Two walks in a local park....18th & 19th January 2011

Two afternoon walks in Mary Stevens Park, Stourbridge were a tonic in the sunshine, plenty of people thought the same judging by the amount that were in the park. After playing on the swings, slides and pink elephant, my toddler Grandson that is not me, we walked around the lake and fed the birds. Canada Geese, Mallards, Moorhens, Coots and B H Gulls were being well fed today also the Muscovy Ducks of which there are now several. On the walk Blackbird, Robin and Blue Tit were also seen and a small flock of Redwings!






Today was a return to colder weather with a sharp frost and a blanket of fog which took most of the day to clear! Woodpigeons, Magpies, Blackbirds and Dunnocks didn't take long to fly into my garden to feed once the ground food went down! A pair of Blue Tits fed on the suet pellets, I have seen two flying together for the last week, Spring isn't that far away.....love is in the air... well if the pair of Blue Tits are anything to go by.lol!!

Upton Warren....16/01/2011

On checking my records I was surprised to see that the last time I visited Upton Warren was September 2010! It doesn't seem that long ago but who am I to argue with my records.lol!! The reason for lack of visits is because of finding various local sites to explore during 2010, always good to find your own birds and see what is around locally.
A pleasant couple of hours was spent at the Flashes and Moors. Nothing really exciting seen apart from the lone Pink-footed Goose that was feeding with Greylags, Canada Geese and a couple of farmyard Geese. The Bullfinches and Reed Buntings were looking particularly striking at the Flashes feeding station!

Roaming down Roman Way. ...09/01/2011

A morning visit to Roman Way, Stourbridge, to see if any of the reported 125 Waxwings were still about..there was... just one! One is better than none so I was not disappointed..well not much.lol!! The path that runs between a housing estate and paddocks and fields is quite a productive area and one that will be worth keeping an eye on. There where several small flocks of House Sparrows, a treat to see and hear as I do not see them in my garden now. Good to see that they are still in numbers fairly locally to me. Collared Doves are another bird I do not see in my garden now and today 8 were perched in a tree, a visit here a couple of days later and there were 13 in a tree! As with the Sparrows it was pleasing to see the Collared Doves in good numbers. The air was filled with bird song along the path as it was such a sunny morning, it made one think of Spring but no doubt colder weather will return before too long! Mistle Thrush, Starling, Blackbird, Robin, Redwing, Blue & Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Chaffinch and G S Woodpecker were other species seen in this relatively small area!






In the afternoon a new area was to be explored... 'The Million' sometimes referred to as the 'Kinver Million', near Enville in Staffordshire. A plantation of extremely tall Pine trees that seemed to stretch forever! The walk was easy underfoot owing to the pine needles and the sandy soil. I had wished I had put my walking boots on instead of wellies but once up the seemingly never ending hill the area opened out to deciduous trees and a muddy bridleway so I was glad of my wellies! Bird species today in 'The Million' consisted of Goldcrests, Marsh Tits and the odd Blue Tit! Quiet for wildlife but still a good walk and the sunset through the pines was a pleasant sight to see after a long day outdoors

A slow start.

My 2011 year list got off to a slow start! Drumming up enthusiasm to go birding in the cold UK weather was partly to blame after my holiday. However my garden birds boosted my list on the 4th January to an impressive count of 9! I decided on the 6th that it was time to get outdoors and find a few local birds. The Fisheries seemed a good place to boost my list up a tad! I added Fieldfare, GSW, Jay, Redwing, Jackdaw, Greenfinch and Chaffinch! So not a lot really but some nice birds to see nevertheless. It was another cold day so no doubt the birds were nestling somewhere keeping warm, which in hindsight I should have done myself.

2011.

New Years Day 2011 and my first bird seen through sleepy eyes was a Collared Dove perched on a lamp post in the hotel grounds in the Algarve. Later in the day a Little Owl, Hoopoe, Corn Bunting, Black-winged Kite and Booted Eagle were the highlights of the first day of the year!
Other highlight bird species seen throughout the week were Spoonbill, Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Redshank, Greenshank, Black-necked Grebe, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Kingfisher, Little and Cattle Egret, Shoveler, Gadwall, Common Pochard, Red-crested Pochard, Common Snipe, Glossy Ibis, Purple Gallinule, Common Sandpiper, Sanderling, Turnstone, Teal, Mallard, Moorhen, Coot, Golden and Grey Plover, Ringed and Kentish Plover, Lapwing, Sandwich Tern, Dunlin, Crested Lark, Fan-tailed Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Common Redstart, Meadow Pipit, Spotless Starlings, Grey and Pied Wagtail, Stonechat, Wheatear, Chiffchaff, Azure-winged and Eurasian Magpie, Whimbrel, Black-tailed Godwit, Grey Heron, Cormorant, White Stork, Red-legged Partridge, Swallow, House and Sand Martin, Linnet, Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed and Yellow Legged Gull, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine and Kestrel. Robins and Blackbirds were in full song and flocks of House Sparrows were always a pleasure to see.
Painted Lady, Clouded Yellow and a beautiful Monarch butterfly were great to see, also Iberian Hares were seen on several occasions but very camera shy.
A pleasing species list as this holiday was as intended to be a mixed one of birding and making sandcastles on the beaches!
A week of mixed weather with 3 days overcast and heavy rain at times which fortunately was mainly through the night. It was good to feel the warm/hot sunshine though on most days after leaving the bitterly cold weather in the UK.

My first UK bird seen was on the 3rd January, a Starling, in fact a flock of them on the car park at Birmingham airport, they enjoyed the crumbled up biscuits I scattered for them.
I missed starting my year list on the first day of the year in the UK but the warm weather in Portugal more than made up for that.



All my own work!

White Stork...Silves.

Yellow-legged Gull...Carvoeiro beach.

Lesser Black-backed Gull... Albufeira beach. The jury is out on this one though I am sticking to my guns with LBBG.

Black-headed Gull. Albufeira beach.

Little Egret...Pera Marsh.

Dunlin...Quinta do Lago.

Whimbrel. Quinta do Lago.

Purple Gallinule, which seem to be more and more confiding. A delightful bird!

Corn Bunting...my first sighting of one in the Algarve.

Booted Eagle, one of several seen during the week.

A very distant Black-winged Kite! A wonderful bird to watch as it hovers but like the Hares camera shy!

Hoopoe that preened in the sunshine.

Little Owl...Lagoa dos Salgados (Pera Marsh)

Hallelujah! 21 today!....24/12/2010

No, not my Birthday...21 Waxwings perched prettily in a tree...and on a roof! After a visit to a Garden Centre I had to pop into Stourbridge town for a couple of items and low and behold I spotted 5 Waxwings fly into one of the trees that they had been reported in yesterday! I quickly shopped and on returning to my car I was thrilled to see 21 Waxwings in the trees! I had taken my camera with me just in case I had spotted anything around the Garden Centre. After taking a few shots they flew to a rooftop and then flew away over the town! It is surprising how such a small bird can give so much pleasure, I felt over the moon with the sighting of them!

A pleasing final post for 2010....one which I really did not think would happen.

Feliz natal!

Full circle!

Strange really that what may well be the last post on my 2010 blog (unless I get a Waxwing sighting) is about a Fieldfare that has taken over the apple tree in my garden and is seeing off the Blackbirds that dare to go near the spiked apples on the tree in a very threatening manner! I posted similiar at the start of this blog. Fieldfares are such striking looking birds and I am pleased to see one (numbers will more than likely build up) in my garden but their territorialism is much, much worse than Robins! It is sad to see the Blackbirds that are never far away from the garden being chased out of their territory so to speak. All I can do is to continue supplying the food, the Blackbirds can at least eat the ground food in peace if not the staked apples.lol!! A Pied Wagtail put in an appearance today albeit a short visit, also a male Blackcap which was also sent packing by the Fieldfare. Redwings were seen regularly flying to and fro from my neighbours garden who still have berries left on their shrubs!
I have yet to see a Waxwing this Winter and not for the want of trying. I shall try again tomorrow and if I fail then I will have to wait until the New Year to try again as I am off on my hols after Christmas weekend, no doubt they will still be around somewhere in the West Midlands.
So unless I see a Waxwing tomorrow all that remains now is to wish anyone who reads this blog a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New year 2011, especially so to Ruth who has steadfastly read and kindly commented throughout the year. Many thanks to you Ruth. I am pleased that I started this blog as I now have reminders of the past year that I can look back on through the following winter months.