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. 

Suited & definitely Booted in Lowerstoft

Booted Warbler

Booted Warbler teasing the crowd

Northern Wheatear

Fun on the sea front

Boy Band "Suited & Booted"

 A gloomy Breydon Water

It's been a pretty quiet year on the twitching front in 2018 despite some noteable additions. The Autumn always increases hope on new birds to see but it's quite often the case it will be a long journey east. My current car was sadly retired after Fridays journey after clocking up 149,000 miles, most of those miles were either birding or completing sports taxi journeys. 

With the car due it's handover I planned to get in a finals days birding in the old boy. The plan would be leave home at 6pm and start a jouney east. If the previous days Booted Warbler was reported early we would head there, if not we would try Norfolk or Spurn.  Thankfully for us positive news was released early so the satnav was directed to Lowestoft in Suffolk. The journey was pretty smooth until we reached our destination town when an apparent accident brought the town to gridlock. We opted to dump the car in a multi-storey and walk along the sea wall to where the bird was reported.

Around 40 birders were present all satisfied with good views and we didnt have to wait long to secure our next lifer. Chris had actually seen two previosly. The bird crept up the Tamarisk to show well and then edged north dipping in and out of view. Getting photographs was very difficult so had to settle with what I managed to get. 

The broad bill based & square tailed warbler was certianly smaller than I expected. This subtle warbler hails from Finland, Russia & Kazakhstan so is an impressive record given the unfavourable westerlie winds. 

A couple of Whinchats & Wheatear were present in close proximaitey but there was no movement out at sea so we opted to head to Breydon Water. In all honestly this was a tad disappointing, the best of what we could see in worsending conditions were 6 Ringed Plover, 100+ Redshank, 6 Dunlin, 8 Curlew, a Mediterian Gull and 2 Little Egret. 

Upton Warren visits & Marbled Duck at Grimley

Kingfisher (Upton Warren)

Black-tailed Godwit (Upton Warren)

Dunlin (Upton Warren)

Snipe with Lapwing (Upton Warren)

Little Egret (Upton Warren)

Little Ringed Plover (Grimley)

Dunlin (Grimley)

 Marbled Duck (Grimley)

With a few ongoing access issues at the pits I've managed to get in some bonus visits to the fantastic Upton Warren. 

Water levels at the Flashes are terribly low, so much so I'd never seen so much dried mud. I couldn't even muster a Green or Common Sandpiper. I did however find a Garden Warbler opposite the Flashes steps. With little to report I headed round to the Moors where I had much better luck with 3 Little Egrets, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Snipe, 183 Lapwing, 3 Pochard, 2 Sand Martin, Swallow, Water Rail, Sparrowhawk & 3 Buzzard.

On Saturday I helped out with the alldayer but there really wasn't any movement. Thankfully I did chip in by recording a Willow Warbler, Kingfisher, Treecreeper, 2 Goldcrests & a Jay. Other sightings included a Black-tailed Godwit, 7 Wigeon,  Cettis & 2 Little Egret. The final day score was 81 species.

The previous week I visited Grimley for what seemed at the time as a genuine Marbled Duck. Whilst there has never been an accepted record on the british list this duck looked to have a strong credentials. Hopes some what disappeared when another Marbled Duck was found in Worcester with many presuming both were part of an escaped collection.

Mid August sightings at the pits

Spotted Flycatcher (Bidford)

Spotted Flycatcher (Bidford)

Juvenile Sparrowhawk

Main pit

Common Buzzard (Mark Clarke)

Sparrowhawk (Mark Clarke)

31st July - 2 Little Egret, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 15 Little Grebe, Raven & male moulting Common Redstart.

Sunday 6th August - Ringed Plover, 2 juvenile Shelduck, juvenile Pochard, Red Kite, 17 Lapwing, 3 Snipe, 3 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Redstart, Sedge Warbler & Raven

Saturday 12th August - Garden Warbler (130) discovered on willows on north side of main pit. Black-tailed Godwit, female Mandarin,  2 juvenile Shelduck, 2 Teal, Snipe, 2 Redstart, 8 Willow Warbler and young Sparrowhawks now flying around main pit.

Also of note, a family of Spotted Flycatchers were present for one day in Bidford Cemetery.

Sunday 12th August - Low flying Whimbrel (131), 4 Mandarin ducks, 3 Teal, 4 Shoveler, Peregrine, 3 juvenile Shelduck, 31 Little Grebe (plus 6 broods including one on Pophills), 8 Cormorant, 2 Grey Heron, 14 Gadwall, 370 Mallard, 65 Tufted Ducks (now 15 broods), brood of Kestrel & Sparrowhawks, 14 Moorhen, 187 Coot,  13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 20 Black-headed Gulls, Snipe, 3 Green Sandpiper, 4 Common Sandpiper, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Sedge Warbler, 350 House Martin, 20 Sand Martin, 4+ Lesser Whitethroats, 8 Common Whitethroats, 9+ Willow Warbler, good numbers of Chiffchaff & Blackcaps, 20 Reed Warblers  & 2 Common Redstart.

Thanks to Jon Bowley, Mark Clarke, Paul Hands, Ann & Noel & Mike Inskip for their sightings.

Summertime birding at the pits

Little Grebe brood (M Clarke)

Common Sandpiper

Fallow Deer (M Clarke)

Black-tailed Godwits (M Clarke)

Common Whitethroat (M Clarke)

Red Kite

Swift in the hand

A new way to start the weekend

Head on shot of the Swift

Greenshank

Green Sandpiper

Stunning recent weather

Gloomy Sunday

Plenty of promise but no new arrivals of note

Squire on Swift Duty

Plenty of Butterflies doing well in the sunshine

I've decided to just blog fortnightly during the summer months with sightings being limited. A Greenshank, found by the Squire, on the 27th July was to become our 128th species of the year. I'd actually not added Common Redstart to the patch year list so that's a bonus to and we continue to chase our record of 141 in 2016. 

On the breeding front, three Little Grebe broods have emerged and the same number of Tufted Duck broods. The Greylag flock topped 400 midweek which is an unusual record for July.

Sundays weather looked very promising but only produced a juvenile Redshank. 

Last Saturday the Squire and I took an injured Swift (he had found in desperate trouble in Alcester) to the Rescue Centre in Evesham. Sadly the Swift had fractured his wing so won't continue his journey south. The bird was very comfortable when in the hand and Mr & Mrs H had done a great job caring for the bird overnight. 

Highlights

17th July - Male Redstart & Hobby
20th July 118 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Snipe, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 female Shoveler, Common Sandpiper, 2 Lesser-blacked Gulls with 2 juveniles, 3 Lapwing
21st July - Male Redstart, 90 Lapwing, 88 Black-headed Gulls, a House Martin, 6 Lesser-blacked Gulls with 2 juveniles, Common Sandpiper
23rd July - 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper
26th July - 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Common Sandpiper
27th July - Greenshank (128), Green Sandpiper, Common Tern, 92 Lapwing, 22 Lesser-blacked Gulls with 2 juveniles, 405 Greylag
28th July - No new arrivals
29th July - Redshank, Green Sandpiper, 4 Common Sandpiper, nice passage of House & Sand Martin & 12 Swift.

Thanks to Jon B, Paul H & Mark C for contributing to the sightings. 

North Wales celebration weekend

After a few days at home we all headed to North Wales for my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary celebrations. No real time for birding not that the weather would help as it was still boiling hot all weekend. 

Our hotel was right on the estuary on Conwy so I did managed to record some sightings without leaving the hotel. They included 20+ Redshanks including young, 3 Grey Heron, 6 Mute Swans, 12 Curelow, Little Egret & 2 Oystercatchers.