Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
Berghof
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Grimley and Holt (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter Brian Stretch
- Start date
rollingthunder
Well-known member
I have never been to Germany but my girlfriend visited Berchtesgarten in her teens with her parents. They used to like walking around the Matterhorn and all stuff Austrian and German etc. She recalls it now like stepping back in time with very few young people living there - I'll bet on sunny Sundays there's always someone belting out Tomorrow Belongs To Me in one of the beer gardens.....
Laurie -
Laurie -
rollingthunder
Well-known member
A 1.5 hour visit on Sunday morning produced little in the way of migrants but a moderate NW breeze didn’t help. Had it been any stronger then we would not have bothered.
Ca30 Sand Martins were hawking above the Old Workings with a coupla House for good measure whilst a solitary Reed Warbler chugged away in the background. Not much to show for the time etc put in but why am I not surprised? Here are my thoughts FWIW…..
Quite why the building of the, I shudder to say it, ‘house’ and sale of the land was ever allowed at the Old Workings beggars belief - I would love to know whose palm(s) were greased in order to allow this monstrosity to be constructed. To say it resembles a Swiss end-of-life facility is being far too kind imo. The new owner aka The Laird of Grimley continues to treat his ‘patch’ as some sort of tasteless theme park c/w rusting Hippo, bobbing Crocodile head and now a huge stick nest with several Blue eggs in it.
He is without doubt one of nature’s bell-ends if ever there was and his enthusiasm for pinning notes with regards to Dogs and access is only bettered than my removal of them.
A couple of years or so back there popped up a selection of Orchids along the access track down to the pools. Several Pyramidal on the left and about a dozen Bee on the right. I also found what I consider the Bee Orchid var trolli of which I have pictures which should be posted a few pages back iirc. None of these have been present for a while now. The area containing the Bee is regularly walked and flattened by whoever or whatever - I shall check again for residual basal leaves if I bother visiting.
With regard to breeding birds I hardly record any waders on that area now and iirc there used to be Lapwing, Redshank, LrP and Oystercatcher? No doubt daily rounds with the resident Canine has had an effect. In the unlikely event I bump into the owner he will have his ears well and truly pinned back…..
The paddocks on the far side down to what was the old barn are not made readily accessible so we simply do not walk that section now. The whole area is over-utilised and a such has become unattractive to both breeding and passage species imo. There are obviously one or two good areas of habitat but unless you live relatively local it is not worth the time, effort, fuel etc for a 50+ mile round trip from Stourbridge.
The other side of the road is hardly pulse-racing. 2 pools that might attract a Duck, Gull or Tern.
The Wagon Wheel pits are now yet another prime location for maggot-drowners with about a dozen of so large fishing platforms installed on both pools. All designed to make Birders weary eyes ever sorer.
The reedbed area over the river is now the property of some sort of ‘outdoor’ enterprise and is no entry - not that it stops me but that is not the point. The lake further over has some sort of weekend huts on the edge. It’s all a bit messy. The old sandy area which was nice and scruffy with a range of annuals clinging on has now been planted with trees whilst further down the track is yet another pool for the fishing fraternity - Sunday saw half a dozen SUV’s lots of electrickery gadgets and the usual slabs of Lager…..aahhh the peace and quiet of the countryside.
It’s safe to say that our time and effort will pay dividends elsewhere and for me the glory days of Grimmers are over.
Good birding -
Laurie -
Ca30 Sand Martins were hawking above the Old Workings with a coupla House for good measure whilst a solitary Reed Warbler chugged away in the background. Not much to show for the time etc put in but why am I not surprised? Here are my thoughts FWIW…..
Quite why the building of the, I shudder to say it, ‘house’ and sale of the land was ever allowed at the Old Workings beggars belief - I would love to know whose palm(s) were greased in order to allow this monstrosity to be constructed. To say it resembles a Swiss end-of-life facility is being far too kind imo. The new owner aka The Laird of Grimley continues to treat his ‘patch’ as some sort of tasteless theme park c/w rusting Hippo, bobbing Crocodile head and now a huge stick nest with several Blue eggs in it.
He is without doubt one of nature’s bell-ends if ever there was and his enthusiasm for pinning notes with regards to Dogs and access is only bettered than my removal of them.
A couple of years or so back there popped up a selection of Orchids along the access track down to the pools. Several Pyramidal on the left and about a dozen Bee on the right. I also found what I consider the Bee Orchid var trolli of which I have pictures which should be posted a few pages back iirc. None of these have been present for a while now. The area containing the Bee is regularly walked and flattened by whoever or whatever - I shall check again for residual basal leaves if I bother visiting.
With regard to breeding birds I hardly record any waders on that area now and iirc there used to be Lapwing, Redshank, LrP and Oystercatcher? No doubt daily rounds with the resident Canine has had an effect. In the unlikely event I bump into the owner he will have his ears well and truly pinned back…..
The paddocks on the far side down to what was the old barn are not made readily accessible so we simply do not walk that section now. The whole area is over-utilised and a such has become unattractive to both breeding and passage species imo. There are obviously one or two good areas of habitat but unless you live relatively local it is not worth the time, effort, fuel etc for a 50+ mile round trip from Stourbridge.
The other side of the road is hardly pulse-racing. 2 pools that might attract a Duck, Gull or Tern.
The Wagon Wheel pits are now yet another prime location for maggot-drowners with about a dozen of so large fishing platforms installed on both pools. All designed to make Birders weary eyes ever sorer.
The reedbed area over the river is now the property of some sort of ‘outdoor’ enterprise and is no entry - not that it stops me but that is not the point. The lake further over has some sort of weekend huts on the edge. It’s all a bit messy. The old sandy area which was nice and scruffy with a range of annuals clinging on has now been planted with trees whilst further down the track is yet another pool for the fishing fraternity - Sunday saw half a dozen SUV’s lots of electrickery gadgets and the usual slabs of Lager…..aahhh the peace and quiet of the countryside.
It’s safe to say that our time and effort will pay dividends elsewhere and for me the glory days of Grimmers are over.
Good birding -
Laurie -
