Birding In Staffordshire (1 Viewer)

[Steve Turner]

no sign of the black necked grebe today at westport. family of grey wags inbetween the main lake and car park. plenty of other young birds, robins blue tits, great tits etc. only thing of note was an odd duck in with the geese on the small lake, possibly a female pochard, but if that was the case i think it would have been in with the tufted and the single male pochard on the main lake. it was a chocolatey brown colour with a bit of grey on it as well, black bill.

just looked it up and i dont think it was light enough on the face to be a female pochard. any ideas? im sure if its anything rarer one of the regulars will report it.

adam
adam

Hi Adam

Interesting that you mention this bird, as I had a scruffy female-type Pochard y'day evening on the marl pit that you and I sometimes check out Peacock Hay way (we've had LRP and Common Sand on it in the past) - sounds like the same individual, and Westport isn't very far from there as the Pochard flies! As you know, this is a real poxy bit of water (the marl pit I mean, not Westport he he!) so any duck on it is a surprise, so a Pochard was nothing short of miraculous!! There's also a family of Little Grebes on the pit.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Neil-T]

Quick look around Westport in my lunch break, no rarities to report. Things of note were Tufted, Pochard and a Chiffchaff.

 

[Steve Turner]

Hanchurch Woods

At least 8 Crossbill present this afternoon; also a Hobby giving excellent 'perched in the open' views!

Cheers
Steve

 

[minkstone]

Local patch today golf course and pools,greater spotted wood pecker,white throat,juvenile willow warblers,family of willowtits and long tail tits,lots of young robins,southern hawker only dragon fly showing today,a few comma"s about.
Standing bye a patch of bramble it made me think is there another plant that can attract so many flies,bees, bugs, butterfly's ect.
Got too get two more Niger feeders, got 8 goldfinches coming daily not bad for a terraced house with no garden.

 

[Steve Turner]

only thing of note was an odd duck in with the geese on the small lake, possibly a female pochard, but if that was the case i think it would have been in with the tufted and the single male pochard on the main lake. it was a chocolatey brown colour with a bit of grey on it as well, black bill.

just looked it up and i dont think it was light enough on the face to be a female pochard. any ideas? im sure if its anything rarer one of the regulars will report it

adam
adam

...actually Adam, thinking about, the overall brownish appearance, plain face pattern, greyish bill, and rufousy fringing tosome of the upperpart feathering probably means that it was a juvenile Pochard.

Steve

 

[Adam M]

i noticed the little grebes had bred again steve, this is the place i refer to as 'down reg mitch way.' never mind ducks being a surprise, i was shocked when it had two mute swans on it.

had my first juv goldfinch in the garden yesterday, they have now returned by the looks of things after disappearing over the breeding season, with 4 adults in earlier on. there was a large post breeding flock down reg mitch last year, so im guessin they might return over the next few weeks. also in the garden are some kind of eggs, possibly off a moth or butterfly, so im keeping an eye on them to see what they turn into. sparrows and starlings bathing in the shallow end of the pond just, still getting about 50 starlings in on a daily basis.

to answer stuarts question about brambles, cotoneasters tend to be pretty good, there is one at coombes valley that was alive with bees last week, plus thrushes like the berries.

adam

 

[bull's birder]

At least 8 Crossbill present this afternoon; also a Hobby giving excellent 'perched in the open' views!

Cheers
Steve

Nursery Common again Steve?

Cheers
Craig

 

[Steve Turner]

i noticed the little grebes had bred again steve, this is the place i refer to as 'down reg mitch way.' never mind ducks being a surprise, i was shocked when it had two mute swans on it.

adam

Wow, that is impressive! Surely the swans must've had to walk off site as there isn't enough water for a runway takeoff!!

Steve

 

[Steve Turner]

Nursery Common again Steve?

Cheers
Craig

No, opposite side of the road in the clearing near to the lower carpark.

Steve

 

[bull's birder]

Hanchurch with Bill Lowe this morning. Pair of Spotted Flycatchers in Nursery Common amd a pair of Redstarts off the fire track plus GSW and half dozen Jays. Not bad for half hour!!

Cheers
Craig

 

[Rob Jones]

Apedale Country Park

Willow Warblers, Blackcaps etc still taking insects to nest sites. Mixed flocks 30+ Tits and other small birds gathering by the heritage centre and further up the valley. Green Woodpecker early this morning by the 'cliff' by centre and later a Juvenile in Watermills. A few Bullfinches in places and pockets of Goldfinches. House Martins on the fringe of Watermills, Swallows in the valley and Swifts further up.
A BOP came from the wood and had a go at a Swallow. Flew into the sun so didn't see well but it didn't look like a Hobby shape, so heck knows what that was!

 

[minkstone]

ponds behind the gas tank today, best day so far for dragonfly's three brown hawkers two southern hawkers, and a emperor hawker.
Stuart.

 

[Adam M]

walk down reg mitch way produced lots of meadow browns, a couple small heaths, a few little skippers, common blue damselflys, pyrochora serraticornis (a red beetle) large and small whites, one comma butterfly, possibly a gatekeeper but it landed where i couldn't see it, so im not sure if it was a gatekeeper or another meadow brown, but it was pretty orangey when it flew past. a lace wing of some kind and a large 'colony' of 5 spot burnet moths on the wasteland by churchills. i didn't quite make it to the small lake at the bottom of the hill, some one was camping just off the path and with the area known for travellers i didnt fancy walking past with my camera in hand. if my photos turn out ok i'll post some and write which each one is.

adam

 

[carlj]

Adam, nice to hear about Cardinal beetles and their cousins (as mentioned!).

We enjoyed a day at Chester - Amber enjoys hand feeding squirrels.

Corner of rowing club, nesting swallows - mum and dad regularly feeding 4 youngsters. We head off for a coffee, return, and 2 have fledged and flown!

Highlight for me, seeing and shooting a White-letter Hairstreak - uncommon UK butterfly. I also coaxed it onto my finger for a minute!

Carl

 

[Neil-T]

Couple of pics from Westport yesterday. The 2 flies were taken in my garden, no idea what they are, the one on the buttercup is only around 5/6mm long. I was just trying out my new 180mm macro.

 

[namron]

:t:

Spot on Carl, I'll go with that, thanks. :t:

Located a pair of Green Woodpeckers earlier this evening in Watermills wood in Apedale CP. Extremely hard to find under the tree canopy. A lady with three dogs disturbed them before I could get a photo....bless.[/QUOTE

It'll be the doggy day care peeps that get down there take a gun next time! :t:

 

[Richard Powell]

Ohhhhhhh yesssssss!!!!

This evening at Uttoxeter Quarry, 1 Spoonbill :eek!:, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Curlew, 7 Oystercatcher.

Time for a small tincture! B

 

[russell toon]

This evening at Uttoxeter Quarry, 1 Spoonbill :eek!:, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Curlew, 7 Oystercatcher.

Time for a small tincture! B

Thats another good bird for the quarry.

Russell

 

[Upland Birder]

Good find there Richard. I've just read it on Birdguides.

Also Whimbrel seen by someone on island in conservation pool at Tittesworth.

Happy Birding

Dean:t:

 

[Steve Turner]

This evening at Uttoxeter Quarry, 1 Spoonbill :eek!:, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Curlew, 7 Oystercatcher.

Time for a small tincture! B

Nice one Richard :t: :t: Certainly eclipses Brent Goose as the site's best bird...so far!!

Steve