SUDDENLY SPRING IS SPRUNG AND

MIGRANTS ARE MOVING THROUGH

Long time no post, so a scan of the weeks which marked the end of one of our mildest-ever winters is perhaps in order.  Unlike the freezing winter of 2012/13 there've been no unusual mid-winter visitors to the canals, mixed finch flocks have been few and far between,  gull numbers have been down on playingfields and Dunstall Park, winter thrushes have hardly featured, and garden feeding stations have been unseasonably quiet.  On the quieter, sunnier days, however, there were birds to be found, and as Geoff and Ian have reported, last week's warm winds and sunshine brought the first passage birds back to the valley, at least three weeks earlier than last year when frozen ground and bitter weather stopped migration in its tracks.  Some species are already nesting, bumble bees and butterflies are on the wing, and celandine and coltsfoot are carpeting the canalbanks.  So, just a brief look back on some of the birds seen and heard as winter drew to a close.

Newbridge, Aldersley and Dunstall Park                     

It's the beginning of February, and a Tawny Owl calls from the edge of Newbridge playingfield at around midnight on 6th (one is heard at in the Aldersley stadium/Dunstall Water Bridge area at 10.15 in the morning on March 5th).  At least 20 Siskin chatter communally in trees by the old railway south of Hordern Road throughout the month, alongside a few Redpoll and at least one Bullfinch pair, and the largest Black-headed Gull flock of the winter numbering around 900 birds is on Dunstall Park on February 22nd with 30 Lesser Black-backed Gull.   Two pairs of Raven are seen together over Dunstall Park and Oxley on February 15th, the one pair's aerial display suggesting they may be the valley's nesting birds defending their territory, at least 10 Redwing forage along the canal boundary of the racecourse on February 22nd,  a Treecreeper feeds along a rotting fence by the old railway just north of Tettenhall Road on February 24th  (there is one in Newbridge wood on March 11th), and the month's star bird fishes on the canal just north of Dunstall Water Bridge on February 12th, a handsome male Goosander, very likely the bird seen more than once by Ian at the southern end of the valley in recent weeks.  A Rook pair were building a nest in the oak copse on the edge of the racecourse by the Water Bridge on February 24th, and despite an absence of birds at the site during January's tempestuous weather, by mid-March at least 15 nests have been completed at what is now the valley's only rookery.  At least 20 Jackdaw were seen in the same copse on March 3rd, a Green Woodpecker called from the site on March 15th, and a pair of Grey Wagtail foraged nearby at the Smestow brook culvert entrance by the Water Bridge on March 8th, and Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker have been heard and seen throughout the period in Newbridge wood.  The low chuntering sub-song of a wintering Blackcap came from an ivy-covered tree by the old railway north of Tettenhall Road on March 5th, and a male of the same species which had been a daily visitor to a garden next to Newbridge playingfield since January 6th was last seen on March 9th, a stay of nearly nine weeks.

 

At Dunstall Park lake, duck numbers have fallen, with just a pair of Teal (31 birds were present on January 19th) remaining, and two male and a female Shoveler and a Mallard pair seen on March 18th.  The Gadwall pair present on and off at the lake throughout the late winter were still there on March 16th and a pair of Little Grebe have been heard and occasionally seen in the last few weeks, raising hopes of another nesting attempt (the last successful breeding was 14 years ago).  At least five pairs of Coot are setting up breeding territories, two Moorhen pairs are disputing nesting sites and around six pairs of Canada Geese are in constant and noisy conflict along the shoreline.  Snipe numbers are always difficult to gauge, but at least 20 were counted on the island  on March 16th, around 30 Starling have been bathing at the lake in recent days, a pair of Stock Dove have been drinking there, and a male Reed Bunting was in shoreline bushes on March 18th.  Flocks of c.30 Crow, up to 25 Magpie and a pair of Mistle Thrush have been seen on the central grass area of the racecourse, and a dark-plumaged Buzzard has been seen regularly, either perched or flying low across the Valley Park School end of the site, much to the consternation of the nesting Rooks.

 

Elsewhere, at least one Jay has been seen and heard by the old railway at Aldersley stadium, eleven Greenfinch were in bushes by Newbridge canal wharf on February 10th, and single Goldcrest were by the towpath at Aldersley stadium on February 7th, in Newbridge wood on February 10th and by Newbridge playingfield on March 3rd in a conifer where the species nested two years ago.  Goldfinch sang at Dunstall Park, in Newbridge wood, the hawthorn wood north of Hordern Road, the Water Bridge and by Newbridge playingfield, Coal Tit were heard at Tettenhall Road bridge, by Newbridge playingfield and by the old railway south of Aldersley stadium, and Long-tailed Tit pairs fed in gardens and along the old railway anywhere from Newbridge to Oxley.  Song Thrush, Robin, Chaffinch, Wren and Dunnock were in voice all along the valley, with garden visitors including Wood Pigeon, Blackbird and Collared Dove.  

 

NB.  Dunstall Park is a closed commercial site.  Access is strictly controlled.