Pochards, Egrets, and a Tea

Hi readers, its time for that weekly post of birding calamities and this week they involve tea in a hide. Yes the Sandwell Valley Hide now has a hot water dispenser and tea making facilities, this was just great news, I don't have to be cold anymore, I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. Anyway now away from the tea and onto the birding now, another good Sundays birding on all accounts a few year ticks came out of the visit to the Valley today a few birds I may not have seen for a while otherwise. A Ring Necked Parakeet flew through early on in the morning which was something I was happy to see. Wigeon were plentiful, along with a few Goosander on the main lake. Part way through the morning a birder came into the hide and reported a Little Egret in the field under the electric pylons. So bearing that in mind we sat in the hide till 12:30pm and hoped it would be around by then.

However before that we were told by Bob Bunn that a Red Crested Pochard had been residing at a small nature reserve just down the road from the valley, so we decided to go with Bob to see the bird before the Egret, we followed Bob down in the car and arrived at Queslett Nature Reserve just behind the Asda opposite the Old Horns Pub. We went through a ten minute muddy walk and there it was, an extremely friendly drake Red Crested Pochard, something I haven't seen for a while now, what was also nice was to visit a new reserve because the location was actually a decent sized pool where good birds could turn up, I reckon we will visit again in the future.

Red Crested Pochard, Queslett Nature Reserve

Red Crested Pochard, Queslett Nature Reserve

Red Crested Pochard, Queslett Nature Reserve

Red Crested Pochard, Queslett Nature Reserve

You see isn't it a lovely bird, it has to be one of my favorite ducks and the fact that is was so friendly made it so much better to see. We watched the bird for ten minutes or so and then moved on, we decided to head back towards the valley where a Little Egret had been seen, with it being a year tick we thought it was worth it, and of course it turned out to be worth it. On arrival rain had began to fall, but we got on to what appeared to be the Egret in the distance, we then walked along the field to get a better ID on the bird. There it was the Little Egret sitting in the field, after five minutes or so the bird flew off and appeared to land somewhere else in the Valley but I'm not to sure where, so it stands a chance the bird will turn up a few times during the week if not disturbed. I'm sure you'd like to see a terrible picture of the bird so here you do,

Little Egret, Sandwell Valley

So there, simply the best picture of a Little Egret ever taken, I couldn't believe my eyes when I took the above shot. As well as this bird a surprise visit from an Oystercatcher, if it is one of the resident birds then it has to be the male simply because it has two feet, the only other option is that it was one of last years chicks. Not a bad day in my opinion a few good birds for the year and some great shots of that Red Crested Pochard, I have to say thanks to Bob for the tip off on that bird it was really great to see. One issue I have had this year is I still HAVEN'T seen a Wren, yes I know shameful, its my top priority for the week, where ever I go I shall be searching. Again there shall be a post next week, no idea where we will be going apart from our usual haunt at the Valley, it is possible we will be Whooper Swan searching in Worcestershire, if not that I have no idea, but time will tell I guess. Here's the main sightings from the day that we had from today,

RSPB Sandwell Valley- Oystercatcher x1, Little Egret x1, Shoveller 5+, Gadwall 5+, Goosander 5+, Reed Bunting x2, Lapwing 30+, Tufted Duck 10+, Mute Swan x1, Grey Heron x1, Ring Necked Parakeet x1, Redwing 5+, Song Thrush x1.

Queslett Nature Reserve- Red Crested Pochard x1, Tufted Duck 5+, Black headed Gull 5+, Grey Heron x1.

Thanks for reading and have a good week all- WMBB