23/08/13-
Last Friday me and Dad decided to have a look round areas near Sandwell Valley but not the reserve itself. We first decided to go round Swan Pool and as I have set up a blog for the place I decided it would be a good opportunity to record some birds in the area. There had been Summer migrants such as Redstart and Wheatear seen round the pool in the week so me and dad were expecting something good to turn up.
However we were mistaken on this occasion, there was very little around really apart from the usual suspects. Plenty of Great crested Grebes, Canada Geese and other common birds. A nice visit n the form of a Teal turned up later in the morning but other than that things were quite quiet. Here's the main sightings,
Swan Pool- Mute Swan x2 (+4 Cygnets), Great crested Grebe x2 (1 juv), Cormorant x1, Teal x1, Coot 20+, Canada Goose 5+, Reed Bunting x1.
After going round Swan Pool we decided to take our first ever visit to Hilltop Golf course, we had heard it was a good place to see late summer migrants on their return journey so we took a look.Again after a detailed look around nothing to big turned up. Although a nice visit of a couple of Nuthatch was nice to see. Here's the main sightings,
Hilltop Golf course- Jay x1, Stock Dove x1, Long tailed Tit x1, Blue Tit x1, Chiffchaff (calling), Nuthatch x2, Carrion Crow 5+, Swallow x3.
Again very little about. To end our Fridays birding we decided to visit Essington Quarry Pool. The blog for the place hasn't been updated in a couple of months so we thought anything could be about. Coming towards the end of our visit a very streamline shaped bird of prey flew through that had to be a Hobby. As we were leaving we saw what I would presume to be the same bird on its return journey from where ever it came from. The fact that there was so many Dragonflies and Hirundines about really shows why the bird was about. Here's the main sightings list from the visit.
Essington Quarry Pool- Yellowhammer x1, Little Grebe x2, Mallard 10+, Tufted Duck 5+, Black headed Gull x1, Hobby x1, Goldfnch 20+.
Another small list but the Hobby made the day a little better.
25/08/13-
Yesterday became a normal days birding for me and Dad, we decided to begin our day by visiting RSPB Sandwell Valley. We got down to the hide and found that things were still quite quiet. While Dad decided to take a walk around he had a coupe of Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail. While he was walking me and Alf were left in the hide, while I was scanning through the Black headed Gulls I got on to an adult Med Gull. The bird was about throughout the morning, which was a little lift to the visit. A coup,e of winter ducks in the form of a Teal and Shoveler were also about. Again here's the main sightings from the morning,
RSPB Sandwell Valley- Med Gull x1, Little grebe x2, Mute Swan 5+, Grey Heron x1, Cormorant x1, Canada Goose 5+, Coot 20+, Pochard x1, Tufted Duck 10+, Lapwing 5+, Stock Dove x2, Shoveler x1, Teal x1, Moorhen 5+, Whitethroat x2, Carrion Crow 5+.
So not the worst of mornings, the Med Gull was a nice bird to see. To end the birding day we decided to get over to Gailey Reservoir. We hoped to get the odd Hobby even a Black necked Grebe that had been about the day before but again it was quite quiet. A groups of Greylags were in the NW field, two Common Tern were fishing late afternoon. There were plenty of Little and Great crested grebes about and a good number of Black headed Gulls. No sign of anything different but another resonable visit to the reservoir here's our main sightings,
Gailey res- Little Grebe x9, Great crested Grebe 10+, Coot 30+, Sand Martin x4, House Martin x1, Swallow 20+, Grey Wagtail x1, Cormorant x5, Common Tern x2, Sparrow hawk x1, Buzzard x1, Linnet x3, Grey Heron x3.
So not a bad days birding there. There should be a post on Sunday next so look out for that.
Thanks for reading- WMBB
No comments:
Post a Comment