Andrew
wibble wibble
17-07-03
Location : WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire. SO722048
To start off a long weekend visit to a my eldest brother in Staffordshire we stopped off at Slimbridge, a Bittern had been reported the previous week and I was hopeful. On the way in to the reserve I started the weekend count with a Stock Dove near some of the buildings before the canal crossing. During a cup of tea and a spot of lunch before entering the reserve I added Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Mallard, Common Moorhen, Common Blackbird and House Martin.
Once in the reserve we decided to do each hide from the east to the west in order. The first productive hide was the Martin Smith Hide with a few Black-headed Gull and some Greylag Geese. The next hide was a lot better, the Robbie Garnett Hide provided some summer plumaged Black Tailed Godwits, a few Northern Lapwing, two or three Eurasian Teal, a Common Shelduck, three Northern Shoveler, a single Eurasian Oystercatcher and one young Ruff.
On the way to Knott Hide I added a House Sparrow and the hide overlooked a shallow pond with an island and here we studied three of seven Green Sandpipers milling around. It was when we were in the top level of the Holden Tower hide we saw all seven Green Sandpipers on the pond along with three Pied Wagtails, a Robin, a male Blackcap, a few Canada Geese and a couple of Mute Swans. I can not picture the birds except the Wagtails from the Holden Tower hide but they were written into my notebook. From the Decoy Pond I clocked a Grey Heron and some Eurasian Coots.
The next stop was the South Lake Hide and along the way the additions were some Western Jackdaws, a few Feral Pigeons and many Barn Swallows. South Lake offered up lots of birds and it took a while to sift through them all to find some specials including some Tufted Ducks with a family of ducklings, a Little Grebe, a single Common Goldeneye, and many Common Redshanks. Among the Redshanks was another Ruff. Other additions to the tally were some Great Cormorants, a single Lesser Black Backed Gull, and a few Collared Doves as we left the hide. I noticed a few large Carp surfacing during my scans of the lake.
We visited all the hides of the South Finger, the reed bed of the Zeiss Hide was scrutinized very hard for the Bittern but it could not be found at all so it is most likely it had moved on elsewhere.
The furthest hide, the Jack De’ath Hide provided the last additions for the day which were one Winter Wren, a much appreciated Common Kingfisher, a couple of European Greenfinches, a Blue Tit, and some Rooks. It had been a very good visit and stop on the journey. With it being a quiet season for birding we had all but the first two hides to ourselves all day.
18-07-03
Location : Belvide Reservoir & Blithfield Reservoir, Staffordshire. SJ870099 & SK055235
It was a gloriously sunny day so we headed to Belvide Reservoir first where the main target was a Tree Sparrow or two. Before we set off there was a Song Thrush added to the list out of many birds around the bird table I built for my brother. Belvide was a mud bath on my last visit in January and I wondered what it would look like now in July.
The car park did not yield a Tree Sparrow on the peanut feeder but whilst booting up I glimpsed a small male Eurasian Sparrowhawk heading over the woods towards the reservoir. Walking through the woods I was delighted to see a Spotted Flycatcher inches next to an Eurasian Treecreeper with cameo appearances by a pair of Dunnock and some Long Tailed Tits.
As soon as we could see the banks of the reservoir I could see a Common Sandpiper on the dam end. From the well built Scott Hide there were good views of one of many Ruddy Ducks, some Great Crested Grebes, a few passing Common Terns and a couple of Reed Warblers. The best of the other birds seen from here were a Grey Heron, some Northern Lapwings and many Tufted Ducks.
On the beautiful and green path to the next hide along the south bank of the reservoir I added European Goldfinch and marvelled at the many butterflies and dragonflies along the rich vegetation such as several Gatekeepers, quite a few Commas, Tortoiseshells and some Large Whites with many others too.
The name of the second of the three hides escapes me but it was another well built affair with a few feeding stations in front and it was here that I had the best chance of a Tree Sparrow. I could see a few Sedge Warblers singing out loud in the small bushes in front of us along with some Common Whitethroats. Quite a few birds came to the feeders and bird table including Dunnocks, Blue Tits, a Chaffinch, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a couple of Great Tits. A young Chiffchaff surprised us and another birder by perching on the open hide window watching us. Scanning the flocks of wildfowl I managed to include a Common Pochard, and a flock of Common Starlings passed by. Sadly no Tree Sparrows showed.
We moved onto the Bryant Hide which is the most westerly hide on the reserve. There were two birders here and we shared many birds including a Great Black Backed Gull, a pair of Dunlin, three Common Redshanks, some Common Sandpipers, three Little Grebes and a pair of Ruddy Ducks.
I was scanning the roosting gulls on the far side and casually mentioned there were two young Sandwich Terns there. My nonchalant attitude was a result of seeing them regularly back home on the River Exe little knowing they were not common here. The two birders became quite excited by the birds and found them in my scope then theirs. One of them said in twenty five years of birding at Belvide he had not seen any and they were his two hundred and first bird for this reservoir.
I was given a lot of help and advice about other spots in the area and steered towards the far western edge of the reservoir for my first ever Little Ringed Plovers. When I got there all I could see were a few Ringed Plovers and had to look harder to see the three Little Ringed Plovers which are more inconspicuous than the Ringed Plovers. I was really glad to finally get a lifer out of this weekend trip and this compensated for the lack of Tree Sparrows. There were also some Grey Wagtails around the Plovers.
On the way back we called into the middle hide for another vigil for a Tree Sparrow with no luck but did have the fortune to see a pair of Grasshopper Warblers flitting in and out of a bush to feed a nest of young. We were tipped off on these by the birder earlier too which shows helping others does reward you. Apparently this pair was raising a second brood.
Walking back through the woods I added a Wood Warbler along with a Goldcrest to the list and a Common Kestrel was extremely high over the car park. The supporting cast for this place were Carrion Crow, Pied Wagtail, Feral Pigeon, Blackcap, Winter Wren, Common House Martin, Wood Pigeon, Blue Tit and Mute Swan. On the narrow road leading away to the main A5 road I added Common Magpie to push the trip list to seventy birds.
It was now time to head over to Blithfield Reservoir picking up some lunch on the way. We were given good directions to the birding spot by the second birder at Belvide and easily found the hide at the base of a field. There are two good spots here called Tad Bay and Blithe Bay, I do not know which one we were looking at but it was stuffed with birds. On the way down some Reed Buntings passed over.
The hide was a simple shack with windows and high seats. I added just a few birds to the slowly building collection which were two Common Greenshanks and a young Mediterranean Gull. I thought I had an Arctic Tern but after a lot of cross checking between the bird and the Collins it was simply a Common Gull with no black tip on the bill. It did present a bit of a headache though along with a ‘Wood Sandpiper’ that turned out to be one of the two Greenshanks. It is the distance that makes lone birds hard to identify sometimes.
There was a great assortment of other birds including a staggering seventeen Ruddy Ducks and over one hundred Great Crested Grebes. The rest of the birds were already on my list but included many waders, wildfowl and some more Little Ringed Plovers. There was a solitary Common Swift in the air as we got back to the car and on the return home we furthered the tally with a Common Pheasant and an Eurasian Jay when we stopped next to some fishing ponds in Cannock Chase.
Location : WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire. SO722048
To start off a long weekend visit to a my eldest brother in Staffordshire we stopped off at Slimbridge, a Bittern had been reported the previous week and I was hopeful. On the way in to the reserve I started the weekend count with a Stock Dove near some of the buildings before the canal crossing. During a cup of tea and a spot of lunch before entering the reserve I added Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Mallard, Common Moorhen, Common Blackbird and House Martin.
Once in the reserve we decided to do each hide from the east to the west in order. The first productive hide was the Martin Smith Hide with a few Black-headed Gull and some Greylag Geese. The next hide was a lot better, the Robbie Garnett Hide provided some summer plumaged Black Tailed Godwits, a few Northern Lapwing, two or three Eurasian Teal, a Common Shelduck, three Northern Shoveler, a single Eurasian Oystercatcher and one young Ruff.
On the way to Knott Hide I added a House Sparrow and the hide overlooked a shallow pond with an island and here we studied three of seven Green Sandpipers milling around. It was when we were in the top level of the Holden Tower hide we saw all seven Green Sandpipers on the pond along with three Pied Wagtails, a Robin, a male Blackcap, a few Canada Geese and a couple of Mute Swans. I can not picture the birds except the Wagtails from the Holden Tower hide but they were written into my notebook. From the Decoy Pond I clocked a Grey Heron and some Eurasian Coots.
The next stop was the South Lake Hide and along the way the additions were some Western Jackdaws, a few Feral Pigeons and many Barn Swallows. South Lake offered up lots of birds and it took a while to sift through them all to find some specials including some Tufted Ducks with a family of ducklings, a Little Grebe, a single Common Goldeneye, and many Common Redshanks. Among the Redshanks was another Ruff. Other additions to the tally were some Great Cormorants, a single Lesser Black Backed Gull, and a few Collared Doves as we left the hide. I noticed a few large Carp surfacing during my scans of the lake.
We visited all the hides of the South Finger, the reed bed of the Zeiss Hide was scrutinized very hard for the Bittern but it could not be found at all so it is most likely it had moved on elsewhere.
The furthest hide, the Jack De’ath Hide provided the last additions for the day which were one Winter Wren, a much appreciated Common Kingfisher, a couple of European Greenfinches, a Blue Tit, and some Rooks. It had been a very good visit and stop on the journey. With it being a quiet season for birding we had all but the first two hides to ourselves all day.
18-07-03
Location : Belvide Reservoir & Blithfield Reservoir, Staffordshire. SJ870099 & SK055235
It was a gloriously sunny day so we headed to Belvide Reservoir first where the main target was a Tree Sparrow or two. Before we set off there was a Song Thrush added to the list out of many birds around the bird table I built for my brother. Belvide was a mud bath on my last visit in January and I wondered what it would look like now in July.
The car park did not yield a Tree Sparrow on the peanut feeder but whilst booting up I glimpsed a small male Eurasian Sparrowhawk heading over the woods towards the reservoir. Walking through the woods I was delighted to see a Spotted Flycatcher inches next to an Eurasian Treecreeper with cameo appearances by a pair of Dunnock and some Long Tailed Tits.
As soon as we could see the banks of the reservoir I could see a Common Sandpiper on the dam end. From the well built Scott Hide there were good views of one of many Ruddy Ducks, some Great Crested Grebes, a few passing Common Terns and a couple of Reed Warblers. The best of the other birds seen from here were a Grey Heron, some Northern Lapwings and many Tufted Ducks.
On the beautiful and green path to the next hide along the south bank of the reservoir I added European Goldfinch and marvelled at the many butterflies and dragonflies along the rich vegetation such as several Gatekeepers, quite a few Commas, Tortoiseshells and some Large Whites with many others too.
The name of the second of the three hides escapes me but it was another well built affair with a few feeding stations in front and it was here that I had the best chance of a Tree Sparrow. I could see a few Sedge Warblers singing out loud in the small bushes in front of us along with some Common Whitethroats. Quite a few birds came to the feeders and bird table including Dunnocks, Blue Tits, a Chaffinch, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a couple of Great Tits. A young Chiffchaff surprised us and another birder by perching on the open hide window watching us. Scanning the flocks of wildfowl I managed to include a Common Pochard, and a flock of Common Starlings passed by. Sadly no Tree Sparrows showed.
We moved onto the Bryant Hide which is the most westerly hide on the reserve. There were two birders here and we shared many birds including a Great Black Backed Gull, a pair of Dunlin, three Common Redshanks, some Common Sandpipers, three Little Grebes and a pair of Ruddy Ducks.
I was scanning the roosting gulls on the far side and casually mentioned there were two young Sandwich Terns there. My nonchalant attitude was a result of seeing them regularly back home on the River Exe little knowing they were not common here. The two birders became quite excited by the birds and found them in my scope then theirs. One of them said in twenty five years of birding at Belvide he had not seen any and they were his two hundred and first bird for this reservoir.
I was given a lot of help and advice about other spots in the area and steered towards the far western edge of the reservoir for my first ever Little Ringed Plovers. When I got there all I could see were a few Ringed Plovers and had to look harder to see the three Little Ringed Plovers which are more inconspicuous than the Ringed Plovers. I was really glad to finally get a lifer out of this weekend trip and this compensated for the lack of Tree Sparrows. There were also some Grey Wagtails around the Plovers.
On the way back we called into the middle hide for another vigil for a Tree Sparrow with no luck but did have the fortune to see a pair of Grasshopper Warblers flitting in and out of a bush to feed a nest of young. We were tipped off on these by the birder earlier too which shows helping others does reward you. Apparently this pair was raising a second brood.
Walking back through the woods I added a Wood Warbler along with a Goldcrest to the list and a Common Kestrel was extremely high over the car park. The supporting cast for this place were Carrion Crow, Pied Wagtail, Feral Pigeon, Blackcap, Winter Wren, Common House Martin, Wood Pigeon, Blue Tit and Mute Swan. On the narrow road leading away to the main A5 road I added Common Magpie to push the trip list to seventy birds.
It was now time to head over to Blithfield Reservoir picking up some lunch on the way. We were given good directions to the birding spot by the second birder at Belvide and easily found the hide at the base of a field. There are two good spots here called Tad Bay and Blithe Bay, I do not know which one we were looking at but it was stuffed with birds. On the way down some Reed Buntings passed over.
The hide was a simple shack with windows and high seats. I added just a few birds to the slowly building collection which were two Common Greenshanks and a young Mediterranean Gull. I thought I had an Arctic Tern but after a lot of cross checking between the bird and the Collins it was simply a Common Gull with no black tip on the bill. It did present a bit of a headache though along with a ‘Wood Sandpiper’ that turned out to be one of the two Greenshanks. It is the distance that makes lone birds hard to identify sometimes.
There was a great assortment of other birds including a staggering seventeen Ruddy Ducks and over one hundred Great Crested Grebes. The rest of the birds were already on my list but included many waders, wildfowl and some more Little Ringed Plovers. There was a solitary Common Swift in the air as we got back to the car and on the return home we furthered the tally with a Common Pheasant and an Eurasian Jay when we stopped next to some fishing ponds in Cannock Chase.
Last edited:
B 
