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

Withymoor - Amblecote, Stourbridge..... (1 Viewer)

Quiet around Lakeside Pool. Dinnertime. 8 drake; 2 female Tufted Ducks; 2 Adult Lesser Black backed Gulls; Aprox 50 Black Headed Gulls; Green Woodpecker flew from tree towards railway Line. Male Sparrow Hawk flew over.
Lot Colder Today.
 
Mary Stevens Park - Thur 21st Feb - ca1630........

Nothiing of note on Wed so no post.

Yesterday saw the presence of 3 female Goosander and a pair of Tufties.

NB - The records of Goosander, as i have stated, are the first that i have recorded in there in the 2 years that i have looked regularly at the pool.

There might or might not be more Goosander around this Winter but the species is present at local pools every Winter. I would like to think that the recent birds have 'found' MSP as another useful site for roosting and feeding and will now be a seasonal feature - time will tell...

Laurie:t:
 
Goosander's still at Mary Stevens Park today, hiding under the trees in the snow flurries.
Spotted this in Express and Star, seems very strange, have a look in the letters page "Still the thrill of spotting bird species rare to British skies" pg 9
 
Cannot find the article online - the site does not seem to have a 'search' facility!

Goosander now up to 4 femles @ 1630 with the pair of Tufties.......

Laurie :t:
 
Sun 24 Feb - Mary Stevens Park - Ca1530........

Black Headed Gull - Ca150
Goosander - 4 females still present
Tufted Duck - a 3rd bird (male) has now joined the Male and Female

Laurie :t:
 
Sun 25 Feb (the above post should be Sat 24, soz).

Withymoor - Ca1330

Quiet, no large Gulls and no Tufties, ca25 BlackHeads......dire......

Mary Stevens Park - 1600

Goosander 2 females
Tufties - male and female only
BHG - ca125 birds, noticeably more with Summer-type hoods.

Laurie -
 
Tue 26 Feb.......-

Withymoor - Ca1400

BHGulls - Ca30
Tufties - 1 of each gender
Redwing - overflying
LBBGull - 2 ad in spanking plumage, no streaking, looking crisp

Mary Stevens Park - Ca1630

BHGull - ca125
Goosander - 4 females
Tufty - single Male noted

In addition a pair of Mute Swans were seen overflying the ring-road, these birds were sub-adults with just a slight browning on the wings, they are not birds seen at the 2 above sights.

Laurie:t:
 
Wed 27 Feb.......

Mary Stevens Park Ca1630

Mild with a good number of species singing.

BHGulls - Ca150
LBB Gull - single adult
Goosander- only 1 female noted.

Laurie -
 
Sat 2nd March - 1300/1615......

A few hours bimbling about with the dogs on a glorious Spring day. It's nice to be out and about with the Sun on the back of your neck even if there's not much about. which there was'nt. Having said that, a good range of species now singling.

West Hagley Fields -

Buzzard, mixed Corvids etc and Yellowhammers.

Again, a good percentage of the fields are now tilled which bodes well for passage Wheatears and Wagtails if the weather brings them down. Last year our best spell of weather was during the early passage period and i only recorded a single male Wheatear. Mind you there was a Cream Coloured Courser in Herefordshire which made up for it:eek!:

Mary Stevens Park -

Single Goosander (female) of note.

Laurie:t:
 
For those of you who got to see the 'bird of the decade' here's some memories and for those that did'nt........

First record of a Spring male, the setting at Bradnor Hill was simply stunning and the weather was in the upper 20's which made it feel very 'summery' which in fact is what it turned out to be....

Link below -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsJbCQpfXXw

Laurie:t:
 
Sun 3rd March - Mary Stevens Park...

A bit brighter this aftnn ca1600 -

Black headed Gull - ca150
Goosander - 4 females present
Cormorant - a surprise and the 2nd record this year and not the previous bird which was an adult - this bird imo was a 2cy/1w bird showing brown 'mottling' on the upper breast and pale White on the lower breast.

Laurie:t:
 
Mon 4th Mar.............

Very Spring-like, still a tad cool with the wind from the North which will have a blocking effect on any early migrants. There is some very wet and violent weather over Central/Southern Iberia at present with these conditions moving into Southern France and Northern Italy so it will be interesting to see if there is any knock-on effect birdwise over here.

Mary Stevens Park -

Goosander - now 5 females present.
BHGulls - ca250
LBBGull - single adult

West Hagley Fields -

Ploughing continues apace with the larger % of the fields now tilled and looking good for the first migrants should any appear. There is a new water pipeline that is in progress (sort of) and anybody looking at the area at the junction of County Lane and the stables with the sandy path leading up to the treatment should check the 'pool' that has gathered there over the Winter. This is where water naturally drains to but is usually visible as just damp soil but now the ground has been scraped it is a sizeable pool and might attract drinking birds......

Not much to report - parties of Linnets and Yellowhammers, a handful of Stock Doves and lots of gulls following the Plough, mainly Blackheads but one or two LBB's as well.

A couple of Buzzards were noted and one in particular was strikingly 'pale'. 2 or 3 years ago there were 3 of these birds present with a darker 'normal' individual. I presume they were siblings from the same clutch as their pale colouration was very noticeable so this could be one of the same birds still around?

I post a distant picture of the bird with a couple of Carrion Crows to show the contrast.

Laurie:t:
 

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Tue 5th March............

A glorious day, perhaps the first and last day of Summer?

West Hagley Fields 1430-1545 -

Tilling of the remaining fields continues apace. The large field adjacent to the route of the water pipeline with the 'pool' in had a large amount of roosting Gulls. I estimated about 500+, the bulk of which were Black Headed. In amongst them were about 30 Lesser Black Backs and several Herring Gulls. Alone, on the edge of the group was a single 1st Winter Common Gull which was a nice surprise. There were another 100+ bird following one of the tractors.

Yellowhammer/Chaffinch - mixed flock of ca75 birds.
Raven - 2 singles.
Buzzard - 3 different birds including a pale individual (see above).
Kestrel - female noted.

Mary Stevens Park 1600-1630.

Black Headed Gull - ca150
LBB Gull - single adult
Goosander - 2 females present
Tufted Duck - male and female

Walking back at about 7 o'clock last nite i caught a few high-pitched yelps in my peripheral hearing. The sort of thing you pick up when you are not concentrating and thinking about other things. I stopped and then the series of calls were heard twice more, moving North. Instantly i was taken back to my last birding break in Maroc endNov/beginningDec last year. That is where i last saw and heard wintering Whimbrel. Maybe this bird has spent the last few months there and where is it heading now? Who knows, either way it is the icing on the cake for somebody based in the Black Country and the first sign of Spring migration, roll on the first Wheatears in what has been a long Winter with no let up......

Laurie:t:
 
Mary Stevens Park 6Mar

Single Female Goosander and a pair of Tufties were the only birds of note on a markedly cooler day -

Withymoor -

Single Male Blackcap feeding near Railway line -

Weather going further downhill every day this week until at least the beginning of next week with showers and periods of longer rain, much cooler temperatures and Snow returning to the North.

Let's hope Spring returns unless it was Summer we just had.............

Laurie:t:
 
Mary Stevens Park - Thur 7 Mar - ca1600.......

A quick bimble, bumped into another birder with his dog,,,,,,looking for 'reported' Goosander. That's the 2nd 'other' birder i've seen around the park this week!

The Goosander seem to have gone, that's two clear days now, however, the imminent arrival of Wintery conditions might mean a bit of localised movement. The pair of Tufties have also scarperd as well.

All was not lost as, in addition, to the 2 regular adult Lesser Black-Backed Gulls there were 2 2nd-Winter birds and a single 1st-Winter Herring Gull. It's nice to see a few more of the 'big boys'. They had a supporting cast of about 75 Black Headed Gulls in various plumages and both singing Goldcrest and Nuthatch adjacent......

Laurie :t:
 
I am planning to do a local park run on Monday to take in Withymoor, The fens, Netherton res, Mary steven park (if poss) or leasows park will update with species seen in these area's possibly monday evening late or early tuesday morning.

Any good tips on where to see the species mentioned on here would be a great help, as I won't be taking my big camera just Bins and a small camera
 
Adrian - i am doing a local 'run' today - taking in FensPools, Withymoor, NethertonRez amd Mary Stevens Park. I will post spp of note later on today.

Laurie:t:
 
Sun 10th Mar -

1100 -1300 - a quick dash around with the dogs as it was so cold, did'nt manage Fens Pools as it was starting to snow and the visibility had dropped.

Quiet all round with no numbers of Gulls and very little in the way of duck.

Netherton Rez -

Tufted Duck - 2 male 1 female.
LBB Gull - 5 adults
Herring Gull - 2 first-Winter birds present.
BH Gull - ca25 birds.

Withymoor -

Tufted Duck - an increase to 7 males and 5 females.
BH Gull - ca100 birds.
LBB Gull 6 adults.
Herring Gull - 1 adult and 1 first-Winter bird.

Mary Stevens Park -

BH Gull - ca150
LBB Gull - 2 ad
Goosander - 6 females and 2 females.

Best of luck with the weather today Adrian it's going to be grim with the windchill factor........

Laurie :t:
 

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