Nature4Kids@Christmas virtual wildlife store 2013 - All you need to find great gifts for children that will help the State of Nature!!

Firstly, thank you to everyone that joined Geoff Russon and I on our "wild" walk at the weekend!! We were blessed with glorious sunshine and warm company. Thoroughly enjoyed it and hope you all did too.

Thank you to Maureen and Alex for your wildlife records too. You will both be receiving invites to become blog authors over the weekend!!

I have created a virtual Christmas store to support our amazing wildlife organisations. It provides all your charitable wildlife online shops under one roof. A supermarket that cares, if you like!

You can visit it at:

http://movingmountains4nature.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/nature4kidschristmas-virtual-wildlife.html

I am setting up Aisle 3 in the store at the moment. This will be used to display gifts, goods and produce supplied by green businesses and farmers that work WITH rather than against nature.

To all our blogger readers, please could you add the above link to your site as it will help to give our wildlife organisations more resources to help nature in 2014. Your help is really appreciated.

Our site is being restyled soon so if you are a wildlife blogger or local friendly group, please contact me at smestowsightings@gmail.com and I will add you to our new links.

Lastly just to update you with what seen during our walk on Sunday 10th November 2013:

My prayers were answered and we had Northerly winds, which provided the group with the spectacle of Woodpigeon migration!!

Skywatch:

1,233 Woodpigeon South
86 Starling S/SW
30+ Fieldfare SW
30+ Redwing S/SW
3 Meadow pipit

Other sightings:
Kingfisher near Compton Lock and later North of Mecccano Bridge
25+ Goldfinch at Eddys Alders
3 Little Grebe: 1 below the lock and 2 near the Academy
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
10+ Bullfinch with 3 males and two females together between Prefab Weir and Meccano Bridge

Vis-migs Under Way

Saturday 17th August 2013
Overcast, dry at first then showers from 07:40. Light Southerlies, increasing.
Vis-mig from top of Barleyfield, then quick tour of Compton to Newbridge.

On Thursday I had seen 10 Swift, briefly join 12+ House Martin over Compton Park Wetlands, before continuing South and this convinced me to start Autumn "Visible Migration" watches from the top of the Barleyfield.

Today was quite a productive start:
26 Black-headed Gulls SW with another 72 resting at the entrance to The Academy
20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls SW
3 Stock Doves NE/East
181 Woodpigeon SW to feeding grounds
17 Swift South with 6 lingering around the Western Border
3 Swallow South
19 House Martin (7 South with apparently 12+ from the Hordern Road area, hawking over Compton Park Wetlands)
1 Yellow Wagtail - calling as it flew with a House Martin as an odd travelling companion
16 Starling SW to feeding areas
19 Greenfinch South - there has to be a roost at the North end somewhere?

Other highlights of the morning were:
female Sparrowhawk West over Barleyfield
Kingfisher on the Brook by Prefab Weir
2 Green Woodpecker at The Barleyfield and East of The Tennis Club
3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers a male and female in the SW corner of The Barleyfield and another on the Eastern Border
Male Pied Wagtail at the Academy entrance
Coal Tit at Newbridge
Nuthatch - not often we hear them calling from The Eastern Border
The Academy family of 5 Carrion Crow along the Western Border
No Goldfinch!!! (only 2 over the top of the field).

Red Foxes - adults at Waterdale and near St. Edmunds School

Also Nick Constable, a local resident and fisherman gained bragging rights as he showed me a shot of a 1 pound Rudd that he recently pulled out the canal. It was great to receive his report of two recent Water Vole sightings between Meccano Bridge and Compton Lock, close to where Ian Phillips had a sighting earlier in the year.

Total Bird species: 39

Early morning skywatch at top of Barleyfield -Light Westerlies and clearing skies


52 Redwing SW
7 Fieldfare SW
358 Woodpigeon mainly East
2 Siskin into Eddys Alders
4 Stock Dove N
1 Repoll S

Also Nuthatch at Meccano Bridge and 2 more on Compton Road by entrance to Compton Park.

Special thanks to Eagle-eyed Angus and Geoff for putting me onto my first valley Waxwings!!!!

1/12/12 - south and mid sections of valley
Heavy frost, light westerlies, started clear then rain before clearing again early am
Little Grebe: 3 WP at Compton canal bridge, partial SP birds at prefab weir and meccano bridge
Grey Heron on canal at smestow school
66 Mallard S of Newbridge
Buzzards:1 by canal at smestow school,adult and juv at castlecroft
Fem Sparrowhawk at Castlecroft
Male Kestrel at Dell and castlecroft
Fem Pheasant over canal at wightwick road bridge
36 Moorhen S of Newbridge
Adult Herring Gull at Smestow PF
Stock Dove Castlecroft
925 Woodpigeon SW over Wightwick Road Bridge at dawn to feed and 115 NW movement over castlecroft and 125 feeding near Castlecroft bridge
Collared Dove over Castlecroft
Kingfishers on Smestow by Castlecroft bridge and off canal at the Dell
G S Woodpeckers at Castlecroft,Peasley Wood and Pine Tree Hill
Pied Wagtails at Wightwick and Castlecroft
1st 3 Dunnock singing at Newbridge
Song Thrush at Compton Allotments
Singing Mistle Thrush at Castlecroft with 4 others nearby
5 Fieldfare at Castlecroft and 4 W over and 6 SW over Pine Tree Hill
2 Redwing over Wightwick and 10 at Castlecroft
3 Goldcrest at St. Edmunds
Coal Tit at Prebab Weir,2+ at Newbridge feeders and 1 at Compton Park
C10 L T Tit at Peasley Wood,9 at Wightwick Lock, 10 on railway N of Env. Centre,15 in SE corner of Env. Centre wood and 9 at Newbridge
2 Nuthatch together in Newbridge main paddock
Jays at Env.Centre and Newbridge
36 Jackdaw N over Barleyfield at dawn
16 Starling S over Castlecroft
C5 House Sparrow at Castlecroft, c5 at Env.Centre and 7 at Compton Allotments
Siskin over Castlecroft
4 Yellowhammer at Castlecroft Bridge
44 Species

23/11/12  Dry,cold,light frost, light SW

Dawn watch from barleyfield.
07:00 - 08:20
1 Greylag Goose SW
1 Buzzard left roost at Eddys Alders
46 LBB Gull South
577 Woodpigeon North
Green Woodpecker
2 Grey Wagtail ex wetland
1st Song Thrush singing Waterdale
75 Redwing SW
7 Fieldfare West
2 Mistle Thrush SW
1 Nuthatch
137 Magpie ex roost
10 Jackdaw N ex Peasley
10+ Chaffinch
10 Goldfinch
2 Siskin at  EA