Busy Day

Great grey Shrike, Upper Longdon, Staffs.
Great grey Shrike
Great grey Shrike
Great grey Shrike - hovering

Great grey Shrike

Great grey Shrike

Great grey Shrike

Bullfinch

Stonechat

Beer 2. Church End Brewery Tap

Beer No. 3 Tunnel Brewery, Horseshoes, Nuneaton

Pint of Good Evans

Selection of Tunnel Brewery Ales

Saturday 7th January 2012
I must admit I'm struggling already with my self imposed targets for 2012. The challenges are proving to be just that. I've already missed a few birds such as Whooper Swan and Tundra Bean goose which might be difficult to get back but worse than that with a week already gone in January I've only sampled beers from 3 Warwickshire Breweries. Still its nice when you can combine the two. Take today, I started out at Upper Longdon, Staffs. It was a case of third time lucky as the Great grey Shrike was perched on the highest dead Pine when I pulled up. I had the bird to myself and was able to watch it hover for nearly a minute, something I cant remember seeing before. I moved on to the Shooting Butts area and had a good walk round looking for Crossbill. I did see Peregrine, Raven, Stonechat, Siskin and Bullfinch as well as a probable this and a possible that, flying over. It was then back to the good old Tame valley for a look round Middleton and Dosthill but there wasnt much doing so I dropped in to the Horseshoes in Nuneaton for a pint of the very LOCALe Beer from the Tunnel brewery.

Fruits of the Forest

Dipper, Wyre Forest
Grey Wagtail
Wyre Forest

Friday 6th January 2012

A rare trip to Worcestershire, to the Wyre Forest to be exact. After a brief and unsuccessful look for the Tundra Bean Goose at Highgate Common near Enville, Staffs. There were a few birders looking but no sign of the Bean goose or the Greylag flock it had been with. A Green Sandpiper on the Meer Farm pools was no compensation. Moving on to the Wyre Forest the Dippers took a bit of finding but there was no sign of any Hawfinch. Besides the 2 Dipper other birds included Marsh tit, Raven, Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail.

Another day in Staffs.

Brambling, Upper Longdon, Staffs.
Brambling

Wednesday 4th January 2012

Unfinished business in Staffs, so a swift excursion to Cannock Chase was called for but not before popping in to Kingsbury Water Park for a quick look round and to tick off Smew for the year as there were 2 Red heads at the back of Cliff pool. Pity Staffs birds arent so obliging. Plenty of Staffs birders and a few tourists from further afield like myself but unfortunately no Great grey Shrike. Again there was a strong breeze but the rain didnt arrive so there was a good opportunity to have a stroll round. Best birds were undoutedly a small flock (I saw 6) of Brambling in the Larches and Beeches adjacent to the Clearfell area. There was also a big (200+) flock of Siskin/Redpoll and a pair of Raven.

Targets

Pint No 1 -The Warwickshire Brewing Co.Market Tavern, Atherstone

Every year at this time I set my self targets, usually related to Birding - a Warwickshire year list, a West Mids year list, a self found list, that sort of thing. I've never been one for New year's resolutions and I have health and safety issues with home improvement projects like decorating. Ladders and paint brushes dont mix. Leave it to the professionals I say, or just leave it. Anyway to get out of the January doldrums I've set myself 2 challenges. How long they will last is anybodies guess but I'm setting off with good intentions. Challenge 1 - as already mentioned the aim is to sample a beer from each brewery in Warwickshire during January. Challenge 2 is to see as many species as possible in the West Mids during the year (hence the enthusiasm for visiting Staffordshire). Actually its Worcestershire I have problems with. The last time I did a West Mids list in the year 199? I can remember wasting a day at the back of beyond searching for a reported Little Bunting in a crop field which either turned into a Chaffinch or developed Birder phobia.

So I'm a little wary of chasing everything and anything. I love watching the more unusual species that turn up in the Midlands so I think I'll be quite selective and see how it goes.

A day in Staffordshire

Monday 2nd January 2011
The plan was to focus a days birding around Staffs and try and see a number of good local species in the same area. First stop was Gailey reservoir to see the Black Redstart which showed really well on the shoreline near the Sailing clubhouse. Unfortunatey I missed the Med. Gull by about 10 minutes but saw the first Nuthatch and Grey wagtail of the year. I teamed up with Gailey regular Steve Richards to drive the few miles up the M6 to Doxey marshes at Stafford. The aim being to see a wintering Water pipit. The pipit proved extremely elusive, Steve heard the bird call a couple of times but the bird didnt show for nearly 2 hours. Eventually it left the reeds and perched up in a bush for a few seconds. Steve managed to confirm the ID through his scope but I couldn't get on the bird before it flew back to the reedy margins in front of us. At least we now knew where the bird was. After another wait the bird gave itself up and showed well for a short time. Other 'marsh' species were a Kingfisher and a pair of Stonechat. I had planned to move on to the Great grey Shrike at Upper Longdon but with the wind getting stronger and the temperature dropping decide to head back. I'd enjoyed my day in Staffs. must go back again one day !

The Birding Year

1st January 2012
2011 was an interesting Birding year which could and should have been so much better. Locally it was below average in terms of quantity of species seen and quality. Only 1 new species was added to my County list, the Earlswood Night Heron. My first 'Self found' County list ended up with a meagre 122. There were several notable birds missed; Turtle Dove, Black Redstart, Slavonian Grebe and Corn Bunting to name a few. A reflection of my lack of effort and the increasingly scarce status of these species in the County. A total of 155 species seen in the county over the year. Only 7 species better than the worst ever total in 1998. On a more positive note 3 birds were added to my Midlands list; Rufous Turtle Dove, Pied Wheatear and Desert Wheatear.
Nationally despite adding 4 new birds to the UK list and a couple of new sub species it was a tale of what might have been if I'd made a decision at the right time. Letting so many good birds slip through your fingers is annoying but I only have myself to blame.
A couple of Birding trips; one to the Shetland Isles and one to Kuwait were very different but both very rewarding in terms of birds seen, different experiences and friendships. Talking of friends, many thanks to all those who have offered information or lifts or both and made it such a great birding year. Have a great 2012 one and all.

Happy New Year

Peregrine, Dordon fields
Peregrine

Golden plover, initially a small flock of 9 was joined by another flock of 15

Golden plover

Christmas Eve

A short walk over the fields at Dordon produced a pair of Peregrine falcon and a flock of Golden plover.

Sunday 1st January 2012

After a suberb late full english cooked by our hosts for New year's eve in Leamington, a bit of a gentle stroll round Draycote on the way home seemed a sensible thing to do. Jan and I walked round to the valve tower. I kept an eye out for the Red breasted Merganser and Shag but to no avail. There were 40 or so Goosander and then a white winged Gull was picked out just off the over flow channel. What a great start to the New year's birding, crackin views of an adult Iceland Gull. We continued along towards the Valve tower but only saw a single Little Egret. By the time we got back to the overflow there was no sign of the Gull but a motor boat had been driving around for no apparent reason, flushing birds as it went.