Birding In Staffordshire (1 Viewer)

[russell toon]

Berryhill

Reed Warbler singing and showing from 08:20 in the reedbed area also a Sedge Warbler here.
Looks to have been a good influx of Whitethroats now well in double figures.
Weaving in and out of the Groppers came across a pair of Groppers doing the business with tails fanned out no more than 5 metres away in low bramble alongside a bemused Whitethroat which seemed to be getting in the way-brilliant sight.
Male Redstart down in the lower heath.
6 Wheatear
Infested with Willow Warblers best year ever here.

Russell

 

[Adam M]

went dimmingsdale this morning, heard 4 pied flycatchers and saw 3 males. no sign of any redstarts but plenty of blackcap, willow warbler and chiffchaff.

i then went to coombes valley, heard 3 pied flys but only saw one, 1 male redstart by the cottage, also infested with blackcaps and willow warblers, only a few chiffchaffs though. plenty of butterflies at coombes valley including small and large white, orange tip and peacock. saw a red admiral at dimmingsdale to.

was going to nip berry hill on the way home but i burn like a match so i need more suncream before i go anywhere else. might kill an hour or two down the canal by westport.

adam

 

[bull's birder]

Dimmingsdale

Went for a couple of hours this afternoon, highlights being mobbed Buzzard, Kestrel, Pair of Jays and Willow Tit (just going by the call!!) for the year list.

Cheers
Craig

 

[Neil-T]

Freehay for an hour this evening with Keith. Common species seen including GS Woodpecker and Green Woodpecker. Not a single warbler anywhere.

 

[bull's birder]

Freehay for an hour this evening with Keith. Common species seen including GS Woodpecker and Green Woodpecker. Not a single warbler anywhere.

Very scarce at Dimmingsdale too, only Chiffchaff calling!!

Cheers
Craig

 

[Upland Birder]

On my way home late afternoon I saw a Little Owl perched on a derelict barn. On Ipstones Edge heard Curlew, Green Woodpecker and there were plenty of Swallows about. House Martin numbers are building nicely above the house.

Dean:t:

 

[John Sherratt]

Hales Hall Pool

Hello All,

Not been out much last 2 weeks, but as I was in Cheadle today anyway to stock up on bird food - again! Made a detour on the way back and had a walk round Hales Hall Pool - fairly quiet, just a couple of Coot with 2 young (first young birds I've seen this year) lots of noisy Canada Geese, G C Grebe, good number of House Sparrows and Chaffinch.

Highlight there for me, nice view of Willow Warbler singing in tree between car park and the little bridge :t: with another answering I think in the distance.

Bumped into a couple of men in yellow jackets carrying plans, they gave me to understand there is some work to be done, probably over the autumn/winter, it is out to tender at the moment, they say it is "regrading" - whatever that is? Did mention the little bridge is to be replaced.

Plan on going to Carsington tomorrow as there's a walk from the Visitor Centre at 7 pm, I've not been there yet this year, will probably go up a bit earlier and check out Sheepwash as well. While weather seems to be set to hold nice for a day or so, will probably go to either Doxey or Berryhill early on Wed to see if I can spot a Gropper.

Cheers, John

 

[Rob Jones]

Apedale Country Park

Berryhill

Reed Warbler singing and showing from 08:20 in the reedbed area also a Sedge Warbler here.
Looks to have been a good influx of Whitethroats now well in double figures.
Weaving in and out of the Groppers came across a pair of Groppers doing the business with tails fanned out no more than 5 metres away in low bramble alongside a bemused Whitethroat which seemed to be getting in the way-brilliant sight.
Male Redstart down in the lower heath.
6 Wheatear
Infested with Willow Warblers best year ever here.

Russell

Hi Russell
Last week I only came across a single Willow Warbler at Apedale. Yesterday evening in similar conditions there were at least 8 seen or heard from the path that runs alongside Watermills wood.

The lower Heath is where I saw the male Redstart so I guess it's the same one.

 

[Rockbirder]

Hales Hall.

Hello All,

Not been out much last 2 weeks, but as I was in Cheadle today anyway to stock up on bird food - again! Made a detour on the way back and had a walk round Hales Hall Pool - fairly quiet, just a couple of Coot with 2 young (first young birds I've seen this year) lots of noisy Canada Geese, G C Grebe, good number of House Sparrows and Chaffinch.

Highlight there for me, nice view of Willow Warbler singing in tree between car park and the little bridge :t: with another answering I think in the distance.

Bumped into a couple of men in yellow jackets carrying plans, they gave me to understand there is some work to be done, probably over the autumn/winter, it is out to tender at the moment, they say it is "regrading" - whatever that is? Did mention the little bridge is to be replaced.

Plan on going to Carsington tomorrow as there's a walk from the Visitor Centre at 7 pm, I've not been there yet this year, will probably go up a bit earlier and check out Sheepwash as well. While weather seems to be set to hold nice for a day or so, will probably go to either Doxey or Berryhill early on Wed to see if I can spot a Gropper.

Cheers, John

Hey up John, the dam is goin' to be strengthened at some point this year. This is to hopefully avoid the houses below the dam, being washed away if the dam bursts because of a downpour of Biblical proportions3! It's no joke, they've already evacuated the locals once when the rain got a bit heavy. They are also goin' to clean out the small feeder pond and make a pond dippin' area for the local school kids. Hopefully they won't touch the marsh, which is good for Sedge and even Grasshopper Warblers.

The good news is that this will mean the water level being lowered, to leave vast acres of mud for all those lovely autumn wader flocks3! I can see it now tightly packed flocks of Knot and Dunlin swirling over the nearby houses as they try to avoid bein' dinner for the local Chicken Hawks3

While the work is goin' on the pool will be closed to the public, so i can see me havin' to do a spot of hedge hoppin!

cheers

Andy.

 

[Rob72]

Hi Glyn,

that was me, which one were you?

man in a hat?

man with no hair?

man who's been at it a year?

none of the above?

Rob.

 

[Upland Birder]

Hey up John, the dam is goin' to be strengthened at some point this year. This is to hopefully avoid the houses below the dam, being washed away if the dam bursts because of a downpour of Biblical proportions3! It's no joke, they've already evacuated the locals once when the rain got a bit heavy. They are also goin' to clean out the small feeder pond and make a pond dippin' area for the local school kids. Hopefully they won't touch the marsh, which is good for Sedge and even Grasshopper Warblers.

The good news is that this will mean the water level being lowered, to leave vast acres of mud for all those lovely autumn wader flocks3! I can see it now tightly packed flocks of Knot and Dunlin swirling over the nearby houses as they try to avoid bein' dinner for the local Chicken Hawks3

While the work is goin' on the pool will be closed to the public, so i can see me havin' to do a spot of hedge hoppin!

cheers

Andy.

Hi Andy,

You could always watch the other wetland at the back of my house. Its always flooded through the winter into summer and you can watch the House Martins take mud to build nests. I always wonder what species might drop into there from time to time.

Dean:t:

Dean:t:

 

[Upland Birder]

Hi all,

Just thought I'd mention that there is some really good reporting being posted on here of late including some nice photo's not just of birds but also of butterflies. It all makes for an interesting read and a good sharing of information about what's been seen out there.

Keep up the good work folks

Happy Birding

Dean:t:

 

[carlj]

We'll try Dean! By the way, anyone off to either parkhall or hem heath, keep an eye out for large red damseldflies. Can't get near till next weekend.

 

[wolfbirder]

Short-Eared Owl again on the northern edge of Wolverhampton by M54 motorway.

As you come in on the A449 (main Stafford Road) you enter Wolverhampton after the roundabout under the M54. Go through 2 sets of traffic lights and turn a sharp right at first mini-island, towards Codsall. You are now on Wobaston Road. At the first mini island after about one-third of a mile, park immediately adjacent to the fence of the I54 development site (at the Pendeford mini-island). Then take the obvious footpath north as far as you can (about one-third of a mile), until you come to new metal style and a t-junction. The bird tends to favour the long grassed field then just ahead of you on the left, close to the M54. Though it may be seen on any of the extensive flat fields before you get to the style.

Unusual to have summering SE Owls here so that info is for anyone who wants to try and see it.

Don't worry about security guards manning the site inside th eI54 fence, they have seen me several times and they have no problem as long asthey can see you are doing no harm.

I have only seen the bird in the evening.

 

[NickPomiankowski]

Hanchurch Woods

12 Crossbills showed well in the clearing by the lower car park (off Dog Lane) this morning. A wander through less than 1/2 the available woodland produced 32 singing Willow Warblers - there seem to be loads of them around this year.

 

[carlj]

[commercialbreak] Want to save money on mealworm for your feeders? Get a butterfly feeder. Here's a good example http://www.arkwildlife.co.uk/acatalog/info_BFEE_00.html

Betterware have a similar one in their catalogue. Let a patch/pot of the garden got to weed, especially nettles. This will encourage butterflies in, and the native part of the garden will give them somewhere to lay their eggs. The caterpillars will then provide a natural food for birds and their young at this time of the year.

We've had ours in the yard for 24 hours, and it's already attracted the odd white and speckled wood [/commercialbreak]

 

[GlynH]

Hi Glyn,

that was me, which one were you?

man in a hat?

man with no hair?

man who's been at it a year?

none of the above?

Rob.

HI rob we were about 300 yards behind you for most of our walk, then got distracted by a whitethroat and lost sight of you. me and my mate had cameras around our necks but you may not have noticed us, with us being behind you.

 

[Neil-T]

Going over to Berry hill tomorrow to see if I can find the Grasshopper Warblers and other stuff, aiming to be there around 10.30 if anyone is interested in meeting up. Neil.

 

[bull's birder]

Pretty good days birding, added a bit to the ever expanding yearlist!!! Started at BH where Gropper was a lifer, great views too. Also added Mipit and Russell Toon to the list, nice to meet you Russell. Then a quick peep in Parkhall adding Little Owl and Whitethroat. After a brew nipped up to Cudmore and two more for the list, Kingfisher and Oyst. Might nip up Hanch for Nick's Crossbills in a bit.

Cheers
Craig

 

[bull's birder]

Berry Hill

Going over to Berry hill tomorrow to see if I can find the Grasshopper Warblers and other stuff, aiming to be there around 10.30 if anyone is interested in meeting up. Neil.

Might see you up there Neil as I promised my mate I'd show him the the Groppers. Look for two clueless fools!!!

Cheers
Craig