Withymoor - Amblecote, Stourbridge..... (2 Viewers)

Grimley notes - posted elsewhere...

Saturday's notes -

I put in 2.5 hours on a glorious day doing the usual figure of 8 taking in both workings and adjacent fishing pools bumping into 2 other birders over at the New Workings...

Grim-mers lived up to its name it was very quiet indeed. Waders consisted of the usual Oystercatcher, Lapwing and a solitary Redshank. A single Common Tern was present and duck numbers seemed to be down. Noticeable was an increase in Sedge Warblers with nearly as many singing as Reed although there will be more Reed present. The usual range of other Warblers with Lessers in the roadside hedge. A prominent Cuckoo was calling from the dead trees being mobbed by what looked like a Reed Bunting - that was the Old Workings.

A minor diversion was the antics of Lord Grimley, in his role as Admiral Cardboard - he was fettling his landing craft for 'sea trials' and a bit of gunboat diplomacy

The New Workings held large Gulls and Acros of both species. 2 more Cuckoos were calling and the Cetti's was still singing from the scrubby pool opposite the White Hart one. A feeding Little Egret putting in an appearance added spice. A pleasant bimble but unproductive to say the least:-C

Good birding -

Laurie:t:

Attached: Cuckoo, 1 of 3. The Collie and the Wolly and a smart Little Egret.

Just noted an egret sp heading west over gainsborough trading estate towards redhill school, despite a mad dash to the back of the house where we have an open view over stourbridge juction station we couldnt get a second look but looked very large with laboured flight!

Fens pool isn't that far away!

Matt

Nice one Matt:t:

I am never dismissive of them - i remember twitching my first down at Looe in Cornwall..........that's how rare they were back in the 80's:eek!:

What interests me more is where they are breeding. Will the start using the Grey heronries around here or set up on their own or just an isolated pair here or there? There are large numbers of Little Egrets in the West Midlands and most, if not all, are adults or subadults - i have yet to see any locally that are recently fledged birds so i shall keep checking out likely locales...

Good Birding -

Laurie:t:

No go on Sunday and with Cabin Fever starting to set in i popped out, against my better wishes, at 8o/c Monday morning. Despite having on more layers than an Onion it was an hour and a half of misery with an unbelievable chill factor for the first half of May:C Despite that there was a party of c75 mixed Hirundines feeding below the Dam on Fens Top Pool - mainly House Martins and Swallows but a handful of Sand Martins and a coupla Swifts to add to the grist. Warbler song almost non-existant and that was it for the day!

Yesterday was more productive with a circuit of FP from 0730-0930. Plenty of Warblers with Whitethroat in double figures and Lesserthroat at 6+ singing birds. At least 50 Swifts were present with the same amount of mixed Hirundines of all 3 species - it is good to see what is now exceptional numbers of these birds around here in a feeding party after last year's poor showing all round... Came back via Merry Hill but no Raven activity altho a couple more Lesser Whitethroats noted. Williams Pool held a freshly hatched Coot clutch, only 2 seen so the others must have fallen prey to the ever-present LBB's.

For those making their first tentative forays birding - don't expect too much.
Despite the good weather in April the winds then as now were mainly in the North and this situation will remain so for the foreseeable 10-14 day forecast. Either side West or East of N which does not bode well - high pressure is stuck firmly over Fenno-Scandia and the only relief will be the strength of the winds but the cold origins remain the same. Temperatures will drop noticeably overnite and a cool start to most days followed by warmer temperatures by early afternoon. I visit the Portland Bill Bird Observatory blog for the previous days haul and it makes for grim reading. Despite the reduced coverage it is the quietest Spring for 30 years and this is down to the inclement winds with very little originating in Iberia or further South in the Mahgreb. By all means get your Vitamin D fix but migrants bigger than warblers will be thin on the ground imo.....

Good birding -

Laurie:t:

Attached: Swifts and synchronised Hirundines and male Whitethroat - all from Fens Pools.

Blood and Sand.....

Wednesday was a no-go i simply could not be bothered to try and do any cycling or birding in the moderate, cold wind..........again:C

Yesterday i decided to put the Dog in my specially adapted basket and cycle towards Bunkers Wood letting her out at Stourbridge Crematorium as it is all off road from there to the wood. The 'Crem' has lots of nice tall Conifers and has been prospected by Ravens a couple of times over the last 5 years but not this one. Bunkers was busy with other dog walkers and families - it's that sort of a place. I bumped into an older couple who had binoculars but they are mainly 'Moth-ers' and required some ID over a Garden Warbler song. It turned out they are keen moth trappers and we have a mutual friend in Dave Grundy who has come a long way since i first met him nearly 40 years ago when i lived near Middlesboro and together with the 2 other people i worked with gave his fledgeling conservation volunteer group a series of training courses - Dave is currently 'marooned' in Andalucia, i am in the West Midlands - i am glad one of us has moved on to pastures new:t:

Bunkers' held 6 species of Warbler to my ear and a pleasant hour was spent trotting the dog and generally looking in the more layered areas. I have decided to restart my nestbox building over the coming Winter - Bunkers' could do with about 50 so i shall check out a couple of nearby factories for a supply of suitably dimensioned pallets. Withymoor could do with about a dozen so i shall set myself a winter strategy - something i have promised to do for a few years...

The afternoon i decided on a quick visit to the 3 suitable fields up at West Hagley as the breeze was light and warmer by 3 o'clock. I was undecided but am glad that i made the effort. As i was scanning the fields in question i got up the top one and apart from Rooks, Jackdaws and Skylarks there was just a small party of mixed Wood Pigeons and Stock Doves. The group also contained a White feral Pigeon. As i counted them they shot up into the air as if somebody had thrown a grenade and out of my peripheral vision what appeared like a missile streaked into the melee like one of those Youtube videos where an air strike is called in. In an instant the feral pigeon seemed to explode in a ball of feathers whilst its wild cousins put as much distance between it and the avian Hellfire that had just hit them. The poor bird dropped to the ground and was immediately pounced on by an immature Peregrine that began to pluck the feathers of the dead bird furiously...

The Peregrine was a large individual which i 'pigeon-holed' as a female and altho in posession of a dark hood it wasn't Black and the upperparts were a 2-tone Brown. I am no expert but i would say a first-Summer individual...

I have probably only seen Peregrines actually kill close up about a dozen times, plenty of attacks, feeding birds and individuals taking prey back to a nest but it is rare to actually witness a kill. I also know of about 20 active nests within a 30 mile 90 degree arc to the West of Stourbridge but cannot suss out where the mating birds from the Delph are - how frustrating. I watched the bird feed for about an hour taking a couple of hundred snaps in the process. The feast was taking place about 300 yards away but i did not realise how much heat haze was present. My binoculars are Nitrogen-filled and my spectacles are UV anti-glare so when i looked thru the camera on full optical zoom at 600mm obtaining sharp images was not expected and so it was. I snapped away and watched the bird change positions whilst it proceeded to feed on the breast. After about an hour it shuffled to one side and i thought it will fly off away from me. It didn't and flew directly towards me, huge bulging crop, and shot about 20 feet over my head. I was looking forward to a long burst sequence but all i got was 'memory card full' so no sharp flight images to add insult to injury a Buzzard landed to glean what it could so nothing of that either.

It was probably no accident that the White Dove was taken as it would have stood out from the other 2 Grey species i just hope it didn't have an Olive branch in its beak

This is the sort of thing that makes it all worthwhile for me - being out, finding your own stuff and witnessing an interaction like a Peregrine kill. During my vigil lots of cyclists, walkers etc passed by me with nary a glance or many hello's - none realising the drama that had gone in in the adjacent field which makes me glad i am a naturalist/birder but each to their own. One chap who i see regularly was the only one who enquired so i let him use the 'bins and he was most impressed i also pointed out Whitethroat and Corn Bunting which he was pleased with and made a mental note to remember. Needless to say i did not have my Opticron travel 'scope with me, something i bought to take out all the time. It is only 50mm but the light-gathering is phenomenal - about time i took my own advice re: 'chance favouring the prepared mind':-C

I have attached 3 sets of photos. They are all variations on the theme of feeding Peregrine. Due to the heat haze none are sharp. I do however like the 'Pastel' painting effect that the haze has rendered the images and find the overall effect quite pleasing. I might do some Photoshop work on them and print off a set to hang somewhere

Good Birding -

Laurie:t:

5 more.....

Last 5.....

For those of you who are out and about and are wandering why it is so quiet here is the solitary paragraph copied and pasted from the Portland Bird Obs blog for yesterday the 14th of May.....

"We don't want to be negative in such unusual times, but today barely merits a blog write-up. In over 11 hours and approximately 200m of net: two Reed Warblers, two Willow Warblers, two Goldfinches and a Whitethroat were all we could muster. The highlight of the day came with a female Gadwall past on the sea; otherwise land-based migrants were very sparse with the whole island giving no more extras than two Whinchats, three Spotted Flycatchers and a handful of Wheatears."

If i look hard enough i can probably match that on one of the patches locally.

Good Birding -

Laurie:t:

Friday saw my usual routine of Fens Pools in the morning and Hagley Fields in the afternoon with domestic stuff in between. Nothing of note to post really altho a good party of Swifts were feeding over the Top Pool at ca75 birds plus assorted Hirundines. Whitethroats, as elsewhere, were the standout Warbler...

Saturday saw an hour before brekkers back up at Hagley but apart from Whitethroats, a Corn Bunting and a party of hawking House Martins that was it. There is still a pile of White feathers left in the middle of the field from Fridays drama.

Up at Grimmers from 11-1:30 for a very lean visit. More birders out for their Vitamin D. You can spot them a mile off - pale to Grey looking individuals muttering to themselves about something called 'Garganey' No waders of note, didn't spot any terns and Reed Warblers were the most evident passerine. 4 male Cuckoos heard plus a bonus of a calling female over at the White Hart fishing pool where the male Cetti's is still present and singing briefly.

Back on Tuesday as the weather and wind is due to be more productive according to the forecast. Attached is yesterdays circuit route. Of note, for me locally, was a male Cuckoo calling this morning at 0545 from the car park outside the house in Stourbridge. I estimate no more than a mile away probably less from the other side of the ring road to the West - my first record in 18 years:eek!:

Good birding -

Laurie:t:

An hour or so around Fens Pools and back for 0900 on Sunday as it was just too gloomy with the cloud darkening by every minute. Popped by en-route to listen to a very noisy Raven chick being told to shut it by a nearby adult as i stopped the bike a couple of hundred yards away at the Waterfront. The Pools themselves held nothing and the hoped for small challenging wader did not appear but was compensated by a noisy and easy to identify larger one on my return via Merry Hill in the form of an overflying calling adult Oystercatcher - quite the surprise of the day! An hour up at the Hagley Fields yielded litte but hedgerow Whitethroats and that was it...

Monday i just didn't feel like ploughing the same furrow and couldn't think of anywhere else to go so i didn't bother.

Yesterday was a slight change to my routine as the weather was so good. Still up to FP for 7 on the promise of a self-found Summer-plumage Arctic wader but it was Knot to be and little in the way of passerine activity either. I decided for an 18 mile tour of local habitats to the West for 3 hours from 2-5 in the afternoon. It was mainly a listening exercise and to check on what fields are being cultivated and at what stage they are at. Island Pool at Ismere held the usual warblers. Hurcott the same plus half a dozen singing Reed. One of the rangers was putting up a signs saying 'No Cycling' - best of luck with that one mate! I pointed out that the car park was rammed full of cars and that i had cycled from the other side of Stourbridge and would be the only visitor actually interested in the natural history of the site He agreed and said pay no attention but they had had 2 complaints and that he cycles to work each day and doesn't agree with it particularly as hardly any MTB's use the place as it is not 'challenging' enough and Bozza had reccomended walking and cycling rather than cars - my conscience, as always, has been and remains perfectly clear on my MO during these 'troubled' times:t: Asparagus duly 'liberated' i headed back via the Hagley Fields where i was pleased to bump into a smart female Wheatear not looking biometrically larger or brighter as birds of the Greenland race will be during the latter half of May.

Whilst en-route to Hurcott i thought i would investigate the old Lea Castle Sanatorium. In the past i have had a pair of Hobbies hawking over the area. The buildings were bulldozed a coupla years ago and now appear on Google Maps as areas of sand. Currently there is an application for removal, over 10 years, of sand and gravel before 600, yes 600, homes are built. Needless to say there is a thriving anti-quarry group but no opposition to the housing as such although i think the adjacent cul-de-sacs will gear up depending on the decision. I personally would welcome a quarry then a wetland reserve and no housing but i can't halt 'progress' all on my own despite leaving my thoughts on the relevant Faecebook page. There are tons of signs and a sinister-looking portakabin from the entry road but GM shows a nice access track across the fields from the main road to the West which i shall undertake this coming Sunday.....

Attached with the relevant pictures to the post is an image of a Swallow taken by Joe Stockwell at Portland this week. It is notable because it is a juvenile bird. This has presumably hatched somewhere in the Northern Mediterranean coast or even in the Mahgreb from very early arrival adults or possibly birds that have over-wintered in maybe Morocco. I have recorded adult Swallows and House Martins in November and December in Southern Morocco. What is interesting is that a recently-hatched bird would continue making the journey North to probably not breed. There is a possiblility that some birds are now not making the journey sub-Sahara thus saving them considerable time and effort? I like visiting these areas out of season because of the potential of out-of-season finds. Should you visit Maroc, at any season, then please send Patrick Bergier at Go-South a copy of your records particularly extra-limital and non-seasonal records:t:

http://sur.ly/o/go-south.org/AA000014

Good birding -

Laurie:t:

Attached: Raven on guard, female Wheatear, yesterdays cycle route, Google Map of Lea Castle (LC) Hurcott (H) and Asparagus (A) and the juvenile Swallow...

Hi Laurie, the juv Swallow at Portland intrigued me also - especially as I saw what appeared to be a juvenile on my patch a couple of weeks ago. I thought at the time it's highly unlikely to be a uk-bred individual. Perhaps they fly north from southern Europe due to longer day-lengths in more northerly latitudes during the boreal summer, offering more feeding opportunities. As the numbers of breeding Swallows and hirundines locally seem to be at a low ebb over the past 2 or 3 years (locally, at least, hirundine populations appear to go through cycles of abundance), perhaps there is less competition for food also. Just my thoughts.

Hi Dave -

The lack of Hirundines and Swifts over the last 3 years troubles me too.

I look at very local examples e.g. a street that had Swifts on every house that now doesn’t because one dwelling had their soffits replaced by UPVC so the neighbours, not wishing to be ‘soffit shamed’, did likewise and now they are gone. This loss of breeding cavities has to be widespread. Then there is the general decline in insects due to subtle air pollution and the endless ‘tidying up’ mentality that the Brits seem to indulge in whenever it is sunny:C It used to be the weekly ritual of ‘washing the car’ but now we have Eastern Europeans to carry out the tedious chore it is Dandelion chopping. I thought it was just a UK thing but when i went to Poland last year there wasn’t an hour in the day when you could not hear a strimmer being overused! What could be worrying is an overall drop in birds wintering sub-Sahara with a corresponding reduction in returning birds?


I made several enquiries last year on birding sites in both Mali and South Africa with regard to wintering and migrating Hirundines but for some reason never got a response:C

The juvenile Swallow does not surprise me as adults are wintering North of the Sahara but what surprised me was the fact that it has undertaken the Northerly migration as breeding birds do...

Good birding -

Laurie:t:

WRT hirundine populations - I noted in the early 2000's, there were several poor years, locally, when they appeared relatively scarce. By 2010 - 2014, the numbers in my area were very high and I was regularly getting post-breeding roosts of Swallows and Sand Martins of 700+ birds. I spoke to a local landowner who is lucky to have Swallows and House Martins breeding in and around his equestrian facilities and he reinforced what I had suspected - numbers of breeding birds are low at the moment but there have been fluctuations in the past. The apparent recent decline is probably (hopefully) not part of a monotonic downward trend. In good years, hirundines can raise 3 broods so do have the potential to bounce back if other limiting factors are favourable (e.g. during migration and wintering). On the plus side, Common Whitethroats seem to be fairly abundant these days and have largely recovered from well documented population crashes associated with sahelian droughts, which started in the late 1960's.

Hi Dave -

Good points and fingers crossed:t:

There is another photo on the Portland Obs blog of a juvenile. It has been begging for food from adults but whether it is its parents is unknown. I shall certainly be scrutinising any early Swallows etc exhibiting short tail feathers in future.....

Agree re: Whitethroats - over the last 5 years at the sites i visit around here they have been growing in number and singing birds in quite high densities along suitable hedgerows.

Good birding -

Laurie:t:

Altho i have been out twice daily since last posting i have seen nothing of note to add. Early morning 7-9 visits to Fens Pools have been underwhelming and is now feeling very ‘Groundhog Day’ but i shall persevere until mid-June at least as the place has to yield a decent wader surely.....

With no coverage at Upton Warren it means a reserve i use as a barometer for passage species is not available - one would have thought that a couple of regulars would be able to do the place in order to keep an eye on Avocets etc - the RSPB staff on their reserves are doing just that?

Bumped into Andy Daniels at FP this morning and saw Todd Chater from a distance last week so ppl are out and about. The weather has been excellent and is settled with clear Sun until Sunday and dry next week with mid-20’s the ‘new normal’ for a bit:t:

On the strength of that it will be Grimmers tomorrow...

The Ravens at Merry Hill have now fledged and gone - irritatingly i did not manage an estimate of the brood as it went from very noisy to very quiet in a lapse of 3 days visiting:C Fingers crossed for a repeat next year:t:

Good birding -

Laurie:t:

New-fangled Long-tailed or Oldskool Oldsquaw...

Sun 31st.....

I was beginning to think an adult Yellow-legged Gull i picked up in the preening Larids on Friday morning was going to be the Swansong to Spring migration with Fens Pools woefully underperforming considering the length of exposed shoreline. I do tell myself that my pre-breakfast visits are but a small 1.5 hour vignette in an otherwise long and potentially productive day.

I followed my usual routine of checking the Top Pool quickly before dropping down to scan the edge of the Middle Pool and then returning to spend the remainder of the visit at where i consider the most productive vantage point will be. I clocked a couple of Mallard coming in with a distinctly smaller duck with them. This was a slightly hidden bird tucked in and apart from a blotchy head that was it until they landed in front of me. The ID was straight forward (no Clangula dropped here) - a Long-tailed Duck and i pencilled it in as an immature, probably 1st-Summer female. It swam around and preened before joining the rest of the Mallard on the far bank but was chased off and ended back up in the water - this was at 0730 and by 0750 it flew off with 2 Mallard presumably the same ones it arrived with.....

A quick text to my brother and a BOC photo i then made my way back to the Top Pool to peruse the Gulls and listen for Warblers. After about 45 mins i cycled back via Merry Hill and was rewarded with an adult Raven and a couple of juveniles in and around the nest site.

I don't actually see 'Sea Ducks' very often and my experience with LTD is limited to about a dozen individuals. I seldom visit the UK coast these days and none of the spp are annual for me and even RBMerganser and Scaup are just about annual and you can forget about Divers. My coastal birding is generally undertaken abroad about 3 times annually and as these trips are outside the Winter period i seldom see any in the countries i visit.

Good birding -

Laurie:t:

Attached: LTD, what else.

Mega - Withymoor - Now....

Long Tailed Duck -

Same bird as FP by the looks:eek!:

Laurie:t:

Still there as of 14:30 per Paul Legge - i will pop back down at dusk.

Bird feeding by swimming along with its head under the water and blowing bubbles like a Ruddy Duck plus shallow dives - the resident Coot have been giving it grief in a ‘Minneapolis’ stylee #OldsquawLivesMatter

Good birding -

Laurie:t:

+++Update+++

I left at 1335 and it was preening on the West bank eek! Paul went down for 1400 and walked the pool twice and did not see it and presumed it had flown off:-C #bummer

Laurie:t:

I have some pics of this Pimpernel and will post at some stage.....

As i thought - it is still there, it must have been loafing on the bank and to be fair it looks like a small stone...

An even rarer sighting has been Hughie King:eek!:

Good birding -

Laurie:t: