Round and about

 View of Birmingham from top of Lickey Hills

 Lickey Hills

  Lickey Hills

 Treecreeper

 Long Tailed Tit

Lesser Redpoll

Salford Priors Patch Walk

All three days over last weekend were all spend within a few miles of home. An interview on Friday enabled me to have morning winter walk around the Lickey Hills. Despite a good hunt around I didn't manage to find any Brambling. It seems there has been a much reduced influx this winter. Sightings were restricted to mainly Coal Tit, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Great & Blue Tits, Treecreeper, Redwing and a few Fieldfare.

On Saturday I met up with my Dad and we had a good walk around Foxlydiate Woods in Redditch. There were definitely signs of spring in the air as I witnessed a few birds carrying nest material. Stars of walk were four Goldcrest that were calling very loudly and were only an arm length away from the path. Always great birds to watch at close quarters.  I having a bit of garden challenge with my Dad and he informed me he had two Linnets on his feeders. Heading down for further investigation and a spot of lunch I found the birds were actually Lesser Redpoll. A great garden tick. As we ate we watched an endless line of garden birds including Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Robin, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Blackbird all visit the garden. 

I headed up to Morton Stanley Park at dusk to try and catch up with the local Tawny Owls. I was unable to locate them whilst there was sufficient light for a photo but I did locate two different birds of which one flew past me through the trees. 

Sunday brought a day for further cold and windy weather. I had intended to go and try to catch up with a pair of Long-eared Owls in Lincolnshire but given the strong winds I'd save it for another day. With the wind blowing I decided to do a bit of walking around the perimeter of the patch. The weather proved to dictate the limited sightings but I found a couple of new areas including another large pool and a potential area that look goods for Chats. Best finds were a long flock of Fieldfare in the orchards, 2 Jack Snipe, 12 Snipe, 95 Teal in the hidden pools and 2 Wigeon. However when the edge of the plantation I picked up a very fast and low flying raptor which I identified as a female Merlin. It was my first Merlin at the site although many have been recorded. I finished January with 65 species giving me 67 points. Long Tailed Tit is a major omission ! Overall I recorded 113 species. 

Local birder Lee Taylor reported the Barn Owl on Sunday evening so I headed down on Monday for a hunt around in the dark. I heard the Owl calling but couldn't locate him until he flew over my head by the Pophills pit. A good point in the bag for February.