Withymoor - Amblecote, Stourbridge..... (4 Viewers)

[rollingthunder]

Thus far 3x the average rainfall for May say the Met - no sh1t Sherlock!

Spring stumbles on and finally light at the end of a tunnel that we have been travelling down since the Autumn with the Jet Stream moving back to Greenland which is good news. A ‘heatwave’ is forecast which if nothing will p1ss of the SAGE committee members.....

Nothing local to report as i went to Aberystwyth on Friday returning yesterday to see the Brides’ grandkids. This does however give me the opportunity for a window of coastal birding or would have done if it had not rained heavily all of Friday the second half of Sunday and all of Monday not stopping until the train reached Wellington :-( Saturday by contrast was warm, sunny, cotton-wool clouds and a gentle onshore breeze so after a bit of seawatching i caught the train, avec Brompton, to Borth / Ynslas for 6 hours around the Bog and Dunes.

Friday on arrival i headed for the large Promenade shelter to skulk from the heavy rain and strong winds. Seawatching was nigh impossible but it was low tide so i scanned for waders whilst watching 20+ mixed large Gulls wheeling above the crashing waves. Alarm bells rang when i saw a smaller Gull entering the field of view then disappearing as it ‘dip fed’ - the distinct adult upperwing pattern, forked tail and full hood with a bit of flecking (2nd Summer?) could mean only one species.....Sabines Gull and only my 2nd ever following the Goldfish Bowl bird a few years ago. Due to the incLement weather my bridge camera was elsewhere so i took some with the phone. I then concentrated on actually watching the bird as it moved closer before flying off. I noted the next morning on Ceredigion Birds and Birdguides that it was back feeding. I duly emailed them that an ‘out of towner’ had found it the previous afternoon ;-)

A coupla pictures from the CB blog and not mine - the bird has lost a foot somewhere it would appear - i will post a second note with other stuff later.

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

Still bashing Fens Pools on what has now become a daily commute.

Still good numbers and variety of warblers singing.

Netherton Hill settling pool area held 5 singing Reed Warblers and a Cetti’s on Sunday morning. The adjacent ‘Butterfly’ meadow still has a decent show of Green-winged Orchids (Orchis morio) some 150+. These are from spore contained within the Eades Meadow hay scheme. I am very surprised that Orchid seed has found suitable conditions to thrive in such numbers - it has also established itself elsewhere in the borough.

The Ravens at the Waterfront fledged 3 young for the 2nd consecutive year!

Twitched the River Warbler in addition to a nice day out at Ham Wall RSPB. I was last there pre-RSPB on a training course - it’s changed and then some - it was just fields and ditches back in the day. Got much better views than birds in Poland!

West Hagley Fields peaked, for me, with a max of 5 Wheatears during Spring passage with birds logged from March 31st > mid April 4 days a week. Notable were more White Wag days this year.

Popped up there yesterday as there are now well-grown Wheat fields in addition to the Spuds. I was rewarded with no less than 3 singing Corn Buntings and the aim of my visit - a calling Quail from the County Lane field. Importantly a West Midlands record. The County Lane junction has West Mid / Worcs / Staffs cheek by jowl.....

Good Birding -

Laurie -

 

[the Harborne Flyer]

Still bashing Fens Pools on what has now become a daily commute.

Still good numbers and variety of warblers singing.

Netherton Hill settling pool area held 5 singing Reed Warblers and a Cetti’s on Sunday morning. The adjacent ‘Butterfly’ meadow still has a decent show of Green-winged Orchids (Orchis morio) some 150+. These are from spore contained within the Eades Meadow hay scheme. I am very surprised that Orchid seed has found suitable conditions to thrive in such numbers - it has also established itself elsewhere in the borough.

The Ravens at the Waterfront fledged 3 young for the 2nd consecutive year!

Twitched the River Warbler in addition to a nice day out at Ham Wall RSPB. I was last there pre-RSPB on a training course - it’s changed and then some - it was just fields and ditches back in the day. Got much better views than birds in Poland!

West Hagley Fields peaked, for me, with a max of 5 Wheatears during Spring passage with birds logged from March 31st > mid April 4 days a week. Notable were more White Wag days this year.

Popped up there yesterday as there are now well-grown Wheat fields in addition to the Spuds. I was rewarded with no less than 3 singing Corn Buntings and the aim of my visit - a calling Quail from the County Lane field. Importantly a West Midlands record. The County Lane junction has West Mid / Worcs / Staffs cheek by jowl.....

Good Birding -

Laurie -

Those corn buntings must be the last ones in the West Mids county; the only other site I'm aware of was at Minworth where they have disappeared. This site also used to have tree sparrow ,skylarks, grey partridge and yellow wagtail and is about to be developed as an industrial site. It's very predictable after Birmingham City Council decided to build a much required retail park at the Fort about 2 miles away from Minworth ,in the middle of a large industrial area. And we wonder why wildlife is declining.

 

[rollingthunder]

The Corn Buntings around here do move about after breeding, i presume the ones i have see about a mile away are the same. Jason Kernohan gets Winter parties over at Shenstone. As regards breeding - yes they must be pretty scarce although if you go over to the Brum Airport side of the West Mids there looks plenty of suitable habitat iirc.

Good birding -

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

2 calling Quail at WHF 0630 yesterday. Prior to that a smart adult Hobby hunting over at SugarLoaf paddocks. Minimum of 5 singing CB’s + a coupla non-singers.

A mate had a day off so we quickly shot up to Lickey at 10:00. This was on no reports since 07:30 but as it is local and waiting for others to find and report is not my sort of birding off we went. Proactive rather than reactive is the motto.

30+ people present mostly strung out and sitting/standing around with Coffee and Sandwiches plus 2 MTBers smoking something my Nan would not approve of.....

Mark and I wandered away to what we considered more suitable habitat based on my records of the species from Southern Europe. By 11:15 i picked it up singing and motioned to a group of 4 about 50 yards or so away. Only to be told ‘i heard a Garden Warbler’ - my @rse. We watched the bird for about a minute before it flew over us and into denser cover in some Hollies. Picked it up again but not singing before it disappeared. Birdguides reported nothing between 07:24 and 20:28. Birdguides is not the font of sightings it merely reflects those who use it and the tiny % of those that report. I posted details on FB only to be slagged off by some idiots for being arrogant and snooty because i said there appeared to be quite a few Springwatch ‘types’. Well imo there was - people waiting to be spoon-fed instead of contributing. It included several with no visible binoculars - no comment!

I tapped out a lengthy and detailed response half an hour ago but when i tried to post it the original stuff had been removed. Fortunately not before i read supportive replies from birders who actually know me and not the vacuous keyboard warriors that infest the Internet these days.....

We decided to twitch the BRW as it looks such a smart bird and the weather was nice. A dozen birders and no show, i wandered off again to the river where a couple were looking at a Kingfisher c/w Cetti’s as background - their 3rd no show for BRW. A younger, keen, birder was also a bit down but said he had seen a Lesser Whitethroat.....which was a ‘lifer’. I mooched back and picked up the BRW on its low ‘tuk’ call which, with the song, i was familiar with from Poland. I then went back 200 yards or so to whistle to the River people - how arrogant of me, again alerting people to the bird in question

The least people who are unfamiliar with calls or a song is to Google Xeno-Canto - obviously not to use as a lure - otherwise we really will fall out ;-)

Good Birding -

Laurie

 

[rollingthunder]

Not much in the way of local change - certainly nothing to report in my birding.....

The Cetti’s was still singing at Netherton Hill settling pools about 10 days ago and a noticeable increase in juvenile Lesser Black-backs on Fens Top Pool on Saturday morning ca75 present - as they say, where there’s muck there’s brass. A resurgence in singing warblers is evident with Blackcap, Chiffchaff and particularly Whitethroat noticeable - unmated birds or 2nd brood?

I, like many others, are patiently waiting for the dust to settle / Haystack Head to pull his finger out / EU to stop jerking us about - so we can travel freely without tests / isolation and will not do so until these requirements are met but that’s me. Either Georgia or Tarifa beckon in September, the Sagres Bird Festival in October or Morocco in November / December - somebody, somewhere, will be willing to take your money without making your life a misery.

Who thought it would actually be our own government- not me that’s for sure.....

I have managed to cobble together a little cabal and decided to start twitching again but in the 80’s style of 3-4 people to a vehicle in order to make it cheaper but more importantly a social event - no masks obviously.....we are the double-jabbers ;-)

Recently these jaunts have included River Warbler, Blyth’s Reed Warbler and Melodious Warbler - none of them lifers and only one a UK tick. It has been so long since seeing some of the stuff on my British list that half of it was seen 15-20 years the other side of the millenium and with my 65th birthday a week away the clock, as they say, is ticking so i had better start doing the same thing ;-)

If i had continued at the same pace i would be around 550 rather than 100 less :-( On the + it means i have 50-75 species that are eminently and reasonably achievable in a relatively short period of time i.e. 5 years......God willing!

Sunday saw us out at Cemlyn on a truly cracking day. I had not visited Anglesey since the Black Lark and hadn’t taken the pulse of a Sandwich Ternery for some years. It brought back memories of Blakeney Point in the early 80’s. Sandwich Tern colonies are something else, the sheer distinct noise of even a few hundred pairs is both thrilling and humbling - imagine 4,000+! A light onshore breeze added to the enjoyment and the Elegant Tern did not disappoint (neither did the Lesser Crested in a similar scenario back in the day). We had 3 hours with it and associated species before heading for South Stack and its cliff assemblage. The Elegant Tern was very active bringing back monster Sand Eels to share with his/her new friends and in the process offered excellent views and photo opportunities down to 50 yards i would estimate. Unexpected was a fly through Marsh Harrier (dark-morph juv on photos i have seen) - about 20 or so birders got on to that at about 10 o’clock. Numbers then dwindled to about half a dozen when the Tern got back and people started papping away. I turned around when i heard the nearby offshore feeding birds start milling and screeching ( ST’s do that frequently and for no apparent reason) to see a Mach 1 Montague’s Harrier zip thru so fast that only a handful of alerted Terns could keep up! This was a brown bird and i got no primary fingers so unless a fem-type Pallid gets reported.....

Andy ‘Agro’ reports what sounds good for a thermalling speck of a Black Stork over Quarry Bonk yesterday at around 1pm - i spent 20 minutes scanning for the ‘Mother Ship’ - to no avail but thanks, literally, for the heads up.....

Attached - Elegant Tern and Marsh Harrier at Cemlyn.

Good birding -

Laurie

 

[rollingthunder]

Good Lord, has it been that long - time to resurrect the thread before it goes the way of The Goldfish Bowl.....

I have been actively birding despite a 2-month hiatus up at the Fens Pools but the Top Pool has been drained for repairs so if we don’t receive too much precipitation in the next 8 weeks it might, just might, get something above a Common Sandpiper. Birding yes seeing anything to report i am afraid not. I have, however, managed to see all the long-staying Summer goodies 3 of which have been blockers whose ghosts have well and truly been slain - everything comes to he who waits.....i know because i read it on the back of a matchbox ;-)

I have started bashing the West Hagley Fields last week as the farmer has been preparing them for this Spring’ Wheatear crop. Good numbers today of Skylark, Mipit, Yellowhammer and Stock Dove. In addition a solitary Corn Bunting (5 singing males last May) and my first record of double Red Kite with 2 birds at 1pm today.

Watch this space.....

Good birding -

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

Daily visits to Mary Stevens Park although unproductive show the seasonal trend with increasing numbers of BHG’s. During Dec/Jan they have slowly risen to around 300 with spikes of 400 and should peak at around 500 mid-Feb if previous counts are anything to go by. Generally speaking Gulls attract Gulls and they tend to group into either small or large with some inter-mingling - that’s what i find at the 3 or 4 small patches i cover. These include 2 single pools (Withymoor and MSP), a group of pools (Fens) and grassy habitat (West Hagley Fields). Large Gulls are relatively scarce above half a dozen birds at MSP as it is populated by the smaller more numerous BHG. It just doesn’t attract them unfortunately.

A birder mate said to me that he couldn’t be bothered with non-adult Gulls as it was all a bit ‘complicated’. I thought that if you don’t take more than a passing interest in Gulls here in the West Midlands then there are at least 3 months of the year with little to challenge you. By complicated i presume he meant their plumage moult and not species ID - i didn’t enquire further. We only have about 8 regularly breeding species including the mainly Southerly YLG’s and Med colonies and about double that if you include regular migrants and vagrants - not that many to get to grips with to my mind.

I attach a photo taken yesterday in MSP of a Herring Gull, a 2nd Winter / 3rd calender year type. If you are a Larophile then Gulls a smart-looking birds in all plumages. Next year in the 3 weeks following the fledging of Black-headed Gulls just take a look at the Ginger pelage of these birds before the post-juvenile moult takes place - they are truly stunning imho. The moult of Gulls from 1st Summer to final sub-adult is an ideal extended period to hone your skills and be able to place a fleeting glimpse of a passing individual into an age category. The side view of the attached bird also gives you an easy guide to bird/Gull topography with all areas highlighted except the open wing for covert-barring and full primary mirror pattern. Both head and bill are distinct again with all pertinent features on display and just wait until soft part colour flushes including inner gape during the breeding season.....

Good birding -

Laurie

 

[Ian Byrnes]

Daily visits to Mary Stevens Park although unproductive show the seasonal trend with increasing numbers of BHG’s. During Dec/Jan they have slowly risen to around 300 with spikes of 400 and should peak at around 500 mid-Feb if previous counts are anything to go by. Generally speaking Gulls attract Gulls and they tend to group into either small or large with some inter-mingling - that’s what i find at the 3 or 4 small patches i cover. These include 2 single pools (Withymoor and MSP), a group of pools (Fens) and grassy habitat (West Hagley Fields). Large Gulls are relatively scarce above half a dozen birds at MSP as it is populated by the smaller more numerous BHG. It just doesn’t attract them unfortunately.

A birder mate said to me that he couldn’t be bothered with non-adult Gulls as it was all a bit ‘complicated’. I thought that if you don’t take more than a passing interest in Gulls here in the West Midlands then there are at least 3 months of the year with little to challenge you. By complicated i presume he meant their plumage moult and not species ID - i didn’t enquire further. We only have about 8 regularly breeding species including the mainly Southerly YLG’s and Med colonies and about double that if you include regular migrants and vagrants - not that many to get to grips with to my mind.

I attach a photo taken yesterday in MSP of a Herring Gull, a 2nd Winter / 3rd calender year type. If you are a Larophile then Gulls a smart-looking birds in all plumages. Next year in the 3 weeks following the fledging of Black-headed Gulls just take a look at the Ginger pelage of these birds before the post-juvenile moult takes place - they are truly stunning imho. The moult of Gulls from 1st Summer to final sub-adult is an ideal extended period to hone your skills and be able to place a fleeting glimpse of a passing individual into an age category. The side view of the attached bird also gives you an easy guide to bird/Gull topography with all areas highlighted except the open wing for covert-barring and full primary mirror pattern. Both head and bill are distinct again with all pertinent features on display and just wait until soft part colour flushes including inner gape during the breeding season.....

Good birding -

Laurie

Hi Laurie
Just in passing got this nice shot of a Buzzard riding the thermals above the park last Thursday.
All the best
Ian

 

[rollingthunder]

Hi Ian - nice to hear from you.

A pair Bred in the Park last year and another regular birder, Steve Haycox, picked up a fledgling that had fallen out of the nest and handed it to one of the Wardens. I saw 3 just fledged Sprawks on a branch of one of the large Conifers adjacent to the Tennis courts - i suspect that Sparrowhawk might have bred in one of them and shall keep eyes peeled for pre-nuptial activity this coming breeding season.

Good birding -

Laurie

 

[rollingthunder]

Snapped this pair on Fens (Grove) Pool last week. They ticked the boxes as a smart YLG duo. The combination of Pale head on one bird and subtle streaks on the other, half a tone darker mantle, large driller with notable gonys. I have since checked thru the other shots and got a hint of straw-coloured leg just in the water. The right-hand bird was begging for something that the other had in its beak. Could be a pair teaming up for the breeding season? I underexposed by 2/3 of a stop to avoid ‘burn out’ on the pale head and body.

Good birding -

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

Ground conditions around here are Somme-like and i am even having trouble with an MTB on some tracks and there is no chance with either of the Bromptons - is there no end to the rain? Living here in the Wet Midlands means Storm Dudley has been a rich seam of humour but both it and Eunice might provide a sprinkling of displaced birds over the next week but in the meantime hatches are being battened in advance of tomorrow’s forecast of 50mph winds.....

Daylight lengthening and mild days means a local Blackbird aka ‘the carpark Pavarotti’ has been cranking up from 4:30 onwards for upto an hour - i make a Coffee and sit out on a wall and soak it in - who needs Nightingales!

Mary Stevens Park is reaching its Black-headed Gull peak with 400+ on some days but still little in the way of large Gulls. The work on Fens Top Pool has finished with several bunds for Great Crested Newt and a raise in both height and area for the island. The water level was lowered by 12’ to carry it out so hopefully there will be some edge left for wader passage. A brief visit to West Hagley Fields yielded my first record of 2 Red Kites and a solitary Corn Bunting was present - hopefully there will be more males returning to equal the 5 singing birds of last year. Locally the Ravens at Brierley Hill have been refurbishing and attached is a picture of one departing having given me the eye and kronked to let me know despite being several hundred yards away. My Red bike would have been a giveaway as it was ‘new’.....

Roll on Spring, the 1st Sand Martin has been reported which means Wheatears will not be far behind. The Gibraltar Straits observers had their first ‘proper’ day this week with nearly 400 Black Kites and a sprinkling of other raptors making the crossing. Roll on also the dropping of travel restrictions as the last 2 years have put a serious dent in the aspirations of those wishing to do so.

Good birding -

Laurie

 

[rollingthunder]

Yesterday i did a 12 mile whistle-stop tour of local sites during a lull inbetween ‘storms’.

Withymoor: Nothing of note.

Brierley Hill: both adult Ravens on site.

Fens Pools: quiet nothing stood out Gully but will sift thru photos at some stage in case i missed something.

Ketley Quarry: sadly this site has been landfilled and capped. Yet another ‘Brownfield’ destroyed by Dudley MBC whose motto, if unable to build more houses for Poll Tax, appears to be ‘fill it and kill it. This site was a low series of quarried troughs with Limey ridges. Seasonal warblers bred but its main interest was an interesting semi-ruderal habitat for Limestone flora. During the last decade Peregrine bred at least once (you could walk up to the nest) until it attracted the attention from the knuckle-dragging element of the local Pigeon fanciers. After that targeted seasonal disturbance closed that all too brief avenue of pleasure.....

King George 6 park: no more than a landscaped puddle but worth a visit after windy weather like anything is around here.

Roll on the next week there has to be something worth finding.

Attached: my cycle route and both Ravens one of which was gathering nest-lining material by the looks.

Good birding -

Laurie

 

[rollingthunder]

Altho not a big user of Faecebook i found it handy for contacting old friends during the Lockdown both birders and those i have worked with in the past. Oddly enough the handfull of the former became instant ‘friends’ again whilst a few of the latter didn’t even respond to a request. Apart from the platform trying to weedle its way into every aspect of your life it does remind you from time to time of your ‘memories’ whilst also subtly reinforcing the fact that you are on another annual rung of God’s ladder.....

The post on the 21st consisted of a one-year old image of a Gull i found locally at Fens Pools. I say ‘found’ the truth is that i didn’t pick the bird up until examining the photos that i had blasted after they all went up until i got back to the PC. The individual in question had simply flown through and serendipity did the rest. It has however got me into the routine of snapping multiple overlapping images (x3 to ensure a sharp one). It happened again last week when i had somehow missed a lurking male Goosander on Fens Top Pool. Ok no great shakes but it could have been a Ring-necked Duck in amongst the 60+ Tufties on the Middle Pool. The Lumix bridge camera i use costs nothing to feed and is light as a feather. It is much easier to have ready than either of the Canon 7D’s and its flak-gun proportioned 150-600mm zoom. Altho an excellent lens the whole combo is heavy and when i crouch with its cammo’d cover it looks like it could be ready to take out a Sherman tank in the Normandy bocage - horses for courses.

Attached is Zuckerberg’s reminder of my mortality.....

I will refer to this record in the context of my last years twitching and local patching in the next post.

Good birding -

Laurie

 

[rollingthunder]

Stunning light yesterday meant a 10o/c pickup and over to Sandwell Valley. Swan Pool car park has come up with a new arrangement for parking involving an app so unsurprisingly it was virtually empty - quite why they don't make both car parks free is beyond me i mean how many times do Poll Tax payers have to fork out for something :-( In future we shall park elsewhere for nothing and walk down to the pool and paddocks.

Instead we drove around to the RSPB and parked as i am now a member again.

The islands have been de-vegetated consequently there was absolutely nothing to see. No Lapwing, Gulls, Cormorant or Gadwall i kid you not absolutely zilch. A pair of mating Oystercatchers and a couple of drop-in Teal. One of the islands has an array of 6’ canes evenly dotted on it. This apparently has been successful elsewhere in stopping Corvids from predating but the only 2 birds on it yesterday was.....you guessed it 2 Carrion Crows! The buzz in the hide was a rumoured Common Gull so we gave it neck as they say.

Noted well away from ‘Cane Island’ in the watery tree-line were Shoveler, Goosander and 3 Goldeneye. A whistle-stop circuit of Sheepwash yielded 3 ‘sinensis’-type Cormorants and a couple of female Sprawks. A smart male Stonechat (plus a very elusive female) was found in the Gorse on Netherton Hill.

Good birding -

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

The Winter without end continues altho a brace each of Wheatear, Sand Martin and LRP were reported on Birdguides yesterday. What is needed is a high pressure system emanating from the Canaries / North African Mahgreb.....

2 visits to Mary Stevens Park and one to Fens Pools has been the sum total of my birding this week although i hope to visit both Gos and Raven sites locally on Sunday to see if some regular territories and a couple of new ones are occupied.

Locally Blackbirds are vocal from 5 onwards and are a much needed source of seasonal pleasure and is my go to start of the day. I stopped in my tracks only a few hundred yards from the house midweek when i sublimely heard what a took to be a singing Blackcap - only a second but despite searching i did not obtain visual confirmation.

Attached:
Yesterday’s Brierley Hill Raven.
A smart ‘sinensis’-type Cormorant, 1 of 3, from Sheepwash last Sunday.
An adult Little Egret c/w ‘aigrettes’ and whispy scapular extensions in nuptial plumage, 1 of 2 again at Sheepwash last Sunday.
A Carrion Crow caught in flight. This is a detail of a much bigger image of large Gulls. It is often productive to search and crop an image for a picture that was unplanned imo.
Finally 1 of 3 large YLG-type Gulls on Fens Top Pool (a 2nd individual is to the right). The 3 birds were in a group and got my attention on general plumage, jizz and mantle colour. They all appeared full adult until this bird flapped its wings. It revealed some residual covert marks which could make it a 4cy. It also showed the larger outer primary ‘blacking’ i associate with YLG plus a bar on the p5.....

Good birding -

Laurie

 

[rollingthunder]

3 sites visited yesterday as part of general surveying for Raven, Gos, Curlew and Lesser-spotted Woodpecker - the demise in records of the last species is nearly as depressing as the 3rd one which contrasts with the increasing number of new sites not associated with with Wyre Forest for the 2nd and the increasingly common sightings and urban breeding of the first mentioned.....

First call was an area of wet woodland at Ribbesford, Bewdley, a stones throw from the mighty Severn. Visits to this site were not made during WuFlu and recent attempts were thwarted by serious flooding. The Dog flushed a Woodcock and a zippy Kingfisher kept us company during the increasingly boggy half mile or so trek. Reward was earnt with an intermittent yelping Goshawk calling from our habitat of choice a distant treeline with suitable large Conifers.

Next up an piece of mixed woodland in the Shatterford area. Not much small passerine activity at either but Marsh Tits were calling deep somewhere. Both Goshawk and Raven called from where we have recorded them previously. Last year they nested no less than 200 yards from each other this year they have put a respectable 1/2 mile between. 4 years ago we found 4 well-grown Ravens near to fledging dead below the nest site. All despatched by the nearby Goshawks. Ravens are no pushovers but if a large female Gos decides you are non-gratia then that’s it. The Ravens were particularly vocal with that evocative rounded bell-like echo call that i only hear during the breeding season. I am assuming it is the male? The assumed female merely dropped out of the nest area (nest impossible to see) with a muted call. Almost certainly they have started laying whereas the Goshawks will be another coupla weeks. A calling Sparrowhawk joined in each time the Gos called. We listened and watched from a Deer shooters chair well away from any birds which afforded a 180 degree view.....

Our last site was a group of wet meadows about a mile from the above site. A rather smart Pied Wagtail and a party of about 30 Fieldfares were notable but no cigar. The regular survey site yielded a flying, calling Curlew as we pulled up - if a bubbling Curlew doesn’t raise the hairs on the back of your neck then you are in the wrong hobby (a pair of those breed in an old Corvid nest in a large hedgerow Oak at the same site). Further scanning picked up another pair of Curlew feeding. 3 pairs have been the norm but fledging is dire at only 1 last year. All but one farmer is sympathetic and allows marking of the nests but the latter could shield from curious cattle but doesn’t - probably not being paid to take an interest :-(

Last but not least we hit Stourbridge ring road to see a low ‘winnowing’ Peregrine over the town centre. 3 parts of the way around and it had drifted towards where i live about 1/4 mile away. We pulled up in a pub car park (Ten Arches). From this elevated position we watched it circling before it dropped down out of sight. There are 3 low rise blocks, 2 Churches and the Town Hall to choose from and i check each year so maybe it’s time Stourbridge hosted a pair of these birds.....

Attached: Shatterford panorama and freshly picked Wild Ramsons for Pesto with a kick.

Good birding -

Laurie

 

[Phil Andrews]

Goshawks remain a highly persecuted raptor - please consider this before publishing any details of locations, however general.

 

[rollingthunder]

All my observations are made from public access paths and bridleways. I do not approach any actual or potential nest sites. Several of the regular sites have gamebird-rearing operations fairly close by. There are people on these forums both regionally and locally that spend their time chasing other peoples ‘finds’ for the sole purpose of taking photographs. Some of these individuals lure both resident scarce breeders and passage rarities when nobody is around. I regard reporting on several key species on a general basis as not an issue. People who wish ill on species like Goshawk and Raven are usually more competent at finding these birds than me - i know, i have met several over the years both in a working, social and birding capacity.....

Ironically whilst out and about on Sunday there were shotguns going off whilst i was listening to calling birds - you could have closed your eyes and imagined that you were birding..........in the Ukraine😉

I see your post got a thumbs up from Dick-Ed-Dipper - no surprises there

Good birding -

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

I do not venture out in moderate i.e. >15mph not so much from a birding aspect but more with regard to cycling as it simply is uncomfortable and at present with winds in the North just too cold. Even the odd day switching to the SW or SE makes little difference when the origin is still Northerly. If i lived on the coast, as i have done, then it would be just the conditions to be out and would re-invigorate my interest in seawatching which in a landlocked region has sadly waned.....

On Monday i had to pop up to Brierley Hill on a domestic issue so took the opportunity to pop into Fens Pools and snap the Gulls for ongoing perusal - a lone male Pochard was present on the Grove Pool. I also stopped on the canal to see the pair of Ravens (about a mile away) tumbling and displaying in the strong breeze. Not content with pre-nuptial activities they both took the chance to dive-bomb, in a Stuka stylee, passing Gulls and a couple of lumbering Buzzards.

Attached: a series of images to give an impression of the tumbling and one of the adults.

Good birding -

Laurie