On this day, it rained.

Hi all, yes as you can guess by the title and the fact that it rained a lot today that today was a very wet and gloomy day. But the question I must ask and answer is Did it stop us? The answer is no, no it didn't. We were out there on the front line birding. And may I ask you to take a quick guess at the first place we decided to go over to this morning. If you guessed right you guessed RSPB Sandwell Valley where all attempts to salvage the Big Garden Bird Watch at the place had been taken away, we had to of spent 10 or 15 minutes at the place the wind was horrific and freezing and with the hide closed we decided to only have a quick look at the feeders and luckily enough I got my first Willow Tit of the year which made the trip worth it. After the visit to the valley we decided to go over to another Sandwell Valley birding spot Swan Pool, we hoped the Diver would still be around but on this occasion the best we could do was a couple of Cormorants and one was likely to be a Continental Cormorant but the rain and weather stopped me from being able to fully ID it before it disapeared completely. 

So unfased by the weather we moved in and had a decision to make on where to go next which I reckon could have worked out either way, we were contemplating going for the Humes Yellow Browed Warbler over by Hams hall, I had the exact location and the route there, however time was an issue so we decided to stay a little more local in terms of where we had to be in the afternoon, so on the agenda was birds that we had seen before but that doesn't make them any less interesting and exciting to see not to mention that they were all year ticks for me. We decided to head over to the Lickey Hills for the Brambling along Twatling Road (yes it's called that), at first we were feeling as if we were not going to be successful so decided to stop being lazy and got out the car for a walk around the woods, and I tell you that was a great decision we made. On walking through the wet woods as I am calling them today we found around 60-80 Brambling all scattered around throughout the woods, they were stunning birds and I always love to see them so well, in addition to the. Brambling a Greater Spotted Woodpecker made an appearance along with a Buzzard being mobbed by Crows. 

We decided quickly where to go next and that was the plantation field I feel should be named the Field of the Shrike, yes we were looking for the Great Grey Shrike that had been near Lower Bittel res for quite a long time now, the bird was still around and I hadn't seen the species for the year so it seemed only right to go and see the bird. So we arrived at the location and saw a lone birder staring up into the abise who must think I have no eyes after the experience we had. On arrival he told me that he had seen the bird so  I began looking where he said I couldn't see it at all and this stayed the same for at least an hour, when it ended up with me being the only person not seeing the thing. But ever dedicated. I waited around staring into the area I was told where the bird was. After the wait it happened to be a lucky find really when I looked on top of one of the Oaks at the back of the field I saw a shape of a bird that I was sure was the Shrike, I then took my eyes of the scope for a second and it was gone. 

Don't worry it's not all over quite yet, you see after that bird flew, I looked near the much closer Oak tree in the middle of the field and there it was, I watched it fly into the tree and continued to when it flew back onto the field floor, there it was the Great grey Shrike a stunning bird I always love to see, I was beginning to get worried for a second, we were out of time almost so I was nearly about to leave without seeing the bird we had come for. Luck came into effect after all. Along with the shrike a Buzzard, and Sparrowhawk turned up along with a very close up Fox. 

Not a bad day at all I think a good few year ticks that are in the form of stunning birds and everything we went for was seen which can only be seen as a success. Next week we want to go for something different or more specifically a lifer and the Tittesworth Lesser Scaup is something we are considering, but as I always say who knows what will turn up within the week this weather is sure to help things turn up so let's hope something arrives next week. I do think today was a very bad day for birding, the weather didn't help at all, I even went against taking the Camera out today with the weather being so bad, although it did clear up well enough for us to see the Shrike late afternoon so I can't complain at all. Next week there should be a post as usual so look out for that one, who knows what stories it will tell. 

Thanks for reading and have a good week all- WMBB