Pits & pieces as Fritillary season commences

Whinchat

Always greets me on my walk

Common Sandpiper

Pearl-bordered Fritillery on a bluebell

Pearl-bordered Fritillery

Holly Blue

Mrs D in forest

Minotaur Beetle (?)

Pearl-bordered Fritillery

Common Lizzard

Small Copper

 Small Copper

Just the one year tick at the pits this week however I didn't visit at the weekend. On Monday, I picked up 7 Sanderling that circled the pit three times before getting gradually higher & moving on. My own first Whinchat was a pleasing find however the bird was very mobile making any photography difficult. There wasn't anything else of note.

We visited Buttonoak on Sunday to see our first fritillaries of the year. We had to work very hard for the four Pearl-bordered individuals we saw as part of our three hour visit. A quick stop on the way home at Hartlebury saw me record a Small Copper which was my 13th species of the year.

Stop no access !

Welcome to Salford Priors

Whinchat

Exploring new areas

Barn Swallow

Sand Martin

Sunflowers in bloom

A moody looking Pophills

Looking towards main pit from Old workings

Main pit showing water levels

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Chiffchaff movement 

Snipe (Mark Clarke)

Autumn has seemed very slow to get going at Salford Priors. The end of August finished with some good passage of Yellow Wagtails with 30+ recorded on one visit. Two Redstarts remained loyal to same hedges until end of the month. Wildfowl numbers have increased with 27 Teal present and a immature Garganey on 26th August. I recorded two drake Wigeon on the 29th whilst 75 Swallows were feeding low.

Passage waders have been very rare except Common & Green Sandpipers, a Ringed Plover went through ahead of the rain also on 26th. 

Chris Lane watched a early juvenile/female Merlin catch a Skylark at close quarter and also recorded 79 Lapwing & a Tawny Owl on his visit. 

There have been two year list additions in the last week with a Spotted Flycatcher on the railway line & a Whinchat on the back of Pophills.

Sadly three "No Access" signs appeared in the field where we get access to the main pit. As soon as these signs appeared all of us who visit regular stayed clear of the main pit whilst I tried to contact the Ragley Estate as this seemed very much out of the blue.

Head of farming on the estate duly investigated this for us and confirmed the signs had not been put up by the Ragley Estate or Cemex who currently manage the lease. We can only think the company / individuals who raise pheasants in the plantation have taken exception to us passing by for a reason unknown. All of the team stayed clear of this area when the pheasants are being reared to avoid any minor problems. 

From Sunday the team can carry on as previous but have just lost access to two areas and need to access the main pit via a longer route.

The new drainage in place has increased water levels and added to this the islands are overgrown (not to mentions hundreds of saplings planted) the future remains very unclear. Until the restoration is complete we are unable discuss possible lease options with the estate which is a shame but unfortunately there was not a lot of foresight in the planning stages. 

Sunday combined sightings from Jon, Paul and myself included 31 Little Grebe, 16 Cormorant, 3 Grey heron, 11 Mute Swan, 405 Greylag, 94 Canada Geese, 1 Hybrid (Canada x Barnacle), 6 Manadrin, 15 Wigeon, 14 Gadwall, 37 Teal, 278 Mallard, 1 Pintail, 11 Shoveler, 1 male Pochard, 71 Tufted Duck, male Sparrowhawk, a Hobby, 13 Moorhen, 243 Coot, 115 Lapwing, a Dunlin, Snipe, Redshank, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, 150 Black-headed Gulls, a first winter Common Common Gull, first winter Yellow-legged Gull, a Sand Martin, Tree Pipit, 50 Meadow Pipits through (no wagtails or chats), few Blackcaps, 18 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler & a Raven. 

First days of Autumn

Morning start on Pophills

 Black-tailed Godwit (Pophills)

 Greenshank & Ringed Plover (Pophills)

 Peregrine (Old workings)

 Wheatear (Central lagoon)

Whinchat (Pophills)

Two patch visits over the weekend were rewarded with some great local birding. I couldn't resist a visit on my return from the Humber given the heavy rain hitting the area. I was delighted to register two patch year ticks as a Black-tailed Godwit and a Whinchat were on Pophills. 

On Sunday there were four birders present which is a very rare occasion - Mark & Chris joined Jon & I. Our Greenshank was present on Pophills for a record 13th day whilst yesterdays Whinchat took a while to show before I got the above shot. A juvenile Ringed Plover had replaced yesterdays Godwit and a single Swift past over head.

Over on the main pit there was a second Greenshank on the far bank whilst a Little Ringed Plover circled above before moving on heading south. Our first Autumn Peregrine was terrorising the Red-legged Partridges but had to take cover itself when mobbed by our pair of Kestrels. 

The Cormorant numbers increase each week with twenty recorded on Sunday. Up above the dead Oak the regular flock of House Martins were present and a juvenile Hobby hunted for breakfast, only one Green Sandpiper was present as the south lagoon mud has all but dried out.

As we headed back past the central lagoon we found three Wheatears (including one male) and another Whinchat. 

Winter ducks start to arrive

 Two Pintail

 Dunlin

 Whinchat

Whinchat

New drainage is being installed on the Pophills side of the gravel pits which is probably the main reason why there was only a single Common Sandpiper, a couple of Tufties and Coots on the water. Lets hope the new drain installed doesn’t lead to increased water levels as we have some super waders using this side of the gravel pits.

Treking up to the main pit the Goldcrest’s were in good voice and they certainly seem to have done very well this summer. Big number of Red-legged Partridges have been released which are problematic as they tend to flush in big numbers causing other birds to worry and also get twitchy.

On scanning the main pit two Pintail were new arrivals and were the first my record at the site. A useful one pointer in the Patch Challenge which was then doubled when a Redpoll flew high directly over Jon’s head. Other main pit highlights included two Green & Common Sandpipers, a single Dunlin, two Ring Plover (that didn’t stay), a Snipe and 50+ Teal.

When reaching the far end near the south lagoon I picked up two Whinchats on the back of the bund. Both appeared to be juvenile birds. After thinking the Whinchats may have bypassed us its been great to see them at close quarters. Reed, Willow and Sedge Warblers were still present whilst the Reed Bunting appeared to be very busy and two Kingfishers were chasing each on in the usual place.

As we headed around the meadow we came across four Skylarks and there were three Sparrowhawks soaring here high above the old workings. After climbing the main bunds (hoping for a Red-backed Shrike) we found another two Whinchats, one was an adult bird. A small number of Swallows & Sand Martins past over head whilst a number of House Martins were feeding on south meadow.

We did return for a final check to both Pophills and the main pit but there were no new arrivals before leaving.

I did record a Turtle Dove sighting on Tuesday and whilst none were observed on our Sunday visit local birder Jim Winsper found one later in week.

Double Whinchat at the pits

With clear skies and northerly winds any possible migration was sadly way above our heads and out of sight. The only waders were the regular Green and Common Sandpiper and two Ringed Plover that were on the main pit. However on the small island two White Wagtails were present which was nice.

Within the first ten minutes of reaching the main pit we record a juvenile Hobby, Peregrine and Sparrowhawk. We did pick up the Hobby again later in the morning when on the bunds. Evidence suggests that the Hobby have bred fairly locally and now using the pits more as their appetite and confidence grows. 

For the second week running there were no Turtle Dove on the site. Fingers crossed they have a safe journey to their winter retreat before hopefully returning next spring. Our only real finds were two Whinchat. One on the south bunds and the other on the main bunds that is always difficult to access. Other notable sightings included:- 2 Lesser Whitethroats, Common Whitethroats, 5 Sand Martin, 30 Swallows, 50 House Martin, 45 Teal, 2 Jay, 2 Snipe,  2 Raven.

If you do visit the pits please drop me an email with any sightings to ndugganisrm@hotmail.com or via Twitter @neilduggan80 . 

All sightings really help us record whats going on in Warwickshire and monthly submissions are forwarded to the BTO, CEMEX and Bird Watching Magazine.

Bank Holiday Monday Double

Black Tern (Centre of image, trust me)

Poster boys of Salford Priors

Best I could get in flight

A bit wet underfoot

Whinchat

Scope view - spot the Whinchat

Whinchat 

Paul on the look out

With a shocking forecast and wind direction looking good for Autumn I met up with Paul at 8.45am on Bank Holiday Monday, both accepting we were going to get soaked to the skin. 

On arrival at the main pit I picked up two juvenile Black Terns, a brilliant start to the day. The birds looked to be moving on as they climbed high and headed south however five minutes later they were back feeding on the main pit. These birds must have had endless stamina and only one bird landed (for just two seconds) in the full hour we watched them making any photos practically impossible given the driving rain and wind.

We then headed across the site to the bunds where our short cut proved more of a long cut due to all the growing willows and we ended up walking three times the distance we needed to reach the top of the bunds. 

Swallows and House Martins were soaring past our heads as we battled through the wet grass. Suddenly Paul picked up our target bird, a Whinchat, perched well on some gorse. You beauty, another patch first for us this year. The bird went to ground for ten minutes or so before we re-located it on the south west end of the bunds. This time the Whinchat was good enough for us both to get a record. 

August has been very kind to us and the many hours put in had certainly paid dividends with seven new species for the year, recording 11 species for the patch challenge. Roll on September !

Whinchats fly into Morton Bagot

After a 15 mile cycle and a spot of gardening I checked the sightings to see a Whinchat reported at Morton Bagot which is only five minutes from home on the other side of Studley.

After parking up I headed down the patch towards the flash to the song of Lesser Whitethroat and Yellowhammer. Surprise was the local Tawny Owl calling so early in the evening.

As I reached the bottom of the hill I picked up two male Whinchat in the field where new trees had been planted. The superb evening light made it a pleasure to watch these chats  from the edge of the field and they certainly wasn't bothered by me. The striking white line above the eye and the orange throat & breast were stunning to see so well.