-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Upton Warren (53 Viewers)
- Thread starter andythomas
- Start date
Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
2 female Goosander at the Moors Pool late afternoon as per Tim O
Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
This ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull was noted again by Des in Swanshurst Park, Moseley, Birmingham yesterday (7th February 2019)
In a slight correction to the above, the gull was originally ringed as a near adult (4+ years old) making it now around 15 years old.
Last edited:
upstarts1979
Well-known member
Poss Great Grey Strike Moors
Here is the email sent to the Trust this week
Hi
I was at Upton Warren on Sunday 3 February and spotted a female great grey shrike from the Moors car park. The bird was in a tall spindly tree on the pathway by the gate which leads to Water Rail hide etc. Sadly no one was there to witness it with me so I assume it will remain an unconfirmed sighting - I still thought that you would want to know to be aware that maybe the bird is still in the area.
Many thanks
I recall being phoned one Sunday morning that an old couple had claimed a GGshrike at the FLASHES feeding station. The person phoning me showed them a picture of a female Bullfinch and they said yes thst was it.... later that day the Crofty boysenior and myself were in the same hide as the old couple..when after a few minutes Paul C shouted "Great grey shrike !!Great grey shrike."!!.
thinking it was just a joke we xmcasually said where8-P
To our amazement there it was 25 yards away at the top of a bush...so the morale of the story is never say never:t: john
Here is the email sent to the Trust this week
Hi
I was at Upton Warren on Sunday 3 February and spotted a female great grey shrike from the Moors car park. The bird was in a tall spindly tree on the pathway by the gate which leads to Water Rail hide etc. Sadly no one was there to witness it with me so I assume it will remain an unconfirmed sighting - I still thought that you would want to know to be aware that maybe the bird is still in the area.
Many thanks
I recall being phoned one Sunday morning that an old couple had claimed a GGshrike at the FLASHES feeding station. The person phoning me showed them a picture of a female Bullfinch and they said yes thst was it.... later that day the Crofty boysenior and myself were in the same hide as the old couple..when after a few minutes Paul C shouted "Great grey shrike !!Great grey shrike."!!.
thinking it was just a joke we xmcasually said where8-P
To our amazement there it was 25 yards away at the top of a bush...so the morale of the story is never say never:t: john
Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
So that was effectively looking across the North Moors to the spindle bush? Female Bullfinch would be where my money is resting.
Last edited:
wheatearlp
Well-known member
A female G.G.Shrike?
keithr
Relapsus resurgam
Depends if they had bins etc on it....
Dick-E-Dipper
Well-known member
No, on a SPINDLY tree on pathway to West Hide from Gate!!! not Spindle tree.
Richard
I note that Rare Bird map has jumped the gun again and reported seen TODAY!!!
What can you believe nowadays
Last edited:
Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
No, on a SPINDLY tree on pathway to West Hide from Gate!!! not Spindle tree.
Richard
I note that Rare Bird map has jumped the gun again and reported seen TODAY!!!
What can you believe nowadays
Sorry, it was the use of the phrase "Water Rail Hide" that threw me - if it had said Concrete Hide ....
rollingthunder
Well-known member
Stick another 4 letters on Bull and you’ve got it
Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
Sightings for yesterday from Gert, Carl and Tim:
MOORS POOL
Oystercatcher, 11 Curlew, 2 Snipe, Little Egret, Shelduck, 28 Pochard, 36 Shoveler, 9 Greylag Geese, Coal Tit
SAILING POOL
3 Great Crested Grebe, 6 Tufted Duck
FLASHES
c70 Lapwing, 2 Mute Swans, 47 Teal, 2 LBB Gull, 3 Linnet
MOORS POOL
Oystercatcher, 11 Curlew, 2 Snipe, Little Egret, Shelduck, 28 Pochard, 36 Shoveler, 9 Greylag Geese, Coal Tit
SAILING POOL
3 Great Crested Grebe, 6 Tufted Duck
FLASHES
c70 Lapwing, 2 Mute Swans, 47 Teal, 2 LBB Gull, 3 Linnet
Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
Great Grey Shrike
Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor
Great Grey Shrike is a rare occurrence in the region on autumn passage and again as a winter visitor from its Continental breeding range (predominately Scandinavia). Birds have been known to be faithful to regular wintering grounds several years in a row (eg the run of records from Cannock Chase, Staffordshire) and it remains the most commonly recorded shrike in the West Midlands area. There are four accepted records at Upton Warren:-
3rd November to 31st December 1974 - Moors Pool (NJR)
25th December 1975 to 8th February 1976 - Moors Pool (Arthur Jacobs)
24th to 25th October 1993 - The Flashes (L. Jones)
14th April 1998 - The Moors Pool (Vince Garvey, K. Moore)
It is eminently possible that the 1974 and 1975/76 records relate to the same bird returning the following year, a feature often noted with wintering Great Grey Shrikes. The 1993 bird was first seen by a lone observer in the early afternoon of the 24th in the dead oak tree which overlooked the Flashes’ feeding station. The bird disappeared, only to return to the same spot later in the day, just an hour before dusk, to perch no more than ten yards in front of the hide before flying away across the Flashes. It was finally recorded briefly the following morning, perched on one of the low cables of the transmitter masts in the field to the west of the Flashes. The 1998 record - which I missed by a matter of seconds - was seen briefly on the telegraph wires on the east side of the Moors Pool, possibly brought on to the reserve by unseasonably cold and snowy conditions.
A potential fifth record was seen for 45 minutes on 11th October 2005 in trees and the hedge between the transmitter mast and the west boundary of the Flashes. Unfortunately this sighting was never submitted to the County Recorder and therefore is not included in the records for the reserve.
Attached is Stuart Croft's excellent pen-and-ink drawing of the 1993 bird.
Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor
Great Grey Shrike is a rare occurrence in the region on autumn passage and again as a winter visitor from its Continental breeding range (predominately Scandinavia). Birds have been known to be faithful to regular wintering grounds several years in a row (eg the run of records from Cannock Chase, Staffordshire) and it remains the most commonly recorded shrike in the West Midlands area. There are four accepted records at Upton Warren:-
3rd November to 31st December 1974 - Moors Pool (NJR)
25th December 1975 to 8th February 1976 - Moors Pool (Arthur Jacobs)
24th to 25th October 1993 - The Flashes (L. Jones)
14th April 1998 - The Moors Pool (Vince Garvey, K. Moore)
It is eminently possible that the 1974 and 1975/76 records relate to the same bird returning the following year, a feature often noted with wintering Great Grey Shrikes. The 1993 bird was first seen by a lone observer in the early afternoon of the 24th in the dead oak tree which overlooked the Flashes’ feeding station. The bird disappeared, only to return to the same spot later in the day, just an hour before dusk, to perch no more than ten yards in front of the hide before flying away across the Flashes. It was finally recorded briefly the following morning, perched on one of the low cables of the transmitter masts in the field to the west of the Flashes. The 1998 record - which I missed by a matter of seconds - was seen briefly on the telegraph wires on the east side of the Moors Pool, possibly brought on to the reserve by unseasonably cold and snowy conditions.
A potential fifth record was seen for 45 minutes on 11th October 2005 in trees and the hedge between the transmitter mast and the west boundary of the Flashes. Unfortunately this sighting was never submitted to the County Recorder and therefore is not included in the records for the reserve.
Attached is Stuart Croft's excellent pen-and-ink drawing of the 1993 bird.
Attachments
Last edited:
Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
Cormorant
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
As promised to Phil Evans, here is a quick canter through the history and distribution of Cormorant on the reserve.
The species was first reported at Upton Warren on the 3rd April 1947 (AJ Martin). It is now present on the reserve (particularly on the Moors Pool) throughout the year and appears to be an increasingly numerous and frequent visitor (the West Midlands population reportedly grew four-fold between 1979 and 2001).
Cormorant was only a sporadic visitor to the reserve through the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. The infrequency of these visits is illustrated by the 1985 Annual Report which lists just three records each comprising just one bird, all remaining just for one day. 1992 was the first year to report a presence throughout the year and numbers have continued to increase since. The species showed a marked dip in records in the late 1990s (possibly as a result of culling) but numbers rose again in a sustained manner from 2006 onwards to peak at 73 at the Moors Pool on the 12th January 2014 (Vern Wright).
Birds present in the late 1980s were observed to roost on the BBC transmitter masts whilst by the early 1990s those Cormorants which fed on the Moors Pool during the day would depart late afternoon to Westwood Pool to roost; nowadays birds are present throughout the day. A ringed bird was observed at the Moors Pool on the 27th August 2006 with a red and green BTO ring on its right leg and a blue ring on its left leg carrying the inscription “M6” in white; sadly it could not be traced. Single birds of the Continental race Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis were seen on a number of occasions in early 2001 with another at the Moors Pool on the 1st February 2002. The presence of Cormorant is a good indicator as to the state of the fish-stock at the Moors Pool and, by implication, its impact on other species such as Common Tern and the grebes. With Cormorants generally just taking large fish (they have been observed to catch roach, perch and eels), their increased number would suggest a detrimental increase in the population of the larger fish. These fish prey upon the smaller fish which are the main food source of the terns and grebes.
(work in progress)
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
As promised to Phil Evans, here is a quick canter through the history and distribution of Cormorant on the reserve.
The species was first reported at Upton Warren on the 3rd April 1947 (AJ Martin). It is now present on the reserve (particularly on the Moors Pool) throughout the year and appears to be an increasingly numerous and frequent visitor (the West Midlands population reportedly grew four-fold between 1979 and 2001).
Cormorant was only a sporadic visitor to the reserve through the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. The infrequency of these visits is illustrated by the 1985 Annual Report which lists just three records each comprising just one bird, all remaining just for one day. 1992 was the first year to report a presence throughout the year and numbers have continued to increase since. The species showed a marked dip in records in the late 1990s (possibly as a result of culling) but numbers rose again in a sustained manner from 2006 onwards to peak at 73 at the Moors Pool on the 12th January 2014 (Vern Wright).
Birds present in the late 1980s were observed to roost on the BBC transmitter masts whilst by the early 1990s those Cormorants which fed on the Moors Pool during the day would depart late afternoon to Westwood Pool to roost; nowadays birds are present throughout the day. A ringed bird was observed at the Moors Pool on the 27th August 2006 with a red and green BTO ring on its right leg and a blue ring on its left leg carrying the inscription “M6” in white; sadly it could not be traced. Single birds of the Continental race Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis were seen on a number of occasions in early 2001 with another at the Moors Pool on the 1st February 2002. The presence of Cormorant is a good indicator as to the state of the fish-stock at the Moors Pool and, by implication, its impact on other species such as Common Tern and the grebes. With Cormorants generally just taking large fish (they have been observed to catch roach, perch and eels), their increased number would suggest a detrimental increase in the population of the larger fish. These fish prey upon the smaller fish which are the main food source of the terns and grebes.
(work in progress)
Attachments
Birder Gladys
Well-known member
Also had a small Peregrine flying south off one of the small transmitters, and a fox outside the fence over by the water treatment works
Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
Date for your diaries:
The West Midlands Spring All-Day Birdwatch is confirmed as Saturday 4th May this year - would be great to see as many observers as possible down on the reserve throughout the day
The West Midlands Spring All-Day Birdwatch is confirmed as Saturday 4th May this year - would be great to see as many observers as possible down on the reserve throughout the day
luckyosprey4
Well-known member
Currently at Flashes-
390 Lapwing, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Curlew, 50 Teal and 5 Meadow Pipit in front of hide.
Chris
390 Lapwing, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Curlew, 50 Teal and 5 Meadow Pipit in front of hide.
Chris
Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
From a wet Moors Pool Dave J reports:
2 Little Egret, Shelduck, 29 Pochard, 2 Gadwall, Oystercatcher, 62+ Snipe, Curlew
2 Little Egret, Shelduck, 29 Pochard, 2 Gadwall, Oystercatcher, 62+ Snipe, Curlew
luckyosprey4
Well-known member
At Moors-
1 Shelduck, Pochard up to 40, 200+ Lapwing from Flashes, 1 Oystercatcher, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel over.
Chris
1 Shelduck, Pochard up to 40, 200+ Lapwing from Flashes, 1 Oystercatcher, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel over.
Chris
Phil Andrews
It's only Rock and Roller but I like it
Also up to 4 Coal Tit around the Moors Pool and Chiffchaff along the Salwarpe as per Gert
upstarts1979
Well-known member
Tuesday 12th February WORK PARTY-FLASHES
This Tuesday we will be moving to the FLASHES.
Primarily to assist Nick the Fox fencing Contractor.
This will involve us pruning the Blackthorn along the Meadow section of the Fencing.
We will also cut back blackthorn thicket that is encroaching on to the east shore of the 2nd Flash.
The reed bed in the meadow has been treated and should be dead now. So to create a more open vista to the benefit of breeding waders, we will brush cut the reeds and leave them in Situ..so NO RAKING8-P
Meet at the SAILING POOL car park 8.45 or at Flashes if you arrive later. Wellies will be required to access the work site.
John:t:
This Tuesday we will be moving to the FLASHES.
Primarily to assist Nick the Fox fencing Contractor.
This will involve us pruning the Blackthorn along the Meadow section of the Fencing.
We will also cut back blackthorn thicket that is encroaching on to the east shore of the 2nd Flash.
The reed bed in the meadow has been treated and should be dead now. So to create a more open vista to the benefit of breeding waders, we will brush cut the reeds and leave them in Situ..so NO RAKING8-P
Meet at the SAILING POOL car park 8.45 or at Flashes if you arrive later. Wellies will be required to access the work site.
John:t:
