new indispensible accessories have been discovered for folk to spend their money on. Although to be honest the Marquees were much the same as previous years. I did meet some old friends from various trips, which was great, and I did enjoy part of an entertaining talk from Simon King. Stopped at Eyebrook Res. on the way back where there was a sprinkling of the commoner waders including Dunlin, Ruff, Greenshank, Redshank, Ringed plover and Little ringed Plover. Nearer home, a need for a refreshment break forced me to stop at The Wood Farm Brewery to sample their excellent Webb Ellis Bitter.
As a footnote: I had a phone call from Malta this morning telling me Jan and I had been selected for a 80% paid holiday in Malta. The poor girl in Malta then had to endure a 10 minute lecture on why I would never go to Malta because of their record on hunting migratory birds.
A walk round Caldecote Hall on Thursday produced a Stonechat, 20 Skylark, 6 Yellow wagtails, 200 Lesser black backed Gulls and 3 Herring gulls. On Friday I went to the Birdfair at Rutland Water. The car park was further away from the marquees than ever but there was no queuing, except for the toilets. A bonus though was the Village Hall where the ladies of the village had excelled themselves with an impressive display of home made cakes at very reasonable prices as opposed the the ridiculous prices inside the show. Every year I wonder why I go, perhaps I'm curious to see what new indispensible accessories have been discovered for folk to spend their money on. Although to be honest the Marquees were much the same as previous years. I did meet some old friends from various trips, which was great, and I did enjoy part of an entertaining talk from Simon King. Stopped at Eyebrook Res. on the way back where there was a sprinkling of the commoner waders including Dunlin, Ruff, Greenshank, Redshank, Ringed plover and Little ringed Plover. Nearer home, a need for a refreshment break forced me to stop at The Wood Farm Brewery to sample their excellent Webb Ellis Bitter.
As a footnote: I had a phone call from Malta this morning telling me Jan and I had been selected for a 80% paid holiday in Malta. The poor girl in Malta then had to endure a 10 minute lecture on why I would never go to Malta because of their record on hunting migratory birds.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Blessing in Disguise
Wednesday 17th August 2011
I managed to sprain my ankle at Middleton lakes on Monday. After connecting with the Wood Sand and a sleepy Greenshank I managed to hobble to Cliff pool, Kingsbury, where there was a rather more active Greenshank, Hobby and Little Egret. Tuesday was a write off with the ankle playing up so its was a quiet sort of day. Blessing in disguise really cos I spent the day sorting out my BTO Atlas data. Also learnt of a pair of Barn Owls fledging 4 young just over half a mile from my house. Only other local observations have been the odd Swift still over the house. Today (Wednesday) I did manage to check out Caldecote meadow and Alvecote pools. The most notable birds were a pair of juvenile Greenshank on Teal pool, a Little Egret and a few adult Common Tern.
I managed to sprain my ankle at Middleton lakes on Monday. After connecting with the Wood Sand and a sleepy Greenshank I managed to hobble to Cliff pool, Kingsbury, where there was a rather more active Greenshank, Hobby and Little Egret. Tuesday was a write off with the ankle playing up so its was a quiet sort of day. Blessing in disguise really cos I spent the day sorting out my BTO Atlas data. Also learnt of a pair of Barn Owls fledging 4 young just over half a mile from my house. Only other local observations have been the odd Swift still over the house. Today (Wednesday) I did manage to check out Caldecote meadow and Alvecote pools. The most notable birds were a pair of juvenile Greenshank on Teal pool, a Little Egret and a few adult Common Tern.
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