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

Another good morning. Whittington. Good views of Ring Ouzle on path, also on fence.
Pam's daughter put me onto a flyover Yellow Wagtail.
Num Corn Buntings in erea, skylarks , 2Grey Partridge over as well.
Nice to have a chat with Pam & family.
Once again scum have won the Vote to Shoot any thing in sight.
What a Disgrace, this world is. Soon be devoid of any Wildlife. Then they can Shoot each other. Hopefully.

Paul Allan Legge said:

Another good morning. Whittington. Good views of Ring Ouzle on path, also on fence.
Pam's daughter put me onto a flyover Yellow Wagtail.
Num Corn Buntings in erea, skylarks , 2Grey Partridge over as well.
Nice to have a chat with Pam & family.
Once again scum have won the Vote to Shoot any thing in sight.
What a Disgrace, this world is. Soon be devoid of any Wildlife. Then they can Shoot each other. Hopefully.

Click to expand...

Was nice to meet you Paul!! I think the Yellow Wagtail was flying at double speed today in the blustery conditions!!

The Ring Ouzel was a treat to see, it tended to favour the more sheltered parts of the field and was happily feeding away when we left. A Corn Bunting was also seen perched on the wires and two Male Wheatears were seen in the same sheep field as yesterday.

Hope they stick around for you Laurie!

One Wheatear seen on the first horse paddock near the junction of the public bridleway and Sugar Loaf Lane first thing this morning. ( as per Laurie's map. ) pleased to have connected with the Ring Ouzel and Yellow Wags. locally today as well.

The breeze having moderated ystda so i cycled over to the Turbine Cottage fields and track. My last visit was a week or so ago just prior to the arrival of several species:C

First sighting was a pair of suspicious characters standing by the track gate but they were garnished each in a pair of 'Swaros, the first i've seen this year, let's hope one 'Swaro does not a Summer make - sorry!. It was Eric Phillips and Kinver Jim, so the cud was chewed, ID issues resolved, a healthy bit of character assassination and "what's about"? It still surprises me how the very few birders that you see are still prepared to walk past without so much a hello or an exchange of information? Perhaps they are the same birders that twitch in a car full of petrol on their own with their music on and SatNav for company....

For some reason they were looking at 3 very distant Wheatears in a sheep field, perhaps they had already had closer views? The Ring Ousel was mentioned but had not been seen and somebody had reported a Redstart in a nearby hedge. I made my farewell and ambled off past the Wheatears which had moved over the brow and chained my bike securely and off up the higher fields to the dung area. A fruitless 1/2 hour and upon returning saw a 'blob' on a nearby telephone line en-route to 'Handkerchief Barn' for those that know the area. As expected it was a Corn Blob 'jingling' away to itself. The first i have seen there. Back to the sheep field which finally gave up 3 Wheatears, 2m1f and the unreported male Yellow Wagtail. All very nice but no cigar - it was the Ring Ousel i wanted to see, the last one i saw was an Autumn migrant in Southern Morocco about 3 years ago!

I am, however, grateful for small mercies and anything of note is a Red Letter day around here including Eric Phillips - it's not often you bump into a local birder that found a 1st for Britain so i made the most of it by asking him to recount it with Kinver Jim nodding approvingly I only have a 2nd for Britain in my quiver (was a 1st but got downgraded in retrospect) and my fields notes were mysteriously replaced by somebody elses so i never got credited but i know where the bodies are buried.....Oh and i'm not bitter, honestly

Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and Blackcaps locally so Spring is suddenly here, 2 very nice days now - promise of a superb afternoon in the Mids followed by possibly the hottest day thus far of the year. I will make the most of it whilst the wage-slaves have to make do with forums and social net-working during works time!

Laurie:t:

Attached - the 2 male Wheatear and a Corn Blob.

They're off - thousands of migrant birds, hundreds of frustrated little men and one EU derogation.....The annual #MaltaSlaughter will get under way and for several weeks the island will sound like the Germans are attacking it.....again!

A leading proponent is Mark Mifsud Bonnici - he got a kicking on the Birdguides forum last year, i pride myself on being a major putter-of-the-boot in.

'Marky' is the head of the St Hubert Hunters (Catholic patron saint of killing migrating birds and any othe 'wammals') a shady quasi-paramilitary organisation whose origins are steeped in mystery. He claims to be an expert on all things ornithological and an authority on the tools required to kill them.

I find this picture both disturbing and deeply worrying.

Mark! It's the other end of the gun you are supposed to hold mate?

Laurie:t:

2 Wheatear seen on horse paddocks (off Sugar Loaf Lane) Iverley this evening.

A nice day altho the breeze, in the afternoon, was moderate and still had a cool edge to it imo. Today promises to be rather nice and it certainly was @ 0630, i did a 1 hour circuit of the local scrub/shelterbelts/river with the usual suspects i.e. Blackcap (a few) and 1 each of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. I had close, perched, views of a male Sparrowhawk - it's eyes were neither Orange or Yellow and the barring on the breast was buff, not Orange and indistinct, presume a 1st Summer type? It flew off and was joined by a much larger female.

Yesterday i popped in to Mary Stevens Park and was surprised to find a pair of Tufted Duck. This species has only been noted, by me, a handful of times over the Winter. It was then off over to West Hagley and "The Thrilling Fields"!

Upon arrival the 'best' field was being 'harrowed' by the local farmer. What a pain, the bloke actually working his own land whilst i am trying to find a
goodie! This all created a lot of dry dust, Crows were flying thru it and emerging as Brown-Necked Ravens.....I wish. None of this seemed to worry the 3 female Wheatears present but it did flush a very 'Silvery' Wagtail which, fortunately, landed briefly in the next field and turned out to be a rather nice White Wagtail. It then flew off into the distance:C

A lone Swallow hawked around the Widdowson barns and i crossed the main Worcester Lane road to check the bare field and take a picture of the only wild native Black Poplars that i am aware of in the locale. The distinct 'lean' of the species is more apparant before the leaves area out. This group are relatively young and this feature becomes more accentuated with age.

Sighting of the day has to be a pair of sinister-looking Apache attack helicopters. I had seen them, briefly over Stourbridge earlier in the day and they chose to return over The Thrilling Fields at about 300 feet:eek!:

The presence of a Great Blue Heron on the Magic Isles hasn't generated a lot of chat, a lot of people must need it but is suppose Herons/Egrets are a bit like Duck not quite pulse-racing enuff if you have to go a distance and cough up for a ferry as the Scillies seem to be fogbound @ present for the landing of light aircraft.

Laurie:t:

Attached - Tufties, Apaches and Black Poplars.

Did Walton Hill this morning , warm & pleasant.
Not much in way of migrants. Willow Warblers in good numbers, ChiffChaffs. Pair of Nuthatch, Gt Spot Woodpecker.
Linnets in good numbers, Meadow Pipits.
Talking to a couple, who had 4 Ring Ouzles early morning on pathway as you reach top.
Did have 3 Male Wheatears on slope Clent. 2 Swallows around Farm.
Did hear about Hoopoe seen at Grimley, but not seen later.

A very productive couple of hours spent over at The Thrilling Fields. A minimum total of 18 Wheatears recorded:eek!: 7 birds on the County Lane field and 11 on the Worcester Lane field. These 2 fields have been disc-harrowed over the last 2 days and are the only bare ones left. This should concentrate birds that are passing thru? Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Swallow were other migrants noted. Also Meadow Pipit, Buzzard, and both Green/Greater Spotted Woodpecker.....

There were only about 4 females in total with a lot of really smart-looking males present. This is close to the record 22 birds recorded about 6 years ago. In the intervening years i had one blank Spring and 2 with only 2/3 birds recorded. Some Springs the weather must be a factor and birds just pass thru, suitable fields are usually available at the right time. My White Wagtail the other day was a first, for me, for about 4 years when i had 3 birds together.

No photos as i left the (brides birthday present) digital camera down at Withymoor and do not anticipate it being handed in anytime soon:C

Laurie:t:

#maltaslaughter.......+++Breaking+++News+++

Dogs Bollocks Maltese pro-hunting and "conservation" organisation FKNK secures EU funding for dedicated "Gunship" - just in time for the 2015 Spring hunting season.....

Laurie:t:

Hi guys

First post on this thread, having been introduced to it by Laurie. I live in Norton, Stourbridge near to the Iverley Park Farm. Been patching the Iverley area (Sugar Loaf Farm, IP Farm, Crown Lane) for a few years now along with my dad. Just a few records from this year that might be of interest:

09/01/15. Iceland Gull 3w, 1 Common Gull, 1 GBBGull - Crown Lane
23/01/15 Yellow-legged Gull ad - Crown Lane
06/04/15 Osprey - vis-mig from Sugar Loaf Lane
11/04/15 Tree Pipit, 2 Greylag Goose - vis-mig from Sugar Loaf Lane
12/04/15 R.Ouzel fem. - Whittington (probably seen by many of you)
13/04/15 Redstart male, White Wagtail male - Sugar Loaf Farm
14/04/15 Golden Plover - vis-mig from Sugar Loaf Lane

Yellow Wagtail - 3 separate records so far this year from IP Farm, SL Farm and Whittington

Corn Bunting - had a large wintering flock around IP Farm, that numbered up to 40!! They were pretty elusive and flighty and there are still the odd individuals in the area atm, with a few singing.

Other sightings of note mostly from vis-mig have included Cormorant, Peregrine, Goosander, Lapwing, Sand Martin, Wheatear

Unfortunately have had to return to university in Bristol for exams, so the area will not as be as thoroughly covered as it has been in the last few weeks over Easter. Which is a shame as spring passage is at its peak.

Regards James B-G

Not so good as Laurie today at Ounty John lane, County Lane erea.
Corn Bunting on wire, couple of Male Yellow Hammers, Num Linnets, Skylarks, my 1st White Wagtail of Yr.

Glad you have signed up Jim and how little i know! To think there is a wintering flock of Corn Buntings on my doorstep only just adjacent to where i scrat around searching for one, sometimes two, males in the Spring/Summer:eek!: I look forward to your updates on here altho i shall probably catch them first on Twitter

I didn't venture out until the sun broke thru at about 2pm ystda.

Had a quick stint(!) around Sugar Loaf Farm where there are a few paddocks devoted to "Horsiculture" some scruffy fields with good hedgerows and large trees and at present a recently prepared field with very deep furrows for spuds. The latter luks good for passage passerines but will need to be viewed from several angles as it looks flat until you change your perspective and then it looks like a World War 1 trench-system.

Blackcap and Chiffchaff with a couple of hawking Swallows and a Little Owl barking in the mid-distance, first i have heard for quite some time.

1600-1800

Over to the Thrilling Fields and more warblers but not Willow, a couple of Swallows must have arrived at the local barns and far less Wheatears today. A pair on the County Lane side and 2m1f on the Worcester Lane field. A far cry from ystda but it shows how transient and dynamic the situation is on a daily basis. Paul had been up prior to me, in the morning, and had scored a White Wagtail but i did'nt note one unfortunately:C

A nice find was a male Whitethroat in the hedge by the water works and then another bird a few hundred yards away. The first bird was picked up emitting a sort of sub-song. Initially it was subdued and not scratchy and i had to think poss Garden Warbler but looking at the habitat and seeing Whitethroat every year in the hedges it had to be but as is usual at this time of year i need to see, visually, every new spp of the season. These birds have only just arrived and presumably might move on and so if not setting up a territory might not indulge in the classic Whitethroat acitivity? I always try to locate and see the first few (if i'm lucky to see or hear more than a handful) Garden Warbler(s). I still get fooled by "gay" Blackcaps not giving it full throat - Born to make mistakes and proud to admit it. I had what a thought must be a "hooet" Chiffchaff the other day but it sounded a tad metallica, turned out to be the usual suspect.....a fookin' Great Tit! A singing male Corn Bunting made a nice addition.

Hoopoes seem to be widespread but Spring birds are usually highly mobile and i certainly would'nt travel more than down the road to try to see one altho they do add a splash of the Mediterranean to the verdant English landscape at this time of year. My abiding image of the species is a bird coming in off the sea @ Portland Bill more years ago than i care to remember........magic!

Whatever you are doing over the weekend......stop it, get out and find something and put the Midlands on the map.

Laurie:t:

Glad to hear you had Little Owl Laurie. 2 pairs used to breed in the area a couple of years ago, but I haven't seen any for a while, so it's nice to know they're still around!

Also, just to let people on this thread know, there is a WOOD WARBLER in the Norton covert this morning (9.30-9.45). Bird has broken into song around 3 times, and is a bit elusive. It has been in the trees below the top embankment.

What a difference a day makes.....

Couldn't get up to Norton Covert until 2:30 but only heard Blackcaps, Chiffchaff and woodland stuff. The reported Wood Warbler:eek!: was either resting or had moved on? The adjacent paddocks yielded zilch and further up the road at the old Sugar Loaf Tip there was a solitary Raven, the same warblers, Stock Dove and 3 Swallows at the farm.

The temperature was deceptively cool with an 'edge' to the breeze which made it, for me, uncomfortable for birding:C The West Hagley Fields were devoid of birds. No 'throats seen or heard and not a single Wheatear. These birds do move on so i'm not surprised. The 2 favoured fields have now been deep-ploughed for spuds. This makes working them time-consuming as each furrow has to be checked, they are about 12" deep so if anything is there it can hide very easily indeed.

The upside is that there will be local "Pomme de Terre" to liberate in the Autumn - they always taste better, Mmmmmm

Earlier on in the day Withymoor was visited for possible Common Sandpiper but proved fruitless also nothing of note on Heath Pool, Mary Stevens Park - ho-hum i wonder what the weekend will bring? Sat looks the best day, Sunday cooler and cloudier.

The annual #maltaslaughter is in the news, and rightly so, it needs to be borne in mind that there are sad, sick, dickheads living amongst us. A magnificent female White-Tailed Eagle has been found poisoned on its nest in Connemara.....How can somebody indiscriminately do this? Can they sleep at night? Of course they can, 3 x hail-f#ucking-Mary's and it's business as usual.!

http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0417/694805-eagle/

Laurie:t:

After the relative excitment of local birding on Thursday it's "business as usual" on Friday and it's back from the grim reality of birding the West Hagley Fields.....

Laurie:t:

Work today. But while outside Sainsburys, had brilliant views of Red Kite.
Flying low over Amblecote Football pitches, heading towards Brierley Hill way. 13:45.

Just catching up with BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House.....

For those unfamiliar, it's a weekly magazine programme on current affairs and topical subjects. For some reason they alway put up a short quiz, usually based on bird song, and ask listeners to connect it with a headline issue.

There isn't a quiz this week but a nice little 3 minute vignette on the humble Wren but slowed down and analysed by a BBC wildlife sound recorder whos local patch is Kielder Forest in Northumberland. Most of us will have heard 'slowed down' Trogs before but this is super-slowed and becomes something more akin to tropical birds found in rain forests - worth a listen?

It's the time segment 16:30 - 19:15.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05qygcb

Yesterdays Stilts @ Muddleton looked to have gone but someone has just posted some pics.:eek!: on Twitter.

Laurie:t:

Following on from yesterdays "Rain Forest" Wren here's a link to a 13-minute interview on BBC Radio 3 "Composers Rooms" featuring the same Chris Watson. From 'Cabaret Voltaire' to BBC Wildlife - fascinating!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02npwg1

Laurie:t:

An hour or so before breakfast taking in scrub, woodland and a bit of river produced Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs with resident stuff.

4 hours in the afternoon (1400-1800) and nothing to write home about, a beer in the Stourbridge 'Spoonz' wasn't a celebration just re-hydrationB

A 1S LBB @ MSPark and the first Willow Warblers of the day on Stourbridge Golf Course - if only Magpies were Hoopoes. The "Thrilling Fields" over at West Hagley have presumably seen the bulk of the Wheatear passage now. Stragglers and 'Greenland' types in a couple of weeks. A single male Whitethroat was churring in the same section of hedge as the other day. The security gate left open at the Water Pumping Station allowed more extended views of the pool - Just a male Mallard but it is the only bit of open water between MSPark and Brake Lane Pools so is worth a look, either inside or outside the fence.

Cross country to Hurcott, plenty of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs and a Willow Warbler. Nothing to speak of on the pool (as usual) but 1/2 an hour with a cigar yielded 2 prob 3 singing Reed Warblers which was a new spp for the year.

Off to Grimmers at 11 this morning - first visit of the year so.....watch this space

I am doing something i haven't done for 15 years? Proper Job? Don't be silly. Buy a round of drinks? Who me! The bride a present? She doesn't need any, she's got me! Nah, i'm actually going to vote:eek!:

I would like to support a party dedicated to birding and so will be putting up posters all over town.....

Laurie:t: