Birding In Staffordshire (1 Viewer)

[NickPomiankowski]

Berry Hill

A quick look round Berry Hill this morning produced the long staying juv Whinchat and 2 juv Stonechats. A fly-over Grey Wagtail was about the only thing out of the ordinary. 2 Grasshopper Warblers were reeling - I managed to get within 3-4 feet of one of them - which popped out and gave me superb naked eye views - too close to view with bins :t:

Nick

 

[russell toon]

A quick look round Berry Hill this morning produced the long staying juv Whinchat and 2 juv Stonechats. A fly-over Grey Wagtail was about the only thing out of the ordinary. 2 Grasshopper Warblers were reeling - I managed to get within 3-4 feet of one of them - which popped out and gave me superb naked eye views - too close to view with bins :t:

Nick

Nice one with the Grasshopper Warblers Nick,its always a big bonus to see them that close.Its strange with everything else having stopped singing some Groppers start up again later in July.

Russell

 

[russell toon]

Berryhill Fields

3 Whinchats present this afternoon including 2 adult males together,also at least 4 Redstarts and 2 juv Stonechats.A Grasshopper Warbler reeling briefly close to the Lap Bunt paddock.

Russell

 

[Steve Turner]

Berryhill Fields

3 Whinchats present this afternoon including 2 adult males together,also at least 4 Redstarts and 2 juv Stonechats.A Grasshopper Warbler reeling briefly close to the Lap Bunt paddock.

Russell

I had the/a adult female Whinchat around the LapBunt paddock, so that makes 4. Nice :t:

Steve

 

[Steve Turner]

Collared Fly' eh Steve, another quality bird. What else have you got up your sleeve?

Cheers folks

Andy.

...loads i'll tell you all about them sometime 8-P

Steve

 

[Richard Powell]

What doesn't help is the size of the images (in kilobytes) in order to upload them onto Bird Forum. I had to reduce them quite a lot. Looking at the original images there is definitely a yellow tip at the end of the bill.

UQ Gull

Can be tricky to identify from photos with the light playing tricks,difficult to see the coverts and tertial patterns clearly on these pictures. Usually 1st summer and 2nd winter Herring Gulls have a pale bill base whereas 1st summer YL Gulls have a black bill with yellow tip.As Steve has pointed out Richard would have better views than us.

Russell

 

[Upland Birder]

Hi Richard,

Were your photo'd digiscoped and what distance were you from the gull ?

Dean:t:

 

[NickPomiankowski]

Steve, on the same date in 2004 there were 1200 (counted by yours truly). Weird that 28th July seems to be peak count day - although it's clearly related to post-breeding dispersal. I went up lunchtime and there were the usual 150 BHGs plus a 3rd summer yellow-legged gull.
Nick

c.800 Black-headed Gulls on the Void this afternoon (Nick - is that a record site count for July?!), nothing interesting in with them sadly, but if anywhere locally is going to turn up a Med then it surely has to be here!?!

Steve

 

[NickPomiankowski]

Well done lads :t: It was still damp first thing this morning and initially v. little was moving around - even the swallows and swifts were absent until I was on my way back to the car, so I guessed I might have missed some goodies. My 2 groppers were near the Tiddlers Pool so there must be at least 3 males still around.

Nick

I had the/a adult female Whinchat around the LapBunt paddock, so that makes 4. Nice :t:

Steve

 

[NickPomiankowski]

Silverdale Colliery

At Silverdale Colliery this lunchtime, there were again four yellow-legged gulls - a juvenile, 2 adults and a sleeping bird which looked like yesterdays 3rd summer :t: Also present was an adult herring gull, a common gull, some LBB Gulls and 450 b-h gulls. Many more juvs present in the b-h gull flock and along with the new YLGulls and Herring Gull, there's still hope for that elusive med gull or another caspian.

 

[russell toon]

At Silverdale Colliery this lunchtime, there were again four yellow-legged gulls - a juvenile, 2 adults and a sleeping bird which looked like yesterdays 3rd summer :t: Also present was an adult herring gull, a common gull, some LBB Gulls and 450 b-h gulls. Many more juvs present in the b-h gull flock and along with the new YLGulls and Herring Gull, there's still hope for that elusive med gull or another caspian.

With Med Gulls increasing in England it will be a surprise if you dont get a Med Gull,hopefully this year.Going to give Berryhill another bash now the weather has improved.

Russell

 

[Nick Smith]

Westport Lake sightings - 30th July

The lakes position as the premier birding location in North Staffs was further enhanced today with another Shoveler, a Green Woodpecker was reported to me by my mate John and the mid morning boys scored finally produced the goods this morning after weeks of holding their bins the wrong way round with a juv Med Gull. How topical! Was present from 10-00 to at least 11-30 but no sign mid afternoon. A few years ago we had a run of summer Med's and they used to go when the bhgs dispersed early afternoon.

 

[Steve Turner]

The lakes position as the premier birding location in North Staffs was further enhanced today with another Shoveler, a Green Woodpecker was reported to me by my mate John and the mid morning boys scored finally produced the goods this morning after weeks of holding their bins the wrong way round with a juv Med Gull. How topical! Was present from 10-00 to at least 11-30 but no sign mid afternoon. A few years ago we had a run of summer Med's and they used to go when the bhgs dispersed early afternoon.

Noooooooooooo, that Med should've been on the Void! B*LL*CKS Ah well, 'spose there's always a chance it may float over to the Void at some point...

Steve

 

[Nick Smith]

Noooooooooooo, that Med should've been on the Void! B*LL*CKS Ah well, 'spose there's always a chance it may float over to the Void at some point...

Steve

and my bhgs in the morning fly in from.....the direction of the void. lbbg fly up the valley from the south.

 

[russell toon]

Berryhill sightings 30 July

A Really good count of 7 Grasshopper Warblers reeling tonight between 20:30 and 21:15 including 2 at the reedbed end.
4 Whinchats (includes 3 adult males) present although they can be mobile,2 Redstarts and still 2 juv Stonechats.A few Garden Warblers on the move today along with some fresh yellow Willow Warblers.

Russell

 

[Upland Birder]

Hobby at Meir Heath

A Hobby was seen at Meir Heath on Wednesday flying south west and 5.3 miles from where I live.

Dean:t:

 

[Steve Turner]

Uttoxeter Quarry

A friend had 3 Black Terns fly straight through here this afternoon.

Steve

 

[Richard Powell]

My turn to say "nooooooooooooooooooo". No sign of them this evening. Drat, and double drat. :-C

I assume they were heading for Blithfield and not Poxy Croxy.

 

[Nick Smith]

Westport Lake sightings - 31st July

A jump in the number of juv bhgs this morning saw 13 juvs out of 23 bhgs. Also eleven Mistle Thrushes on the playing field and a phone call tonight resulted in a second visit of the day as the juv Med Gull finally turned up again, showing well on the jetty up to 20-00hrs at least. It also has a metal ring on its leg so possibly a British one (Dutch / Danish usually colour ringed as well i think?)

 

[Upland Birder]

Kestrals, Lapwings and Black Headed Gulls

Hi all

On my way home this evening I saw 4 hunting Kestrals. One near Boarsgrove and three at different points along Morridge. As I approached Cheadle from Kingsley 50+ Lapwings were in a field just before the town along with a good flock of Black headed Gulls with Juveniles.

Dean:t::t::t: