• 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.

Elmdon Park (1 Viewer)

I'm new to the Forum and fairly new to birding so please be gentle with me. First visit to the Park since Solihull Council commenced their EU funded 'woodland management' measures and I have to say it looks like nuclear armageddon in places, I hope they know what they are doing ! Enjoyable spot of birding nevertheless. Nuthatch, Coal Tit, GS Woodpecker and Linnet around the lake. Mute Swan constantly chasing one of the feral geese. Reed Bunting showing well around the mini pond. Treecreeper and Grey Heron in the nature reserve and several Chiffchaff, Greenfinch and Goldfinch singing in the trees.
 
Hi OS,
I have visited Elmdon Park a couple times recently mainly looking for Kingfisher. They are along the brook. I saw one by the play area just down from the lake and the second time near the road at the end of the park.
Also check out the BTO website. It has reports for the park, that's how I knew about the Kingfisher.
 
Last edited:
My first West Midlands hirundine today along the Hatchford Brook, in the misty light, most likely a House Martin!
I think I probably have to run further towards the River Cole to find a Kingfisher here now.
 
Late morning walk around Elmdon Manor and Elmdon Lake produced 2 Grey Herons- one on Elmdon Manor Pool, the other at Elmdon Lake. A Little Egret was present at the Lake too. Other notable highlights were 4 Ring-necked Parakeet in Beech Trees close to St. Nicholas Church, 6 Linnets flew over the hill and 3 Siskin flew over the Lake. There are still 7 Mute Swans on the Lake- 2 parents and 5 almost fully grown cygnets.
 
Morning walk produced 10 redhead Goosanders, 4 very vocal Ring-necked Parakeets, 2 Grey Heron- one on the main Lake, the other at Elmdon Manor. Also 12 Redwing, 4 Fieldfare and there are still 7 Mute Swans on the main Lake- 2 adults and 5 cygnets.
 
Patch gold today in the form of a drake Eurasian Teal near the Island on Elmdon Lake. There were 12 redhead Goosanders present along with 2 Grey Herons. A Ring-necked Parakeet was heard calling from atop the hill.
 
Morning walk produced just the 2 redhead Goosanders, a female Tufted Duck, Grey Heron and a Little Grebe on the main Lake, which is unusual for this time of year. There were 4 very vocal Ring-necked Parakeets in the tall trees on Elmdon Hill and a pair of Bullfinches was present near the walled garden at Elmdon Manor. There are still 7 Mute Swans present- 2 adults and 5 virtually fully grown cygnets.
 
Morning walk produced 4 Ring-necked Parakeets. They were highly vocal as always and also fairly mobile as the local Jackdaws were giving them a hard time. Did look out for any evidence of the Parakeets investigating nest sites but didn't find any. A Little Grebe was still present on Elmdon Lake along with a single redhead Goosander. 3 Common Gulls flew over and 2 Siskins were present near St Nicholas Church. 2 adult Mute Swans along with 5 cygnets were still present on Elmdon Lake, although a dog did temporarily flush them. The 2 adults and 2 cygnets relocated to the New Pool whilst 3 of the cygnets flew away completely but fortunately returned 10 minutes later.
 
Late afternoon walk around the Lake produced 7 Goosander (1 male & 6 redheads), a male Tufted Duck, a Little Grebe still near the Island & 7 Mute Swan (2 adults & 5 cygnets still). 6 Ring-necked Parakeets flew across Elmdon Hil hotly pursued by local Jackdaws- 6 is my highest ever count for the patch and has led to me speculate on exactly how many Parakeets are present, as my previous highest total was 5.

The male Goosander departed the Lake along with 3 females at 1520, whilst the remaining 3 redheads departed at 1540.
 
Morning walk in between the showers produced 7 Mute Swan (2 adults & 5 cygnets still), 8 Goosanders (all redheads apart from 1 male)- although 3 redheads departed at 1000 heading SW. The Little Grebe was still present in the middle of the Lake. There were also 2 Grey Herons- one on the Lake and the other at Elmdon Manor. There were 3 Ring-necked Parakeets- interestingly I observed one of them actively checking out a potential nesting site in one of the Lime trees near St. Nicholas Church. Now I know where to look I shall keep an eye for any further evidence relating to breeding activity.
 
A late afternoon visit saw no real change. Still 8 Goosanders on the Lake- although this time the makeup was 2 males and 6 females. A Stock Dove at Elmdon Manor was the only addition to the day list.
 
First visit for a little while produced 5 Ring-necked Parakeets investigating holes & crevices in the old Sweet Chestnut tree. Also 2 redhead Goosanders on the Lake. Still 2 adult Mute Swans but now just 4 virtually fully grown cygnets. There were at least 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming in and around Elmdon Manor LNR.
 
First brief visit of the year just before dusk after twitching the Earlswood Common Scoter. The lake held 2 Grey Heron & 6 Mute Swan (2 adults and 4 virtually fully grown cygnets). No sign of any Goosander. 2 Ring-necked Parakeet flew over the Lake at 1555 and more were heard distantly. A Common Buzzard flew over, which inevitably resulted in it being mobbed by the local Jackdaws.
 
5 Goosander (1 male & 4 female) on the Lake this morning. Also Grey Heron present and apparently the Mute Swan cygnets have finally departed leaving just the 2 adults behind. Report courtesy of Paula Harvey.
 
I spent a couple of hours around Elmdon Park & Elmdon Manor nature reserve during early afternoon yesterday & saw 34 species of birds.
On the large pond in Elmdon Manor Nature Reserve next to Elmdon Park Road was a Little Grebe. This pond has been recently cleared of an evasive surface fern & I saw plenty of other woodland/garden birds around it.
Other species were: Pied Wagtail, Greenfinch, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Wood Pigeon, Feral Pigeon, Collared Dove (pair), Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Blackbird, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Goldcrest, House Sparrow, Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Greylag Goose, Lesser Black backed Gull, Black headed Gull, Common Buzzard, Ring-necked Parakeet, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Starling, Grey Heron and Chiffchaff.FB_IMG_1647727255006.jpgFB_IMG_1647729096836.jpg FB_IMG_1647738297612.jpgGrey Heron.
 
I visited Elmdon Park yesterday. On the lake were 2 female and one male Goosander, a male Shoveler, a male and female Mute Swan plus some Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Coots, Moorhens and Black headed Gulls.
Other species seen were a single Chiffchaff amongst a mixed flock of Blue Tits, Great Tits, a Coal Tit and Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Linnet, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Wren, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Long-tailed Tit, Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, Feral Pigeon, Buzzard - mobbed by Jackdaws, Jay, Blackbird, Redwing, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Carrion Crow, Lesser black backed Gull, Starling and Rose-ringed Parakeet.
 

Attachments

  • FB_IMG_1674911537419.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911537419.jpg
    50.9 KB · Views: 2
  • FB_IMG_1674911540278.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911540278.jpg
    59.4 KB · Views: 2
  • FB_IMG_1674911504502.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911504502.jpg
    83.6 KB · Views: 2
  • FB_IMG_1674911501855.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911501855.jpg
    58.1 KB · Views: 2
  • FB_IMG_1674911507272.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911507272.jpg
    38.4 KB · Views: 1
  • FB_IMG_1674911511327.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911511327.jpg
    61.7 KB · Views: 1
  • FB_IMG_1674911520413.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911520413.jpg
    55.9 KB · Views: 1
  • FB_IMG_1674911517644.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911517644.jpg
    58.7 KB · Views: 1
  • FB_IMG_1674911527992.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911527992.jpg
    24.3 KB · Views: 3
  • FB_IMG_1674911525288.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911525288.jpg
    48.1 KB · Views: 3
  • FB_IMG_1674911484840.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911484840.jpg
    37.5 KB · Views: 2
  • FB_IMG_1674911497778.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911497778.jpg
    86.8 KB · Views: 2
  • FB_IMG_1674911489072.jpg
    FB_IMG_1674911489072.jpg
    52.5 KB · Views: 3
Last edited:
I'm new to the Forum and fairly new to birding so please be gentle with me. First visit to the Park since Solihull Council commenced their EU funded 'woodland management' measures and I have to say it looks like nuclear armageddon in places, I hope they know what they are doing ! Enjoyable spot of birding nevertheless. Nuthatch, Coal Tit, GS Woodpecker and Linnet around the lake. Mute Swan constantly chasing one of the feral geese. Reed Bunting showing well around the mini pond. Treecreeper and Grey Heron in the nature reserve and several Chiffchaff, Greenfinch and Goldfinch singing in the trees.
Could you please tell me more explicitly about the "nuclear armageddon"? Destruction of habitat takes place unnecessarily far too much these days, making it ever harder for birds and other wildlife to survive (and then people wonder why they continue to disappear). I would deeply appreciate hearing from you via my e-mail: [email protected] And if anyone else has a similar "horror story" to share, I'd appreciate hearing from you as well. Thanks! Sincerely, Marlene
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top