Sunrise at Upton Warrens Sailing Lake
Wyre Forest
Afternoon birding at Edgbaston
A garden Jay
Mute Swan on Sailing Lake (Upton Warren)
Young Black Headed Gulls
Avocets chicks on the ground at the Flashes
Dunlin passage increased through the week
With the cricket
season picking up pace with every passing week a very early start is
needed to get in some good birding time as well as cricketing umpiring, taxi
service for lads and of course watching the mighty Warwickshire Bears.
First stop was Upton
Warren to take part in the annual all dayer in which the reserve competes
against other similar reserves. On a stunning morning, I started at the Flashes
where the first two Avocet chicks had hatched and were being closely watched by
their mother. Linnet, Goldfinch and Reed Bunting were all busy along the
hedgerows. A single Common Sandpiper shared the scrapes for feeding along with
a Dunlin, Little Ringed Plover and around 30 Avocets. The first young
Black-headed Gulls were also on the ground. As I headed back along the path
towards the Sailing Lake a very late Fieldfare (first ever on Upton all dayer)
passed over. Once reaching the Moors Pool I headed to try and find a Redstart
which decided to move on very quickly. The pool held its normal suspects
including a pair of Common Terns. The warbler numbers had increased
dramatically since my previous visit. After a raid of Rob’s delicious Lemon
Drizzle, with a pair of Sparrowhawk’s soaring to the south I headed off to
Evesham to umpire my afternoon appointment.
Evesham is a very
pretty ground on the banks of the River Severn and I picked a number of new
species for my umpiring year list including Greater Spotted Woodpecker,
Greenfinch, House Sparrow and Kestrel that came to roost in a tree on the side
of the ground.
On Sunday I headed
down to the Highnam Woods on the edge of Gloucester very early to try and see Nightingales which I
had not seen before. Arriving at 5.50am I did not have to wait long before the
first of at least six males were singing path side. The song was superb to
listen to and certainly made the journey worth while. These woods are closely managed by the
RSPB and it was interesting to note when I walked into habitat that was
unmanaged the bird song dramatically reduced. The views of the Nightingales was
very fleeting and if any one wants a long view they would need to spend a lot
of time there. For any one heading
that way its worth remembering the car park is closed most of the time due to
antisocial behaviour after dark.
With the Bank Holiday
weather looking rather glorious I paid the Wyre Forest a visit with the good
lady wife nice and early. It was surprising how quiet it was as we only saw two
cyclists, four birders and a runner. The Wyre was as normal full of stunning
birds with highlights including Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Wood Warbler and
Yellow Wagtail. The surprise of the morning was a pair of juvenile Tawny Owls
who looked most inquizatitive as we watched from a distance and a Kingfisher
fly pass which I’d never seen in that part of the woodland river before.
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