• 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.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Coney Meadow and Adjoining Areas (2 Viewers)

He was :)
oooo bit of controversy a foot, someone's said he's a Willow Warbler.
If its little, brown and noisy I'm lost hehe.

Dark legs and less striking face indicate it is a Chiffchaff. There is currently only one Willow Warbler on the patch - and this photo is definitely not it. Hope this helps.
 
Birds seen over the bank holiday weekend:

Hobby and Lapwing today over Coney
Water Rails calling from the remaining reedbed
Tufted Duck at Porter's Mill
Pair of Gadwall over Tapenhall
Cuckoos widespread
2 Grey Herons
Sand Martins (2) and House Martins (c10) around Porter's Mill / Tapenhall and lots of Swallows
Further House Martins and Swallows around Droitwich / Copcut
2 Kestrels around Ladywood
Swifts
Little Owl showing well at Ladywood on Friday
Grey Wagtails
Reed and Sedge Warblers
Lesser and Common Whitethroats
Willow Warbler
Skylarks
Linnets (3) near Ladywood
Lots of Starling flocks - family parties with fresh juveniles
Juvenile Blackcaps and Robins
Coal Tits
Goldcrests
Mute Swans with 2 cygnets
Sparrowhawk and Buzzards
Ravens
Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers

A few Orange Tips amongst the common butterflies seen and my first Beautiful Demoiselles of the year.

Pic below from a few days ago - a slightly better one of the hepatic phase Cuckoo:
 

Attachments

  • Hepatic Cuckoo.jpg
    Hepatic Cuckoo.jpg
    330.3 KB · Views: 86
not much to add to woodchat's report, great photo of the Tawny owl chick Sarah well spotted:t:
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1237.JPG
    IMG_1237.JPG
    533.3 KB · Views: 74
  • IMG_1243.JPG
    IMG_1243.JPG
    422.4 KB · Views: 60
  • IMG_1261.JPG
    IMG_1261.JPG
    314.5 KB · Views: 64
Comparison of common migrant return dates

Comparison of return dates on the patch for a selection of species over the last 4 years:

Chiffchaff 01/04/12, 10/03/13, 25/01/14 (first singing 01/03/14), 09/03/15
Willow Warbler 02/04/12, 13/04/13, 04/04/14, 08/04/15
Grasshopper Warbler 28/04/12, 16/04/13, 05/04/14, 11/04/15
Sedge Warbler 19/04/12, 16/04/13, 13/04/14, 11/04/15
Reed Warbler 21/04/12, 17/04/13, 12/04/14, 14/04/15
Lesser Whitethroat 02/05/12, 13/04/13, 13/04/14, 22/04/15
Common Whitethroat 01/05/12, 20/04/13, 14/04/14, 18/04/15
Swallow 14/04/12, 13/04/13, 23/03/14, 12/03/15
House Martin 11/04/12, 14/04/13, 13/04/14, 06/04/15
Sand Martin 21/04/12, 14/04/13, 23/03/14, 04/04/15
Cuckoo 18/04/12, 17/04/13, 14/04/14, 14/04/15
Blackcap (singing) 10/03/12, 13/04/13, 05/01/14 (first singing 02/03/14), 23/02/15
Spotted Flycatcher 12/05/12, 31/05/13, 19/05/14, 13/05/15
Hobby 08/05/12, 02/05/13, 04/05/14, 21/04/15

I will try and expand this list to include Garden Warbler, Swift, Yellow Wagtail, Whinchat and Wheatear in due course.
 
Last edited:
Comparison of return dates on the patch for a selection of species over the last 4 years:

Chiffchaff 01/04/12, 10/03/13, 25/01/14 (first singing 01/03/14), 09/03/15
Willow Warbler 02/04/12, 13/04/13, 04/04/14, 08/04/15
Grasshopper Warbler 28/04/12, 16/04/13, 05/04/14, 11/04/15
Sedge Warbler 19/04/12, 16/04/13, 13/04/14, 11/04/15
Reed Warbler 21/04/12, 17/04/13, 12/04/14, 14/04/15
Lesser Whitethroat 02/05/12, 13/04/13, 13/04/14, 22/04/15
Common Whitethroat 01/05/12, 20/04/13, 14/04/14, 18/04/15
Swallow 14/04/12, 13/04/13, 23/03/14, 12/03/15
House Martin 11/04/12, 14/04/13, 13/04/14, 06/04/15
Sand Martin 21/04/12, 14/04/13, 23/04/14, 04/04/15
Cuckoo 18/04/12, 17/04/13, 14/04/14, 14/04/15
Blackcap (singing) 10/03/12, 13/04/13, 05/01/14 (first singing 02/03/14), 23/02/15
Spotted Flycatcher 12/05/12, 31/05/13, 19/05/14, 13/05/15
Hobby 08/05/12, 02/05/13, 04/05/14, 21/04/15

I will try and expand this list to include Garden Warbler, Swift, Yellow Wagtail, Whinchat and Wheatear in due course.

That's interesting- there's a definite trend to earlier arrivals. Some must be struggling this year with lack of insects.
 
That's interesting- there's a definite trend to earlier arrivals. Some must be struggling this year with lack of insects.

Yes - definitely seems to be a deficiency in flying insects (especially the larger ones) at the moment. However, there seem to be plenty of hairy caterpillars (esp. Drinker Moths) for the Cuckoos. I have watched them now for several evenings - flying down into the grass and scrub to catch them and their success rate seems to be high.
 
lots going on tonight Highlights .Water rail calling so to male and female cuckoo just for a short time but tops tonight calling at first then flying out of coney a single Lapwing.
pics 1 Droitwich green and pleasant land 2 Reed Bunting 3 & 4 Lesser white throat ???
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1295.JPG
    IMG_1295.JPG
    666.9 KB · Views: 64
  • IMG_1299.JPG
    IMG_1299.JPG
    604 KB · Views: 58
  • IMG_1294.JPG
    IMG_1294.JPG
    975.3 KB · Views: 72
  • IMG_1294 (2).JPG
    IMG_1294 (2).JPG
    201.6 KB · Views: 80
Last edited:
lots going on tonight Highlights .Water rail calling so to male and female cuckoo just for a short time but tops tonight calling at first then flying out of coney a single Lapwing.
pics 1 Droitwich green and pleasant land 2 Reed Bunting 3 & 4 Lesser white throat ???

Common Whitethroat, Tim - the legs appear pale (Lesser Whitethroat usually have dark greyish or black legs). Also, Lesser Whitethroats usually have a slightly darker grey head, especially around the ear-coverts. :t:
 
Common Whitethroat, Tim - the legs appear pale (Lesser Whitethroat usually have dark greyish or black legs). Also, Lesser Whitethroats usually have a slightly darker grey head, especially around the ear-coverts. :t:

yes sorry you are correct as normal what confused me was another photo I thought was the same bird
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1292 (2).JPG
    IMG_1292 (2).JPG
    459.9 KB · Views: 64
  • IMG_1292.JPG
    IMG_1292.JPG
    925.4 KB · Views: 51
Little Owl

Dave, good to chat with you this afternoon, photo of the Ladywood Little Owl as you suggested plus a Green Woodie from the same location, Alex
 

Attachments

  • LO.jpg
    LO.jpg
    398.3 KB · Views: 64
  • GW.jpg
    GW.jpg
    437.4 KB · Views: 51
all taken standing in the same spot, also top photo of the Little Owl Ravenwing:t:
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1307.JPG
    IMG_1307.JPG
    644.9 KB · Views: 52
  • IMG_1312.JPG
    IMG_1312.JPG
    245.2 KB · Views: 60
  • IMG_1317.JPG
    IMG_1317.JPG
    570.2 KB · Views: 49
  • IMG_1320 (2).JPG
    IMG_1320 (2).JPG
    467 KB · Views: 69
A pair of Tufted Ducks were on Tapenhall fishing pool on Saturday morning. Other than that, just the usual stuff and fairly quiet.

79 species were recorded on the patch in May.
86 species recorded in April.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top