London Wetland Centre

From Staines we made the short drive across to the river the London Wetland Centre. Leaving the Visitor Centre we were greeting by 4 Ring-necked Parakeets. From this point forward they could be seen throughout London, I must say I was quite taken by them however not sure what damage they could be doing to the native bird life. London Wetland Centre consists of 42 hectares of wetland and reed beds created by The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), a leading UK conservation organization saving wetlands for wildlife and people across the world. This wildlife reserve visitor attraction is considered to be one of the best and most important urban wildlife sites in Europe and has been created to attract thousands of wild birds from around the world.

From the Peacock Tower we had some great views of the whole site. Sadly the Bitterns that had been seen during the winter months had moved to their breeding grounds. Sightings include a migrant Willow Warbler (very early), Black Headed & Herring Gulls, Grey Herons, Greylag, Redshank, Lapwing among others.

I would certainly recommend a visit for any one in or around the capital looking for a great day out with wildlife.

Planes and Staines

Staines Reservoir (North basin)

 Location to Heathrow

Distant Goldeneyes

Google Image of location

During a trip down the M40 to London for a couple of days (to coach Astwood Bank CC) we opted to make the most of it and visited a couple of local hot spots on route. The fog was very thick as we left the Midlands but thankfully it lifted just before Stokenchurch to enable us to watch 17 Red Kites all within a couple of miles.

First stop was Staines Reservoir which looked rather glorious in the morning sunshine. The Reservoirs sit right next to the main runways at Heathrow Airport. Two Little Grebe were calling as we entered the causeway and a number of Pied Wagtail were feeding along the edge. Wintering Black-necked Grebe were the highlight but viewing was very distant. There was once again good numbers of Goldeneye and Wigeon whilst I spotted a local Fox sunbathing in the east side. Other sighting included Tufted Ducks, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Canadian Geese, Herring Gulls, Mute Swans, Shoveller and Teal.

The planes just constantly flew from the different runways. It is really difficult to comprehend how many people where flying in and out of that one airport.

Spring work party at Upton Warren

 (Note the close cattle)

It was destination Upton Warren on Sunday for the final work party before the breeding birds return. Nine Avocet were flying over the Sailing Lake on arrival whilst the Great Crested Grebe were warming up for a spring campaign.

The work to be done was at the Flashes which is the furthest south part of this great Midlands reserve. Nineteen volunteers including my eldest lad took part in some great work which will really benefit the birds this spring and summer. First job was to help with the strimming and remove the phragmites along the shore line. Once cut we then had to transport on large canvas sheets through some heavily flooded ground as well as dodging the three new found cattle who were particularly inquisitive.  This work should encourage the cattle to feed on the fresh shoots, which will restrict its spread. 

After a welcome break which included a number of sumptuous cakes and cookies I helped Steve add some pea shingle ready for the returning Little Ringed Plover.

Our final jobs was to help with a derelict fence that needed stripping down and to support with some additional fox defences by the Sewage works.

Despite the weather turning particularly nasty it was a great team effort for a brilliant cause. Lets hope every ones hard graft gets rewards and some great migrants in the coming weeks and months.

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.

Little Owl on divert

The journey home from work on Friday took me on an alternative route as the M5 was suffering from long delays. Given my location I headed down to check out the local Little Owl. It was good to see the Owl out on the tree stump in the middle of the field allowing great viewing. I managed a scoped image in the dying light.

My year list in UK400 is standing at a pleasing 163 whilst Birdtrack 162. I'd imagine with the start of migrants coming in it will be the last time I feature so highly. March targets will include Ringed Ouzel, Mandarin, Common Sandpiper, Woodcock, Little Ringed Plover,  Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Northern Wheatear, Sand Martin, House Martin, Swallow, Bittern.

The Worcestershire way

 Lakeside at Hewell

 Lake at Hewell

Song Thrush

Hewell habitat

 Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Muntjac

 Avocet return to Upton Warren (Flashes)

Oysercatcher

After a number of back to back busy weekends I opted to stay closer to home to drop in at the close Hewell Grange Prison as I'm very lucky to have permission to visit this private lake and woodland.  When the signing in and out takes in a procedure that needs to be followed it's great to have the place to yourself. Hewell Grange is a county house in Tardebigge on the edge of Redditch. The mansion was finished in 1891 whilst the gardens were designed by Capability Brown and Humprey Repton. Th estate was sold to the Government in 1946 and has since become a prison of various designs.

As I headed down to the lake the over night corvid roost was waking up and creating quite a spectacle. In the field lakeside  60+ Fieldfare were accompanied with 30+ Redwing and a Green Woodpecker. The lake held 3 Great Crested Grebe, 100 Black-headed Gulls, 3 Herring Gulls, Coot, 20 Tufted Duck and a number of Mallard.  The regular flock of Canadian Geese were in the meadows on the east side of the lake.

Bird song was the loudest I'd heard this year and a Song Thrush seemed determined to be the loudest. A flock for 6 Redpoll fed lakeside and all the following were also noted :- Jackdaw, Treecreeper, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, 3 Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Robin, Magpie and Rook.

I was then on cricket practise taxi duties so I took advantage of the session by calling in to Hilliers when I saw two Munjac Deer, Raven, Nuthatch and a number of garden birds. I did glimpse a view of a Marsh/Willow Tit but I didn't get a good enough view to ID it. 

I was unsure on Sunday where to head but given the roadworks on the M5 that could hamper my trek to Slimbridge I turned towards Upton Warren. This was my first visit to the Flashes this year. It was good to see the feeding station refurbished in the December work party was working well with plenty of visitors. 4 Avocet has returned to their spiritual home and were feeding on the far side. Other species of note were Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Fieldfare, Redwing, Green Woodpecker, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Shelduck,  Stock Doves and Goldfinch.

Late afternoon I headed down to Arrow Valley Lake where over 300 Black-headed Gulls were strangly on show. 50 would be a good number normally. I observed at least 5 of 8 Herons showing nest building tendencies but it was looked tough work in the howling wind. Great Crested Grebes had increased to 16. It was great to see 4 Reed Bunting back in the reeds as I hadn't seen any on site for a period of months. 11 Cormorants, 40 Canadian Geese and 3 Herring Gulls were all noted. 

Four seasons in Devon

Wind battered Dawlish Warren

 Slavonian Grebe

 Shags enjoys rare sunshine

 

 Great Northern Diver

 Turnstone

 Teign Estuary

 Maidencombe

 Berry Head

Brixham Harbour

A family break to Devon was the next destination for my blog.  The hotel sat on the mouth of the Teign estuary so a late Sunday afternoon walk was rewarded with a wintering Green Sandpiper, 4 Avocet, Curlews, Oystercatchers, Little Egrets and Shelduck.

Sadly the rain arrived on Monday morning as forecast which made the couple of hours at Dawlish Warren very restricted due to it blowing an absolute howlie with driving rain just to increase the displeasure. Despite wearing water proofs I was soaked to the skin within an hour !  Despite the conditions I noted 20 Red-throated Divers, 3 Great Northern Divers, 40 Kittiwakes, 6 Fulmars and 3 Great Crested Grebe. 4 Great Black-backed Gulls. I had hoped to bag a few extra target species but the weather ended those hopes.

After picking the family up we headed down the coast and stopped at Maidencombe. A Shag fed by the rocks off shore at this secluded beach. More divers and Great Crested Grebe were viewable through the scope however the real find was 3 Velvet Scoter. I watched them closely however it was difficult in the increasing wind. Needless to say I bounced up the steep steps with joy as I'd never seen this duck before.  This was the only birding possible for the day as the weather closed in completely but I did have a scan around Torquay Harbour where a Slavonian Grebe was taking refuge.

Thankfully the the following morning was more like spring and a short drive to Broadsands was rewarded with Cirl Bunting and an off shore Great Northern Diver. A lovely place but it did seem to be the dog walking capital of Devon some what ruining the impression of a beautiful place.

Next destination was Berry Head, a stunning area of natural beauty. There were a large number of Shags and Guillimots on the Brixham side of the head whilst Fulmars and Raven soared off the cliffs. We then headed down to the harbour where a Slavonian Grebe was swimming alongside more Shags and many Great Northern Divers giving great views.  A walk along the sea wall found more Divers and 20 Purple Sandpipers roosting. A delightful find and probably taken for granted by the local birders. A Turnstone appeared at my feet and was clearly comfortable with the interest before heading for the car (us not the Turnstone!).

It was interesting to note on the BTO email this week that there was a large increase in reported divers. Clearly the stormy weather has forced to Divers to feed much closer to shore allowing great viewing.

Year List moved to 161 on UK400 spreadsheet and 160 on Birdtrack.