Foot It target reached!

With work from tomorrow till the end of the month, today was the last realistic chance to at least reach my target. Having covered the south of my area yesterday, today was focussed on the north, albeit after an hour of Garden Birdwatch.

The Chiffchaff, Teal and Black Swan seen earlier in the month along the Shropshire Union Canal through Pendeford were all still present. However, once again there was no sign of any Willow Tits at a feeding station where birds were seen as recently as last October. Further along the canal, around Upper Hattons, 20 Lapwings, two Ravens and a Hare were present in fields, whilst a Cormorant flew over.

Along Jubilee Walks between Pendeford Mill and the M54 motorway, some 1,550 corvids (mostly Jackdaws) were present in the stubble field, but there was no sign of the large passerine flock of a few days ago; no doubt they have dispersed with the snow melt. Although 21 Linnet and a single Yellowhammer were in fields at Coven Heath, I had again failed to find any partridges!

The walk back along the Staffs & Worcs Canal at dusk produced little apart from at least four Teal on an adjacent lake and it seemed that I would return home without adding the one species needed to reach my target. However, as I approached the Wolverhampton – Shrewsbury railway viaducts over the canal at Aldersley, a “hoot”split the ever darkening sky. I stopped still. There it was again! No, not a train, but a Tawny Owl. I approached the viaducts cautiously and the bird called a couple more times before drifting silently and slowly over the canal to land in full view in a tree on the opposite – species number 79. I had reached my target!