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

Sandwell Valley (2 Viewers)

@JHDraytonbassettpits Many thanks for the help and pointing out the willow tit from a marsh tit difference the one with the Goldeneye is the bird in the back ground not the one that is blurred as that is a coot

Again Many thanks for your help

Have a merry christmas and happy new year
 
? Duck

ADRIANS PHOTOGRAPHY said:
@JHDraytonbassettpits Many thanks for the help and pointing out the willow tit from a marsh tit difference the one with the Goldeneye is the bird in the back ground not the one that is blurred as that is a coot

Again Many thanks for your help

Have a merry christmas and happy new year
Click to expand...

Hi Adrian,
The duck in the background also not a clear shot looks like a juv Tufted Duck just come up from a dive rather than a Goldeneye. Regards, John
 
An hour or so there ystda on the balancing pool, usual range of duck, no Goldeneye noted but 18+ Goosander. Male Reed Bunting and 2 Marsh Tits on the feeders.

Laurie:t:
 
Popped into sandwell today had Goosander,Wigeon,Pochard,Gadwall,the usual gulls,canada's,coots,Lapwing etc,as i was leaving 20 Barnacle geese dropped in,just wondered if these birds are known local ferals or could they be real migrants ?
 
Great to read some news about "The Valley"...it was my patch as a fledgling birder in the early 80s. Long before the RSPB days, I used to stomp the marsh there for Jack Snipe....Short-eared Owl always roosted in the nearby field in winter and one year I had a flock of 60 Corn Buntings!!!!!
I hear there have been a lot of problems with vandalism at the reserve? Nothing new there....

A great birding spot with many memories.
 
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The RSPB centre was burnt down but it's been replaced with metal cladding so i suppose somebody has asked for an angle-grinder and generator for Xmas, where there's a will there's a way!

There's always a hide full of people with binoculars when i pop in but i do'nt know if anybody posts records anywhere else.

Laurie -
 
rollingthunder said:
The RSPB centre was burnt down but it's been replaced with metal cladding so i suppose somebody has asked for an angle-grinder and generator for Xmas, where there's a will there's a way!

There's always a hide full of people with binoculars when i pop in but i do'nt know if anybody posts records anywhere else.

Laurie -
Click to expand...

There are some "spectacular" records that appear from time to time on the pager
 
In all fairness Laurie you never know who gets the news first ie are the pager companies just repeating whats on the telephone info lines / websites.

Lets all be honest, amongst regional birders Sandwell Valley - or is that certain individuals? - has a reputation of being more stringy than the section between brass and wind in the Royal Philomonic Orchestra when it comes to reports of rare and scarce birds (which is a shame as I believe it is a good location to attract some decent records). To test that theory this evening I will go through all the records for the site that have been broadcast on RBA's national channel in the last 10 years as see what % have been submitted / accepted. Using my knowledge of Upton Warren records I would say that site is on around 80% so I would expect half marks as a minimum.
 
Phil Andrews said:
In all fairness Laurie you never know who gets the news first ie are the pager companies just repeating whats on the telephone info lines / websites.

Lets all be honest, amongst regional birders Sandwell Valley - or is that certain individuals? - has a reputation of being more stringy than the section between brass and wind in the Royal Philomonic Orchestra when it comes to reports of rare and scarce birds (which is a shame as I believe it is a good location to attract some decent records). To test that theory this evening I will go through all the records for the site that have been broadcast on RBA's national channel in the last 10 years as see what % have been submitted / accepted. Using my knowledge of Upton Warren records I would say that site is on around 80% so I would expect half marks as a minimum.
Click to expand...

Hi Phil,

I will look forward to your 10 year pager report Stats for this site.
Apparently, The 10 year average for the WHOLE of the West Midland county is 174 species, yet one individual in 2012 recorded 180 species at Sandwell Valley alone, which was 1 species better than the guy who birds Rutland Water:eek!:
It is a great shame, as I've seen some really good birds at Sandwell. ( Great Snipe, Wryneck, Spotted Crake, Velvet Scoter, Shag, Slav Grebe)
I speak to a few of the Sandwell valley regulars from time to time, who say that 135-140 in a year is a more realistic annual total.
You will find not a single rarity has ever been submitted to the county recorder by the individual we are on about. All the megas are either fly throughs or reported hours after the event usually when it's gone dark, so they can't be checked out.:-C
 
As promised here is a list of the birds reported at Sandwell in the ten years between 2001 and 2010 which have hit the "National" channel of Rare Bird Alert; those in green were submitted and accepted by the County Recorder / BBRC whilst those in red were presumably either not proven or not submitted at all:-

15/09/01 Spotted Crake
25-26/03/02 Siberian Chiffchaff
11/07/02 Quail
20/09/02 Honey Buzzard
05/11/02 Richard's Pipit
27/01/03 Mealy Redpoll
14/02/03 Waxwing
24-25/02/03 Mealy Redpoll
13/03/03 Mealy Redpoll
24/08-05/09/03 Pectoral Sandpiper
22/03/04 Mealy Redpoll (probable)
02/06/04 Quail
10/06/04 Honey Buzzard
21/01/05 Waxwing
13/02/05 Waxwing
08/02/06 Waxwing
18/03/06 Common Crane
31/05/06 White Stork
14/09/06 Honey Buzzard
07/11/06 Ring-necked Duck
05/06/07 Glossy Ibis (probable)
29/08/08 Wryneck (possible)
15/09/08 Honey Buzzard
23-24/09/08 Yellow-browed Warbler
07/01/09 Waxwing
02-06/04/09 Waxwing
10/04/09 Waxwing
17/05/09 Spoonbill
11/06/09 Great White Egret
17-24/08/09 Spotted Crake - unfortunately reported after it departed
17/09/09 Wryneck
27/05/10 Collared Pratincole
26/10/10 Waxwing - described as "unconfirmed report" in annual report
27/10/10 Great Grey Shrike
07/11/10 Waxwing - described as "unconfirmed report" in annual report

This equates to no more than a 20% acceptance rate
 
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Hi Phil,

are you up to filtering out the county rares that have been reported on the pager at Sandwell Valley, such as annual Goshawks, Turtle Doves and reports of Gannet, Bonxie, Nightingale ect. That's an even bigger task, but I'm sure you are up to the job Mr Statto.:t:
 
Steve Nuttall said:
Hi Phil,

are you up to filtering out the county rares that have been reported on the pager at Sandwell Valley, such as annual Goshawks, Turtle Doves and reports of Gannet, Bonxie, Nightingale ect. That's an even bigger task, but I'm sure you are up to the job Mr Statto.:t:
Click to expand...

Hi Steve - it doesnt help that the West Mids has a longer list of submission species than most (lucky Mr Clements) but I will give it a go - I would expect to see a similar sea of red (feel like Peter Snow and his swingometer ;))
 
As requested by Mr Belvide, attached is the status of all birds requiring a submission to the Countu Recorder (or BBRC) for acceptance which have been reported through Rare Bird Alert in the ten years between 2001 and 2010 (green for accepted; red for not accepted - either not proven or not submitted):

15/09/01 Spotted Crake
26/09/01 Snow Bunting (reported)
06-07/10/01 Cetti's Warbler
06/03/02 Rock Pipit
19/03/02 Pink-footed Goose
25-26/03/02 Siberian Chiffchaff
26/04/02 Spotted Redshank
11/07/02 Quail
31/08/02 Crossbill
14-15/09/02 Bar-tailed Godwit
20/09/02 Black-necked Grebe
20/09/02 Honey Buzzard
21/10/02 Water Pipit (reported)
29/10/02 Whooper Swan
01/11/02 Common Scoter
05/11/02 Richard's Pipit
28/12/02 Bearded Tit
31/12/02 Long-eared Owl
02/01/03 Little Gull
15/01/03 Short-eared Owl
27/01/03 Mealy Redpoll
14/02/03 Waxwing
24-25/02/03 Mealy Redpoll
13/03/03 Mealy Redpoll
13/03/03 White-fronted Goose
14/03/03 Rock Pipit
05/06/03 Black-tailed Godwit
09/07/03 Black-tailed Godwit
11/08/03 Crossbill
15-28/08/03 Black-tailed Godwit
24/08/03 Spotted Redshank
24/08-05/09/03 Pectoral Sandpiper
26/08/03 Little Stint
26/08/03 Sandwich Tern
28/08/03 Turnstone
31/08/03 Mediterrannean Gull - reported but no description received
27/09/03 Mediterrannean Gull
07/10/03 Bittern
10/10/03 Rock Pipit
08/11/03 Whooper Swan
08/11/03 Long-tailed Duck
13/11/03 Water Pipit
21/11/03 Firecrest
13/12/03 Water Pipit
20/12/03 Smew
02/01-22/03/04 Water Pipit
18-27/03/04 Rock Pipit
19/03/04 Little Gull
22/03/04 Mealy Redpoll (probable)
31/03/04 Osprey (reported)
03/05/04 Short-eared Owl
21/05/04 Sanderling
28/05+04/06/04 Short-eared Owl
02/06/04 Quail
10/06/04 Honey Buzzard
06/07/04 Little Egret
30/07/04 Little Stint
01-02/08/04 Mediterranean Gull
11-12/08/04 Red-crested Pochard
13/08/04 Black-tailed Godwit
17-19/08/04 Common Scoter
01/09/04 Osprey
04/09/04 Short-eared Owl
06/09-14/11/04 Mediterrannean Gull
18/09/04 Marsh Tit
09/10/04 Sandwich Tern
09/10/04-02/01/05 Marsh Tit
13/10+14/11/04 Mediterranean Gull
14-16/12/04 Smew
26-28/12/04 Firecrest
28/12/04 Merlin
21/01/05 Waxwing
22/01/05 Little Gull
13/02/05 Waxwing
08/02/06 Waxwing
18/03/05 Rock Pipit
28-29/05/05 Mediterrannean Gull
04/06/05 Sanderling
07/07/05 Black-tailed Godwit
13/07-21/08/05 Mediterranean Gull
13/07/05 Little Egret
07/10/05 Rock Pipit
03/01/06 Red-breasted Merganser
24/02/06 Rock Pipit - reported
15/03/2006 Gannet
18/03/06 Common Crane
18/03/2006 Gannet
28/03/2006 Rock Pipit - reported
04/04/06 Osprey
06/04/06 Sandwich Tern
06/04/06 Red Kite
09/04/06 Whimbrel
10/04/06 Water Pipit
23/04/06 Long-eared Owl - noted
11/05/06 Marsh Harrier
31/05/06 White Stork
20/07/06 Black-tailed Godwit
15-16/08/06 Black-tailed Godwit
15/08/06 Mediterranean Gull
25/08/06 Little Egret
10/09/06 Black-tailed Godwit
14/09/06 Honey Buzzard
20/09/06 Great Skua
07/11/06 Ring-necked Duck
08/02/07 Long-eared Owl
05/04/07 Osprey
27/04/07 Whimbrel
07/05/07 Gannet
05/06/07 Glossy Ibis (probable)
06/06/07 Red Kite
20/06/07 Quail
23/07/07 Sandwich Tern
25/07/07 Arctic Skua
10-13/08/07 Mediteranean Gull
29/08/07 Marsh Harrier
02/11/07 Short-eared Owl
19/11/07 Brent Goose
25/11/07 Mediterranean Gull
26/11/07 Mediterranean Gull
16/03/08 Rock Pipit
20/03/08 Knot
25/03/08 Red Kite
29/03/08 Little Gull
03/04/08 Osprey
19/04/08 Whimbrel
29/04/08 Black Redstart
22/07/08 Crossbill
01/08/08 Black-tailed Godwit
20/08/08 Crossbill
29/08/08 Wryneck (possible)
01/09/08 Whimbrel
03/09/08 Mediterranean Gull
15/09/08 Honey Buzzard
17/09/08 Red Kite
23-24/09/08 Yellow-browed Warbler
30/09/08 Grey Plover
28/10/08 Hen Harrier
17/11/08 Common Scoter
17/11/08 Grey Plover
07/12/08 Common Scoter
10/12/08 Short-eared Owl
07/01/09 Waxwing
09/01/09 Mealy Redpoll - reported
03/02/09 Bewick's Swan
18/03/09 Avocet
02-06/04/09 Waxwing
10/04/09 Waxwing
10/04/09 Little Gull - reported
18/04/09 Marsh Harrier
20/04/09 Marsh Harrier - there is an accepted record for 19/04
29/04/09 Black Redtstart
17/05/09 Spoonbill
11/06/09 Great White Egret
17-24/08/09 Spotted Crake - unfortunately reported after it departed
09/09//09 Crossbill
17/09/09 Wryneck
07/10/09 Whooper Swan
05/11/09 Long-eared Owl
09/11/09 Merlin
13/12/09 Pink-footed Goose
14/03/10 Rock Pipit - noted
18/04/10 Osprey
27/05/10 Collared Pratincole
06/06/10 Woodlark
25/07/10 Crossbill - described as "unsubstantiated report" in annual report
12/09/10 Avocet
26/10/10 Waxwing - described as "unconfirmed report" in annual report
27/10/10 Great Grey Shrike
07/11/10 Waxwing - described as "unconfirmed report" in annual report
 
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Phil,

More species require descriptions in West Mids than shire counties as they are simply rarer. No descriptions received for 'red species' whilst I have been County Recorder, so therefore they are unacceptable. Quite probably at least some of these are genuine, so records are sadly being lost.

Kevin
 

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