Upton Warren (21 Viewers)

PS the Grebes didn't arrive in the cars!

Dave

BN Grebes still present as of 6.30pm

B N Grebes still at the Moors.

Des.

Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis

Black-necked Grebe is a rare winter and spring visitor to Upton Warren. The species is a fragmented breeder across much of Europe, including Britain (first in 1904; now between 21 and 49 pairs which is a slight reduction on the position 15 years ago) where Cheshire is their stronghold. There has been occasional breeding in the West Midlands region eg Essington Quarry with autumn dispersal to reservoirs such as Belvide Reservoir and Draycote Water along with other Midland waters (as illustrated by the long-staying 2003 occurrence). To date there have been 16 records of 21 birds at Upton Warren:-

10th April 1941 - 1 bird
10th August to 20th November 1948 - 1 bird
12th & 14th September 1948 - 1 bird (AJ Martin)
13th September 1952 - 1 bird (Fred Fincher)
24th November 1961 - 1 bird - Sailing Pool (Fred Fincher)
15th September 1966 - 1 bird (Trevor Trueman)
26th October 1971 - 1 bird (Arthur Jacobs)
3rd October 1975- 1 bird (Andrew Lowe)
9th April 1981 - 1 summer plumage adult (S Edrwards, Richard Harbird, Arthur Jacobs)
11th May 1991 - 2 summer plumage adults - The Flashes (Jim Brindle, Phil Clarke, Des Jennings, A Nolan, D Roberts)
29th August 1993 - 1 moulting adult - Moors Pool (Arthur Jacobs, Gavin Peplow)
27th to 28th October 1994 - 1 winter plumage - North Moors (Gordon Greaves, Des Jennings, Stuart Croft)
22nd April 1997 - 3 summer plumage adults - Moors Pool (Terry Hinett)
26th August to 9th September 2003 - juvenile - The Flashes (Gordon Greaves)
20th May 2004 - 2 summer plumage adults - Moors Pool (John Belsey)
25th May 2016 - 2 summer plumage adults - Moors Pool (Des Jennings)

The first record during 1948 was reported intermittently for over two months; it was joined by a second bird on two dates in September. The 1966 record coincided with a Black-necked Grebe also reported at Westwood Pool, possibly the same bird. The bird seen in 1971 was reported has have been calling constantly. The early 1990s saw four birds recorded in 3½ years whilst the 1997 occurrence saw two birds arrive in the late afternoon to be joined within an hour by a third, a peak count for the reserve. The pair recorded in 2004 appeared very settled during their one day stay, displaying and creating platforms from the floating pond weed in the emerging amphibious bistort. Such behaviour suggests that Black-necked Grebe’s addition to Upton Warren’s list of breeding birds is always a possibility, especially in light of the recent productive breeding seasons for Little Grebe. More recent times have seen the emphasis of records shift away from birds in the second half of the year, as seen in the 1940s through to the 1970s, to far more spring records (a pattern mirrored across the West Midlands region).

Black-necked Grebes showed today (Thanks to JB for the heads-up), unfortunately the pair stayed very much in the middle of the Moors pool giving little opportunity for a decent photo opportunity. Still great to see such birds.

A few heavily cropped pics.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/piedflycatcher/

Today's highlights:

MOORS:
Black-necked Grebe (2ad). Still present this evening.
Common Tern (6 inc 4 sitting birds)-----------Snipe (2)
Oystercatcher (4) + 1:3 chicks----------------Gadwall (5)
Shoveler (1m)----------------------------------Greylag Goose (2)
G C Grebe (3)-----------------------------------Little Grebe( four chicks on the Broadmeadow Pool)
Shelduck (2)------------------------------------Garden Warbler
Cetti's Warbler (2)

FLASHES:
Oystercatcher (2) + 3 chicks-------------------Avocet (40) + 1 chick
Lapwing (4:3:2:1 chicks)-----------------------Redshank (2)
Shoveler (6) + 21 chicks-----------------------Gadwall (pr)
LRP (4)------------------------------------------Herring Gull (2)

NORTH MOORS:
Goldcrest----------------------------------------Whitethroat
Water Rail---------------------------------------Gadwall (pr)
Kestrel-------------------------------------------Cetti's Warbler

Des.

To add to Des"s sightings.
Moors : Kestrel.
Water rail and young at start of west track and adult in front of concrete hide. Mistle Thrush singing. Goldcrest singing in front of lifestyles. Nuthatch along east track.
Swift 110. Sand martin 80+.

upstarts1979 said:

To add to Des"s sightings.
Moors : Kestrel.
Water rail and young at start of west track and adult in front of concrete hide. Mistle Thrush singing. Goldcrest singing in front of lifestyles. Nuthatch along east track.
Swift 110. Sand martin 80+.

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Would you presume that the Water Rail young was the same bird that Lee photographed on Sunday?

No sign of Grebes at Moors. anyone over the Flashes?

Phil Andrews said:

Would you presume that the Water Rail young was the same bird that Lee photographed on Sunday?

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Possibly it went into the ditch west of track. .but there are at least 2 calling along the NW section of causeway. Lee's bird was near no parking sign I think where one was calling yesterday. So could be 2 lots of young.

discors said:

No sign of Grebes at Moors. anyone over the Flashes?

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I checked the sailing pool & flashes - no sign

Breeding Survey

This year I am trying to do a thorough count of the breeding passerines. Now that the migrant sedge warblers have been dislodged by the breeding reed warblers those remaining are almost certainly breeding.
Any singing warblers finches and reed bunting you have noticed please let me know. It is usually better in the morning to do survey work, but reed bunting can also sing mid day.
If anyone wants any maps to assist monitoring I have plenty. With so many breeding birds this year it would be good to have the true numbers.:t: john

upstarts1979 said:

This year I am trying to do a thorough count of the breeding passerines. Now that the migrant sedge warblers have been dislodged by the breeding reed warblers those remaining are almost certainly breeding.
Any singing warblers finches and reed bunting you have noticed please let me know. It is usually better in the morning to do survey work, but reed bunting can also sing mid day.
If anyone wants any maps to assist monitoring I have plenty. With so many breeding birds this year it would be good to have the true numbers.:t: john

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Happy to help. Noticed both Song Thrush and Pied Wagtail this morning carrying food. I'm about this weekend if you want to keep some maps handy :t:

Gertatron said:

Happy to help. Noticed both Song Thrush and Pied Wagtail this morning carrying food. I'm about this weekend if you want to keep some maps handy :t:

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Cheers Gert. Species like chaffinch greenfinch are not common. All the data could go into 2016-2017 report and could be the new ' benchmark' for future surveys. It will also give us an idea on how our ma agent is affecting the breeding stock. :t:

upstarts1979 said:

Cheers Gert. Species like chaffinch greenfinch are not common. All the data could go into 2016-2017 report and could be the new ' benchmark' for future surveys. It will also give us an idea on how our ma agent is affecting the breeding stock. :t:

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Our ma agent? Mum is a spy?

upstarts1979 said:

This year I am trying to do a thorough count of the breeding passerines. Now that the migrant sedge warblers have been dislodged by the breeding reed warblers those remaining are almost certainly breeding.
Any singing warblers finches and reed bunting you have noticed please let me know. It is usually better in the morning to do survey work, but reed bunting can also sing mid day.
If anyone wants any maps to assist monitoring I have plenty. With so many breeding birds this year it would be good to have the true numbers.:t: john

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robin carrying food left of west hide into bushes also adult male giving food to adult female at car park end of track on monday.

upstarts1979 said:

This year I am trying to do a thorough count of the breeding passerines. Now that the migrant sedge warblers have been dislodged by the breeding reed warblers those remaining are almost certainly breeding.
Any singing warblers finches and reed bunting you have noticed please let me know. It is usually better in the morning to do survey work, but reed bunting can also sing mid day.
If anyone wants any maps to assist monitoring I have plenty. With so many breeding birds this year it would be good to have the true numbers.:t: john

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A very good idea, John. Could people also keep an eye out for birds using the nest-boxes? We have had reports from the North Moors but not much elsewhere on the reserve.

Peter

Yes any breeding records will be worth logging.
Tomorrow if you are on site could you log any wader activity. No oystercatcher chicks were seen on either side. This could be due to the limited amount of time the observer had. But any information would be appreciated .B john

Some time back up thread there was a discussion regarding the possibility of a solar farm between the A38 and M5 just north of Upton Warren village, accommodating nearly 34,000 solar panels. Just as an update, having been refused planning permission by both Wychavon and Bromsgrove District Councils (the site identified spans the two administrative areas), a subsequent appeal by the developer (Green Switch) to the Secretary of State for Communities has now also been rejected with the Planning Inspectorate supporting the original decision.

Ruff at the Flashes this morning as per Chris Thomson