Marsh Tit & Merlin provides light relief from hospital stay

Hospital visit

Marsh Tit

Goldcrest

Pink-footed Goose

View of pits from A46 bridge

View of Pophills from A46 bridge

Coffee & Dundee Cake - Hilliers Speciality

I experienced some ill health at the start of January resulting in two days in hospital so I've really been restricted in attendance.  This blog records visits before hospital stay and two short visits since as I've tried to get back on my feet. The first visit was just to Hilliers Coffee shop where I saw a nice selection of birds on the feeders including my first patch Marsh Tit. 

Other annual additions when driving around the pits included a male Merlin chasing its quarry, Yellowhammers, Linnets, Bullfinch whilst the Pink-foot was present until the 8th. Paul Hands recorded the Pink-foot and also observed 7 Whooper Swans that flew low south over the main pit also on the 8th.

My species count has reached 64 species at the site to date.

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.

Signs of spring at Slimbridge

Dunlin and Golden Plover

Little Stint & Sky Lark

Merlin

Jackdaw

Slimbridge was looking stunning on the first Saturday morning in March. First stop was the Rushy pen where just four Bewick swans remained. There were a few more on the reserve but they had also taken advantage of the weather to head back to their breeding grounds in Siberia. Shelduck numbers appeared to have increased.

The Tack Piece was quieter than my previous visit but there was still plenty to see including Black-Tailed Godwits, Pintail, Lapwing, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Teal, Curlew, Redshank, Stock Dove, 2 Avocet and a single Ruff. I tried to grab a few video clips given the great light.

From the Holden Tower a female Merlin hunted the Dumbles flying extremely low whilst the Dunlin scarpered for their lives. There was a single Bean and Dark-bellied Brent Goose among the 200+ flock of White-fronted Geese whilst the local Barnacle population were further down the river. A Little Stint was a nice addition to the year list which was feeding on the outsides of the scrape whilst a number of Sky Lark and two Oystercatchers were also in attendance.

Day on the Dee

  Burton Marsh

 American Buff-Bellied Pipet

Burton Marsh Wetland Centre

 Great White Egret

 Chaffinch

 Little Egret

 The Great Orme from Conwy

Sunset at RSPB Conwy

The wife kindly bought me a day with Alan Davies (The Biggest Twitch) for Christmas so with an early start on the Sunday in Wales I decided to travel up on the Saturday via the Dee Estuary an area I have not visited before.

The weather appeared to very gloomy on the way up however within 15 minutes of my first destination Burton Marsh the sky cleared as forecast. I pulled up along side a local birder who was set up watching the marsh closely. Recognising I was not local he kindly marked my card to the lay out of the surrounding area.  I’d clearly parked in right place as there directly in front of me were two Hen Harriers roosting at a distance. Both Harriers took to flight and gave some great views. I’d only seen one Hen Harrier before and that was in Norfolk.

Next to catch the eye were 2 Merlin chasing and then catching a Meadow Pipit, the Pipet had no chance against these rapid raptors. 

I didn’t realise we were standing where the American Buff-Bellied Pipit had been seen over Christmas and again the previous day. There were hundreds of Pipets flying all around and they were landing just to our left. Then suddenly a very distinctive coloured Pipet showed on top of the silage. I couldn’t believe my eyes, I managed to get a few poor images and a tiny bit of video of the bird. The Pipet is a rare vagrant in the UK. A very lucky find indeed.  The marsh was full of wildfowl whilst the trees were full of Linnets and huge numbers of Pied Wagtails. I would have loved to see a Short-Eared Owl but sadly no luck.

Next stop was the Burton Mere Wetland Centre and Inner Marsh. This new RSPB visitor centre is a great centre for local birders. The staff were very friendly and the hides offered great viewing. They are currently working on a path to link up the two marshes. In the distance there were Whooper and Mute Swans grazing whilst the lagoon hosted Shelduck, Wigeon, Teal, Greylag, Lapwing and a flock of 100 Redshank. There was also a very strange Ringed Teal !  Another Merlin was sat up on a fence post contemplating an early lunch.

I then headed to the famous Parkgate scene of many high tide watches. As I passed the shops a flash of white caught my eye on the Marsh. Stopping instantly I set up the scope and located the Great White Egret which had been wintering locally. I then drove down to the Old Swimming Bath’s to park up. I thought a big twitch was on as the car park was packed, sadly it was just a pensioner group watching the Pied Wagtails ! Oh well.  2 Peregrines were terrorising the local wildfowl whilst the local hedgerows were full of Chaffinches, Linnets and Goldfinch. I checked out the field behind the car park to find a Common Buzzard, 3 Mistle Thrushes, Blackbirds, Redwing and Fieldfare. Curlews flew on and off the Marsh for the duration of my visit.

I then decided to head to Conwy to walk along one of my favourite beaches. Oystercatchers were feeding all along the shore line with good numbers of Curlew and Redshank. Two Great Crested Grebe were swimming just off shore.

Final stop of the day was RSPB Conwy. The Centre was suffering a power cut so sadly no afternoon tea and cake.  3 Scaup (1 Drake) caught the eye easily as there were few birds on the lakes. 30 Snipe were roosting on one of the islands.

As I turned onto the Estuary there was instantly more to scope. Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Shelduck were all on display. I stood to watch 3 Little Egrets have a squabble near the path (still recovering from the storm) whilst a very tame Dunnock pecked around my feet. The final find of the day was four Red-breasted Merganser swimming towards the main Conwy bridge.

1 Lifer and 8 for Year List – Awesome day !