Berry Hill

This article is incomplete. This article is missing one or more sections. You can help the BirdForum Opus by expanding it.

Photo by jackhaye
Berry Hill looking north (anything better would be useful)

Overview

Green oasis area between Fenton, Bentilee and Berry Hill, Stoke-on-Trent, North Staffordshire. Good at any time of the year but does attract some interesting birds during migration times. It is a reclaimed coal industry area, consisting of open hillside grassland, rough paddock areas and some scrubby loose hedgerows and ditches and a few scattered ponds, but no large area of open water.

Birds

Notable Species

Top site for Wheatear in Spring;Whinchat are regular in spring and autumn; Stonechat can (usually) be relied on in Autumn and Winter; Ring Ouzels are occasional visitors which can linger.

Rarities

Bittern; Red-backed Shrike; Wryneck; Black Redstart; Snow Bunting; Lapland Bunting; Golden Oriole; Eurasian Hoopoe; Eurasian Dotterel.

Check-list

Birds you can see here include:

Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe,Great Cormorant, Great Bittern, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Pink-footed Goose, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Egyptian Goose, Common Teal, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Red Kite, Osprey, Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Eurasian Kestrel, Eurasian Hobby, Peregrine Falcon, Hen Harrier, Merlin, Common Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Grey Partridge, Common Quail, Corncrake, Water Rail, Coot, Moorhen, Eurasian Oystercatcher,Common Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Eurasian Dotterel, Eurasian Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Jack Snipe, Common Snipe, Woodcock, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Curlew, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper,Green Sandpiper, Dunlin, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Cuckoo, Little Owl, Tawny Owl, Long-eared Owl, Short-eared Owl, Barn Owl, Common Swift, Eurasian Hoopoe, Eurasian Wryneck, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Eurasian Skylark, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Common Kingfisher, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, White Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Waxwing, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Black Redstart, Common Redstart, Whinchat, European Stonechat, Northern Wheatear and Greenland Wheatear, Ring Ouzel, Eurasian Blackbird, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Wood Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Spotted Flycatcher, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Willow Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Red-backed Shrike, Common Jay, Eurasian Magpie, Eurasian Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven, Starling, Eurasian Golden Oriole, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brambling, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Lesser Redpoll, Eurasian Siskin, Eurasian Linnet, Common Crossbill, Eurasian Bullfinch,Twite, Lapland Bunting, Snow Bunting, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting.

Escape: African Grey Parrot

===Current site total=== 137 (135 BOU)

Please note: The only approved and complete list of birds for this site is held within the Staffordshire birds database - contact the Staffordshire County Bird Recorder for details.

Other Wildlife

Brown Hare still hanging on here

Site Information

History and Use

To do

Areas of Interest

Hillside below transmitter mast has a "cloughy" appearance helped by scree of coal in the steeper parts. Horse paddocks well grazed hence good aspect for Wheatears and fences here need checking for chats, hawthorn scrub near industrial units in east attracts some thrushes and finches, etc

Access and Facilities

Google map for Berry Hill

Access excellent from several points around the site: end of Arbourfield Drive,Mossfield Road; etc

Terrain largely good with some metaled path surfaces. Generally dry enough for shoes/boots rather than wellies

Can be busy during the day with dog-walkers being main users

Disabled access

An edit from anyone with a perspective on this would be valuable

The site has a good metaled pathway (estimated at 1 mile+) around the eastern core which would allow views of many of the regular species but some locations of past rarities would be difficult to reach without leaving this pathway; entry points need checking for wheelchair suitability as some may not be wide enough for use (eg Arbourfield Drive looks narrow); Bentilee access points probably best but need checking. The metaled pathway is flat in some places but has a few medium/steep inclines.

Public transport

An edit from visitor using public transport would be valuable

Rail: Stoke-on-Trent railway station is approximately one mile from the site. Several bus routes (radiating from Hanley bus station) run nearby making Berry Hill very accessible by bus, and leave visitors with short walks to the site entrances. First Journey Planner should help bus travellers (e.g. destination Bentilee>Dividy Road>Abourfield Drive etc).

Survey work known

To do

Contact Details

To do

Regularly bird-watched by:

add names;

Other sites nearby are:

within a few minutes travel: Park Hall, Wetley Moor,

a little further afield: Tittesworth Reservoir, Rudyard Lake, Westport Lake, Apedale, Blackbank, Consall,

Bibliography/Further Reading

• A section in Where to Watch Birds in the West Midlands, Graham Harrison et al, 3rd edition 2007, Christopher Helm, ISBN 978-0-7136-6419-5
• ??Stoke-on-Trent City Council leaflet - more details needed
• West Midland Bird Club Bulletin No. 440, p.19 "Berryhill Fields, Stoke-on-Trent". ISSN 1477-6111

External Links

• Stoke-on-Trent City Council page
• Berry Hill on Streetmap

Please add if any reputable, non-commercial, sites are known.

Reviews

Please add any visit details