30th June Thurs - Sunny intervals am, clouding over pm, light rain evening, breezy SE, 20C max

This morning I popped to Wolvey to a site that usually holds Spotted Flycatcher, as yet I have not found them, nor did I today.  A local told me they have been seen early,in Spring, but have they stayed to breed? I'll try again in a few days.

While there its always worth looking in the Church cemetery area, today there was a Song Thrush collecting food for young in a nest and a male Blackbird with three large fledglings, these were looking for food themselves and also begging for food.

During the afternoon I visited Stanford reservoir, as the sun was out and pretty warm, hoping for some butterflies and Dragonflies.  Only a couple of distant Dragonflies were seen, then distantly.  On the butterfly front there were numerous Ringlets  c70, Speckled Wood c20, a single Meadow Brown and two Large Skipper.

It was good to hear the Cuckoo still calling, and then a female 'bubbling' as they moved around the reservoir. Swifts and Sand Martins appeared feeding over the water, with one House Martin.  The single male Pochard and Goldeneye were on the dam along with a Pied Wagtail family, a Grey Wagtail family were feeding on the overflow weir.  A Green Woodpecker was feeding on the grassy dam slope.  The usual Warblers were present, several Sedge warblers were singing along with Reed Warblers.  One Sedge was collecting food for young in a nest, while a Whitethroat was calling indicting that it too had young close-by.  A Chiffchaff sat atop a bush singing, sometimes with a rather 'croaky' voice indicating the end of its main song period.

29th June - wet ant wetter, sometimes gusty SW, cool 14C, brighter evening

A pretty miserable day, more like autumn than mid-summer.  Not until 1900h did the sun manage to show in a few gaps in the cloud.

News of the second Common Tern that I saw with a colour ring at Stanford reservoir.  Like the other one, this too was ringed as a nestling at Brandon marsh, on July 1 2014.  This was 723 days after ringing, so will have flown a good few miles since then to turn up only 22 Km to the west of the ringing site.
The first one was ringed July 21 2013, a year earlier or 1061 days prior to my sighting.

As mentioned before we have no nesting rafts at Stanford due to storm damage, but hopefully these can be re-instated in time for next season and the Terns can nest again.

28th June - sunny periods am, becoming cloudy and cooler from SW.

Last night about 1145h a Tawny Owl was calling 'kee-Wit' several times from the church cement ray area.


This morning AKestrel was to the east of the village along the coal pit lane.

27th June Monday - Sunny periods, light westerly, 18C

This afternoon I took a walk round some of the hedgerows and then to Helen's wild flower patch principally for butterflies. Some were about but the moderate breeze kept them moving pretty quickly.  One stretch of hedge had much Dog Rose, Woodbine and Bramble in flower, the scents was very heady and attracting insects.

Dog Rose and Woodbine

Small Tortoiseshell and Meadow Brown were enjoying the Bramble flowers.

On the wildflower patch Bees and other insects were very busy, like these Red-tailed and White-tailed Bees.

While walking around a couple of Swift zoomed over, a Buzzard pair was circling low and calling loudly to their youngster nearby. A couple of Stock Dove shot out of the covered yard, a couple of Linnet were on the weedy yard area, while House Sparrows attended their nest sites in the old brick barn.

26th June - Sunny periods am, becoming more cloudy and dull, light rain early evening, 19C max cooling

This morning there were several Goldfinches flying around the village and home, some of these were juveniles, still chasing their parents for food.

Because of the generally wet weather we have had off and on so far this summer the vegetation has grown extensively, this is the case at Stanford reservoir and may partly explain why Butterflies are thin on the ground.  Today I found several meadow brown and Speckled Wood and a couple of Ringlet.

Ringlet, male

No new ducks have yet arrived at the reservoir yet, but July July numbers will gradually increase, the single Pochard and Goldeneye were taking it resting on the dam.  A Common Sandpiper was new in, on its return migration from further north.  Seven Common Terns, including the two 'green' ringed ones, were present.  

Over head a flock of ~30 Swifts appeared and stayed feeding, then joined by about 40 Sand Martins, these feeding mostly just over the water.  A Cuckoo called a few times, then kept quite.  All the usual Warblers were present, busy with young and some still singing.  two Linnet were present in their favorite area.

Linnet, male

In all I recorded 45 species of bird.

25th June - Sunny intervals, showers pm, humid at times, breeze SW

In the morning I had a quick look at the local lake, all the expected species were present.  It is quite good habitat for Bullfinch, with at least 4 present, possibly a family, one a male sitting atop a Hawthorn calling very loudly for his mates. The cob Mute Swan was on the lake but the pen and cygnets were not seen, maybe these were deep in the reeds.  On the lane verge flying over the grass and brambles I noticed a small butterfly, well I thought it was a butterfly, in fact it is a Chimney Sweep moth, it loves flying in sunshine.

Chimney Sweep Moth

During the afternoon I popped to Brandon marsh, hoping for butterflies, but the sun disappeared a it cooled, so off to the bird hides.  From the Teal hide there was a few Teal feeding a Redshank, but little else.  Most birds were on the East marsh, with plenty of moulting Gadwall, on the main island a single Ringed Plover and nearby a Little-ringed Plover.  The Lapwing flock is still at about 45, but will increase more yet.  Reed Warblers and fledged youngsters kept popping up close to the hide and the Cetti's sang often.  Then Common terns were busy feeding their young, maybe next year one of these could be at Stanford reservoir.

At the Carlton hide a Little Grebe was playing hide and seek, then a grey heron landed and posed very nicely. A Hobby hunted high above giving some nice fly-bys.  Three Linnets sat on a bush in the middle of the marsh.

Several Green Woodpeckers were about and a single Great-spotted flew over a gap near the old tip area.  A Cuckoo called a few times, surely not for much longer now.

24th June - sunny periods, showers pm, breeze some time fresh W/SW, 18C

No obs during the day for me.

David's comment (added to yesterday's post)  about the White Stork seen about 3 miles away is interesting and a great sight.  We do get a few visit in the Spring and some hang on awhile,  although none stay to breed.  The other source is escaped birds from collections, currently there are a few of those wandering the country.  A Stork can travel a considerable distance in a few hours.  Escaped birds are usually closed ringed and can be identified as such, but you have to see their legs to do that!

23rd June - cloudy, very little breeze, warm, humid 20C

I noticed a Buzzrd had become a road casualty this morning.

This evening I visited Stanford reservoir, it was a humid, still evening.  On the dam the moulting Canada and Greylag Geese flock is growing, 99 of the latter.  Also, there were about 30 Mallards, all looking very scruffy now.  A new brood of 6 Mallard ducklings and two broods of Mute Swans, a four and a two, were out on the water.  The drake Goldeneye and Pochard were present too.

Five Common Tern were feeding.  The colour ringed bird that I saw on the 20 June was ringed at Brandon marsh as a nestling on 25th July 2013, so a bird that has returned to the Midlands, probably several times.

All the usual warblers were present and still singing, best of all two Grasshopper Warblers were 'reeling', only a few yards away but still hidden in the scrub.  I don't recall hearing these here this late in other years.

A Curlew flew over SW and out of sight. Two Grey Wagtails were around the entrance drive fence, usually they are found on the overflow weir.

22nd June - cloudy, light SW/S wind, short light showers later

A early rise today ensured I made it to Titchwell for 7-00am, why?  A Great Knot has been present for a few days and finally I decided to go for it, yes a 'twitch' .  A Great Knot resides in the Far East, breeding in NE Siberia and wintering south as far as India -Australia, this is said to be the 7th record for the UK.

To be continued....finally time to do this.  I explored the Freshmarsh to begin with where the Great Knot had been seen on a number of occasions - few few Red Knot, but GK absent, then to the shore - absent. Breakfast was enjoyed sitting on the sand dunes in the sunshine, when I met a couple of locals who were there and saw the bird at 0430h, before it flew off with Red Knot.  I decided to explore the reserve further and hopefully await its return.  About 1145h  news came it was at Scolt Head island, just down the coast a couple of mile.  I decide to chance it and headed off to Brancaster beach car park, then a 11/2mile trek along the shore to Scolt Head island.  On reaching there a couple of other birders were present, the news was if flew off 15 seconds ago with a 1000 Red Knot, fortunately these landed in the channel and island shore so the searching began.  Slowly a few more birders made the trek and started searching, after an hour of looking through some 2000 Red Knot, still nothing, of course during this time they often flew around to new areas of the shore or disappeared from view.  More searching, ....then I exclaimed I had it in view, this quickly got everyone else wanting to know where it was - well the shore/mud and rocks covered with 2000 Red Knot (well actually mostly 'grey' this time of year) all looks very similar, fortunately with guidance others got on it and eventually the last person in the group saw it.  As expected it and all the other Knot, flew off west to feed on the mussel beds. Mission accomplished.  It was also nice to see two Spoonbills in the channel feeding.

While at Titchwell there is always plenty to see, there were six Spotted Redshank and two Little Gulls on the Freshmarsh.  A good number of Bearded Tits were seen, some in family parties.  On the adjacent field a barn Owl hunted.

Avocets were busy with young, Black-tailed Godwits, Curlew, Little-ringed plover and other waders were seen, three Marsh Harriers were over the reeds.  Little, Sandwich and Common Terns were all showing.  In all I saw about 90 species around Titchwell.  A Wood Pigeon was having a doze on a fence, a close look shows just how attractive they are.

There is much more to Titchwell than birds, this time of year there are many flowers blooming, the restricted Southern Marsh Orchid being one, among many.

Southern Marsh Orchid

Viper's Bugloss

21st June - sunny periods, light westerly breeze, 20C, humid at times

A Whitethroat was singing from the road hedge to the east of the village first thing.  A Stock Dove was singing from an Ash near the barn where they nest, and a Pied Wagtail was looking for food.

At home the Pied Wagtail pair may have hatched a second brood as they seem to be bringing food to the nest.

20th June - Cloudy and light rain am, breeze SW, freshening W pm, sunny and humind

So much for mid-summer.

About 1100h three Swift flew over the village in the rain, followed by a couple a Goldfinch and a singing Goldcrest in the church Yew tree.

A short visit to Stanford reservoir this afternoon produced the moulting Goldeneye and Pochard drakes sitting on the dam, along with Mallards and Greylag Geese. Some Greylag goslings were just off shore.

I've noticed that Jackdaws have shown a preference to the dam recently, along the shore line and grass area, presumably they have found tasty morsels there.

Eleven Common Tern were sitting on the railings and later feeding over the water, I tried a few photos, but the light was terrible. One Tern was colour ringed, I'll try to find out the details for it.

The Cuckoo was still calling and a Kestrel was hunting over the rough grass.  At least 50 Swifts appeared overhead feeding and eventually moved off.

19th June - sunny intervals, 18C, becoming more cloudy and breezy with light rain and cooler evening time

Surveyed the arable farm to the west of the village today.  The area has many Yellowhammers and Chaffinch in territories, which is good.  A Lesser Whitethroat, two Common Whitethroat and Blackcap were singing. A yellow Wagtail flew in to the wheat and disappeared from view.  A pair of Buzzard were flying around and agitated, a young or nest must have been close.

Six Lesser-black Backed Gulls were on the adjacent ploughed field, both Linnet and Goldfinch were heard flying over and a Swift was feeding overhead.  Other usual farmland birds were also seen, so not a bad selection probabaly breeding birds

18th June - Mostly cloudy, light NW, 16C

Visited Shawell lagoons this afternoon.  About 200 Lesser-black Backed Gulls were present with a small number of Herring Gulls.  Carl was able to identify a couple of 1st year Yellow-legged Gulls too. Several colour rings were read on LBBGs, one was seen with a white ring and number that has been seen recently before, it was ringed last year in Spain and recently seen at Brandon Marsh.  These Gulls do get around, even if you think it is the same one you see, it likely is not.

The pair of Shelduck was present, but no youngsters with them.  A Lesser Whitethroat was singing repeatedly in the boundary hedge.

17th June - cloudy, dull, misty, light breeze, 15C

A pre-breakfast walk in Hyde Park around the Serpentine west end.  The number of Mute Swans post-breeding Is ~100, as well as the usual Greylag and Canada Goose flock.

Several Egyptian Geese were present, but few other ducks.  Four Great-crested Grebes were on the water, no young seen, a single Heron was around and 3 Swifts were feeding overhead.

Along the Serpentine edge were a small narrow reed bed had been made a single Reed and singing Sedge Warbler was seen, a Cetti's Warbler was singing very loudly, I wonder if it has a mate.  Both Chiffchaff and Blackcap were singing nearby.  Quite a few Goldcrests were present along with Blue and Great Tits.

Ring-necked Parakeets were very evident, 20+, and very vocal, especially around a feeding area next to the lake.  A pair of Jackdaws were next to their nest hole and a Stock Dove sat high in a tree top.  A few young Rabbits were out on the grass.  In all 33 bird species were seen.

16th June - showers, 16C

Had to spend the day in London, tried to make it in to Hyde Park in the evening but as I got there a thunderstorm and rain hit and meant my walk had to be curtailed.  Will try a pre-breakfast visit tomorrow.

15th June - showers, 18C

No obs today.

14th June - another day of showers, some very heavy, thunder, 18C

The weather and jobs conspired to make it difficult for obversations today. However, as I travelled along the Pailton road from the long spinney a Jay flew along side for a while.

13th June - A day of showers, light W breeze, 18C

At Stanford reservoir this evening there was nine Common Terns, the drake Goldeneye and Pochard were both present.  I had not seen many Mallard broods here yet, but tonight I noticed a recent brood of about 10 duckling and another with larger ducklings hiding in the reeds.

A pair of Pied Wagtails were busy collecting food for their young, often watched closely by a Reed Bunting that also had a nest nearby.

Pied Wagtail with food, watched by Reed Bunting

A Cuckoo was calling again, all the usual warblers were singing, a Yellowhammer near the car park hedge was also singing.  At least 30 Swifts were feeding over the eastern end. A Green Woodpecker searched the dam for food.

A Common Blue Damselfly settled near me.

12th June - mostly cloudy, warm 18C, light southerly breeze, occasional drizzle.light rain

I went to Brandon marsh this afternoon as heavy showers were forecast and I thought having hides to shelter in would be a good idea, however the showers did not materialize.  But the weather was not good for butterflies etc.

On Teal pool a couple of Redshank, several Teal, Mallard and Gadwall were feeding, along with some Black-headed Gulls..

 Redshank

Black-headed Gulls

A Moorhen had four chicks and were feeding in front of the hide, occasionally taking food to the chicks.

 Moorhen Chick

Moorhen feeding chick

Over the Newlands marsh two Hobbies hunted frequently, they looked like 1 summer birds, born last year.  Also, a juvenile Kestrel and female were sitting on the posts and occasionally flew around.  just by the hide a Whitethroat, Sedge and Reed Warbler were having a dispute, all were collecting food for young, presumably their nests were very close to each other.

On east marsh a Common Tern on a raft has two chicks and dive-bombed the Mute Swan family as they got too close (six cygnets).  The Lapwing flock has now grown to ~40, so post-breeding birds are returning to their moulting grounds.  Three Little-ringed Plovers were on the island, among the Greylag Geese a feral barnacle Goose was found.  From the hide Cetti's Warblers could be heard singing and more Warblers were collecting food, a couple kept popping uo and had a quick preen.

Reed Warblers

A Little grebe was seen from the Carlton hide.  About six Goldfinch were around the car park trees.  In all 56 species were seen here today.

11th June - mostly cloudy, warm, 20C, few spots of rain/drizzle pm, light southerly breeze

I visited Shawel lagoons this afternoon, very few Gulls in, although a single Black-headed Gull was back, so post breeding dispersal is underway.   A Cormorant flew past, and three Buzzard were around.  In the near distance two Red Kites were circling over the landfill area.  On the sandy edge a male and juvenile Pied Wagtail were feeding, a Little-ringed Plover dropped in for a while and a Stock Dove sat on the overflow pipe preening.  Green Woodpeckers were seen and very vocal, I suspect that the juveniles were not far away.

10th June - cloudy, very warm 24C, light breeze, humid

This morning a Nuthatch was calling in the spinney to the west of the village while another was with the juvenile feeding at the top end of the village again  Linnet and Goldfinch both flew overhead.  A Stock Dove was singing from the nearby Ash trees.

I noticed that the Great Tits have begun singing again, presumably the first broods have left and they are looking to establish their territories again.  A Mistle Thrush was in the church Horse Chestnut, they should have had young by now, so I'll have to keep an eye open for them.

I visited the local lake, the Mute Swan pair still have their nine cygnets, growing well.  The Little Grebes were 'trilling' loudly, although the young I saw last time weren't spotted today, probably hiding in the reeds. The Reed Warblers are singing loudly still.  Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Willow Warbler were also occasionally singing.  A Yellowhammers flew past either with food or a faecal sac, so a nest with young nearby.  Five Linnets flew around, possibly a family, did not get good enough views to tell.

A single Orange-tip and a male Common Blue were busy feeding.

9th June - Sunny very warm, 24C, light southerly breeze

A Muncjac is the latest road casualty this morning, along the coal pit lane just west of the village junction.

Paul told me he saw the Red Kite and the Grey Partridge yesterday too.

This morning a Green Woodpecker was calling from the wood to the east and later a Nuthatch was feeding a juvenile in the bushes and trees at the top end of the village.

A quick look at Stanford reservoir around the dam end produced a female and juvenile Grey Wagtail, four Common Tern were feeding off shore, a single male Pochard and the male Goldeneye were resting on the water.  A Hobby was hunting over the reed bed.  The Geylag Goose flock is building up post breeding, 53 present today.  Among them and the Mute Swans a Oystercatcher was feeding on the dam.

I visited Cannock Chase in the evening to see/hear the Nighjar, Woodcock and Long eared Owl.  About 0945h the first churning Nightjar was heard and the first displaying Woodcock about 10 mins before this. The owl showed and its young could be heard calling for it.  Before the night shift started two Cuckoos, a Kestrel, Green and Great-spotted Woodpeckers and a couple of singing Tree Pipit were all seen.

8th June - Sunny and hot again, 25C, a touch humid, very light breeze

This morning a Grey Heron was at the top pond looking for food.  There is also a drake Mallard on the there, he tends to hide when you approach, I bet his mate is sitting on eggs nearby.

I saw my first Painted Lady of the year flying along a farm track next to a hay meadow.  I have heard there has supposedly been an influx from Europe, so expect to see more.

Mid-day a distant Raven was heard call the far side of the Long spinney, but not visible.

This afternoon I visited my brothers lake hoping to catch the Grass Snake sunning itself (sorry Graham), I did find one, coiled in the grass in a shady spot, it clearly was most happy.

Over the lake I spotted two species of Dragonfly, the Four-spotted Chaser (2 females) and Emperor (2 male), these were very active feeding, luckily they briefly settled.  The Emperor is at least twice as long at the FSC, but you can't tell this from the photos.

Being a very hot afternoon birds were keeping in the shade too.  A Blackcap and Goldcrest sang next to the lake, a Buzzard circled overhead and the breeding Swallows were feeding over the fields.  Several Goldfinch were around, surely nesting in one of the many trees.

7th June - very warm 25C, thin cloud, light SE. Distant thunderstorm during the evening

A day of jobs.
I did notice we have a good number of Goldfinches and Greenfinches around the village still.  The Greenfinches were singing and displaying in a number of locations. The Goldfinch flying around, I don't think they were family parties, probably adults attending to garden feeders.

6th June - sunny, very warm, 25C, light SE breeze, some cloud pm

Last night a security light kept coming on and off, so I checked it out - it was a adult Hedgehog that seemed to have wandered in to a cul-de-sac.

The too regular bad news was that I saw an adult Hedgehog road casualty at the village street- coal pit lane junction first thing this morning - the same one I wondered.

5th June - sunny, warm 22C, light SE breeze

I was handed a Tawny Owl yesterday that had suffered a vehicle collision, it does have some injuries so I spent this morning trying to find some care for it.

This afternoon I visited Stanford reservoir, the first hot weather for some while, so I was hoping for plenty of insects, especially Butterflies and Dragonflies.  There were some butterflies, but numbers seemed low, a Small Tortoiseshell, large and Small White, Brimstone, two Large Skipper, several Orange-tip and Speckled Wood.

Dragonflies weren't so obvious either, plenty of Damselflies, I saw Banded Demoiselle, first year record for the site , only one male, but several females.

On the bird front a Cuckoo was still calling and all the usual warblers were singing, including a single Lesser Whitethroat.  On the water the drake Goldeneye was resting along with six Teal.  Still few mallard with ducklings, nor have any Mute Swans got cygnets so far this year.  41 Greylag and 2 Canada gesse were present.  One Common Tern was present and again often rested on the duck decoy.

4th June - mostly cloudy, very little wind today, feeling warmer, 15C

Little time today as it was our village annual street fair.

I did hear a party of Long-tailed Tits in the church lane hedge and late afternoon the Starling flock of juveniles has grown to about 30 now spotted as they flew over head.

A Wasp Beetle landed on the washing late this afternoon, it may resemble a wasp in appearance but it does not have the sting and is quite harmless.

Paul has told me he has seen a pair of English (Grey) Partridge in field off the Moors lane, he managed a distant phone photo of them.  It been quite a few years since we have had a pair of grey partridge in the area.

3rd June - Cloudy, light Northerly, slightly warmer at 15C max

In the fields to the west of the village this morning a Lesser Whitethroat and Blackcap sang and a Jay flew from the long spinney to the Perkins spinney.

During the afternoon in the same area a Frog was found in the long grass and under some wood logs a fairly large beetle, nearly 2 cm long, quite lethargic though, so I managed a photo with the phone camera.  I'll see if I can find a name for it, probably not got an English one.  If you know what it is let me know.

Overhead three Buzzards were defending their territories and a Yellowhammer called nearby

Late afternoon I visited Shawell lagoons, there was about 100 Lesser black-backed Gulls present, one had a colour ring on which I was able to read.  Awaiting information about its ringing, but I think it is from Denmark, unfortunately this ringer is very slow at responding to finders.  A few Herring and one great black-backed Gull too.

A Cormorant and the usual ducks were on the water, while a couple of Pied Wagtail fed around the edge. A Red- legged Partridge walked along feeding on top of the bank.

2nd June - cool northerly again, 12mph, very brief sunny intervals afternoon, 13C

I visited Brandon Marsh this evening not expecting too much due to the cool, dull weather again (the forecast is for summer returning over the coming weekend).  It was good to see that Oystercatchers and Lapwing pairs had chicks out and about, the Redshank may have to, but I could not see them.  Interestingly the two largest Oystercatcher chicks swam across the open water to get from island to the next, I've not seen them do that before.

Common Terns seemed to be sitting on eggs.  Sand Martin were dashing about catching food for young and a few Swallow and Swift made brief appearances

A single Ringed and Little ringed Plover were on the main east marsh island.  There were plenty of Gadwall, some looked like they had begun moulting.  Also, two Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Mallard and a pair of Teal.  About 100 Lesser-black backed Gulls and a few Herrring Gulls were present and more  Gulls were coming in as dusk approached.   

Bird song was much reduced, Blackbird, Song Thrush were the obvious giving it ago.  Occasionally, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Cetti's Warbler would sing.  A Cuckoo did call frequently, which was a bonus as they will some be quite again.  Several Great spotted Woodpeckers were around, presumably some were young that have fledged and a Green Woodpecker often called.

I saw 54 species in all, however not surprisingly, many insects and butterflies were conspicuous by their absence.