Coney Meadow and Adjoining Areas (2 Viewers)

Woodchat said:

I had great views of a Hobby chasing hirundines around Chatley on Monday morning. I must admit that I probably take this species for granted as they are so regular on the patch - I see them most times I go out - especially at this time of year. They also almost definitely breed in the area. It seems a bit odd to me, therefore, that they are still reported to and included on the Worcs Birding website - I never bother reporting mine these days for the reason outlined above. I guess, however, they may not be as regular elsewhere.

Unlike Hobbies, Red kites are still a very good bird on my patch - I'm lucky if I see 2 or 3 a year. Bizarrely, these are now deemed to be 'too common' in the wider context. I guess it just shows how regularly birding a small(ish) patch can give a narrow perspective. Perhaps other patch birders in Worcs see Red Kites all the time.

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Both scarce around my Redditch patch Dave, Red Kite tricky to find at Upton... just ask JTB

wheatearlp said:

Both scarce around my Redditch patch Dave, Red Kite tricky to find at Upton... just ask JTB

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Without looking it up I think there have been around ten Red Kite sightings at Upton so far this year - much scarcer in the second half of the year

Two Swifts over Coney this afternoon - becoming notable now.
Lots of hirundines around - including a couple of Sand Martins around Mildenham.
Willow Warbler near Porter's Mill yesterday.
Skylark near Egg Lane yesterday.
Ravens, Mistle Thrushes, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Treecreepers, Goldcrests, Coal Tits, Common Whitethroats, Nuthatch, Reed Warblers, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Buzzards, Cormorants, Grey Herons, Kingfishers, Grey Wagtails, etc.

A Spotted Flycatcher and a male Redstart along the stream behind Mildenham mill this morning.
Hobby over Egg Lane and Little Owl Linacres paddocks.
Tufted Duck between Chatley and Hawford.
Two Kingfishers Mildenham
Five Meadow Pipits over Copcut Lane yesterday.

The carpark at the bottom of Egg Lane has now reopened.

Woodchat said:

The carpark at the bottom of Egg Lane has now reopened.

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Great news, many thanks! Just need some quiet, warm weather again!

Birds seen this morning:

Female Yellow Wagtail with a couple of Pied Wags in the paddock by Sinton Lane farm.

Little Egret along the river at Coney Meadow.

Hobby over Mildenham.

Large increase in Meadow Pipits with many flocks over including 2 flocks over 20 birds.

Still plenty of Swallows and House Martins, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Reed Warbler.

A Coot on Tapenhall pool this morning was the first I've seen on the patch since June.

A small flock of Yellowhammers near Knights Grove - 5+

Little Owl Linacres paddocks perched in oak.

Meadow Pipits and Swallows and House Martins passing over in flocks.

Male and female Tawny Owls dueting in Droitwich Community Woods last night.

There was some discussion about grass snakes recently, I thought the following statement from ARG UK helps to clarify the matter. Sorry if this is going over old ground that has already been covered.

In short… we still only have 1 native grass snake species, it has just been reclassified as a new sub-species Natrix helvetica helvetica (formerly Natrix natrix helvetica)

See link and full article extracted below…


http://www.arguk.org/get-involved/news/what-does-the-re-classification-of-european-grass-snakes-mean-for-our-native-grass-snakes


Following on from the recent publication of the scientific paper by Kindler et al., (2017), there have been some misunderstandings about the classification of our native UK grass snake. To clarify:

Then:
Until recently, two species of European grass snake were described: Natrix natrix (found across much of Europe, including the UK) and N. astreptophora (found in North Africa and Iberia). These two species are described by Pokrant et al., (2016) – which you can download here http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bij.12782/abstract
Natrix natrix was further divided into around 14 sub species, with Natrix natrix helvetica – our native UK grass snake, occurring in Britain, France, small parts of Germany, Belgium, Northern Italy, Switzerland and some of the neighbouring countries. Crossing the Rhine in Germany we had Natrix natrix natrix which covered most of central and northern Europe. To the south of Natrix natrix natrix, we had Natrix natrix persa, which extended down in to the Balkans. Italy and some of the other islands (Sardinia, Sicily, Corsica) also contained other subspecies including: Natrix natrix lanzai (Italy), Natrix natrix sicula (Italy including Sicily), Natrix natrix corsa (Corsica) and Natrix natrix cetti (Sardinia).

Now:
This has now changed, with the advent of genetic sequencing based on mitochondrial and nuclear microsatellite DNA. This is described in a recent paper by Kindler et al., (2017) – which you can download here.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bij.12782/abstract
Everything west of the Rhine in Germany (more or less) is now Natrix helvetica. This includes 'our' grass snake from Britain which is now designated as the subspecies Natrix helvetica helvetica. Together with the four subspecies from Italy and its islands, these are all now considered to be sub species of Natrix helvetica.
In short:
We had Natrix natrix helvetica. Now we have Natrix helvetica helvetica. Nothing extra - still only 3 snake species in Britain: one grass snake, the adder (Vipera berus) and the smooth snake (Coronella austriaca).

This is quite timely having seen a juvenile grass snake in my Salwarpe Garden yesterday.

Regards

Triturus

A Peregrine over Hawford this morning.

One Sand Martin and lots of House Martins and Swallows.

Meadow Pipits over in small groups.

My first Redpoll of the autumn over Hawford this morning.

A Little Egret flew down the river at Salwarpe.

A few Yellowhammers around Knight's Grove.

A female Stonechat perched on a hedge near Knight's Grove - new for the year!

Also 17 GREY PARTRIDGES in the same area- almost definitely released birds - not seen any around here for at least 7 years.

10 Siskins over Salwarpe yesterday.

54 Lapwings on ploughed field between Hawford and Chatley. Plus flock of 12 Skylarks.

A Little Egret and 7 Red-legged Partridges at Salwarpe.

A Great White Egret over Westwood yesterday was seen to head towards Coney (per WD). Unfortunately no sign by the time I got there.

A nice male Stonechat this morning on fences near Sinton Lane farm. Flock of 15 Skylarks over.

Little Egret Coney Meadow flew west.

1st winter Common Gull over Coney and possibly a second bird but didn't get enough on it to confirm age etc. - new for the year.

Eclipse Mandarin Duck just flew over Ladywood towards New Mill.

Two more just landed on small wooded pond near Walnut Tree House Ladywood.

Little Egret again over Coney this evening.

Hirundines virually non-existant most of today so c25 House Martins over this evening around High Park was a decent count. Two or three Swallows earlier in the day around Harford Hill and Ladywood were the only other summer migrants seen except a few Chiffchaffs (some singing) plus a few Blackcaps.

Meadow Pipits in various places.

Tawny Owl calling this evening around Salwarpe and Water Rail calling at Coney. Around 30 Pied Wagtails roosted.

A Little Egret again at Coney this morning feeding along the river.

An eclipse drake Tufted Duck on the small pool between Hawford and Chatley.

Two Ravens displaying around Hawford and another at High Park.

A couple of Yellowhammers near Knight's Grove.

Good numbers of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks in various places.