My birding tarts.

Hi readers, some of you may be looking at the title of this post and feeling a little confused. You may be thinking that I am trying to insult someone or that I am referring to a lovely type of cake, but in the birding world (for some of you who don't know) a tart is the word used to refer to a bird a birder has not seen yet.

So I thought I would do a post aimed at showing you some of the birds I haven't seen but would love to see. The first on the list is Marsh Harrier, the main reason for this is because last year at Aqualate mere one was flying around and everyone could see it apart from me (typical). So I have made it my own personal mission to hopefully see one this year. The next two birds on my tart list are warblers so I will have to wait a while until I see them, these warblers are Grasshopper and Wood Warbler. Thankfully I  know a good place for Grasshopper Warbler (Clayhanger Marsh) so I am hopeful that it should be reasonably easy to see one this year.

The next 3 birds on my list are Rock Pipit, Brambling, and Hen harrier, these birds all seem great so I would love to see them. The next three are Grey Partridge, Red Grouse, and Goshawk, Grey Partridge has for a while been a bird I wanted to see, I have seen the nest of a Grey partridge I even held one of the eggs, sadly the nest had been predated otherwise I would have left the nest alone as I hat the idea of disturbing or killing birds.

Whooper Swan, Dipper and Grey Plover are the next three on my list, the bird out of these I would most like to see is a Dipper, they seem like a fascinating and wonderful little bird and I would love to see one. Finally Great White Egret, Ruddy Shellduck, Turtle Dove and Shag are the final 4 on my Tar list. I know Great White Egret is a rare one but they are becoming a  more common visitor to the UK and have even bread here this year so I am hopeful to see one.

So that's all the birds on my Tart list they are all great birds and I am very hopeful to see every one of them this year. I have been on the RSPB Sandwell Valley Facebook page a few minutes ago and a sightings list was posted on Monday, one bird that catches my eye is a Cettis Warbler that seems to have made a comeback onto the reserve. On Sunday I did think I caught the call of a Cettis Warbler but wasn't so sure as it hadn't been seen for a while. Maybe I did hear what I though I heard.

So if all goes to plan I should be doing a post on Sunday (if not before), as far as I know me and Dad are going off to Upton Warren in hope of catching the Bittern that's around there, after hearing about the Cettis Warbler at Sandwell I'm hoping that we can make a quick trip to try and get that also, but we shall see.

Thanks for reading- WMBB