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

Upton Warren (16 Viewers)

Black Tern (juv) on the Sailing Pool as per the Peplows

Still there at 6:22pm before flying the Moors Pool. Also Little Gull reported on the Sailing Pool (what age Vern?)
 
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Today's twitch

What a great day all round. Well done Andy P and Phil W for finding the bird and the 200 or so people that twitched it. Thanks also to the Sailing centre for allowing us to use the overflow car park. The only problem was someone driving at high speed into the car park. The Sailing centre staff were a bit concerned and rightly so, that with children around this could have ended up being a nasty incident. So please remember at all times drive cautiously when entering the car park. Also in future use the overflow in the event of the next rarity. Also you might not be aware that there is a cafe in the sailing centre building. This could be the Nancy's of Worcestershire, so please try and drop in for a cuppa, Nick the owner sells permits for us, so its good to return the favour.
Finally the gates are closed at 8pm so park in the car park (when empty-ish)
rather than on the road. You won't be locked in ...honest;) John
 
Full list of today's birds at Flashes
Teal c70, shoveler 58, mallard c60, coot 26, water rail, Avocet, green sand, common sand, little stint, Black tailed godwit 2, lapwing c150, curlew 18, snipe 13 (incl Moors), BHG 1200, common gull juv, LBBG 300+, Herring gull 25, Black Tern juv, Raven, jay 2, green woodp, great sp woodp, stock dove 90ish, Kestrel, peregrine, sprwk, buzzard 3, RED BACKED SHRIKE, redstart , lesser whitethroat 3, blackcap 6, whitethroat, sedge w 3, reed w, chichaff 10+, cettis w, goldcrest, starling c120, linnet/goldfinch c250, bullfinch 4, grey wag 2, pied wag 6, meadow pipit.
 
Despite ten hours spent on the reserve I only have a very short list of birds, not helped by the fact the Andy P's phone call lured me away from the Moors Pool after only 45 minutes). Padded out with others sightings:

MOORS POOL
13 Lapwing, 10 Snipe, 5 Teal, 2 GC Grebe, 5+ Little Grebe, c150 Coot, 17 Moorhen, c50 Tufted Duck, 2 Mute Swan + 2 cygnets, 8 Cormorant, 2 Grey Heron, Little Egret, Green Woodpecker, 2 GS Woodpecker, 2 Goldcrest on east track, OTTER swam across pool to east shore, Kingfisher, good numbers of all three hirudines

SAILING POOL
5 Tufted Duck, 15 Coot, 4 GC Grebe + 2 young, 2 Mute Swan, Black Tern briefly this evening, Little Gull reported, Swift lingered around midday, Grey Wagtail, Kingfisher, Cetti's Warbler

FLASHES
2 Black-tailed Godwit, 11 Curlew, 1 Avocet, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, Little Stint (juv), 5 Snipe, c100 Lapwing, 70+ Teal, 58 Shoveler, 26 Coot, 25 Moorhen, Water Rail, 2 Mute Swan, Little Egret (presumably same as Moors), Baltic Gull, Common Gull, RED-BACKED SHRIKE, Redstart (male), 2+ Lesser Whitethroat, 2+ Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Raven, Kestrel, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Hobby, Peregrine, Meadow Pipit, mixed flock of c250 finches, c75 Stock Dove, c150 Starling
 
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Trust work party

Tomorrow the Trust will be having a work party at the Flashes and will continue on Wed and Thurs this week. This is preparation work for the forthcoming grazing animals.
 
Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio

A number of visitors today asked about the status of Red-backed Shrike at Upton Warren. Hostorically the species was widespread in Worcestershire in the nineteenth century but last bred in the county on the Malvern Hills in 1962. In modern recording times there have been four records: There have been three records:-

11th September 1966 - male (Paul Hyde)
18th June 1977 - male at the Moors Pool (Arthur Jacobs, Roger Maskew)
3rd October 1999 - juvenile at the Flashes (Jim Roberts et al)
14th September 2015 - female at the Flashes (Phil Wood, Andy Pitt)

Unfortunately little is known about the historic 1966 record. The second sighting and the first since Upton Warren became a reserve, a full spring male, was seen in the field alongside the track to the Moors farm house and barn conversions. The 1999 bird was found during the first work party of the 1999/2000 programme and stayed just the one day, from its discovery at 3:00 pm until dusk, giving just reward to those work party regulars who frequently give up their time to help develop the reserve – in total 40 to 50 birders managed to see the bird. John Belsey’s description of the bird published in The Birds of Upton Warren 1999 was as follows:-

Size: An inch or so bigger and heavier, with a proportionally larger, more rounded head than a nearby Reed Bunting and appearing “bull necked”.
Plumage: Its head was mid-brown with fine crescent markings, more predominately on the forehead (best seen when close to). From a distance a facial mask was apparent, formed by darker brown feathers on the lores and ear coverts. The nape, coverts, mantle and remiges were all fairly uniform mid-brown, liberally scattered with obvious small dark and pale crescents, being more extensive on the wing coverts. The tail was fairly long and frequently cocked, being mid-brown with a brighter base and rump that appeared to have a chestnut wash and darker crescents. The under-parts appeared to be a buffish off-white colour with brown crescents on the upper flanks, the rest appearing uniform and clean. An obvious long, broad white crescent separated the head from the shoulders.
Bare parts: The eyes were dark brown. The bill was dark brown at the tip with a pale yellowish base. At times it fed in a flycatcher fashion, hovering and darting to catch bees and other insects.
 
Nice one Andy & Phil, shame it wasn't last week 😉 At least I saw the last one, so not too gutted. Seems to be a 'red' year this year - RNG, Roseate & RBS. Maybe a RTP when I get back?!!
 
Probably just clutching at straws but if I wasn't stuck at work, I would probably try walking up the public footpath past the transmitters. There are fairly large areas of scrub, bushes and long grass around there which are fenced off but easily viewable from the path. Just thinking that it could be a nice, suitable area for the Shrike to relocate to....
 
Stupid question (as always with me) but has anyone ever seen a kingy hover literally like a kestrel before plunging into the water? I've just witnessed this at RSPB Radipole Lake and was gobsmacked!!!! As if they weren't fast enough!!!
 
the juveniles @ Brandon are quite adept at hovering - although I wonder if this is contributing to the couple that have been picked off by sparrowhawks this year
 
work party today

At the North Moors we cut back some large willows that are starting to shade out the scrub area in the NW corner. This area is popular with blackcap, chiffchaff, sedge and cetti's warbler. But is staring to degrade and would have soon be useless for scrub birds. The willows were coppiced and the brash was used to create more dead hedges and ultimately more scrub habitat.
Thanks to Bobby P, Dave H, Peter E, Ray C, Roger, Terry W, Charles and to a lesser extent me. Also forgot to mention...thanks to Bobby P for the cakes:eat:
pic 1 before willows were cut.
2. after
3. dead hedging at NE corner of trail

At the Flashes, Andy H and myself retrieved the data loggers that have been placed in each of the 3 Flash pools. These are monitoring salinity, water levels and other aspects of the pools. This information will be used along with other info to hopefully form a plan of rejuvenation for the Flashes.
 

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