Birding Trip to Venus Pool (Shropshire) (1 Viewer)

[MohoNobilis]

Well, haven't posted much on here lately - exams and tests have been stressing me out by a lot, and have thus decreased my chances in going out to go birding.
Last Sunday, I was invited to be taken out on a short trip to Venus Pool Nature Reserve early in the morning. As an amateur birder, I was obviously quite excited about this, as it was one of my first times heading to a nature reserve in the UK.
The weather was rather cloudy on that day. There were not many songbirds in the trees, except for a few great tits, blue tits and the occasional wren flitting around the shrubs. There were also a few magpies - one of my favourite birds to spot.
I was able to see many new birds, such as lapwings, snipes, teals and shovelers (My knowledge of birds may be vast, but I'm still relatively new to this birding business, so don't mine me being excited over common birds that I haven't seen before.), as well as some of my other personal favourites, such as cormorants. Didn't see a single bird of prey, so that did disappoint me a bit, but I still enjoyed my day out nonetheless.
I hope I get to see more birds and maybe return to Venus Pool in spring this year! I hope to see a kingfisher or a kestrel really soon...

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

For information, Green-winged Teal is usually used to refer to the American form (species or subspecies depending on which list you use), whereas our common form is Eurasian Teal. The American form is a scarcity over here, best identified in males by its vertical white stripe on the side of the breast rather than the horizontal stripe of the old world form.

 

[MohoNobilis]

For information, Green-winged Teal is usually used to refer to the American form (species or subspecies depending on which list you use), whereas our common form is Eurasian Teal. The American form is a scarcity over here, best identified in males by its vertical white stripe on the side of the breast rather than the horizontal stripe of the old world form.

Oh, I didn't know that! That's just what eBird says, but since it's US-based, I guess maybe it isn't the most reliable birding platform for people in Europe. Thanks for the correction! (I sure am learning something new about birds every day...)

 

[delia todd]

Thanks for this report Moho... brings back some fond memories of a visit there oh must be around 20 years ago I guess. I don't remember there being any member only hides at that time, could be wrong, but I went to what I called the "main hide" and Lena's Hide, which had a feeding station set up outside. There a Sparrowhawk shot through and everything disappeared.

I did meet PandaChris there, along with his lady... such a nice couple.

 

[01101001]

I was able to see many new birds, such as lapwings, snipes, teals and shovelers (My knowledge of birds may be vast, but I'm still relatively new to this birding business, so don't mine me being excited over common birds that I haven't seen before.), as well as some of my other personal favourites, such as cormorants.

Certainly, nothing to be ashamed of: I think many people appreciate that much, and some of those who find it hard would rather be in that frame of mind themselves.

There were also a few magpies - one of my favourite birds to spot.

I started a thread last year that might be of interest to you:

Common Magpie subspecies

OK, I've been a little bit torn between posting it here, in Bird Identification Q&A and in Bird Taxonomy and Nomenclature. While browsing through photos of Common Magpies in the Macaulay Library, I noticed an interesting feature: the white cross stripe above the rump varies in thickness between...

www.birdforum.net

And one more link:

Species Files – Guia Blasco Zumeta de Aves

blascozumeta.com