Bittell Reservoirs and Hopwood area (1 Viewer)

[hughie king]

Some of us togs have enough to carry, without a scope too. I have bins, though my lens has greater reach.

People on the road might not need a scope to view the bird, if they disguised their form using the hedge or trees along there, stayed as still and quiet as possible.

Hardly anyone there today though, both times I drove by.

That's probably the difference between us. I'm interested in birds not photography. I've been birding for over 30yrs & do not need advice on field craft. A scope is an essential part of any serious birders kit. It enables a birder to view a bird from a distance, study it & lets it get on undisturbed.
Are you suggesting you know better than any of the people who followed advice & viewed from the road?
I do take photographs obviously not as good as yours, but then I'm probably standing where I should be.
What if everyone had entered the field? No full frame shots for anyone then. But I suppose that's what spurs togs on. At any cost the money shot.
We'll have to agree to differ on this subject due to the fact that we are interested in different hobbies.

Hughie.

 

[Baggieshep]

Money Shots

Ooh Hughie you are awful but I like you but what ever you do " don't google money shots"3 unless you know how to delete your history:t: Looking forward to being in your company soon. Cheers mate & have a gud unB .

 

[cooky1]

Nice to put a face to the name this PM Keithr :t:
Saw the Shrike briefly and the Kestrel was present all the time but both were distant.
I`m with you Duckpond. You can get pics of birds such as a Shrike with fieldcraft and studying its behaviour and most of all PATIENCE.

Distant Kestrel and an even more distant Shrike.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all. :king:

 

[hughie king]

Nice to put a face to the name this PM Keithr :t:
Saw the Shrike briefly and the Kestrel was present all the time but both were distant.
I`m with you Duckpond. You can get pics of birds such as a Shrike with fieldcraft and studying its behaviour and most of all PATIENCE.

Distant Kestrel and an even more distant Shrike.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all. :king:

Hi Chris

Have to differ on this one.

A tog has no more rights being nearer a bird when 30 or so birders, including togs, heed the advice of pagers etc & " stay on the road" Agree with your comments on field craft, behaviour etc but a bird only needs to be spooked once for it to be away. No tog can guarantee that.
Especially so with the new breed of togs that are only interested in their own egos. How many of them will tire of their new fad & turn to another in a short space of time? Fieldcraft doesn't mean anything to them.
I repeat, everyone could ignore advice & enter the field. No one person is more important than the bird or for that matter anyone travelling to see it.


Anyway. Compliments of the season to all. Togs & Birders alike.

Hughie.

 

[hughie king]

Ooh Hughie you are awful but I like you but what ever you do " don't google money shots"3 unless you know how to delete your history:t: Looking forward to being in your company soon. Cheers mate & have a gud unB .

Hi Mark

Leading a poor innocent lad astray. Just googled it. Shock! Horror!

Cheers. have a good Christmas & New Year.
Don't forget to add to the profits of Real Ale Breweries. As if!!

Hughie.

 

[lesser kestrel]

Very brief view yesterday (23rd). Stayed about 20 mins. Kestrel seen on Saturday and Sunday.

Good day, despite the weather; barn owl at Upton.

The Lickey bramblings are worth having a look at. Biggest flock I've ever seen there. Easily 150.

Presumably no sign of the GGS yesterday due to the weather; any news from today?

Edit: just come on pager as present at 11am today.

 

[Duck_Pond]

The issue here is who deems what is best for the subject? I know that shrikes can't be walked up to; not many birds can be. However I have stood patiently, quietly and still, with several birders and togs alike, and had a gg shrike fly over to us, and feed barely 30 yards in front of us. But viewing from a distance, all the time, limits what you can really learn about a bird. Or anything for that matter.

For example, until that lad on Orkney skewered a branch with apples, who would have thought waxwings would land on someone's hand? Yet togs still get told off for being too close to them...

I watched the shrike on Saturday, and then again on Sunday from dawn. Watched where it was favouring. Saw where it was roosting.

I went right around the back of the field, and down the hedge line, keeping as far away from it as I could, and then I found somewhere I could hide myself, and hope it might fly close, based on what I'd observed. It did, several times, and far closer than it landed to everyone by the road, but as usual, it was either on the wrong side of something or was chased off by magpies. Rather infuriating.

I could have, if I had no sense or concern for the bird, strolled up to it, at any point, but I didn't. I waited patiently for my luck to change. It didn't. It was scared off by people who hadn't observed it like I had. But that's life. It's usually dog-emptiers that scare things off.

I've known a few togs over the years who sadly have no conscience whatsoever, and for them it is all about the photo. It really irks me when we all get tarred with the same brush, when we do things not seen to be the best practice by people who have never considered what might be involved with our hobby.

But it's Christmas and togs and birders will never see eye to eye, so live and let live. Life's too short for such nonsense. Especially when I have Redwood to drink...

 

[keithr]

As I have said on this section many times I have "a project" literally yards from where this bird favours.
Over the past 3 years,almost everyday the 1st 2 years, I have waited in full camo sitting on a tree root in all weathers (but rarely sun as its in tree cover) for views of some kingfishers.
Some of the stints have been up to 6-7 hours with not a sighting of even a Blue Tit. But I have also been lucky enough to have extreme close up visits of Sparrowhawk,GreenWoodpecker,G.S.Woodpecker,Nuthatch,Wren,Treecreeper,3 species of Tit,Chiffchaff,Blackcap,Bullfinch,Chaffinch,Heron,Mallard,Moorhen,a possible lesser Spotted Woodpecker,Buzzard,Kestrel,and some I have forgot at the moment.
The most special was a Juve Kingfisher that landed 3 feet away to my side and allowed me to turn my head and look straight at it where it just carried on looking down into the water - flitted to another branch just in front of me.I eventually got a snap when it was far enough away to get a focus on it...which meant moving most of my body to do it.
I do not say I have seen anything without at least the crappiest (my usual) pic of it for an I.D.

Also There were times when a Squiggle came along the bank and sniffed my boot and moved on and also Mink that did almost the same but I have to admit I was so scared I moved my foot and it quickly dived.....I had scared it so much it came back down the other bank and posed for a pic.
A snake and various small furry Mammals have swum across the stream with me with a dropped jaw just marveling at them.
The most bizarre was a very large fish -some said a Pike,splish splashing its way down stream.....must have been from the fishery.

If none of the people who turned up here ever try and get a closer look at a subject than why do they wear designer camo gear on their bodies and lenses/Scopes.......The Shrike can see a lot better than us and I dare to bet it could see all the funny unnatural shapes keep bobbing up and down above the skyline at the roadside...could that be why it does not come close after its 1st few days here.

Still if some got a little mark on a list it's probably worth it......a few I saw there DID NOT care about the actual bird and buggered off seconds after arriving after we had pointed it out for them to look through the scope for literally a second.

Hughie...I do agree with you that there are a few that have been at it a short time and may tire of it but in my case it has been a short 53 years and others are logging up the years as well.
The same could be said of the twitchers as well.

If an enterprising Tog gets a pic of a Barred or Parrot Crossbill by staking out the drinking site close by I wonder if any thanks would be forthcoming.

Merry Christmas...
Keith :t:

1..The Shrike at 4pm
2..small part of the mass Jackdaw Jackuration at 4.10pm.
3...A Buzzard from Sunday evening.

 

[keithr]

Steady flow of visitors...and dog walkers.joggers and bikers....ALL on the road side of hedge at the field around 10-11am.
Did not connect with the Shrike but Tits,Blackbirds,Herons,Corvids,Pigeons and the Buzzard checked in.
Lower and Mill Shrub up near max depth and normal winter brown....lots of activity from the usual locals but nothing of note.
Keith :t:

 

[lesser kestrel]

Great grey shrike late afternoon, about 3pm, in back fields. No sign of the kestrel but several buzzards and ravens.
Two grey wagtails yesterday, flying towards the Arrow.

Report of crossbills seen again on the Lickeys.

 

[keithr]

Popped to the field this morning and could hardy see the Oaks because of the fog.
In past had Grey wagtail (single, then pair) on the Arrow but never a Pied anywhere around the area.
Looks like the Shrike has settled in far from the road...but theres a lot of fields for it to " get lost " in....lol
The wife saw the Kestrel as we went past about 2ish...there were 3 people looking over fields at the time.
Keith

 

[binus1963]

re shrike

i went up for the shrike on cannock chase a year or two back on arrival it was fairly close with a few togs about trying to edge that bit closer, so i stood by the group. i don't try to push it with a bird especially with others trying to see it as well i ain't gonna be the one to flush it. alas whilst making some changes to my gear for a bit more focal length the bloody thing landed in the tree above my head meaning i had to zoom out! birders/togs ain't all the same be it trying to get nearer, wanting to sit for hours on a tree root or just pull up see it and go we've all got our own goals and aims, but what ever they are don't be the one to spoil it for the rest if you don't get that killer shot this time you may well do the next. all the atd seasons greetached pics were the cannock bird. all the best to you all and seasons greetings. trace.

 

[keithr]

Great pics of the Cannock bird.....and yes everyone has different goals and if everyone does things without disturbing the birds then there's no need for high handed warnings.
This one was quite close until it worked out the quietest place and looks to have settled for a place miles from the road BUT still giving distant white blob sightings.

Keith. :t:

 

[keithr]

Shrike showing intermittently in far field but reports it had been in 1st field at one time.
Kestrel,Buzzard,Herons,Redwing and Tits all entertaining the watchers.

keith :t:

1...Miles away Shrike
2..1st crop
3..2nd crop

 

[keithr]

The Buzzard....
Keith :t:

 

[Rob Williams]

Good views of it this lunchtime, came within 80 yards of the hedgeline.


Rob

 

[keithr]

It was waiting for me to B***** off....lol

On my visits the nearest was at the Oak tree.....It was perching in the tall trees and chasing off all comers.

Keith :t:

 

[Birder Gladys]

Great grey shrike was a lifer for both Mary and myself quite a obliging bird many thanks to lads there for the pointers and thanks to Keithr for keep this thread info going.

 

[keithr]

Well done Mary and ????...so you must have been the couple I saw here this afternoon......see you name on the forums so often but did not know who you both were....lol
I was the noisy b***** in the silly hat.
Glad you managed to get the lifetimes spot...it was my 1st as well.

Forgot to say earlier thanks to Mike for finally spotting it for us all...don't know how he spotted it on the little "V" shaped Oak...nice one.

Also around 3-30-4pm the birds started flocking around the horizon and I could see a black swirl coming over by the canal.....I thought it was the Jackdaw as the other evening but they kept approaching and turned out to be pigeons.
AS we watched then over Alvechurch a large flock of Gulls came the other way.

Another also...I think it was discors who named a large Gull as a Yellow Legged....I am not having it as a 1st for me as I do not know what distinguishes it as one. I thought it was a LBBGull.

Keith :t:

1...the Pigeons.
2...Is this the Yellow Legged...it's a large Gull that I see most evenings here....

 

[John Layj]

Finally got myself to Hopwood today. Here's my pic.:t: