Upton Warren (1 Viewer)

[Sy V]

Had one of those trips down to UW that you'd wish was longer, today.
Moors Pool east hide to watch the roost dissipate.
17 Curlew
17 Greylag
2 Kingfisher (fly past)
2 Shoveler
13 Snipe
5 Dabchick
Bittern flew from in front of Concrete hide to reeds adjacent to causeway, then, with only 30-odd shots taken and the light starting to improve, the memory card was full.
New camera, new software. Unlike old camera this one doesn't default to emptying the card during PC upload.:C

 

[upstarts1979]

Hi Sy
couldn't get up early enough to join you.
Were the Curlews roosting at the moors.
Sounds like you are not happy with that camera...I'll give you £20 quid for the new one . Alright then £25

see you Tomorrow ????? well maybe next month then
John

 

[midlands birder]

wow,what a saturday night,watched both,yes the 2 bitterns at the moors from west hide.one was in reeds in front of hide other below dead tree,the one below the dead tree first rlew to the north moors and was quickly followed by the 2nd which flew to exacly the same spot in the north moors,also the pink footed goose still down,3 water rail and 2 curlew,also quite a bit of big gull activity over the moors pool,400c large gulls flew over the moors,also 17 greylags roosted on the moors
sorry i couldent make it to the work party 2day,i was sick and had a headache all day
MB

 

[timmyjones]

Went to the work party this morning and got the new island finished off.

And Craig that headache cost you a Red-breasted Merganser!!! Female dropped in while we were doing work on the island but quickly flew off again, apparently about the 5th or 6th record for upton!

 

[upstarts1979]

Hi MB
no worries always the next time mate.
I did mention the possibility of un-usual birds turning up at work parties -well it happened today
When a female red breasted merganser dropped onto the 2nd Flash for no more than 2 minutes long enough for good views by all present.

The Work
The island is now completed and covered in shingle - and will be known as 'Tims Island' after Timmy Jones who over the last two months contributed endless energy and enthusiasm to its construction.

other work included - digging out phragmites from the 'core' wader habitat in front of the hide. removing un-wanted vegetation from some of the shingle islands, created a new 'spit' into the 1st flash.

many thanks to the itrepid group of 8 workers who braved the elements.

Water Levels
Now that Tims island is finished the sluice pipe has been reinstalled and the water level will rise to the winter level over the next few weeks (mind you with heavy rain forecast it might be in the next few days).

 

[midlands birder]

When a female red breasted merganser dropped onto the 2nd Flash for no more than 2 minutes long enough for good views by all present.

And Craig that headache cost you a Red-breasted Merganser!!! Female dropped in while we were doing work on the island but quickly flew off again, apparently about the 5th or 6th record for upton!

dont remind me,i found out about it about an hour ago,hope it comes back:-O
even if i knew about it at the time i wouldent have got there,unless you wanted sick on the lapwings or timmys new island
MB

 

[midlands birder]

oh and to make it worst
never seen a red-brested mersanger

 

[upstarts1979]

On the bird front today
A walk around the 2nd flash during tea break revealed 4 Jack Snipe ,
at the Moors 2 Bitterns, Goldeneye and Pink Footed goose

cheers John

 

[midlands birder]

On the bird front today
A walk around the 2nd flash during tea break revealed 4 Jack Snipe ,
at the Moors 2 Bitterns, Goldeneye and Pink Footed goose

cheers John

thks for that john:-C
hope that goldeneye wasent there last night i spent time looking for it

 

[Duck_Pond]

Saw the bittern yesterday, briefly from the Bittern Hide, but it never came out fully before the sun had dropped too low for decent pics.

Bumped into Bob too, who recounted the tale of a heron being drowned and dragged away by a mink! Can we have a gun tower installed above the Bittern Hide please?

 

[upstarts1979]

Bumped into Bob too, who recounted the tale of a heron being drowned and dragged away by a mink! Can we have a gun tower installed above the Bittern Hide please?

Hi Pete
was this recently - if so I will let gordon know you would think a heron could handle a mink.

 

[Duck_Pond]

Yeah - in the last few days. Gordon might already be aware - Arthur certainly had heard about it. Was too gloomy to take any shots, according to Bob, otherwise he'd have tried for some.

 

[Sy V]

Spent a very pleasant 3-4 hours in the Lapwing hide of the Moors pool this morning.
Highlight species were the Bittern (in front of the opposite hide), Goldeneye and a Grey Wagtail. No sign of old Pink-foot during my watch (but it's odds-on that it turned up just after I left).

Here a a few piccies:

 

[upstarts1979]

Arrived at the reserve about 12pm
and stayed until dark (5pm)
At the Moors a lot of wildfowl fed on the main pool Shoveler dominated the scene with an excellent count of 104, Teal c20, a male wigeon, Tufted 35, Pochard 12, a male Goldeneye spent its 2nd week here not a regular species for upton. The Grebes were represented by 12 Great crested and 6 Little. Geese included Barnacle and 17 greylags. The coot flock stood at 300.
waders included 35 Lapwing, 24 snipe and 21 Curlew on A38 field.
Several water rail called and some were seen. also calling were Cettis warbler (2) and a Coal Tit fed along the east side (an irregular species on the reserve).

A quick walk around the North Moors trail revealed Redwing (20), Song Thrush and Goldcrest and the Bittern was seen earlier.

At the Flashesthe roosting flock included 640 Lapwing, 21 Curlew, 40 Snipe (most emerging from their daytime hide-outs amongst the grassy islands to feed in the shallows) and 60 Teal. The BHG roost of 500 or more also had 2 first winter Common Gulls amongst them. The female Goosander that had spent most of the day at the flashes flew off at 4pm. But returned at 5pm as did a Green Sand. The roosting flocks were constantly flushed by a couple of sparrowhawks attempting to catch Starlings (350) that had roosted in the first Flash reed bed. Other passerines in the area were Fieldfare redwing (20), Meadow Pipit (2) Grey wag and 20 Pied Wags. All in all not a bad afternoons birding for the time of year.

Water Level both the Moors and Flashes sluices are now closed and both levels are now rising the Flashes 4cm in a week.

Work carried out this last week
At the moors -east side you will notice that the track has been churned up. This is due to E-on removing the overhead power cables - mind you it only took 10 years to complete it. This will stop any bird collisions suffered in the past.
The tuesday work party team have almost completed the strimming and sappling removal around Amy's Marsh - this has opened up the grassy/muddy areas making it attractive to waders and many wetland species and at the same time improving the viewing from the east hide (Lapwing).

cheers John

 

[midlands birder]

a nice hour spent in the west hide on saturday before dusk,the goldeneye(upton tick 129) was diving behind the half sunken raft ,a female pintail(self found,not seen before that day) was associanting with a small shoveler flock(79+ overall),a barnicle goose was in the canada flock but no pink foot.(because it was at westwood),5 water rail(all coming from nettles/damp area below hide),24 curlew in a38,17 greylag geese and a snipe flew over
MB

 

[Emma]

Had an enjoyable afternoon at the Moors Pools this afternoon and despite the grotty weather first thing it turned out to be a rather pleasant sunny afternoon!! The birds also seemed to be enjoying the Autumnal sunshine with the Kingfisher giving us some super views from the Bittern Hide! Other highlights from today included the Barnacle Goose, Pochard, Shoveler, Wigeon, Water Rail, G C Grebe, Little Grebe and a Moorhen who somehow was managing to eat from the peanut feeder in the tree directly in front of the Bittern Hide....have never seen anything like it before!! It was also good to see a Great Spotted Woodpecker on the fat feeder!
It was also nice to see Arthur "Mr Upton" today and he kindly pointed out to us the Juv Male Goldeneye, we managed quick glances of it as it was ducking and diving!!

 

[timmyjones]

Is it me or does there appear to be metal ring on the right leg of the barnacle goose? Anyone managed to see if this is a closed or open ring?

 

[midlands birder]

yep,a ring on its leg, i can't help always swimming when i saw it on saturday

 

[Emma]

Is it me or does there appear to be metal ring on the right leg of the barnacle goose? Anyone managed to see if this is a closed or open ring?

Hi Tim, I spotted the ring on the goose while we were in the hide but due to the sunshine and distance it was impossible to see if there were any letters/numbers on the ring through the scope, hopefully someone else might have recorded the details in one of the log books in the hides if they managed to get a clear view of the ring!

 

[timmyjones]

Hopefully would be great if it could be proven to be a wild bird!