Birding today

Hi readers, me and dad did a good days birding today with relative success, we first took our usual trip to Sandwell Valley we had quite a few good birds but things are looking quite quiet at the moment, here's our full sightings list,

RSPB Sandwell Valley- Black headed Gull 50+, Little Grebe x1, Great crested Grebe x1, Lesser black backed Gull x2, Goosander x6, Teal x6, Grey Heron x1, Tufted Duck 10+, Gadwall x1, Wigeon 10+, Mallard x3, Shovela 5+.

You will notice the list has no Lapwing on it today, this did surprise me seen as the Lapwing is seen as one of the Valleys star birds and some birders do come a long way to see the Lapwing chicks in the Summer. Lets hope they are back next week eh. Also dad had 2 Oystercatchers on the council made Island which is only viewable by walking around the reserve rather than from the hide. Some birders have worries that the annual pair of Oystercatchers will not nest by in front of the hide anymore, this could stop us seeing the chicks as well as we did last year. Bob did say that this problem is unlikely because in front of the hide it is quieter than on the council island, the birds may also prefer familiar territory and hopefully will decide on their normal nesting area in front of the hide.

Anyway after Sandwell Valley me and Dad decided to go over to Lower Bittel Reservoir where a Smew had been seen this week, I had found this on the Birdguides Android app so couldn't find whether it was a male or female Smew. This turned out to be no problem at all because the bird turned out to be a adult male Smew which as you may know is a very great looking bird and is quite easy to find. It was quite far away but still great to look at. Here's our full sightings list from the site,

Lower Bittel Reservoir- Smew (Male) x1, Goosander 5+, Tufted Duck 5+, Canada Goose 5+, Cormorant x1, Black headed Gull 20+, Buzzard x2. 

A little later on we decided to end our birding day by taking a quick look at Bartley Green Reservoir in hope of some good Gulls turning up. Late on into our time looking at the Gulls I noticed a juv Gull with a light grey back so I decided to check its legs to see if it was a Yellow leggs and to me it did so it is likely that we had a Juv Yellow Legged Gull today which is quite good, heres our full sightings list.

Bartley Green Reservoir- Juv Yellow Legged Gull x1, Common Gull x3, Lesser Black Backed Gull 10+, Herring Gull  10+, Black Headed Gull 30+, Little Grebe x1.

Thanks for reading have a nice week- WMBB