Newbridge,   April 12^th  2015

Catch it as it fades, the

true sound of summer

 

The end of Easter week, the trees round the playingfield buffeted by an afternoon squall as rain sweeps in from the south west.  Grey, wet and cool, yet only hours ago the morning sun was lighting up the underwings of Common Buzzards as they twisted and turned against the wind above the sloped grass bank overlooking the Birmingham Canal locks south of Aldersley junction.  The birds, the northernmost of three pairs nesting in the Smestow Valley and its immediate surroundings, were most probably responding to the appearance earlier of a dark ragged-winged interloper seen recently over the Compton barleyfield and elsewhere.  Today’s freshening wind was in stark contrast to the recent run of calm, warm days, when spring was well and truly sprung . . .

NEWBRIDGE,   THURSDAY  APRIL 9^th

Across the field and into the wood, where the ground is turning from brown to green.  It’s relatively quiet, the high-pressure calm interrupted intermittently by the calls of Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Green Woodpecker (a male was excavating a nest hole on March 24^th).  A Treecreeper inches its way up a flaking trunk, in the distance a Mistle Thrush starts its short laboured song, and the repetitive notes of at least two Chiffchaff are a reminder that migrants have been arriving for some weeks now.  Then, caught momentarily on the thin spring air and fading almost as soon as it has begun, comes the true sound of summer, a short run of gently descending notes hinting at warmer days ahead, the valley’s first recorded Willow Warbler for 2015.  This fleeting, wistful song seems always to be edging away, leading further along a woodland edge path or through stands of heathland birch, in gentle contrast to the explosive notes of some other migrant warblers.  Willow Warbler breeding numbers locally have declined in recent years, with pairs under increased human pressure, particularly along edge-of-habitat areas such as the Compton barleyfield where thoughtless dog-walkers have ignored or destroyed signs asking for their pets to be put on leads during the nesting season. 

Other recent Newbridge records include Goldcrest, Collared Dove, Stock Dove, Jay, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit and singing Goldfinch, with Long-tailed Tit and House Sparrow collecting nest material, Blackbird and Woodpigeon pairs seen mating , and subdued Blackcap song on April 4^th (males are now singing all along the valley).  Four Greylag flew south westwards on April 4^th, a Buzzard pair displayed on April 6^th, and two Sparrowhawk displayed on April 12^th. 

DUNSTALL PARK  has witnessed the disappearance of wintering gull flocks, leaving just a few city-nesting Lesser Black-backed Gull and Herring Gull visiting the lake daily for a wash and brush-up.  The Gadwall pair departed c.March26th, the last Teal were seen on April 8^th, and a lone male was the only Shoveler present on April 12^th.  A single Snipe flew from lakeside grass on March 30^th, (at least 10 were present five days earlier), the lake’s second Green Sandpiper for the year flew from the open Smestow brook culvert on March 25^th before leaving north westwards, and a lone Lapwing was by the lake on April 3^rd raising the faintest of hopes that the species might once again nest at the racecourse.  Lapwings first appeared at the lake only months after its creation late in 1993, and autumn and wintering flocks have visited the racecourse annually ever since. Numbers have fluctuated, but totals of c.500 and c.600 birds were noted in February of 2000 and 2002, and display-flying in April and May was seen as early as 1998. It seemed only a matter of time before breeding was attempted, and in 2002 two pairs nested, with one set of youngsters successfully fledging. For the next few years at least one pair bred annually, but the last success was in 2007.  The racecourse operators are still leaving a 20-metre strip unmown near the lake to encourage the birds to nest, so once again it's fingers crossed.  More positive news on another former breeding species, as the Mute Swan pair, first seen at the lake in late December last year, are now nesting, the female sitting since the end of March.  At least one pair of Coot are nesting, territorial aggro from Little Grebe suggests that at least one pair are breeding following success in 2014, but a wrecked nest and scattered broken eggs indicate that Canada Geese are again victim of last year’s mystery predator that wiped out all nests on the island and shoreline.  A male Reed Bunting has been singing intermittently in lakeside sallows, Nuthatch are calling from nest tress in the north western corner, at least 17 Rook nests have been built in the nearby oak copse bordering the Staff & Worcs Canal, more than 30 Crow were on grass near the lake on March 25^th, and there was the intriguing report from Gareth of at least 600 Jackdaw in a pre-roost gathering at the racecourse on March 30^th. 

MIGRANT UPDATE

 

A phone call from a friend at 7pm on Monday (13th) resulted in a trip to Wightwick where, as he had described, a male Common Redstart hawked from bushes and fed on his lawn.  We watched this beautiful and obviously hungry bird for around 15 minutes before the resident Robin gave it its flying orders as the light began to fade.  Some garden record!!
As the temperature rose this morning (Wednesday 15^th) two male Wheatear ran and dipped in the heat, feeding in the middle of the central mown grass area at Dunstall Park.  The racecourse ground staff report that a Barn Swallow was flying round the stables nest site on Monday 6^th.  There were two birds there today.  The world turns . . .

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