Sedgley Beacon (1 Viewer)

midlands birder · Apr 9, 2013

A great little site, and as one of the highest points in the midlands, and certainly for a fair few miles around, this place has to do the business sometimes!
Have been visiting a few times over the winter scouting the site out to little reward, but was looking forward to migration times, and was happy this morning when as I walked on site I met a fellow birder who had told me he had been watching a female RING OUZEL on the NW side of the hill. I quickly located a 2nd bird (with an obvious white speckled head), and eventually we located the birds down in a field. However, from my views i'm not entirely convinced either was a female bird. The closer 'speckled' bird was an obvious male, however the more distant bird on the other side of the field also seemed to have a bright white chest patch and little hint of any greyness.

So there was 100% 2 birds up there, but both (in my view) seemed to be males, so does that mean there could be a possible 3rd bird up there?

A photo of the more distant bird (Male or female?)

MB

rollingthunder · Apr 10, 2013

An under-watched area or under-reported? The area has changed since the building of the underground reservoir. I played on the site as a kid and went inside a good number of times (as kids do!). The Wolverhampton side is still 'rougher' as i remember. Local tethered horses keep the grass down in some areas. As for the other two fields on the Sedgely side, one is/was heavily paddocked for 'horsiculture' and the other one is mown short and used a lot by dog-walkers. In the mid-70's me and an uncle of mine located 17 Sklyark nests on this field alone. This was when it was a more diverse mix of deciduous grasses that meant more tussocks. Botanically the area is worth looking at down in the series of small valleys left over from quarrying Lime for slaking. The strata is Silurian, a product of a reef when we were much further South.

Nice to hear of some Rouzels had plenty of Wheatears in the past but don't get there these days.

Below is a picture of the 'Beacon' watchtower, used to look for the warning fires indicating raiders from..........Wales allegedley

Incidentally the top of this tower is supposed to be 666' high - the mark of the beast.

Finallly, my Grandad used to help get crops in off of these fields during the war. They were some of the highest regularly cultivated fields in lowland Britain (below 1000') most cultivation takes place below 500'. He can remember Corncrakes breeding on there:eek!:

Laurie:t:

midlands birder · Apr 10, 2013

Went up onto the Beacon again this morning in the hope of having the Ouzels again. After 1 1/2 hours with no sign it was time for me to head back, and it was while doing so that I picked up a stunning female STONECHAT on the weedy area between the 'tower hill' and the 'plateau'. She gave decent views as she hunted in the area until a dog walker (seemingly intentionally) walked directly through the area the bird was feeding, sending it to fly along to the 'plateau' area and into the valleys where the ouzels were. At this point I left, letting the bird get on with feeding rather than being chased around for a photo.

MB

rollingthunder · Apr 11, 2013

I've had Wheatears in double figures on the 'plateau' area in the past but make it early before the dog-walkers otherwise they can disperse. That area is the top of the underground reservoir.....

Laurie:t:

Sedgley Birder · Apr 11, 2013

Migrants

Just goes to show what a difference a few days makes. I did the site three times last week without a sniff of a migrant. Worth plugging away at. It might be worth sitting on top of the res and doing a bit of vis mig as in the past I've flyover Curlew, Whimbrel and Golden Plover. Did my final year University thesis on the plant communities found in the main quarry area. Emphasis was on the limestone community/species and management. Not sure what management DMBC do there. Although poor for limestone plant species due to its isolation, it is the largest area of Limestone Grassland
(CG3) in the West Midlands County.

Gavin

midlands birder · Sep 3, 2014

A couple of hours up on the Plateau and in the NW valley this morning. 2 Tree Pipits (1 south at 10:15) then other landing briefly on hedgeline just north of the viewpoint. Both calling madly. 11 Meadow Pipit over, all south, and a single Pied Wagtail.

Noticeably large numbers of birds in the hawthorns of the NW valley. 2 Redstart (male and female) the pick of the bunch, but 20+ Blackcap was notable. 2 Whitethroat,, 2 Willow Warbler and 4 Chiffys.

Not to bad a visit. With easterlies forecast I'm hoping for something a little more 'tasty'
MB

rollingthunder · Sep 4, 2014

Well done C - grossly underwatched, just shows the value of the high point of the area.....

Laurie -

Phil Andrews · Sep 4, 2014

rollingthunder said:
Well done C - grossly underwatched, just shows the value of the high point of the area.....

Laurie -

Perhaps we need to all go up the Wrekin rather than round it

I think we only need to look at the other Craig's records from Lutley to see what the combination of high ground and a competent / dedicated observer can produce.

rollingthunder · Sep 4, 2014

Bloody hell Phil, i thought i was bashing the keyboard early!

The Turners Hill golf course and quarry is another area that needs some serious attention - i'll get my coat

.....

P.S. - i thought the Lutley Craig was Craig Round?

Laurie -

Phil Andrews · Sep 4, 2014

rollingthunder said:
Bloody hell Phil, i thought i was bashing the keyboard early!

The Turners Hill golf course and quarry is another area that needs some serious attention - i'll get my coat.....

P.S. - i thought the Lutley Craig was Craig Round?

Laurie -

It is, thats why I said the "other Craig"

rollingthunder · Sep 4, 2014

Sorry - speed reading, not always a good idea. Agree, dedicated, very competent birder. I can almost see where Craigs patch is if u stretch the imagination and it's a different world from several hundred feet lower.

Either that or i'm cr@p

Must visit Ridge Hill, Wordsley at some stage.

Laurie:t:

midlands birder · Sep 4, 2014

Went up the beacon again this morning, but failed to find any Redstarts. Early fog until around 9am got me a tad exited as I headed over, but other than a large number of Blackbirds/ Blackcaps it was a bit of a struggle. A Garden Warbler was new for me at the site, and many of yesterdays warblers remained. 16 Meadow Pipit over by the time I left, as well as 10 Swallow and a few House Martin
MB

midlands birder · Sep 4, 2014

rollingthunder said:
Well done C - grossly underwatched, just shows the value of the high point of the area.....

Laurie -

I hope to be doing the site more regularly over the next few weeks (away next week though) so watch this space! :t:
MB

Sedgley Birder · Sep 4, 2014

1 1/2 spent on site (11.00-12.30). Very pleasant, bright sunshine and very light easterly wind. Bird wise a bit quiet. Blackcap, Whitethroat with lots of Bullfinch, Goldfinch and Blackbird, but no harsh 'chack chacks' heard. Plenty of rosehips and haws developing nicely. These will hopefully provide plenty of food for Rouzels and other thrushes. Spent quite a bit of time just sitting at various points waiting, looking and listening for what ever might pop into view. Gave me a bit of time to look at the flora. Greater Knapweed and Field Scabious still in flower. One species that I did not record during my survey in 1995 and is present now is Kidney Vetch. Only a few individual plants, so presumably a recent colonist? Nice small plants/flower heads indicative of development on shallow/nutrient poor soils.
An area that always looks good for flycatchers is the woodland/plantation on the northern slope that contains Scots Pine. Generally the tree cover has increased significantly in the area and worthy of checking for catchers, starts, warblers etc...

Gavin

rollingthunder · Sep 4, 2014

I must say, having visited that London place a few times, you can't beat a nicely developed 'Haw'......

Laurie

Sedgley Birder · Sep 4, 2014

rollingthunder said:
I must say, having visited that London place a few times, you can't beat a nicely developed 'Haw'......

Laurie

oooh aaah Matron! Dirty boy!

Doesn't look as though much management has been done on the limestone grassland area, or trying to extend it by clearing hawthorn/removing soil etc...
Some work has been done at the upper part of the quarry to remove hawthorn to expose the small Carboniferous 'cliff faces' to show the interesting stratification of the rocks (which are 400+ million years old!).
Exposing the rock face has also uncovered a 1980's shopping trolley that can be used to determine scale and proportion, as well uncovering the other crap that has accumulated over time.

Gavin:C:t:

rollingthunder · Sep 5, 2014

Perhaps Banksy put it there? He has a fondness for shopping trollies and stone!

Laurie:t:

Sedgley Birder · Sep 5, 2014

Sedgley Birder said:
oooh aaah Matron! Dirty boy!

Doesn't look as though much management has been done on the limestone grassland area, or trying to extend it by clearing hawthorn/removing soil etc...
Some work has been done at the upper part of the quarry to remove hawthorn to expose the small Carboniferous 'cliff faces' to show the interesting stratification of the rocks (which are 400+ million years old!).
Exposing the rock face has also uncovered a 1980's shopping trolley that can be used to determine scale and proportion, as well uncovering the other crap that has accumulated over time.

Gavin:C:t:

Carboniferous should of course be Silurian! Had just been reading a section about Carboniferous Limestone fromexcellent the New Naturalist WILD FLOWERS of Chalk and Limestone by J.E. Lousley

Gavin:t:

The Snapper · Sep 5, 2014

midlands birder said:
I hope to be doing the site more regularly over the next few weeks (away next week though) so watch this space! :t:
MB

Nice one Craig. Really good to see a young birder with the enthusiasm to get out finding stuff!

Hope you get us all running when you find a first for the Mids :t:

ATB

Steve

The Moore-hen · Sep 27, 2014

Any recent visits up The Beacon, Craig? I regularly past the area on my way to/from work when taking the 'scenic' route back from Bilston to Wolvo. It looks a fantastic site for a rare migrant or two and it's peak time now for the next month or so - a twitchable Red-breasted Fly, Barred Warbler or, a bit later in the year, Pallas's Warbler would do the trick. I've seen Arctic, Hume's Leaf, Dusky, Icterine and sev Yellow-browed Warblers across the Mids but none of them on the high points - but the coverage of the likes of Berry Hill and The Malverns show that they do the business.

Where do you park when you visit the Beacon and is it relatively safe for the car?...and how far is it then to the prime migrant habitat?

Also peak time now for a bit of 'viz mig' - loads of Mipits going over Penn this morning with a few Chaffinch etc thrown in.

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