It was the dreaded return to work and gym on the 2nd January of which both were equally painful. However I did manage the short drive from work to Swan Pool within Sandwell to watch a juvenile Great Northern Diver. There is a great numbers of divers around the coasts and inland at the moment. The sun restricted viewing and the time he was diving seemed very remarkable.
I dropped in at RSPB Sandwell however a blowing cold wind restricted my interest as well as the local dog walkers letting their lovely animals snarl and grunt at me as I passed them. Sightings included 10 Goosander, Tufted Duck, Snipe, Grey Heron, Pochard among others. Certainly not my favourite place to go birding however they do seem to have tried to make improvements to the islands. The year list moved on to 47, hoping for a decent weather day on Saturday !
It's amazing how bad the weather can be when you are off from work and you want to get out. My original plan was to head to Slimbridge but the shocking weather paid to that idea. I opted to stay local and try see 3 target species - Little Owl, Great Grey Shrike and Brambling.
The Little Owl was not showing at all when I arrived and who would would blame him given the weather, however I changed my angle of viewing and through the scope I could see him sheltering from the rain and the wind. The top photograph was kindly provided by Pete Walkden which shows how beautiful this Owl is in better weather. The second photo was my record shot through my scope in appalling light.
I then headed down the road to the Great Grey Shrike plantation however despite my efforts I couldn't locate him. Rosehill on the Lickey Hill's was the next destination where I located a flock of 30 Brambling on the Beech trees on Twatling Road. No sign of Crossbills but it was no hammering down with rain.
On the way home I stopped at Lower Bittell where there was 2 Scaup which was a real bonus given the conditions. Goosander also present in afternoon.
I did make the return journey in the afternoon on the hope of seeing the Shrike before it roosted. Finally at 3.40pm I located him flying to end of large Oak tree in the centre of the field.
A total of 39 species over the two sessions not bad considering the weather had put pay to a number of the normal very common species.
The final morning of 2013 I headed out to the fields of Lineholt by Ombersley Golf Course to try and see the reported Hornemanns Arctic Redpoll. The bird had been seen just 15 minutes before I arrived so I was hopeful despite the horrible weather. Three hours staring at bean poles and marrows in the drizzly rain was rewarded with nothing other than views of some regulation Lesser Redpoll and Meally's.
I ended up standing with a couple of big year listers. The chap directly on my right was on a stunning 345 species in the year and clocked 39,000 miles. Thats some serious commitment in cost and time. Not sure its great for the environment though. Certainly not something you could do every year.
I therefore finished the year on a pleasing 226 and certainly learnt plenty more about birds, conservation and the environment. Lets see what 2014 brings. I most certainly would like to visit the Farne Island in Northumberland to visit the Tern colonies, other birds outstanding would be White Tailed and Golden Eagles, Black Gouse, Wyrneck, Black Redstart, Shearwaters,in fact sea birds in general is an area I'd like to improve in. Fingers crossed a gem lands on patch also !
With the forecast looking very poor tomorrow it could be a slow start to the year.
Yet another sorry story on the Focusing on Wildlife website today about the tragic ending of life of a Golden Eagle in Scotland. Some of these large shooting estates tell us they are the guardians of the countryside however the environments they create as purpose driven to support their own shoots for commercial purposes. The legislation in place seems to be rarely applied as those who support and frequent these places have a vested interest.
On the Raptor Persecution Scotland website it gives you the hard facts of 31 Eagles, 7 years and 0 prosecutions. Let us hope 2014 brings some much needed improvements.
With the wind blowing a gale this morning (Monday) I opted to wait until the afternoon to venture out. Knowing the Lake was as normal I opted to head to Upton Warren to start with.
The Moors had pretty much as expected in December - Greylag, large flog of Canadian Geese, Cormorant, Shoveller, Pochard, Grey Herons, Lapwing, Teal, Tufted Ducks, Teal and a single Cettis Warbler was in its usual place.
I then headed to the Sailing Pool to locate the reported female Goldeneye which was present swimming along side two Great Crested Grebe. I was tempted to walk over to the Flashes however I opted to head to the other side of Droitwich to Coney Meadow.
From parking at the church at Salwarpe Village I headed through the churchyard to the canal path which leads down to the meadow. The reed bed lies on your left and is signposted well for new visitors. Local patch watcher Dave Walker was on evening patrol so I joined him down the canal path. As we made it back by the screen we were joined by Tim (Birder Gladys).
As we waited for the Starlings, two Raven came in to roost of which one then clashed with a Common Buzzard right above us whilst a Snipe took flight from the front of the reed bed. There appeared to be good numbers of Starlings sitting on the distant telegraph wires that were then mixing with those coming in to roost. As around 1,500 birds displayed a Peregrine flew straight past us and into the flock to catch a late afternoon meal. A catch at the first attempt !
That flock were then in no mood to hang around so after two quick fly pasts they went down into the reed bed. After a quiet five minutes another 1000 starlings came into roost also. The noises of the fly pasts and the birds in the reed bed were superb and well worth the muddy boots.
Staines Reservoir
On top of the O2
Man flu struck just before Christmas so not felt the urge to go out as much as normal. I did manage to get out for two hours on Christmas Day to burn the lunch off round the lanes of which Redwings were the dominant species to be seen.
I headed to London on 27th for a couple of days to visit the outlaws and also to spend a day in the city. I managed to get to Staines Reservoir on the hope of seeing a Black Necked Grebe but sadly no luck. However I did find 14 Goldeneye taking refuge from the blowing gale on the North basin. Other sightings were Cormorant, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, 30 Wigeon, 50+ Coot, Pied Wagtail, 10 Tufted Duck. There was a constant stream of jets taking off just behind the reservoir from the close Heathrow airport. Most definitely a strange place to go birding.
The next morning we heading to Greenwich as we were booked the climb the O2. The weather was stunning allowing fantastic views of the river and the city. The climb was superb and certainly not for the feint hearted. Managed to notch a Great Black Blacked Gull among the local gulls and a couple of Cormorant flying up river.
(File Photo)
2013 has been another good year on the birding front. I've seen some fantastic new birds, visited some superb habitats and met some lovely people.
As I write this blog I have seen 226 species during 2013 and whilst a high percentage were within a small drive from home I've also spent a good few pound on diesel on reaching some of the more harder places to reach given my midlands base.
A few highlights include :-
Slimbridge - Remained a favourite reserve and produced some great birds and spectacles throughout the year. Spoonbill, American Wigeon, Green Winged Teal, Spotted Redshank, Buff-breasted Sandpiper and not forgetting the fantastic Bewick swans. I enjoyed their advanced birding morning and also the Land Rover safari.
Norfolk - thousands of Pink Footed Geese flying over when at Snettisham and the waves of Knot avoiding the Peregrine, Short Earled Owl's hunting at Holme, Little Terns & Eider at Titchwell, Stone Curlews at Weeting Heath, Hawfinch, Turtle Dove, Snow Bunting seeing Common Cranes completely wild. The roost at Hicking Broad was probably the best moment of the year watching 40 Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Cranes, Merlin, Barn Owls all within the same pasture.
Avalon Mashes - An amazing places where I saw Little Bittern, Bitterns, Great White Egret, Garganey and a Woodchat Shrike (Chew Valley) on the way home.
Anglesey - Cremlyn is definitely a place to visit annually to see breeding Sandwich, Common and Arctic Terns. South Stack was brilliant to see the Puffins, Clough and sea birds. As a family we had a great trip.
Other notable sightings were a Black-cowned Heron in Leicestershire, Glossy Ibis at Lower Moor, Red-Footed Falcon at Lakenheath on a day of fantasy birding with Craig, Gert and Andy, Temminck`s Stint at Grimley, White-winged Black Tern in Nottingham, Desert Wheatear on Severn Beach, Ring Ouzel at Shenstone and Pied Flycatcher at Baggeridge. Whilst all are not rare for me its about seeing nice birds in attractive habitats.
Closer to home Upton Warren continued to attract a superb range of birds all year round and it's great to have such a superb reserve close to home. I really enjoyed my work party and will hoping to support more this year.
My own find of the year on the local patch was a Common Redstart which was a real delight for a Tuesday morning. Waxwings also made a local visit.
Many people have helped throughout the year in terms of tip off's, advice and photos so would like to mention the Gull expert Craig Reed who has a been a good navigator on a few twitches, Chris Mills of Norfolk Birding who showed some fantastic places in Norfolk, Brian Stretch of Worcestershire Birding, Vern Wright for his blog photos and of course the family for their partial understanding of why I fancy driving 2 1/2 hours to see a bird smaller than a sparrow.
