08:30 wander this morning.

Good views of Whinchat in the scrub adjacent to the building surrounded by railings in centre of lower section (Well spotted Chris!)

Greenfinch

Reed Bunting

Whitethroat

Pheasant

Chiffchaff

Willow Warbler

 

Visit between 10.30/12.00 very light drizzle, walked in by Jewsons yard.

Wood Pigeon

Feral Pigeon

Blue tit

Great tit

Long tailed tit

Blackbird

Magpie

Black headed Gull

Buzzard

Carrion Crow

Late post for Sunday 17/05

07.00-09.30

Nice to have a look around here in Spring, it was considerably drier underfoot than my last visit splashing around with a load of Snipe.

Not a lot in the way of sightings, primary small birds on territory were Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, Blackcap, Song Thrush. I didn't see anything that I hadn't already found on lockdown nearer to home, even though various bits of habitat looked superb for birds like Garden, Sedge and Grasshopper Warblers, none of which i have seen this year. Also missed any Meadow Pipit, maybe they all disappear for the summer anyway, also no Teal about, presume the same applies to them.

Swift, Swallow and Sand Martin all seen, the Swifts and Swallows in particular were breathtaking in low flight over the bio-mass area.

Best of today:

Snipe 4
Jack Snipe 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 2
Grey Heron 2
Kestrel 1
Meadow Pipit 2

Surprisingly low numbers of Larks, Pipits, Buntings and Finches after last year's super-flocks.

Cheers John

Chiffchaff - 4 singing
Buzzard - a kettle of 6 spiralling
Little Grebe 2-3
Skylark 1
Pheasant 2
Meadow Pipits 16

No sign of any Teal, Finchesor Snipe

Cheers John

Snipe 19
Teal c40
Skylark 2
Finch flock c100 contained at least 1 Brambling
At least 2 Grey Herons attending 5 nests at the heronry
Green Woodpecker heard in the vicinity of the heronry

Cheers, John

Large Teal and Reed Bunting flocks but finch numbers well down:

Reed Bunting 42
Chiffchaff 1-2
Snipe 17
Jack Snipe 2
Teal 41
Skylark 2
Meadow Pipit 25
Pheasant 1
Herring Gull 1 over
Common Gull 1 over
Sparrowhawk 1
Kestrel 2
Brambling 1

Cheers, John

Edit: Stonechat reported by Nigel Troup



-- Edited by John Rayner on Thursday 31st of January 2019 02:47:49 PM

If a rare pipit is to be found then you'll probably  find it   :)

9.00-12.00 with Colin Rushmer

My first visit for a while, and first ever for Colin. The 'bio-mass area' had abundant small birds as John Rayner noted in November, but there looked to be dozens of Reed Buntings and Meadow Pipits as well as plenty of Chaffinch, Goldfinch and a couple of Bullfinch. We didn't see any Brambling, Linnet or Greenfinch or migrant winter thrushes.

Plenty of Snipe on the various boggy areas, probably over 20 across the site but hard to tell if it was different birds or we were chasing the same ones around somewhat. I suspect the former.

Notable were a single Raven that hung around despite being unpopular with the crows and also a few Teal that were up on the bio-mass area in the various puddles. We also saw Sparrowhawk and Buzzards being mobbed, the Buzzards in particular were being absolutely hounded.

Such an enigma as a site; in pure habitat terms it ought to be holding some great stuff but the next load of major disturbance is probably just around the corner and it is pretty urban as well. Having said that we got 33 species and also intriguingly we heard a Green Woodpecker over by Tenement Lane, which would presumably be a good bird for the area. It was a nice walk round all in all.

Snipe 7
Jack Snipe 1
Mistle Thrush 7
Bullfinch 5
Reed Bunting 2
Jay 2
and singles of Buzzard, Pheasant, Great Spotted Woodpecker

Cheers John

A Sedge Warbler singing was a local scarcity (Seen single birds in 9 out of last 12 years - so not even annual)
Swift 5
Swallow 1
Whitethroat 5
Little Grebe 1
Pheasant 2
Reed Bunting 2
Buzzard 2
Goldcrest 1
Usual Blackcaps, Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs.

Cheers John

2 Little Grebes on Sunken Car Pool was a decent record
1 Willow Warbler singing (they seem to be quite slow to arrive locally)
4 Chiffchaffs
3 Linnets
5 Meadow Pipits

Cheers John

Not much today reflecting the relentless degradation of habitat at this site. Today there was continuous dumping and spreading of what appeared to be whiffy effluent-treatment sludge over the cleared area to a depth of 2-3 feet. Not much grass left now but enough for single skylark and linnet. Towards Jewson's corner 2 pumps were being set up to further drain snipe habitat (where there were 30-40 last year).
The recent years of 8 reeling Grasshopper Warblers are gone and the days of finding the likes of Little Bunting, Shorelark, Richard's Pipit, Spotted Crake etc (birds of the Geoff Lightfoot era) are only a distant memory.

Chiffchaff singing
Redwing 3
Singles of Skylark, Linnet, Jay, Reed Bunting, Buzzard

Cheers John

-- Edited by John Rayner on Monday 26th of March 2018 07:54:05 PM

I only saw 15 species in a 50-minute tour from 16:00 today, but where quantity was lacking, quality compensated:

1 Woodcock
2 Snipe
1 Kestrel
2 Pheasant
9 Fieldfare
1 Common Gull

is there an entrance from Midland rd 

It was -6C in my back garden this morning, but the temperature had risen well above freezing by the time I visited the tip, late afternoon. I only carried out a short circuit, but it was a profitable visit.

I note that John and I have different approaches to naming this site: the area that I used to call 'upper', because I have to climb a muddy bank to get there, is 'lower' on John's map. I will reference them from now on as 'cleared' and 'uncleared': this allows no ambiguity.

The uncleared area held a small flock of winter thrushes: c30 Redwing and 5 Fieldfare, not far from the Midland Road entrance. In the same general area were a male Reed Bunting, a few Goldfinch and Greenfinch and a Kestrel. I also flushed a Woodcock: my first here since Feb 2013. Three female / immature Reed Bunting were at the foot of the slope, near the fence line. A Siskin was an uncommon sighting here.

The cleared area was less productive: a Pheasant, many Carrion Crows and a flock of six Skylark.

Pheasant 1
Grey Heron 1
Woodcock 1
Black-headed Gull 8
Lesser Black-backed Gull 4
Woodpigeon
Kestrel 1
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Goldcrest 1
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Skylark 6
Wren
Blackbird
Fieldfare 5
Song Thrush 2
Redwing c30
Robin
Dunnock 3
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Siskin 1
Reed Bunting 4

Quiet and wet. Of note:

2 Skylark
15 Meadow Pipit
16 Chaffinch
1 Snipe
1 Kestrel.

There was a good variety of species this morning, which included six species of crow. Two Ravens feeding on the ground was a surprise - only my third record here. Thrushes are returning in number: at least 10 Blackbirds and six Song Thrushes. A Chiffchaff was with Long-tailed Tits, in a flock that was spooked by a Sparrowhawk. A Skylark flew over.

Canada Goose 2
Pheasant 1
Sparrowhawk 1
Snipe 1
Black-headed Gull 9
Feral Pigeon
Woodpigeon
Magpie
Jay 4
Jackdaw
Rook 1
Carrion Crow
Raven 2
Blue Tit 4
Skylark 1
Long-tailed Tit 6
Chiffchaff 1
Wren
Starling 10
Blackbird 10+
Song Thrush 6
Robin
Dunnock 2
Pied Wagtail 5
Meadow Pipit 2
Bullfinch 6
Linnet 2
Goldfinch 2
Reed Bunting 1

The upper section is indeed greening up a bit, and held a wheatear plus a decent linnet flock, but a big swathe of the lower section (towards Dewsons) has been stripped of all vegetation and some sub-soil tipping has started. This has wiped out the boggy areas where large numbers of Snipe and a few Jack Snipe were recorded last winter period.

Wheatear 1
Meadow Pipit 6
Linnet 38 (inc flock of 30)
Chiffchaff 2
Jay 2
Snipe 2
Sparrowhawk 2
Reed Bunting 2
Goldfinch c35
Woodpigeon 60
Freal Pigeon 18

Cheers John

At least one Sedge Warbler was still present yesterday evening in the area around the 'pond' - I heard two on Saturday. As per Saturday, I heard a short burst of Lesser Whitethroat song, but couldn't locate the source visually. Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap added to the warbler selection.

A rabbit was an unexpected first. I am no authority on rabbit health, but this one did not look well, a diagnosis shared by the accompanying group of Magpies.

First Whitethroat of the year (info thanks to Nigel Troup) No birds at all down on the bare earth area but a Buzzard and 2 displaying Sparrowhawks overhead. Cheers John

Not been to this site for a while. 

On the land with rubble and soil 2 Lapwings 3 Ringed Plovers

On the Tip

5 Bullfinches 3 Reed buntings 14 Snipe A flock of 40 Redwings flying north. 

 

18:20 to 19:00. Dull and damp.

Chiffchaff 5
Fieldfare 4
Snipe 3

Still no sign of Reed Bunting here this year. I hope that we haven't lost them.

There had been a hard overnight frost at Adswood Tip, but there were areas of ground still soft enough to provide feeding opportunities for Common Snipe. I flushed 45 from the boggy area near Jewson's and closer inspection put up two Jack Snipe. There were a further four Common Snipe flushed from other areas, with flying groups almost constantly overhead: presumably birds that had been disturbed earlier.

There wasn't a lot else to get excited about on a 45-minute circuit: a couple of Pheasant, one Meadow Pipit, a Greenfinch (not easy to find in the area now).

I trudged forlornly over the barren area prepared for biomass. It seems fit for nothing but crows and pigeons.