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

RSPB Middleton Lakes (9 Viewers)

My first visit for 12 days and it was foggy most of the time so not much to be seen best being 1 Little Egret (a new record was set on the 8/12 with 81 reported going to roost in the heronry), 2 Great White Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Goldeneye, 1 Goosander, 1 Water Rail, 1 Skylark, 2 Stonechat, a few Coal Tit and a Reed Bunting. No waders were seen at all.
Steve A had a Barnacle Goose on NP on the 14/12 which was the 163rd species of the year, he also had a Woodcock on the Dosthill side of the reserve.
 
Quiet again today 3 Little Egret, 1 Great White Egret, a Barnacle Goose was reported again, 4 species of raptors, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel and a Peregrine, a Green Sandpiper was on NP, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Stonechat and a Siskin.
Heavy rain during the night had flooded the path to the hide.
 
hand claps

Piccalilli said:
Something strange happened tonight at Middleton. The Starlings roosted in the west corner of Reed bed Pool just behind West screen. I was standing about 20 yards from them as I find this is the best location to count the Egrets. Suddenly there was what I can only describe as 3 hand claps in very close succession and a group of 100 or so Starlings would fly out and go and roost over the far side of Fishers Mill. This happened 15 - 20 times in the space of 10 minutes until all the Starlings had moved. Has anyone ever come across this before. Is it the noise of a predator trying to catch them - Heron or even Bittern perhaps. At one point I was convinced it was someone clapping but there was no one else there and it was always identical and just 3 claps.

Short-Eared Owl was the highlight tonight dropping vertically into JW and then drifting South. This bird may be new in tonight or just passing through. 3 Great White Egret roosted riverside with 29 LE's.
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Sounds like it could be the SEO in display flight? I've only seen this once at Cuckoo Bank but very impressive as it shakes and claps it's wings on a downward path then climbs and repeats.
.
 
geoffw6490 said:
Sounds like it could be the SEO in display flight? I've only seen this once at Cuckoo Bank but very impressive as it shakes and claps it's wings on a downward path then climbs and repeats.
.
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Hi Geoff, sounds like a good explanation, a shame it hasn't been reported since.
I see that a Firecrest was reported at Dosthill NR yesterday rhs of middle hide per Richard on twitter. I presume he means the first screen on the west side of the lake? they have been seen in that area in previous years.
 
I finally caught up with the Barnacle Goose today it was on JWs, a pair of Pintail were on NP, 2 Stonechat were on JWs and a Cetti's Warbler was singing. Also reported were a Great White Egret on DNR and a Chiffchaff at the NE end of JWs.
 
2016 and 2017 final figures.

geoffw1946 said:
Decembers count was 89 species and the yearlist was 164 which is about average over the last 4 years.
Belvide appears to be the best reserve with 174 species although it would be interesting to know what Blithfield had?
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The above was for 2016.
This year, December 87 and yearlist 163. Belvide 175.
 
A cold and frosty dull day but pools were mostly unfrozen, birds of note were a Little Grebe, 2 Little Egret, 1 Great White Egret, 3 Stonechat, 1 Mistle Thrush, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Firecrest at 2pm NE JWs and 3 Linnet.
 
Had a great few hours at middleton today, around the woodland walk had Robin, Great tit, Blue tit and Nuthatch feeding from my hand today.
 
My first visit since the 13th January as the path through the Mill Plantation has been too muddy for my mobility scooter (You'd think the RSPB would get the track sorted because once your on the main reserve the path to the North Pit hide is good). Today I did the short walk down Dosthill hill just as far as the Jubilee East screen, highlights were 1 Little Egret, 2 Great White Egret, 2 Pintail, 2 Oystercatcher, 3 Ringed Plover, 1 Common Gull and a few Goldcrest.
The January total was 100 species but don't know what the February total is likely to be as I haven't been keeping up with the news but I saw 41 today.
 
geoffw1946 said:
My first visit since the 13th January as the path through the Mill Plantation has been too muddy for my mobility scooter (You'd think the RSPB would get the track sorted because once your on the main reserve the path to the North Pit hide is good). Today I did the short walk down Dosthill hill just as far as the Jubilee East screen, highlights were 1 Little Egret, 2 Great White Egret, 2 Pintail, 2 Oystercatcher, 3 Ringed Plover, 1 Common Gull and a few Goldcrest.
The January total was 100 species but don't know what the February total is likely to be as I haven't been keeping up with the news but I saw 41 today.
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Any idea what the year list is Geoff
 
I understand that the RSPB are putting a 'flume' into the water channel that is the inlet for the reserve from the river. Contractors due to arrive on Tuesday. It's hoped that it will take out the peaks and pulses that come down the river and whilst not stopping flooding all together the hope is it will reduce them and, when they happen, make them less sudden. Let's hope it works. I've also heard that the scrapes will have the levels dropped sometime around the end of the month, but not too much as they want to encourage birds to nest on the tops of the islands.
 
SteveAtkinson said:
I understand that the RSPB are putting a 'flume' into the water channel that is the inlet for the reserve from the river. Contractors due to arrive on Tuesday. It's hoped that it will take out the peaks and pulses that come down the river and whilst not stopping flooding all together the hope is it will reduce them and, when they happen, make them less sudden. Let's hope it works. I've also heard that the scrapes will have the levels dropped sometime around the end of the month, but not too much as they want to encourage birds to nest on the tops of the islands.
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Thanks for the update Steve, I hope I can get down to view the improvements in the next month or two. If you get any photos as it progresses could you put them on here for us all too view, this thread has been a good archive for the reserve as it dates back to it's very birth.
 
geoffw1946 said:
Thanks for the update Steve, I hope I can get down to view the improvements in the next month or two. If you get any photos as it progresses could you put them on here for us all too view, this thread has been a good archive for the reserve as it dates back to it's very birth.
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No problem Geoff. It's funny, I was talking to Nick Martin about you today! He reckons he first met you at RSPB Sandwell 18yrs ago!
I was on the reserve this afternoon but unfortunately I didn't take any photos. The work is due to be completed by the weekend. The flume (basically a narrowing of the inflow channel) is being put in a bit downstream from the bridge over the channel near to the hide. Metal plates were in place today and rocks are going to be used to fill in behind them.
The water levels on the Jubilee (but not the scrapes) and the North Pit are at the lowest levels since they put Jubilee in but this is because they've totally blocked the inflow while they do the work. It's expected that the work will be finished for the weekend and then water levels will be back to normal.

I'll take a photo of the flume and post it on here when I next visit.

As I'm sure you're aware Steve Pick's 'Mercian Birding' blog collates all our sightings.

All the best

Steve
 
SteveAtkinson said:
No problem Geoff. It's funny, I was talking to Nick Martin about you today! He reckons he first met you at RSPB Sandwell 18yrs ago!
I was on the reserve this afternoon but unfortunately I didn't take any photos. The work is due to be completed by the weekend. The flume (basically a narrowing of the inflow channel) is being put in a bit downstream from the bridge over the channel near to the hide. Metal plates were in place today and rocks are going to be used to fill in behind them.
The water levels on the Jubilee (but not the scrapes) and the North Pit are at the lowest levels since they put Jubilee in but this is because they've totally blocked the inflow while they do the work. It's expected that the work will be finished for the weekend and then water levels will be back to normal.

I'll take a photo of the flume and post it on here when I next visit.

As I'm sure you're aware Steve Pick's 'Mercian Birding' blog collates all our sightings.

All the best

Steve
Click to expand...
Thanks for the the info, lets hope they've got it right this time (I know the EA were the biggest stumbling block), I've always said they should have done away with the main River Tame inlet altogether, return it to an outlet only and just let the river overflow its bank into the new reedbed pool as it had always done at times of extreme rainfalls.
I thought I'd known Nick Martin longer than 18 years, I think he started his RSPB career at Sandwell Valley many years ago?
Steve Pick is doing a good job with his 'Mercian Birding', everyone interested in Midd Lakes should follow the blog.
 
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A couple of pictures of the work putting the flume into the inlet. Looks like it's going to be finished for the weekend, so the water is going to be allowed back in and all the lovely mud is going to disappear. I believe that the intention is to keep water levels high initially to encourage nesting towards the top of the islands so avoiding nest being washed away in case of flood.
 

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