Birding today

Hi readers, after yesterdays successful birding day with me getting two ticks and a lot of year ticks me and Dad decided to take a look round (yes take a guess) RSPB Sandwell Valley here's what we saw there today-

RSPB Sandwell Valley- Willow Tit x1, Greenfinch x3, Robin x2 (poss more), Teal 5+, Shoveler x2, Pochard 10+, Lapwing 10+, Pied Wagtail x1, Gadwall 5+, Goosander 10+, Grey Heron x1, Black headed Gull 50+, Mallard 5+, Canada Goose 10+, Cormorant x2, Mute Swan x4, Magpie 5+, Goldfinch 5+, Coot 10+, Moorhen 5+, Jay x1, Lesser Black backed Gull, Nuthatch x1, Tufted Duck 20+.

After Bird watching at Sandwell Valley for a number of years now there was one bird I heard was around but never seen on the valley, this is Ring- necked Parakeet, this bright green bird has been living on the concrete path near the railway bridge for a number of years now. After hearing of positive sightings of the birds today me and Dad decided to go and take a look for ourselves, we saw 3-4 Ring- necked Parakeets all flying around the concrete path area. I'm afraid there is no photos of the birds they were behind trees and hard to even get in our binoculars there may be other chances in the future but I'm not to bothered about photographing them its better to just see the birds.

After looking round Sandwell Valley me and dad decided to have a brief look at the gulls on top of the APC building near Kingswood pool, I was lucky enough to see a Glaucous and Iceland Gull yesterday (side by side!) but we wasn't as lucky today, I had a good look through a large group of gulls and could only see Lesser Black backed gulls 20+, Herring Gulls 20+. It wasn't easy looking at the gulls today because they seemed to be in the air a lot more than they were yesterday.

After a look through the gulls we decided to take a look at Essington quarry Pool which we haven't been to in quite a long while. I had heard of a Black Swan on the pool which I thought would be quite nice to see as it was a new bird for me. our full sightings list is-

Essington quarry Pool- Black Swan x1, Tufted Duck 5+, Widgeon 30+, Little Grebe 5+, Coot 5+, Kestrel x1, House Sparrow 5+.

Not a massive list but it was nice to have a little walk around the site. Its been a good birding weekend, with me seeing three new birds (Glaucous Gull, Mandarin Duck and Black Swan), and getting my birding year list up to 62 isn't a bad effort in a couple of days birding.

My birding life list is now up to 165 which isn't massive but I hope to hit 200 by the end of the year if not half way through next year. So keep reading for any birds I see, you can also look at my life and year list on the blog (under pages). There should be a post next Sunday if not earlier.

Thanks for reading