A fairly quiet week with high pressure dominating. A few warblers still around mainly blackcap and chiffchaff with lesser whitethroat on Friday and common on Saturday. The western border being the place to be.
Otherwise ten cormorant of uniform appearance (maybe none-breeding sub adults, not sure) flying in formation early Friday morning, just after 7am heading north along the valley; and mistle thrushes flying in to feed around the mercano. On Friday 29 came in from the direction of the new houses in groups of 4/5 (one group accompanied by the usual small starling flock). On Saturday 20 came in together from the direction of Tettenhall ridge. Grey wagtail by the spill weir and goldcrest in the paddock and that's about your lot..
Sunday, 7 September 2014
Monday, 1 September 2014
weekend update buzzard convention
Two contrasting days. On Saturday all the activity was from a mobile flock of about 45 birds which ranged from the station at Tettenhall to the Meccano bridge. Most were Tits but there were also Chiffchaff and willow warbler. Amazingly there were also two Pied Flycatcher. Fortuntely my first encounter was in the relatively open tree on the smestow opposite the apple just south of the style which was heaving with birds as I arrived. They then moved to the top of the much denser sycamores and became frustratingly elusive. I suspect there were others unidentified in the flock.
Anyway back to the pieds; one was a female which had almost a reddish tinge to its head and the other was what I took to be a young male with very prominent charcoal primary wing coverts.
Sunday was very different with most of the action in the air. star event was a gathering of 9 common buzzards high in the sky over wulfrun campus. at the same time there were two behind us over tettenhall college making 11 from the same spot. as I walked back across newbridge pub car park 3 of the birds had drifted back towards aldersley and were greeted by another which may have been one of the two on the ridge. these interactions are well documented and form part of the establishment of wintering territories. other raptors were male and female sparrowhawk and a presumed female kestrel hunting the barleyfield for the third time in a week.
Also in the sky were 6+swifts drifting slowly south and maybe 10 swallows moving rapidly south accompanied by two sand martins and many house martins(of which many were also circling).
On the ground ,or to be more accurate in trees were 16 mistle thrush, 14 long tailed tit, 3 whitethroat and one garden warbler.
A kingfisher was reported between meccano and old bridge and again this morning. Also today 2 skylark circling low on barleyfield, whitethroat, gre ywagtail on house roof near MS ce4ntre, and 13 Greylags flying north above canal.
Anyway back to the pieds; one was a female which had almost a reddish tinge to its head and the other was what I took to be a young male with very prominent charcoal primary wing coverts.
Sunday was very different with most of the action in the air. star event was a gathering of 9 common buzzards high in the sky over wulfrun campus. at the same time there were two behind us over tettenhall college making 11 from the same spot. as I walked back across newbridge pub car park 3 of the birds had drifted back towards aldersley and were greeted by another which may have been one of the two on the ridge. these interactions are well documented and form part of the establishment of wintering territories. other raptors were male and female sparrowhawk and a presumed female kestrel hunting the barleyfield for the third time in a week.
Also in the sky were 6+swifts drifting slowly south and maybe 10 swallows moving rapidly south accompanied by two sand martins and many house martins(of which many were also circling).
On the ground ,or to be more accurate in trees were 16 mistle thrush, 14 long tailed tit, 3 whitethroat and one garden warbler.
A kingfisher was reported between meccano and old bridge and again this morning. Also today 2 skylark circling low on barleyfield, whitethroat, gre ywagtail on house roof near MS ce4ntre, and 13 Greylags flying north above canal.
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