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.

Common Tern returns to Upton

Common Tern (3rd April, Upton Warren)

At the end of March my total on Birdtrack was 174 whilst UK400 was 176. Birds still missing are Mandarin, Woodcock, Swallow (landed this afternoon 3/4), Housemartin, Bittern, Woodcock and Common Sandpiper.

April should bring in plenty of additions which will hopefully include Wood Sandpiper, Garganey, Whimbrel, Black Tern, Common Tern (landed this afternoon 3/4), Arctic Tern, Cuckoo, Hobby, Whinchat, Redstart, Yellow Wagtail, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Swift.

April also brings the start of the cricket season so I’ll be umpiring around many of the beautiful grounds of Worcestershire. I’ve decided to undertake an umpiring list where I only record birds seen whilst officiating in the middle. Tricky may be but last year I saw a Lesser Spot and Common Tern so lets give it a go.

Sandwich Tern at Earlswood Lakes

 Sandwich Tern

Great Crested Grebe

A late start at work enabled me to check Arrow Valley for any new migrants. I'd hoped with the recent influx of Little Gulls around inland water one may have drifted to East Worcestershire, sadly no luck. I located 7 singing Chiffchaffs all new for this year whilst a pair of Coal Tits were a surprise on the east path. Bird song dramatically increased today with Nuthatch, Song Thrush, Chaffinch's and Wrens all making the most of warm temperature.

An early afternoon check on my phone resulted in seeing Matt Griffiths (@earlswoodbirds ) had found a Sandwich Tern on passage over the Engine Pool at Earlswood Lakes. After confirming it was still present I left work sharpish to head to this part of Warwickshire which is only 15 minutes from home. Opting to park up by Terry's Pool car park I quickly located the Tern on the first island. I was then treated as it flew around the lake diving and feeding. You could see why these are the largest of British breeding terns and it showed its speed when quickly flying away from the persistent and annoying Black-headed Gulls.

It was great to see a Sandwich Tern so close to home and perhaps I might see this one again when I visit the Farne Island later on in the year. 

Ring Ouzels at Clee Hill

Ruins near car park

Ring Ouzel 

Gert looking rather arty

More ruins

Checking out his pursuers

 

Me on Ouzel scramble

My original plan for Saturday was to head to the south coast but given the lack of superstar migrants I headed to Titterstone Clee Hill with Upton buddy Gert who fancied the challenge of finding a Ring Ouzel.

Just as we left Bromsgrove at 7am we received a text that a Marsh Harrier was at the Upton Warren Flashes reserve. After a moment of deliberation it was a quick U-turn to try and record an Upton first for us both. After a good 30 minutes of searching I saw the bird almost take off and then change its mind. From that point you could see the bird through the reeds. 

We then made the 45 minute drive out to Clee Hill. There was plenty of mist around the 1,749 feet summit so we were thankful of our delayed arrival due to the Marsh Harrier. Clee Hill is one of the most prominent hills of rural England and is often driven through when heading to Wales.

On the drive up to the car park a Stonechat sat on a fence line whilst Meadow Pipits could be seen commonly. The derelict building, often reported as the best place to see the Ouzels, where limited to Wheatear, Carrion Crows and a single White Wagtail.

Given the report from the previous day that the Ouzels were seen near Trig Point we scrambled our way up and across the hillside through and over some tricky rocks. Our search was not going to plan so once we reached the top we thought we would try the other side which was out of the wind. Not to be deterred we scrabbled down and across giving his good views of the top of the hill. Hopes were raised when we saw a Ouzel shaped bird fly towards the summit. 

After a good hour and a quarter Gert spotted a male Ouzel and once we set the scopes up we had great views of actually two. For one moment we had views of two Ouzels and a Wheatear at the same time. You could easily see the large white chest crescent on the male. With us both battered from the wind and rather pleased with our find we headed back to car for coffee. Passing others birders it seemed we were the only ones to find the migrants. 

Superb morning in a great environment.

Wheatears arrive at Lutley Wedge

After a couple of failed visits to Lutley Wedge on the edge of Halesowen I had two successful visits with two Wheatears recorded on both visits. Lutley sits right on the border of Worcestershire and the West Midlands and attracts some great birds normally on passage. Regular sightings of this patch can be found here. 

The birds located in the harrowed field behind the main farm. Also present were some super singing Skylarks and Meadow pipits.  Well worth a visit to see these early migrants.

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.

Red-necked Grebe at Pitsford Water

I always try and make a habit of looking at what birds have been reported locally before setting out on any days out. Mike Alibone from Northants birding kindly sent me a map of where a reported Red-necked Grebe had been located at Pitsford Water. Given it was only 20 minutes off route and how difficult these are to see I opted to stop off on my returning journey from Rutland Water.

The Grebe was exactly where described by Mike and the wind was blowing the Grebe to within 20 metres of the reservoir shore line. I'd only seen one of these Grebes before and it was a great addition to the year list as they are so difficult to find. 

Next migrants due will be Little Ringed Plover and Wheatears. Let us see what the weekend brings.