Slavonian Grebe on Arrow Valley Lake (Redditch)

Arrow Valley Lake produced a real gem last week when Mark Islip found a winter plumage Slavonian Grebe. Frustrating I was at work when I received the message so wasn't able to get there. Mark caught sight of the Grebe through the reed bed on his bike. A great find that attracted many local birders to Arrow Valley which rarely attracts a variety. I did manage to get down to the lake after work but the Grebe was sleeping most of the time. Pit photographer Mark Clarke kindly sent a couple of images from his visit earlier in the day. The Little Egret was captured by the weir car park.

First steps back with the bins

Just a couple of very short blogs as I continue to recover from my recent groin operation. Hopefully all went to plan but will just take a period of time to get back to full strength. After 10 days of not getting out of the house my parents kindly took me down to Arrow Valley Lake where I recorded my first Little Egret, a female Goosander and two Shoveler as I shuffled as best as possible. We also called in the local farm on the hope of seeing the Little Owls however they were keeping their heads down but we did get some nice views of a Grey Wagtail and number of Redwings.

Sightings from Salford Priors care of Mike Inskip & Chris Lane included a Pintail, 3 Green Sandpiper, Peregrine, 26 Lapwing, Water Rail, 7 Common Gull and an impressive 57 Wigeon (4/11).

Jon's counts included: 18 Little Grebe, only 1 Cormorant, 3 Herons, 10 Mute Swan, 365 Greylags, 320 Canada Geese + 1 hybrid, 3 Wigeon, 36 Gadwall, 124 Teal, 199 Mallard, 1 male Pintail, 12 Shoveler, 1 male Pochard, 59 Tufted Duck, usual 3 raptors plus adult female Peregrine all morning, 1 Water Rail out in open at main pit, only 115 Coot now, 11 Lapwing, 9 Snipe, 2 Green Sands, 2 Common, 4 Herring and 1 GBB Gulls, 1 Kingfisher, 140 Skylark and 45 Meadow Pipit (influx), 25 Pied and 2 Grey Wagtails, 1 female Stonechat still, 1 Chiffchaff, 480 Starlings moving west in small flocks, 50 Chaffinch, 50 Linnet, a few Redpoll and Siskin, 25 Reed Buntings. 

Black Terns at Arrow Valley Lake, Redditch

Wednesday evening brought more Tern delight, this time to my local Arrow Valley Lake, which rarely has any decent birds. A five minute journey resulted in 5 Black & 2 Common Terns flying around the south arm and showing really well even enabling me to take a number of record shots.

It was great to see the Terns at close quarters and in much improved light than the previous evening, it was a shame that a local group of 12 year lads walked past shouting abusive language -a classy group of individuals, no doubt their parents are very proud.

Whitethroats return

 Ipsley Meadows

Common Whitethroat

Common Tern

With a week of mixed weather I've been down to Arrow Valley plenty of times hoping to catch some thing new. It's a bit strange some times when you are the only person there walking in the rain. However this was rewarded when I managed to observe two Common Terns land in the south corner of the lake for about 15/20 minutes. Once rested they did a couple of laps of the lake before gradually getting higher and flying north east. (Arctic Tern also reported this week)

The scrub land on the back of the east path has been a hive of activity this week before 4 Common Whitethroats seen on Thursday along with Long Tailed Tits, Chiffchaffs, Greenfinches, Willow Warblers along with the normal resident birds.

Two Heron chicks are now clearly visible but I'm still unclear how many other nests are actually being used this year. 

Two Reed Warblers were also new migrants to arrive on lake side. 

After a ramble around the east side on Saturday I walked down the River Arrow to Ipsley Meadows, an area I remember well from my childhood. Despite the persistent dog walkers (all very friendly and keen to find out what I'm watching) its an area that has matured and could well attract some nice birds. On this visit I found at least two Lesser Whitethroat. Despite my best efforts I was unable to get any sort of image for a record but I will be trying again.

Gropper makes early return to Coney Meadow

Arrow Valley Lake

 
Goldeneye (Sheepwash)

 Goosander (Sheepwash)

Sunset at Coney Meadow

Starting work slightly later on Tuesday gave me a great chance to walk around Arrow Valley. The Grey Heron’s certainly didn’t seem to be as settled as they were last year. A couple of the nests looked in poor condition and it will be interesting to see how the next few weeks develop. The first Willow Warblers were noted along the east path with growing numbers of Chiffchaffs. A Greater Spotted Woodpecker flew over me and then sat up on a tree top allowing good viewing whilst the Nuthatch was in its usual place. Very few ducks on the lake, whilst Greylags out numbered the Canadian Geese. The Great Crested Grebe were at their normal levels.

At lunchtime I had a flying visit to Sheepwash where a female Goldeneye was gracing Sandwell’s Urban Park. Only other notable sighting were 4 female Goosander, Kingfisher and Lesser Redpoll.

After a recharge at home I drove over to Coney Meadow at Droitwich. Dave Walker had located a very early returning Grasshopper Warbler. At 7.39pm it started to reel about 15 feet in front of us. Whilst difficult to see at first the bird did sit in a channel we could see before becoming more elusive. We only managed glimpses in flight from this point despite how close the bird was.

Highly satisfied we headed up to the Church yard where a Tawny Owl was calling. Within a couple of minutes the Owl treated us to two flypasts inside the wood. Superb evening at Coney once again. This small area of Worcestershire has certainly been kind to me when visiting.

Early Gropper returns to Coney Meadows

Arrow Valley Lake

 Goldeneye (Sheepwash)

 Goosander (Sheepwash)

Coney Meadow

Starting work slightly later on Tuesday gave me a great chance to walk around Arrow Valley. The Grey Heron’s certainly didn’t seem to be as settled as they were last year. A couple of the nests looked in poor condition and it will be interesting to see how the next few weeks develop. The first Willow Warblers were noted along the east path with growing numbers of Chiffchaffs. A Greater Spotted Woodpecker flew over me and then sat up on a tree top allowing good viewing whilst the Nuthatch was in its usual place. Very few ducks on the lake, whilst Greylags out numbered the Canadian Geese. The Great Crested Grebe were at their normal levels.

At lunchtime I had a flying visit to Sheepwash where a female Goldeneye was gracing Sandwell’s Urban Park. Only other notable sighting were 4 female Goosander, Kingfisher and Lesser Redpoll.

After a recharge at home I drove over to Coney Meadow at Droitwich. Dave Walker had located a very early returning Grasshopper Warbler. At 7.39pm it started to reel about 15 feet in front of us. Whilst difficult to see at first the bird did sit in a channel we could see before becoming more elusive. We only managed glimpses in flight from this point despite how close the bird was.

Highly satisfied we headed up to the Church yard where a Tawny Owl was calling. Within a couple of minutes the Owl treated us to two flypasts inside the wood. Superb evening at Coney once again. This small area of Worcestershire has certainly been kind to me when visiting.

Newcomers at Arrow Valley & Morton Bagot

 Red-legged Partridge

 Little Ringed Plover

 Yellowhammer

 Linnets

Morton Bagot

I headed to the north of the Arrow Valley Park on Saturday in the hope of seeing a Wheatear or two but sadly no arrivals. I did however catch a Red-legged Partridge on the edge of the field (quite difficult to see in the photo). With it being fairly quiet I opted to drive to the other side of Redditch to Morton Bagot.  A new arrival on the flash was the first Little Ringed Plover on the spring. The Green-winged Teal was still present but was keeping tucked up out of the chilling wind. 

On the walk back to the car along the hedgerows there were large number of Linnets and Yellowhammer calling. Despite my best efforts I couldn't get a good photo of the Yellowhammers as they seemed rather camera shy.

Green-winged Teal at Morton Bagot

Despite a late drive back from London I still made it out to the north of the Arrow Valley Park by 6.30am and it certainly paid dividends as I located two Oystercatcher, a fly over by a Raven and a small flock of Linnet all patch firsts for the year. Lapwing were displaying in there usual place but numbers are lower than last year. I was hoping to find a Wheatear but I had to settle for a flock of 100+ Fieldfare which must be due to leave these shores very soon.

I has just started to add the sightings to Birdtrack when I checked Rare Bird Alert to see a Green-winged Teal at the near by Morton Bagot. I was in the car within five minutes and quickly arrived at the Church. The walk through Church Farm takes you to a great viewing position of the flashes and with a couple of birders already on site it had some good views of the Teal through the scope. Another gem of a find in this jewel in the crown. Three Green Sandpiper were feeding on the flash furthest away whilst a Common Buzzard sailed above the pools. On the way home I past a Red-legged Partridge which is always a nice bird to see locally. A great weekend.

Goosander land at Mill Pond

 Goosander on Mill Pond

 Little Grebe

Mill Pond

I haven't visited the north of the patch for quite a while so I had a tour round hoping to try and find any new arrivals. The Fisheries were very quiet except a flock of Canadian Geese and a huge flock of corvids. A number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew over before I headed to Mill Pond by Forge Mill Needle Museum.

You can park in the museum car park and stand on the footpath that heads towards Abbeydale. I found 3 Goosander, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Tufted Duck, 20 Mallard, Song Thrush and a Little Grebe to round off a pleasant walk.

Four year additions at Lake

A Friday off work enabled me to get an extra session in this week so I opted for a long walk around the patch of the Arrow Valley Lake and Park. Parking at Ipsley Church I headed down the lane and into the Rookery. 

It was a case of business as usual with a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, various Tits all on display and it was nice to find a Goldcrest in a different spot. I never get tired of these beauties. Sadly no Goosander on main Lake and the abundant Redwing from previous weeks were down to just two. They must have been looking for a new local food source. 

On the outer east patch I found three Bullfinches down by the stream and I wondered if there was any Snipe so I took an alternative route but no success. When reaching the west patch I found my first Siskin (7) for the year at the Lake behind the sailing club and there were also a flock of Goldfinch in good voice. The Great Crested Grebe were back to normal winter levels and one pair clearly think spring had arrived. 22 Cormorants were on the main island and fishing whilst a single Herring Gull was sat on the Sailing Club grass bank with the Black Headed Gulls.

Herring Gull, Bullfinch, Siskin and Goldfinch will go onto the patch list for this year, a very pleasurable  2 1/2 hour walk.

Usual Suspects on patch

Thought it was only right I walked the home patch at Arrow Valley Lake and Park this morning. However the new year had brought many new joggers and dog walkers on site so I spent most of the time on the outer paths.

I passed Mark, another patch birder, who had seen the two Little Grebe on his walk and I duly found them when looking across the lake at the reed bed by the Visitor Centre. The local Redwings were busy again buzzy around the high hedgerows and trees.

Sailing on lake had seemed to move of wildfowl into hiding for a few hours so the lake was limited to 3 Cormorant (more reported earlier), 1 Grey Heron, 2 Tufted Ducks, 5 Shovellor, 2 Little Grebe, 7 Great Crested Grebe, 56 Canadian Geese and 120 Greylag were to the north corner avoiding the traffic on the lake. 

On the surrounding paths highlights included Goldcrest, a large flock of Long Tailed Tits, Nuthatch, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thursh, Jay and a Treecreeper found just as I was leaving. A total of 32 species, not bad considering how much the lake was. 

Grebes and wet boots

Another very grey looking day first thing but headed out for a quick lap of the lake. Nothing of a major note however the Great Crested Grebe numbers were back up to their normal level of around 7 whilst the single Little Grebe found on my previous visit was present again. I'm not quite sure where they disappear to certain weeks of the year.

The meadows on the back of visitor centre have become slightly flooded and there were significant numbers of Black Headed Gulls taking advantage of the small flashes.

I saw my first Greater Spotted Woodpecker for a number of weeks where I'd located the Goldcrest previously. The Cormorants (15) were busy feeding around the lake and no doubt teasing the fisherman. Only other notable sighting was 4 Goosander (1 Drake) in the top north east corner of the lake which is a new location for them.

Little Grebe is surprise visitor

West path at Arrow Valley Lake

 Goldcrest

 1st Winter Little Grebe

Goosander

I was really undecided where to walk this morning, the forecast was very poor so was surprised to get a couple of hours out in great conditions at the Arrow Valley Lake.

Redwings continued to be hurtling around once again on the path down to lake. On the lake it seemed the Goosander had returned again with 4 males and 2 females being present. When lining up to scope an image I noticed a small Grebe swimming away from me towards the main island. It was a Little Grebe, whilst common in a number of places in Worcestershire its certainly the first seen by myself on patch. Shoveller numbers had increased in an impressive 13, certainly the most I've seen there. Most of them were feeding in front of the Visitor Centre.

I did only see 4 Grey Herons, 6 Cormorants whilst Great Crested Grebe are now down to just 2. 

When heading past the Visitor Centre I opted to turn north and walk along the bridleway back to my starting point.  I don't often walk this way generally however within 200 yards I'd located 2 Goldcrest (showing to 3 feet) which was stunning to watch, Siskins, Treecreeper, Long Tailed Tits, Redwing, Blackbird, Mistle Thursh, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Blue Tits. 

As I left 40 Greylags were circling as struggling to land as the sailing had started. A Common Buzzard was in field by north car park. A superb morning walk.

Learning Digiscoping

 Lesser Black Backed Gull

 Lesser Black Backed Gulls

Cormorants

I've always been intrigued how bidders take such great photos through their scopes. On a few twitches this year Craig Reed @midlandbirder has taken some brilliant shots when using my scope and whilst it seems to be a bit of an art it would be great to get to standard to record some record shots at times. A Nikon Coolpix was purchased and I must say I got absolutely nothing. Kindly Craig shared a few tips and progress seems to be being made. These a just a couple of extra shots from Monday afternoon when the Snow Goose was on the lake.

Snow Goose lands at Arrow Valley

 Greylag flock

 Snow Goose

Snow Goose

Managed at quick lap of the Lake on Monday afternoon as I'd taken the day off as my eldest needed taking to the dentist in the morning. Whilst looking through the assembled gulls including a Lesser Black Backed Gull I was approached by female birder intrigued by what I was looking at through my scope. She told me on Sunday a large flock of geese had been on the take basking in the sunshine, we established there were Greylag after showing her a photo on my phone.

After walking down the west side the flock of 180 Greylag were in the south corner with 5 Canadian Geese. With the flock was a Snow Goose. Whilst in all probability an escapee it will be impossible to know. After speaking to Brian Stetch of Worcestershire Birding he advised there is a large feral population of Snow Geese in Oxfordshire where most of these lone birds probably originate from. There was one reported at the local Morton Bagot this year.

A nice bird to see though, regardless of origin.