Cricket, butterflies & Grimley

                                       Cattle Egret (Paul Griffiths)

                                           Holly Blue (Feckenham)

                                    Green-veined White (Feckenham)

                                           Back on the boundary

                                       Grimley with Paul & Lynne

                                          Goldcrest (Feckenham)

Paul & Lynne, from Evesham, joined me on Saturday for a spring walk around Grimley on the banks of the River Severn. The weather couldn’t have been better for the duration of the walk. We recorded 62 species during the four mile circuit of which the highlights were a Cattle Egret, Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Red Kite and nice selection of Warblers including the first Reed & Sedge, Blackcap, Chiffchaff & Cetti’s. We rounded off a wonderful morning with a coffee & a slice of home made lemon cake.

I was back on the boundary in the afternoon to witness an easy 10 wicket win. I had my normal walk around the church yard where I finally took my first couple of butterfly photographs of the year. When back in my seat a couple of Orange-tips bombed past taking me to a measly six butterflies for the year. I'm so looking forward to some time off in May.  

I will update the pits sightings next week.

Winter moves in as temperatures drop

Plantation Goldcrest

Common Gull on Pophills

Green Sandpiper

Long-tailed Tit

Redwing

Winter colours

Drake Pintail

Wigeon on ice

Late afternoon geese

Winter temperatures arrived at Salford Priors this week bringing a deep frost and ice to areas of the pits on various days.

Plenty of activity in the plantation as the tit flock that has been circulating is growing in size by the day. The Chiffchaff looks to have moved on but there are now large numbers of Goldcrests with the Long-tailed Tits. Midweek, I stood on the edge of the plantation and watched all the birds go about their morning business when I took the above photos.

On Sunday I noticed there were a growing flock of Chaffinch's on the north end of the plantation and also present were good numbers of Redwing.

Sightings on the main pit didn't really change throughout the week, the wildfowl numbers varied depending how close the local shoot had got the main pit. The drake Pintail was present midweek with three Wigeon but neither was present at weekend. Other sightings included a Green Sandpiper, Common Gull, seven Pochard, nice Shoveler, 40 Gadwall and four Snipe. 

At Upton Warren I met local birder from near by Alcester called Mark who informed me he had seen the roaming Barnacle Goose the previous Saturday on Pophills.  Many thanks to Mark, Chris & Paul who submitted sightings. 

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.

Christmas Birding at Salford Priors GP

 Pophills Field

Sunrise on 28th December 

Pophills Pit taken from hedgerow side

 Common Buzzard on Old Barn

 Scaup

 Kestrel

 Yellowhammer

Goldeneye

The Christmas break enabled me to head down to the Gravel Pits for a number of visits. Thankfully the weather was very good even though it was extremely cold. 

Chris & Jon had reported a pair of Shelduck, Caspian Gull whilst @babblingbirder spotted a Barn Owl on the 19th so I was keen to try and find this beauty.

On Christmas Eve I spent a good deal of time on the Pophills Pit side of the site where it was great to see the Yellowhammers at close quarters. There was a number of Sky Larks, Meadow Pipits, Fieldfare and Redwing.

On the main pit there was the second Scaup of the month. Other notable sightings included 5 Great Black-backed Gulls, 30 Gadwell, 2 Shoveller, Kestrel and a Grey Wagtail.

On the 27th I headed down for the last hour of day light and the hope of finding the Barn Owl. After scanning all the pits from the bridge I had a slow drive around the perimeter where I flushed the Owl and followed it down the lane before it went out of sight. Really pleasing to find this beauty. I will certainly be hoping to watch him hunting very soon.

An early start on the following morning was rewarded with beautiful sunshine and some new arrivals on the main pit. A female Goldeneye and 9 Wigeon had joined the Scaup who was with the normal Mallard, Teal, Tufted Ducks, Pochard, Little Grebe and the long staying Green Sandpiper.

The Little Owl was being hounded by a selection of birds so remained out of range of the camera. 7 Greylags flew over with 20 Lapwings.

Just above the road a Kestrel was hunting for an early breakfast whilst the Pophills Buzzard looked on with hope he might get the left overs. 

Sightings around the plantation included Green Woodpecker, Coal Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Great & Blue Tits, Mistle Thursh, Fielfare, Redwing and of course large number of Red-legged Partridges (which still give me a near heart attack every visit).

To the north of the pits I spotted my first site Jay which was a bonus and I also noted Jackdaws, House Sparrow and Collared Doves in the village.

(All images digiscoped as always)

Stroke of luck with Cuckoo Divert

Friday update from RBA

Autumn walk at Lickey Hills

Last Thursday brought the news a Yellow-billed Cuckoo had been located in Cornwall no doubt swept up the back end of Hurricane Gonzalo. The normal crew were all set for a Saturday early hour twitch only for me to suffer some chronic stomach ache causing a last minute cancellation. The feeling of not being able to go and letting the boys down was not good but it did feel much better when the Cuckoo was not located at all during Saturday or at all again ! Very lucky !

Late afternoon we headed up to the Lickey Hills on the edge of Birmingham for nice woodland walk with the wife. I was hoping to find my first Bramblings of the winter however I had to settle for some very close view of Goldcrests and Treecreeper. 

With the constant south westerly winds the influx of wintering thrushes has yet to really get going. From my 4th floor office I have picked up a few Fieldfare, Redwings and Starlings going over but nothing dramatic. Let's see what next week brings.