Shenstone Round Up....

The ♂ Ring Ouzel was present for an incredible 6 consecutive days from Tuesday 2nd to Sunday 7th April and was enjoyed by birders during that period.
















Below is a round up of the other patch goings on over the past week or so:

Wednesday 3rd April:
First patch Chiffchaff arrived.  Seen flitting around in Alder at edge of Captains Pool (TS)

Friday 5th April:
Greylag Goose was present on Captains Pool and 3 Teal (1♂, 2♀) were also present (TS).  Greylag is a scarce visitor in patch terms and can be less than annual.

Saturday 6th April:
I decided to visit the patch early evening to have yet another look at the Ring Ouzel.  Whilst stood on the public footpath I was treated to the sound of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker calling 8 or 9 times from the woodland on the opposite side of the road.  This really lifted my spirits as I am yet to see one on the patch although there were a couple of reports of one not far from there last winter.

Wednesday 10th April:
Undertook a dusk visit to the patch looking for Owls.  No joy but did have cracking views of a Muntjac Deer near Stanklyn Wood.  A patch lifer!

Thursday 11th April:
Early pm Tony recorded 20 Sand Martins and 8 Swallows through at Captains Pool.  I popped there late afternoon and recorded 5 Sand Martins, 4 Swallows and a single House Martin.  Two Chiffchaffs were singing from the trees surrounding Captains Pool.  A ♂ Great Spotted Woodpecker was showing well in an Oak at the water's edge.

After partaking of refreshments at the lakeside tea room, Tony and I headed out to do a tour of the fields.  They were very quiet with the exception of Barrs Lane where 165 Fieldfare and 5 Redwing were seen feeding on the freshly sown field.  A further 9 Redwing were present in Stanklyn paddocks.

The undoubted highlight of this visit was seeing the Little Owl showing very well.  I really do love this species!

Little Owl - 11th April















Friday 12th April:
The Corn Bunting flock is now breaking up with only 11 remaining flocked together at one location.

A Yellowhammer was singing from a hedgerow along Stanklyn Lane.  There were 6 Fieldfare present in the paddocks and a Chiffchaff was singing nearby.

In contrast to the previous day, Barrs Lane was very quite with only 12 Skylarks of note on the freshly sown field.  A single Meadow Pipit flew over heading WNW.  A Corn Bunting and 16 Linnets were present in the Butts Lane area.

At Heath Lane a Mistle Thrush and 7 Fieldfare were present  in the field adjacent to the paddock.  The seemingly ever present ♂ Kestrel was on the wires and an Orange Underwing moth sp. was seen flying over the paddock in the sunshine and landed in the canopy of one of the tall trees between the paddock and the Islamic school.  Nearby, 2 Ravens were present at the rear of the model aircraft field.

Saturday 13th April:
There were 3 Willow Warblers and a ♂ Blackcap present in the trees at edge of Captains Pool (TS).

5 comments:

  1. whats a chiff chaff never seen one...I love this blog you need to do one up here too lol!! sue

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great species seen by you Jason! Fingers crossed that you get to see the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker that was calling!
    Thankfully the weather has taken a turn for the better...long may it continue!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cheers Sue - As long as folk enjoy reading the blog then I will keep writing it...it's now into it's fourth year! As for Chiffchaffs...they are pretty much your typical little brown jobs...easiest to locate when singing as their song actually goes "Chiff chaff chiff chaff chiff...." in a series of alternating notes

    Thanks Pam - I'm hoping on the LSW...one day. The weather is certainly improving. I did Grimley (in the rain yesterday) but there were a fair few migrants...Wheatear, Yellow Wag, Common Sandpiper and hundreds of sand martins!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice to see some migrants dropping in for you Jase :-) Ring Ouzel....mmmmmm only if......

    ReplyDelete
  5. I nearly missed this one Jason! Well done on the Ring Ouzel, I'm very envious about that. Don't laugh (I'm sure you will!!) but I thought I'd got one last year, it was in a field and I got a brief glimpse through a dense hedge and saw a flash of black and white...it turned out to be a Magpie ;-) A spot of wishful thinking I suspect! Oh well, I do get Muntjac on my patch so that's something I suppose :-)

    A very nice round up Jason and the owl photo is beautiful, very envious about that too...

    ReplyDelete