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I went for a three hour walk, with my dog Max, around Drayton Basset pits on Saturday. Drayton Basset Pits is almost opposite Drayton Manor Park, (near Tamworth, Staffs for those of you that want an idea of where it is), and is still very much a working pit with access only at weekends. It was a very cold, grey and overcast morning with the threat of rain hanging over my head for the entire walk.
I hadn’t been there for quite a few months and a few shocks were in store for me once I had reached the pits. To get them I go via a track that is bordered by hedgerows and trees and is about a kilometre long. Yellowhammers are resident throughout the year and sure enough almost as soon as I had entered the track a couple of Yellowhammers could be seen in the trees. The light was useless for any decent photography but I attempted one shot before they flew off. Plenty of Whitethroat could be heard with the occasional one popping up into the open for short periods. Far too short a time for digiscoping.
As soon as I reached the pits shock number one was apparent. There were huge earth moving vehicles going up and down the pits and the long conveyor belt was in action also. I crossed over the bridge that spans the conveyor belt and waved down one of the drivers. I told him that I was surprised that they were working as they never do over the weekend but apparently they had a rush job on and they had to level one area of the site as quickly as possible. Thankfully they gave me permission to carry on as long as I watched out for the lorries.
First port of call was a walk of about half a mile to a bridge that spans the river Tame. Over the other side is a huge body of water where speedboats operate. From time to time some good birds get over there and I was hoping that there might be a few Black Terns. Just before I reached the bridge a Willow warbler was being fairly co-operative (albeit from about 100 yards away) so I tried for a shot. As before the light was totally against me but I have attached the shot below. As I approached the bridge my second shock of the day was obvious. They had virtually drained the lake and had formed a long rectangle for the speedboats to use. The rest was being dug up and huge mounds of earth were being left at the side of whatever water was left. You could hardly see a thing but what you could see appeared to be devoid of birds.
I decided to retrace my steps and walk alongside the back of the pits, well away from the road that the lorries were using. Again another shock as the vegetation had been allowed to run riot and was now hiding all the pits. I walked through rain sodden long grass for the next two hours getting wetter and wetter by the minute until I was well soaked up to my knees. On the odd occasion a Sedge warbler would oblige and I did mangae a couple of poor shots of one but nothing much else showed. By now the mist had virtually dropped to ground level and it was becoming a bit of a miserable walk. I could hear birds but for the most part the birds I could hear were lost in the mist.
Surprise No 1. After walking for about an hour a bird flew out from almost under my feet and landed in a bush about 15 feet away. At first I wondered what it was but although it seemed to be constantly on the move I did manage to work out that it was a Grasshopper warbler. Just then a second bird appeared and it was a second Gropper and they then appeared to be displaying to each other. If only I owned a DSLR. I could have got a decent shot of them but I had no chance with my set up. This lasted for a couple of minutes before they disappeared into the undergrowth.
I carried on with my walk and the mist cleared slightly and soon I was watching quite a few Swifts as well as Swallows, Sand Martins and a few House Martins. It was weird watching them appear out of the mist before disappearing back into it.
I had now reached the man lorry track at the most northern end of the pits. Now it was time to be careful. I hooked up a bedraggled max and continued my walk back along the road towards the access point, some mile or so away. I stopped to look at a pit that had a few small islands on it. Thankfully I did manage to find a couple of Dunlin, one Little ringed Plover and a few Lapwing. Moving onto the next pit I scanned the water. Nothing much on there apart from various ducks and a pair of Great crested Grebes.
Surprise No 2. Suddenly a movement in the water caught my eye. A bow wave had been formed but I hadn’t seen a bird anywhere near there. I watched the water and before long a large fin broke the water before disappearing again. I followed where the bow wave was going and before long two large fins broke the surface then two large fish heads popped out. The water suddenly erupted as the two huge fish turned on each other and as they did so at least two, poss three more joined in. I was looking at at least 4 huge Tench the like I have never seen before. They were massive and it looked like it was possibly the fish beginning to mate. No one is allowed to fish these pits but I firmly believe that these Tench would be pushing the British Rod caught record of 15lb 3oz, such was the size of them.
After about ten minutes the action died down and I moved on. The remainder of the pits were very quiet, not surprising with the hustle and bustle of the many huge earth movers moving around the pits, so I decided to call it a day and return to my car.
The weather had been bad for birdwatching and had not been helped by the fact that the pits were being worked but still I enjoyed our walk and the site of the two Grasshopper Warblers then the Tench brightened up my day no end.
I hadn’t been there for quite a few months and a few shocks were in store for me once I had reached the pits. To get them I go via a track that is bordered by hedgerows and trees and is about a kilometre long. Yellowhammers are resident throughout the year and sure enough almost as soon as I had entered the track a couple of Yellowhammers could be seen in the trees. The light was useless for any decent photography but I attempted one shot before they flew off. Plenty of Whitethroat could be heard with the occasional one popping up into the open for short periods. Far too short a time for digiscoping.
As soon as I reached the pits shock number one was apparent. There were huge earth moving vehicles going up and down the pits and the long conveyor belt was in action also. I crossed over the bridge that spans the conveyor belt and waved down one of the drivers. I told him that I was surprised that they were working as they never do over the weekend but apparently they had a rush job on and they had to level one area of the site as quickly as possible. Thankfully they gave me permission to carry on as long as I watched out for the lorries.
First port of call was a walk of about half a mile to a bridge that spans the river Tame. Over the other side is a huge body of water where speedboats operate. From time to time some good birds get over there and I was hoping that there might be a few Black Terns. Just before I reached the bridge a Willow warbler was being fairly co-operative (albeit from about 100 yards away) so I tried for a shot. As before the light was totally against me but I have attached the shot below. As I approached the bridge my second shock of the day was obvious. They had virtually drained the lake and had formed a long rectangle for the speedboats to use. The rest was being dug up and huge mounds of earth were being left at the side of whatever water was left. You could hardly see a thing but what you could see appeared to be devoid of birds.
I decided to retrace my steps and walk alongside the back of the pits, well away from the road that the lorries were using. Again another shock as the vegetation had been allowed to run riot and was now hiding all the pits. I walked through rain sodden long grass for the next two hours getting wetter and wetter by the minute until I was well soaked up to my knees. On the odd occasion a Sedge warbler would oblige and I did mangae a couple of poor shots of one but nothing much else showed. By now the mist had virtually dropped to ground level and it was becoming a bit of a miserable walk. I could hear birds but for the most part the birds I could hear were lost in the mist.
Surprise No 1. After walking for about an hour a bird flew out from almost under my feet and landed in a bush about 15 feet away. At first I wondered what it was but although it seemed to be constantly on the move I did manage to work out that it was a Grasshopper warbler. Just then a second bird appeared and it was a second Gropper and they then appeared to be displaying to each other. If only I owned a DSLR. I could have got a decent shot of them but I had no chance with my set up. This lasted for a couple of minutes before they disappeared into the undergrowth.
I carried on with my walk and the mist cleared slightly and soon I was watching quite a few Swifts as well as Swallows, Sand Martins and a few House Martins. It was weird watching them appear out of the mist before disappearing back into it.
I had now reached the man lorry track at the most northern end of the pits. Now it was time to be careful. I hooked up a bedraggled max and continued my walk back along the road towards the access point, some mile or so away. I stopped to look at a pit that had a few small islands on it. Thankfully I did manage to find a couple of Dunlin, one Little ringed Plover and a few Lapwing. Moving onto the next pit I scanned the water. Nothing much on there apart from various ducks and a pair of Great crested Grebes.
Surprise No 2. Suddenly a movement in the water caught my eye. A bow wave had been formed but I hadn’t seen a bird anywhere near there. I watched the water and before long a large fin broke the water before disappearing again. I followed where the bow wave was going and before long two large fins broke the surface then two large fish heads popped out. The water suddenly erupted as the two huge fish turned on each other and as they did so at least two, poss three more joined in. I was looking at at least 4 huge Tench the like I have never seen before. They were massive and it looked like it was possibly the fish beginning to mate. No one is allowed to fish these pits but I firmly believe that these Tench would be pushing the British Rod caught record of 15lb 3oz, such was the size of them.
After about ten minutes the action died down and I moved on. The remainder of the pits were very quiet, not surprising with the hustle and bustle of the many huge earth movers moving around the pits, so I decided to call it a day and return to my car.
The weather had been bad for birdwatching and had not been helped by the fact that the pits were being worked but still I enjoyed our walk and the site of the two Grasshopper Warblers then the Tench brightened up my day no end.
