Double Dippers !

Despite the cold gloomy weather I fancied a trip to the Wyre. It's one of my favourite places, and even on a day that looked less than promising, something usually makes it worth the visit.
From the car park I headed down to the Brook and within a couple of minutes heard  a Marsh Tit callling. It gave a brief showing,but in poor light.Down on the bridge a Dipper  zoomed by, heading upstream. I followed  and it was not long before I cought it up.

All the usual woodland species were about, and the Dipper showed a couple more times as I headed to Coopers Mill. There, a male Bullfinch and a Green Woodpecker momentarily sat within a few feet of each other, that really added some colour to proceedings, but all to briefly.
However a bit more colour was to come, with a pair of Grey Wagtails vociferously working their their way upstream.I managed to just about get a record high ISO shot

Murky views..Grey Wagtail

 

Swinging round to Lodge Farm, I gave the orchard 15 minutes. Plenty of finches about Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, a low Buzzard and a pair of  Ravens.
With work on the disused rail line making that way back unattractive, I opted to drop back to Knowles and the Brook. I was glad I did, as I again connected initially with one, and then two Dippers ! They showed really well, almost side by side at times. The second appeared as I was trying to get some film, and you can hear it call as it whizzes past my subject,which was lurking under the bank of the brook. It followed, giving a brief call back as it followed.They settled a few yards upstream, and I watched them for a while in my Bins before heading back to the car.
On they way back, heading away from this pair, I had another Dipper sighting. Hard to know if it was a third, I would like to think so, but I'll settle for a pair ! As I mentioned, I rarely leave this area disappointed.

Back in the game !

Last weekend was a washout. It left me champing at the bit all week for a nature fix. With a slight improvement in the weather I decided to run the moth trap on Thursday night for a couple of hours. I had zero expectation but was very surprised to find a single Dark Chestnut moth lurking when I checked it around 9pm. This was my first proper run out with the mains set up, so I was most encouraged. Dark Chestnut was a new species to boot, albeit a bit of a worn specimen.I'll take anything at present.

Dark Chestnut, 1st moth of the year !

On Saturday I was dismayed to awake to fog, but thankfully it lifted so I popped to Grimley. The most productive site was the Sling Pool area. There were 30+ Tufted Duck, and good Numbers of Wigeon, Gadwall and Lapwing. The highlight was picking up 3 Green Sandpipers which flew off the second I spotted them to settle a way off giving distant views amongst the Lapwings.A year tick at least.
On the way home I dropped into my local patch and walked the area on the edge of the stubble field that has a decent bit of set aside come summer. I was hoping for a cheeky butterfly, as the sun was on it and it was quite pleasant. I spotted something bright in the wooded area, initially thinking it was litter, when I raised my bins I realised it was a single fungi.
I headed over, it was a lovely Scarlet colour, and thought I knew what it was, although I had never seen one before.

Scarlet Elf Cup

The area just up from there usually has snow drops this time of year, and sure enough there was a good display, the first I had seen this year. I thought I would go for a less conventional record shot.

On Sunday I circumnavigated Mount Segg, although the navigation bit went a bit pear shaped towards the end, but in a good way as I shaved about a mile off the last section, and frankly I was a flagging a bit, you seem to walk twice as far in that heavy mud. Birdwise, nothing exceptional, but nice weather and highlights were Skylarks, Mistle Thrushes, Yellowhammers and finally my first Sparrowhawk of the year as I got back to the car. So all in all plenty of 'firsts' this week one way and another, and it was great just to be back out there.

Proposed Shenstone Development

I have done a bit of birding this weekend, but in light of news of a proposed.."permanent site" for " Travelling Show People"  at Shenstone, I am dedicating this weeks post to a link to The Shenstone Birder's blog. The site will be be on an area where red status species are regularly seen and breed, such as Corn Bunting Grey Partridge and Yellowhammer. Please have a read of what Jason has to say and if you agree, follow the link to make your views known, its part of my regular birding sites.

http://shenstonebirder.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/important-permanant-traveller-site.html

Golden Grimley

Saturday was a planned trip to Grimley .Having popped there last week to see the fantastic array of birds, I felt they deserved a second look, given the snowy wet viewing the previous week. The first 45 minutes were a bit frustrating, as from my position I was unable to get on any of the goodies I knew had been seen on site earlier. However eventually the Sanderling showed, which was the one species I missed the previous week, it's winter plumage looking very fresh and white in the sunshine.The Grey Plover then appeared too, but in order to see the Smew again it was necessary to relocate to the south end. This was worth the effort, as with the sun behind and the conditions benign, the views were excellent of the female. The 2 drake Goldeneye were also very Smart.
Well satisfied that I had had good views of the birds I drove back towards Top Barn for an equally satisfying  hot sausage roll.

Just prior to reaching the hot sausage oasis, I noticed the field by the lay-by was chuffing with Lapwings so pulled in. Lifting my bins I scanned the field, I was hoping that maybe there were some Golden Plover in among them. There were , c20 ! Result ! This was especially pleasing, as I had never had really satisfying views of this species, and once viewed in the scope I set up, I was able to spend a while enjoying these lovely birds at my leisure. With business elsewhere that was it for the day, but I was glad I returned to see these species, and picking up the Golden Plover was ultimately a real bonus too.

Golden Plovers, Grimley

It was really windy Sunday, and I was just about to embark on my Garden Birdwatch Survey, when I had news of yet another great sighting at Grimley,this time a pair of Whooper Swans ! I was virtually ready to pop out for a while anyway, and I didn't take long to decide I fancied a quick twitch back to Grimley. 30 minutes later I was enjoying the spectacle of the 2 Whooper Swans.

Whooper Swans, Grimley

 The wind was very strong, nearly blowing over my gear at one point, and I decided to move on and do a bit of patch walking, more for the exercise than for expecting to see much there.  I did pick up a patch year tick, a pair of Mute Swans on the local fishing pool. This brought the local patch year total to 55, all on foot. I had set a target of 59 for January,so a score of 93% seems reasonable. Herring Gull, Grey Heron, Goosander and Sparrowhawk were my patch 'no shows'.

Smew causes rapid cold weather movement

I spent a couple of hours Saturday stoically trudging through the snow on a circuit of the patch. It was largely very enjoyable, even stumbling down a section where it was deeper than my wellies. Ladies Pool continued to disappoint given its a stretch of water that remains unfrozen. I did however hear a Tawney Owl call, which made up for the lack of a decent duck.
I encountered 3 Siskin flocks during the walk, the second one c70 large. Associated with the third one were good numbers of Goldfinch on Barnet Brook and a single female Brambling
I was also accompanied for a while by a Female Kestrel, who perched up at one point quite close. Down on the paddocks I stumble upon a finch flock feeding quite close. Unfortunately some walkers coming up behind put them up all to quickly, but not before I had picked out a few Linnets...the first on the patch for a good few months,and nudged my patch Footit list up to 54 for the month.
Being as stiff as an old horse the next day from my snowy exertions, and with snow falling steadily non stop, I decided to earn some brownie points and help with the weekly shop. However, shortly after getting back around lunchtime, news came through of a Smew down at Grimley. I had ignored the news about a Grey Plover there earlier, but a female Smew was more than I could resist, so I cashed the points straight in, jumped in the car, and made the 20 minute trip to one of my favourite birding spots.
The Snow fell relentlessly, and I admit I don't really like birding in precipitation. It was only my second Smew, the last one just over 2 years ago at Bewdley, also in snow. The Grey Plover showed well enough too ( the second one I have seen on that site in under a year).I picked up a nice male Goldeneye and a Dunlin too, but I didn't linger, a record shot would have been crap in that light and at that distance with snow falling, not worth getting the camera wet for. There was also a Sanderling on site, but I couldn't connect with it in the few minutes I tried. On the way home I dropped into Brakemill Pool, and nabbed a female Goosander. For a time of year that traditionally can be pretty dreary birding wise, this weekend turned out pretty well !

Grey Plover Grimley 2012 

A new look for the New Year

The New Year always inspires lots of new affirmations and ideas. I have a good few about how I want to progress  my birding and natural history journey this year, and I hope to share it via the blog. Lets see what 2013 brings !

Wetland ticks and Patch Winter Thrushes

With the weather not exactly inviting me for a walk Saturday, I decided to do a couple of pit stops at the local wetland patches, ostensibly to see if the cold front had brought in anything of interest, but failing that to a least wrack up a few more year ticks.
Sling Pool floods Grimley had very good numbers of ducks and Canada Geese. Wigeon and Gadwall were abundant, as were the Lapwings too. Unfortunately no Golden Plover but a nice Siskin flock showed well with some corking males.The new workings were similar but colder, and a there was the odd snow flurry as I left, unable to locate a Goldeneye that had been about recently.
I then popped to Upton to see if I could connect with the Jack Snipe that has been about for a while now. There were 30 or more Common Snipe showing pretty well, and after about half and hour of on/off looking I picked up Jack the lad, a species I didn't connect with last year, so pretty pleasing( but no pic possible ).A pair of Shelduck was a year tick to.

                                                     Bit of Wetland action
A flock of Lesser Redpolls showed well on the east track, and I managed a snap in the poor light.

Lesser Redpoll, Upton

As is my mantra until things pick up later in the year, the car was rested on the Sabbath  and I undertook a 3 hour walk around both sides of the patch.A bit of BTO survey work was in mind.  The frost had hardened up the mud, making it much more pleasant underfoot. The leading impression from the walk was that there was a significant influx of winter Thrushes onto the patch. Redwing, Mistle Thrushes and most importantly, a few Fieldfare in 2 of the 3 groups on the paddocks gave me the only addition to mt patch year list.

Mistle Thrush and Redwing, missed the pesky Fieldfare !

 Also of note was a party of Goldcrests in the adjacent plantation and the Meadow Pipit flock was up to double figures and came quite close.

Meadow Pipit on Paddocks

Over on the North side of the patch, again, Redwing Flocks feeding on the ground. The first I have seen over there this winter, making me think this was related to the predicted bad weather of the next few days. In the Mill Garden, a large garrulous flock of birds , mainly Siskin, but associated with them,Tits, a Nuthatch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. A very lively and colourful end to a most enjoyable patch tour.