Photos:
A few scenes of HGF including Dunlin in the fog and Linnets in the south hedge at sunset.
At Stubbers Green a fourth winter Lesser Black-backed Gull (pink legs, very small white tips to primaries), some argies and Caspian Gulls (the top photo is the smaller bird which flew off )
4th February
4th February
HGF was 95% frozen today with most of the birds congregated in a small strip of free water on the east side. This is where there is run off water from the M6 which I think will have high salt levels and consequently this strip always freezes last. Crammed into this space were a couple of Teal and also 10 Pochard in addition to the 75 Wigeon and usual other species. Most of the Tufted Ducks have done one though. Of interest is the highly unusual low number of Coots – normally in winter there would be anything up to 100 birds here. Normally in late autumn there is a build up in numbers which increases during the winter. Last year, however, numbers peaked in mid September and then slowly declined during the last three months of the year and have never recovered. 3 Dunlin were present today.
I spent some time working in the conservatory today and thus got an opportunity to watch the garden for a change. Quite a few birds appeared too with the highlight being a Grey Heron. Three Reed Buntings, 20 Fieldfares, 20+ Goldfinches, a cock Pheasant, fly through Black-headed and Common Gulls and 130+ Woodpigeons perched in the Ash trees were the best of the rest.
I also managed a more lengthy visit to the feeding station rather than the usual quick drive by. Not many birds were around when I arrived, however I spotted quite a few sparrows further down the hedge. They have taken to moving down here when either feeling threatened or when just chilling out as opposed to the treatment works where they used to go. The sparrows spend a lot of time just chattering away in the hedge and the noise can be quite loud even when no birds are visible. I have also noticed recently from their comings and goings that there are two “home” directions when they leave. Some head off towards Arbury Lane and some towards Hermitage Green. Anyway today when they did come back to feed, 102 Tree Sparrows and a pair of Yellowhammers were counted. Driving home along Highfield Lane, a flock of 800+ Woodies was in the field there.
5th February
I woke up this morning to thick fog. Marvellous for weekend birding so I decided to stay home, or at least local. I did make a mid morning trip to HGF where the pool was shrouded in fog but the ice was starting to melt. I found the three Dunlin in the fog feeding along the north shoreline. 13 Linnets were also feeding in the scrub on the banks here and a gang of 13 Long-tailed Tits flew past, shortly followed by 3 Redwings into the wood. A few Pochard had dropped in overnight with 11 ducks on the small patch of unfrozen water. From the noise there were quite a lot of gulls out on the ice, unfortunately I couldn’t see any of them.
The garden was busy again today. Single thrushes in the forms of Song, Mistle and Fieldfare all appeared plus a single Reed Bunting and also a lone Tree Sparrow. At the feeding station, 85+ Tree Sparrows were joined by around 20 Starlings which seemed interested in the seed and even had a brief go at feeding here. A single cock Yellowhammer and a Fieldfare were also there.
6th February
Around 55 Tree Sparrows were present when I stopped briefly on my way past to work this morning.
I was working in Brum this afternoon so I managed a quick stop over at Stubbers Green on my way. This pool was largely frozen too and there were just a handful of large gulls present. The usual big male Caspian was present along with a second bird which had the good grace to fly directly over me. Forgot to use the camera though – doh! The second bird didn’t appear to be one that had been seen before – it certainly didn’t match any in recent photos. Several days later I bumped into Graham Evans here. Graham runs the Chasewater website and is a bit of a gull fanatic. We discussed this bird and I think Graham had previously seen the same one. Not much else about and just one other birder who didn’t speak for half an hour before approaching and asking me if I could put him onto a Caspian. By this time there was just the big male left. Also of note were a few very smart looking and long-winged argentatus Herring Gulls which had a very Caspian-like structure to them!hortly after I saw it).
I spent some time working in the conservatory today and thus got an opportunity to watch the garden for a change. Quite a few birds appeared too with the highlight being a Grey Heron. Three Reed Buntings, 20 Fieldfares, 20+ Goldfinches, a cock Pheasant, fly through Black-headed and Common Gulls and 130+ Woodpigeons perched in the Ash trees were the best of the rest.
I also managed a more lengthy visit to the feeding station rather than the usual quick drive by. Not many birds were around when I arrived, however I spotted quite a few sparrows further down the hedge. They have taken to moving down here when either feeling threatened or when just chilling out as opposed to the treatment works where they used to go. The sparrows spend a lot of time just chattering away in the hedge and the noise can be quite loud even when no birds are visible. I have also noticed recently from their comings and goings that there are two “home” directions when they leave. Some head off towards Arbury Lane and some towards Hermitage Green. Anyway today when they did come back to feed, 102 Tree Sparrows and a pair of Yellowhammers were counted. Driving home along Highfield Lane, a flock of 800+ Woodies was in the field there.
5th February
I woke up this morning to thick fog. Marvellous for weekend birding so I decided to stay home, or at least local. I did make a mid morning trip to HGF where the pool was shrouded in fog but the ice was starting to melt. I found the three Dunlin in the fog feeding along the north shoreline. 13 Linnets were also feeding in the scrub on the banks here and a gang of 13 Long-tailed Tits flew past, shortly followed by 3 Redwings into the wood. A few Pochard had dropped in overnight with 11 ducks on the small patch of unfrozen water. From the noise there were quite a lot of gulls out on the ice, unfortunately I couldn’t see any of them.
The garden was busy again today. Single thrushes in the forms of Song, Mistle and Fieldfare all appeared plus a single Reed Bunting and also a lone Tree Sparrow. At the feeding station, 85+ Tree Sparrows were joined by around 20 Starlings which seemed interested in the seed and even had a brief go at feeding here. A single cock Yellowhammer and a Fieldfare were also there.
6th February
Around 55 Tree Sparrows were present when I stopped briefly on my way past to work this morning.
I was working in Brum this afternoon so I managed a quick stop over at Stubbers Green on my way. This pool was largely frozen too and there were just a handful of large gulls present. The usual big male Caspian was present along with a second bird which had the good grace to fly directly over me. Forgot to use the camera though – doh! The second bird didn’t appear to be one that had been seen before – it certainly didn’t match any in recent photos. Several days later I bumped into Graham Evans here. Graham runs the Chasewater website and is a bit of a gull fanatic. We discussed this bird and I think Graham had previously seen the same one. Not much else about and just one other birder who didn’t speak for half an hour before approaching and asking me if I could put him onto a Caspian. By this time there was just the big male left. Also of note were a few very smart looking and long-winged argentatus Herring Gulls which had a very Caspian-like structure to them!hortly after I saw it).
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