***Scarce Bird Alert***

To see this bird you need the right conditions 

After this morning success at Blithfield which you can read about in the post below we thought we should try for the Grasshopper Warbler at Tucklesholme. When we arrived a large rain cloud blocked out the sun so it went very cold a windy, which is annoying because it had bee lovely weather all afternoon so it was set up perfect for a Grasshopper Warbler to start singing this evening.

Despite not seeing the Grasshopper Warbler we were able to see a Great White Egret flying over the main pit also two Commn Terns were seen flying along the Trent.

Have a Good week all - Joe and Martyn

A wet morning at Blithfield

After yesterdays fall of migrants especially in the tern department where there was a influx's of Black Terns in to the Midlands and the country along with good numbers of Arctic Terns, Common Terns and a few Grey Plovers knocking about. So we decided to set off to the nearest large volume of water which was Blithfield.


Copyright: Cornell Lab

On arrival we parked up on the car park next to the causeway, the rain was quite heavy so we spent most of the first hour and a half birding from the car (which is one of the best ways to birdwatch). We immediately dropped on a group of four Black Terns with some Common Terns which weren't in short supply. After twenty minutes or so the rain was still tipping down  we had a second group of three Black Terns coming in but we still haven't been able to find a Arctic Tern yet.

Terns weren't the only migrants we saw. We had a female Wheatear on the causeway which was joined by two Common Sandpipers also a Grey Plover on the shore next two the gate, probably one of the two birds from yesterday. Next we moved to the car park that over looked the area of water between the dam and the causeway. We saw many Common Terns sitting on boys also on one of the boys (number six to be specific the large one with a load of bird crap on it) we had good views of a Arctic Tern and occasionally we had the burst of excitement when a group of Black Terns flew through, in that hour we had a count of nine birds so that brought the total of Black Terns today up to fifteen.

Hope you all had a good Bank Holiday - Joe and Martyn

Not a lot happening

This evening over Tucklesholme it was a bit quite and the thing that surprised me the most was we didn't see an single Little Ringed Plover only two Ringed Plovers, I suspect this is probably because of the work that is going on the main pit where they are slowly covering it over with soil so reeds can be planted.

This evening wasn't a complete failure we were able to see two Green Sandpipers in the far south corner of the main pit, also two Shelducks, two Sand Martins a few singing Blackcaps and as I said before two Ringed Plovers on the main pit.

Have a good Friday all - Joe and Martyn

A Great Day Out

Today we had planned to go out with our good friend and birding companion Chaz Mason to do a tour of some of the sites in Staffordshire.

The day started out at Cannock Chase, while we were there we picked up some new birds to add to our year list. We had our first Cuckoo of the year and the first Tree Pipit both bird were seen near the scout huts

Next we made our way to Tucklesholme to try and find the Temminck's Stint for Chaz which had been seen earlier in the morning but as usual we couldn't find the bird,  it we did see the usual four Little Ringed Plovers and two Ringed Plovers. After that we went over to Whitemoor Haye which proved to be a much better place to see migrants today. On arrival we parked up next to the field where farmers were working on the field, but this proved not to disturb the birds in any great way. So in the same field we were able to pick out four of the seven Wheatears, two White Wagatils and a Yellow Wagtail and Chaz was telling us that last year he didn't notice until the autum that he hadn't seen a Yellow Wagtail, so this year he was going to make sure he would see one. Good job we were able to help him put that to bed.

What a great day birding and is always a even better day with the company of Chaz - Joe and Martyn

Monday morning update

We set off early this morning to see if we could find the Temminck's Stint which was found yesterday by Martyn Yapp, we had no luck ourselves in finding the bird but it was seen later on in the day. It is quite hard to spot a bird that small with all the different channels that are on the main pit so sometimes you have to sit and wait for the bird to show. The trip to Tucklesholme wasn't all a waste of time we did manage to see the usual six Little Ringed Plovers and the two Ringed Plovers, also a single Green Sandpiper was seen a Little Egret and the Whitethroat was heard.

We spent the rest of the morning at Whitemoor Haye in hope to find some Wheatears. When we arrived we had many singing Whitethroat and heard a Little Ringed Plover. Further along the track the were a lot of Yellowhammers but couldn't seen any Corn Buntings. On the ploughed field next to the grass runway we were able to find two Wheatears a male and female, three White Wagtails and a single Yellow Wagtail.

Tucklesholme today's morning list:

Green Sandpiper (1) - Temminck's Stint (not by us) - Little Egret (1) - Whitethroat - Little Ringed Plovers (6) - Ringed Plover (2) - Raven

Have a good bank holiday all - Joe and Martyn

***Scarce Bird Alert***

Photo: Birdwatch

We haven't been able to take a visit to Tucklesholme today but Martyn Yapp was able to take a visit and on his visit he found a Temminck's Stint on the main pit on the small areas of water. I suspect that this is the same bird from Branston GP which was seen a few weeks ago. On his trip he was also able to find a Wheatear and a Whitethroat. Thanks to Martyn for the news from Tucklesholme today.

Have a good Easter Sunday all - Joe and Martyn

More migrants arrive

 

After yesterdays showers we thought that this morning would be a good opportunity to find some more migrants. When we arrived there was many singing Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, on the main pit there were still six Little Ringed Plovers, two Ringed Plovers and four Lapwings. Over the river and the surrounding fields there was an increase in Swallows and Sand Martins, also the first House Martins of the year. The woodland produced the first Willow Warbler of the year and many singing Blackcaps, we also heard a Treecreeper but couldn't connect with it. On the second pit there were still two Little Ringed Plovers taking the overall total to eight birds. The pair of Egyptian Geese were still present on the river. When we arrived back at the entrance the hedges surrounding the main pit produce the first Common Whitethroat of the year.

Todays List:
Little Ringed Plover (6) - Ringed Plover (2) - Lapwing (4) - Swallow (5) - Sand Martin (10) - House Martin (2) - Egyptian Goose (2) - Willow Warbler - Common Whitethroat (1) - Treecreeper (Heard)

Have a good Easter Sunday all - Joe and Martyn