3 x Patch Ticks but Mothless

What an abysmal weekend for moths, the weather forecast looked great, overcast, no rain but that's not what materialised.  Thursday night started as forecast but the skies soon cleared and the temperatures started to drop.  Only 7 moths!

I visited Salford Priors GP on Saturday and had a pleasant 3 hours on site.  I met up with Neil Duggan at the entrance.

There wasn't anything of note on the Main Pit until Neil picked up a pair of Sand Martin skimming across the surface which was new species for the year and for Patchwork Challenge 2015.

Whilst searching the hedgerow to the east end of Snipe Field for the singing Blackcap, we were treated to our 1st although somewhat glimpsing view a Cuckoo, another new species for the year and for Patchwork Challenge 2015.

We checked the fields were Neil had found both Redstart and Hobby but of course these were only stop overs which were no longer present, although Neil then saw the Hobby again on Sunday whilst I was hung over in bed.

There were loads of Reed Bunting singing in the reed bed pool, it also held approx. 4 Sedge Warbler, one of which afforded us decent views.

Reed Bunting

Found 5 Little Ringed Plover on the Snipe Field, most I've seen together at Salford Priors GP, until later that day when I stopped for a quick look over Pophills where there was 7 Little Ringed Plover on the spit.

5 x Little Ringed Plover

Whilst watching a pair of Buzzard circling over the Snipe Field - probably eyeing up the LRP's for a snack, a Sparrowhawk came into view and afford me some great views as the sun reflected off it.

Sparrowhawk

Not much else to note, can't believe how many Sklyark the Snipe Field holds.

Skylark

Black-headed Gull

 

Canada Goose

Greylag Geese

Meadow Pipit

I put up the following nest boxes last year:

4 x House Sparrow
1 x Tit
1 x Starling
3 x House Martin
1 x Robin

None of them were used and it has been looking like none of them will take this year....... until I noticed a Robin flitting in and out of the bush holding the Robin nest box, the nest contains eggs, 2 of which I could.....  Success :o)

Robin - on the nest

Patch Gripped!!

I arrived early today in the vain hope of finding Woodcock, not that I expect to find them here, the habitat doesn't scream Woodcock - result was as per expectation - Woodcock = Nil.

I started by stopping of at the small River Arrow, I'm determined to find a Kingfisher here but one hasn't materialised yet.  This morning there was a Grey Heron feeding in the margins and single Moorhen.  I had a quick scan of the small flood plain but it was frozen over so nothing here.  I also had a quick scan of the rough ground which looks like it used to contain a factory or barracks but again nothing.

Next stop was Pophills Pit where the following was noted:

Greylag Goose - 109
Canada Goose - 7
Mallard - 10
Tufted Duck - 4
Coot - 22
Common Sandpiper - 1

The Greylag were quite restless when I arrived as soon took to the air heading in the direction of the Hidden Pit.  I think I need to sort a patch map with labels, especially as @NeilDuggan80 is birding it too, be easier to discern where we are talking about.

I headed over to the Main Pit where I had 2 Rook (Patch tick), 2 Goldcrest and 3 Chaffinch around the plantation.  There was a fair amount on the water which had defrosted from yesterday, I didn't count the Mallard, Tufted Duck or Coot today as wanted to do a circuit to take in the reed beds I was targeting Water Rail today too.  I noted the following on Main Pit:

Mute Swan - 7
Canada Goose - 27
Pochard - 6
Teal - ~40
Little Grebe - 3

Crappy Phone Scoped Teal

Whilst counting, yesterday's (I presume) Peregrine Falcon sped past about 20 meters from my head as it attempted to take a Blackbird, it was unsuccessful and flew over the Main Pit and across the field to the rear.

I took a walk over to the old reed bed where a couple of Jack Snipe flushed as I walked past.  I had some great views of 3 deer atop of a small mound, the morning was slightly misty, I attempted a few shots but I think the sensor on my camera is faulty as all images are either black or fuzzy and over exposed.

I took a walk across the Flooded Field up to the Hidden Pit, this flushed 23 Jack Snipe and a single Common Snipe which was todays 2nd patch tick, they must be sensitive to ground vibration as they all flushed from about 70 meters away and were all difficult to see due to the light mist.  I also had a single Lapwing and a pair of Skylark.

The hidden pond only contained a small number of Mallard and Tufted Duck.

I crossed over to the public footpath and followed it back round to the road, there are quite a few reeds along here, this was were I was looking for Water Rail but I failed only managing a couple of Moorhen and a lot of Red-legged Partridge that escaped the guns during the shooting season.

I arrived back at the car to see that Neil was on-site with John who is a former Warwickshire bird recorder.  Neil informed me that after he left, John found Woodcock, Tawny Owl and 6.... Water Rail.... WTF...  I specifically went for 2 of these and failed.... GRIPPED...!!  Neil had also had Goosander, a site first.

I popped back in the afternoon but they'd moved on, there were 23 Lapwing on the Main Pit scrape.  Canada Goose numbers had risen too.

Canada Geese on Main Pit

Patch Birding....

A brief visit this morning as I had to take the wife for a run, I'm helping her train for her 1st half marathon in April, then we had to go buy a car..

I didn't arrive until 07:45, even though I'd planned to be there for 07:00 - that's what a bottle of Boreaux the night before does I suppose...

It was bitterly cold of course, the ground frozen solid.  Before I'd even entered the site I had some great views of 3 deer - really need to learn the different species, can't be that hard.  I tried to get some photos but my camera was taking long exposures like it was night time, the light wasn't that great I admit but it wasn't dark? In fact, even when I sorted it out by setting everything manually, images still came out a little fuzzy when zoomed in.

Anyway, the birds...  The Main Pit came into view and was partially frozen so I expect no birds but it was quite the opposite.  A Gadwall pair and Widgeon pair were new for PWC2015 with the following birds counted:

Mallard - 189
Pochard - 4 (3m, 1f)
Widgeon - 2
Eurasian Teal - 60+
Tufted Duck - 24
Little Grebe - 6
Gadwall - 2
Coot - 20
Canada Goose - 29
Grey Heron - 1
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 2

I took a walk over to the Little Owl tree with little hope.  On route I inadvertently flushed 2 x Jack Snipe and saw a pair of Wren flitting about.  Plenty of Red-legged Partridge flushed as usual too.  I got some more great view and some more poor photos of another 2 deer feeding in the long grass.

About 50m short of the Little Owl tree I saw what I thought was a Buzzard perched at the top so I put my scope down to take a look.  I couldn't believe my eyes, a beautiful male Peregrine Falcon, another tick for PWC2015 and for the year list.  I watched him scanning the area for about 10 mins before he flew off and over to Bidford.  I took a couple of photos but none any good, the best I managed was a phone camera to the telescope eyepiece shot...

Peregrine Falcon

I then left and stopped for a quick scan of Pophills Pit which held:

Coot - 20
Black-headed Gull - 16
Mallard - 6
Tufted Duck - 2

I also had a Bullfinch, Reed Bunting and Pied Wagtail in area.  A Buzzard was sat in it's usual spot on the top corner of the disused barn.

There were the usual high number of Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon flying around the area too.

Salford Priors GP - Rain, Rain, Rain

A brief visit to Salford Priors GP this morning as it kept raining, getting wet doesn't bother me but trying to look through rain splattered binoculars and telescope is something my patience will only take for so long.....

I arrived on site about 08:00, parked in the usual spot on the corner and climbing over the earth mound, I could already hear gunshot but couldn't see anybody out shooting in the vicinity, Ragley is quite a large estate with a number of shooting areas from what I can see.

I didn't walk down the narrow path as the ground is covered in low brambles which I kept tripping on during my last visit, I decided to walk along the field margin for a change.  The field contained the usual Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Pheasant and Red-legged Partridge.  A medium size bird then shot up about 5 meters in front of me, flew low over the scrub and into the wood - gone.... My initial thought was female Merlin, certainly flew like one and was of brownish colouring but it was a fleeting glimpse at best.

I had a quick scan between the blind and hedgerow, always a lot of Pheasant and RL Partridge, there was a good handful of Blackbird and a single Redwing.  A small finch like bird was in the top of the oak tree but I couldn't make it out with the binos, as I got the scope onto it, off it went... a female Yellowhammer.

I had a quick scan of the woodland which contained a small number of Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit and a Green Woodpecker, I decided to put the possible Merlin down to this, about the right size and flew up of the floor...?

I scanned over the Main Pit, nothing out of the ordinary. I counted 67 Mallard, 47 Coot, 22 Tufted Duck, 10 Teal and 4 Little Grebe.  There was a single female Reed Bunting and a Dunnock in full song.  I walked up to the Little Owl tree but he wasn't there, hoping he's still around although the area looks more flattened that last weekend, I wonder if I'm going to be able to get a full year out of this site before it's all crops again...

The skies opened up so I headed back to the car, a Jack Snipe was flushed as I passed the Main Pit.

I stopped at Pophills and had a quick scan, it yielded 16 Coot, 24 Mallard, 3 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe and 27 each of Canada Goose and Greylag Goose.  There were hundreds of Woodpigeon with a lot of Carrion Crow and Jackdaw in tow in the fields to the rear of Pophills, the small trees held 3 Buzzard between them.  I found the Common Sandpiper on the small island/spit again.

So nothing exciting although when I got home I was treated to some cracking views of a beefy male Greenfinch on the sunflower feeder, he looked nice and healthy and is the first in the garden this year and for some time.

The Greenfinch puts me on 101 for January/year list and 47sp for 48 points for PWC2015.

Time to take the wife out for a run now, training her to complete a half marathon, still early days but up to 6 miles today.

Patch Birding - Salford GP

I wasn't entirely sure if I was going to make it to the patch today as I was out till 05:30 for birthday celebrations.  However I somehow managed to get up at 07:30.....

I arrived on site with a strong cup of coffee and headed straight to the Main Pit where I was hoping to see the Pochard again however they had departed along with most of the other water fowl.  The Tufted Duck were still there but left shortly after I arrived as there was some shooting going on in the back ground.

While scanning the water I noticed another birder, it was @NeilDuggan who is also birding Salford Priors GP for Patchwork Challenge 2015, great to finally meet up.  As detailed in a previous blog post, we have separated the area so we can cover more ground in an attempt to understand what the area holds.

Neil has visited the site a lot more than I have so has greater knowledge of where to look.  We checked out the old tree but still no sign of the Little Owl.  Neil then showed me the area where he'd seen 15 Jack Snipe about a week ago, again there were about 15 Jack Snipe.  I've never known anything like it, they seemed to be everywhere.

We said our goodbyes as we'd parked at opposite ends of the site, I decided to head up past the flooded field and the small pit.  The flooded field held a small number of Skylark whilst the small pit held a small number of Mallard and Tufted Duck.

A lot less about today than yesterday but still managed to add 4 species to the Patch Birding list:

Herring Gull - fly over
Lesser Black-backed Gull - fly over
Skylark - Flooded Field
Goldcrest - Pophills.

The Goldcrest was a bonus as it was my 100th species for 2015 for my year list and means I reached my target of 100 species for January.

@Patchbirding - Salford Priors GP

I was determined to get a decent visit in at Salford Priors GP as part of the Patchwork Challenge. Today I arrived on site at 07:30, it was absolutely freezing and it wasn't long until my hands were completely numb, even with two pairs of gloves on!!

I went straight to the Main Pit, where I counted:

Mallard x 47
Tufted Duck x 41
Coot x 35
Teal x 10
Grey Heron x 2
Moorhen x 1
Pochard x 5
Lapwing x ~50
Little Grebe x 4

There was vast numbers of Woodpigeon flying over, I estimate 500 which contained 3 Stock Dove.  I also had a single fly over Fieldfare.  The fields to the rear of the Main Pit holds large numbers of Red-legged Partridge and Pheasant for the shooting fraternity, this in turn attracts large numbers of Carrion Crow and Jackdaw which roost in the small copse on site, this large flock contained a single Raven which flew over 'kronking', a sound I'll never tire of and one which I feel privileged to be able to hear in the heart of Warwickshire.

I carried on past the pit over to the area which was once a nice reed bed, no so now though, as part of returning the gravel pits to agricultural land they have been cut down.  I took a walk through so I could get to a viewing point for the flooded field opposite.  Walking through the old reed bed I flushed a Jack Snipe which for me is a great find, I don't record Jack Snipe generally most years so to have a local site hold them is great, even better that it's my chosen site for the Patchwork Challenge 2015.

I checked the old tree for the resident Little Owl but still no luck, not sure if it's decided to move on with all the activity in the area reshaping the landscape.

I had a quick check of Pophills Pit where I found:

Black-headed Gull x 58
Yellowhammer x 10
Tufted Duck x 4
Coot x 14
Red-legged Partridge x 2
Magpie x 3
Greylag Goose x 60 - fly overs
Common Sandpiper x 1
Pied Wagtail x 1

Other birds noted were Blackbird, Robin, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Dunnock, Buzzard, Kestrel.  I then returned home where I added Song Thrush to the list from my garden.

I managed to add 12 species to my Patch Challenge list:

Pochard
Lapwing
Moorhen
Fieldfare
Jack Snipe
Common Sandpiper
Yellowhammer
Greylag Goose
Pied Wagtail
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Collared Dove
Song Thrush

Patchwork Challenge 2015

One of my goals this year is to try and work a local patch, this will still be limited as I work and live in London during the week so am only home (most) weekends.  Every 2nd weekend my children stay over so I won't be able to visit every time they are visiting as it's not fair on them - they unfortunately do not share my passion for 'Geeking'.....

As I live in Bidford, the perfect local patch for me has to be Salford Priors Gravel Pits, I don't think they are watched a great deal although I believe a few local birders visit once a week.  Salford GP are still working pits, actually I believe the majority of the quarrying has been completed and unfortunately they're being returned to agricultural use.  Such a shame really as they site appeared not to have been touched for a good 5 years and already had the potential for a great reserve.

@NeilDuggan80 had also registered Salford GP for PWC2015 so we decided to cover as much ground between us to see what the area produces whilst maintaining our own PWC2015 lists.

Neil had already marked his territory and chose to cover the GP and the area to the West and North:

Neil's Patch - GP's bottom left.

 

So that left me with the South and East, which suited me fine as I live to the East and wanted to cover a few areas in this direction, obviously I've still included the GP's in my PWC2015. I included my garden as Tawny Owl pair visit in the evenings, the filed adjoining has 'stop-over' Turtle Dove most years so here's hoping:

 

My Patch - GP's centre left.

 

I believe Neil is off to a flying start however this was my first time home since Christmas so this was to be my inaugural visit.  This was a kids weekend so the wife kindly stayed at home with 2 of them whilst my daughter Rosie came along for the hell of it.

 

It was absolutely freezing at the GP's with a biting wind. Access was difficult as the path leading up to the main pit had been blocked by a huge mound of earth.  None the less we made our way round instantly being treated to some deer which we inadvertently spooked.

 

Our first species was a flock of Long-tailed Tit flitting around the small plantation, these were followed by a large number of Carrion Crow and Jackdaw feeding in the field to the right of the path.  Among them I found 1 Raven when they were flying between the tall trees of the plantation and the field.  Next was a Common Buzzard crying overhead, this then spooked a couple of hundred Woodpigeon also making use of the tall plantation trees.

 

We arrived at the Main Pit, I was hoping to see the Scaup Neil had reported the week before but I searched the water over and over and scrutinised the Tufted Duck time and again but I was unable to locate it.  The water held a small number of Eurasian Teal, Mallard, Coot and Little Grebe but not much else.

 

As we made our way to the Little Owl tree a few Meadow Pipits went up, Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch and Wren were also seen.  We didn't find the Little Owl which didn't surprise me in that biting wind, must have been hunkered down in his nesting hole.

 

I didn't go any further as Rosie was feeling the cold so we headed back and added Mute Swan and Canada Goose to the list whilst having another futile search for the Scaup.  Our timing was spot on as a tractor and trailer were crossing the field across from the main pit, the trailer full of shooting folk. We got back to the car and drove up to Pophills Pit where we added Red-legged Partridge, Black-headed Gull, Reed Bunting and Bullfinch and a bonus Grey Wagtail.  We stayed for 5 minutes to watch the shot but Rosie wasn't comfortable with it, she didn't like seeing the birds falling out of the sky.  She asked me "how do they know what they are shooting" to which I replied "Exactly". Coincidentally a story running on Twitter was of a shooter boasting of his 'Bag' in which he had Snipe, only the photo was of a Jack Snipe, just about answers Rosie's question really.

 

We headed home them were I added Dunnock and Collard Dove to the list from my garden.  Then last night I added Tawny which was sat in the tree 'kewicking'

Local Area

Quickly popped out around the local area today with a walk over to Salford Priors gravel pit.  A lot of the local fields still contain flood water, one of which had about 8 Lapwing, 2 Common Sandpipers and 2 Grey Heron.
We have quite a few Red-legged Partridge around the area of the gravel pit and local farms, they seem to like to hang out on the road during the evenings, not sure if it's down to the tarmac holding the heat of the day?

I managed a few shots but none of them great, the light was horrendous (got to blame something!) Best bird of the walk was a great view of a female Sparrowhawk, she moved quick and low across my path, I tried to get a photo  but only managed to get one which was extremely blurred.

38. Buzzard

39. Carrion Crow

40. Red Legged Partridge

41. Lapwing

42. Pheasant