Recent Sightings and Sunshine Forecast for Sunday's Walk!!

Highlights of recent visits to the Barleyfield:

17/10/13

Skywatch:

Lesser Black-backed Gull - 5 adults South
Woodpigeon - still no significant movements over the mid-section of the reserve - 18 South and 12 West on direct flight paths.
Skylark - 1 South over Barleyfield and one heard over Meccano Bridge area later
Meadow Pipit - 8 South
Redwing - 12 West and 18 moving locally

Other highlights:
Pied Wagtail - 25 on Meccano Bridge Playingfields.
Goldfinch - 10 around Lower Alders

19/10/13 - Overcast, light overnight rain, moderate Southerlies

Skywatch

Canada Goose - 24 SW
Woodpigeon - 33 South
Collared Dove - 1 low SW and 1 South
Pied Wagtail - 14 South/SW
Meadow Pipit - 5 South
Redwing - 73 South/SW
Fieldfare - 58 SW , largest groups of 25 and 21
Mistle Thrush - 7 South
Starling - 55 South/SW
Chaffinch - 1 SE
Linnet - 1 South and 1 SW
Siskin - 1st 2 of the Autumn NE
Greenfinch  - 4 North

Other highlights:
Tawny Owl - calling near the Crossings, just after dawn
Sparrowhawk - Male over Henwood Road area

29/10/13 - Light Westerlies after storms had hit South coast. Clearing

An excellent morning with 2 Brambling (Male and probable female) rising from the Western Border at dawn heading South and another Yellowhammer record with two females seen soon after flying out from the Crossings area to the centre of the field and then onto the Hawthorn in the Central Scrub area. They rested briefly before both leaving to the South calling. This is further evidence that the extended field margins and other un-cut areas appear to be bringing passing birds down, with the valley offering safe roosting opportunities during Autumn movements.

Skywatch:

2 propable Greylag Geese - Heading South down the valley. Only doubt came from the fact that they didn't appear to be showing any distinctive wing-pattern. Weren't vocal, which didn't help.
Fieldfare - 45 SW - largest group of 20
Redwing - 27 South with 30+ local birds along the railway line.
Starling - 9 South
Chaffinch - 5 South

30+ Goldfinch on Compton Park just SW of the tennis courts was the largest flock of the Autumn so far.

"Wild Walk" this Sunday 10th November 2013

Just a reminder that our informal skywatch and tour of the mid-section of the reserve between Compton and Newbridge is still on this Sunday.(See previous post).

We will be meeting at the top of the Barleyfield, by "Geoff's Bench" at 08:00.

The weather forecast is now looking better so it looks like we can cancel the Mac's and Umbrellas!! (Hope I didn't think that too loud!!).

Look forward to seeing everyone there.

Thank you

More Yellow Wagtails, Swifts gather and Warbler Migration Commences

Visible Migration watches from top of Barleyfield:
18/8/13 Dry, clearing, Light Southerlies

19 Greenfinch South
9 House Martin South plus 40+ from the Henwood Road area tracking up and down the valley.
10 Swallows South
9 Swift with c8 local birds around
2 Yellow Wagtail South calling.
2 Pied Wagtail SW
1 Linnet South

Other sightings: Jay, Long-tailed Tits, G S Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker

Compton to Meccano Bridge:
Kingfisher at Compton Lock
Juvenile Grey Wagtail at Prefab Weir
Nuthatch South of Meccano Bridge with 2+ Coal Tit also near the bridge
The Moorhen at Compton Lock actually have 5 not 4 new chicks.

Red Fox day-hunting at Compton Park Wetlands. Mother Mallard spotted it and took the site's first and only remaining youngster to safety in the middle of the pond.

20/8/13 Dry, clearing, calm, Light SW
40 Canada Geese in 3 skeins, surprisingly NE heading back to west Park early.
19 Greenfinch South
12 Swallows South (5 high, early and 7 low later)
An excellent 30+ Swift (20+ over the Paddocks and 8 running up and down from Compton, after heading in from the North)
5 House Martin South
5 Starling SW
4 Pied Wagtail SW

Other sightings:
Grey Heron SW over Barleyfield.
2 Green Woodpecker on Eastern Border and Western Border at same time.
2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers at top of Barleyfield
Nuthatch calling from Eastern Border
Coal Tit calling from SW corner of Barleyfield
4 adult and 5 young Bullfinches
2+ Jay Western Border
3 Common Whitethroat Top of Barleyfield with 2 young Blackcap and singing Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. A second Willow Warbler was singing from the Globe Buddleja, indicating migration under way.

Great Minds Think Alike!

To echo Chris's thoughts, Gareth and I held our first VisMig of the season at Castlecroft Bridge on the Staffs & Worcs Canal from 5.40 to 7.40 this morning.

Highlights were a presumed family party of five Tree Sparrow flying down the valley and a Yellow Wagtail heading southeastwards. More surprising, however, was the total count of 61 Linnet heading westwards in small groups - where had they all come from?

Other counts included 365 Wood Pigeon mostly heading southwards/westwards, 217 Starling flying down the valley and 143 going towards the city centre, 39 Pied Wagtail, 18 Greenfinch and ten Chaffinch mostly flying westwards, and eight Swallow going southwards.

Other sightings included two Raven flying southwards, single Little Owl in trees by Pool Hall Lane and Kingfisher along the Smestow Brook, at least three Grey Wagtail flying along the valley and Buzzard, Red-legged Partridge and Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers in adjacent fields.

The Valley Produces Again - Quality and Quantity!!

Wednesday 3rd April 2013

Dry, freezing cold still. Heavy overnight frost but overcast for an hour after dawn. Light NE, increasing to moderate/strong.

Mid Section of reserve: Compton to Newbridge including Barleyfield and Compton Park

Every so often nature has a habit of producing something to take your breath away. Today was perfection in terms of the number, variety and quality of the birds. Truly one to remember and arguably the best morning I have had in the Valley.

38 Magpie around the Winter roost area at Compton Park, was significant for this late date.

I arrived at the top of the Barleyfield to start my sky watch with a Song thrush singing it’s heart out, behind geoff’s bench, to keep me company.

The fact that the light wind was blowing perfectly down the valley made me quietly optimistic. Smestow Valley runs from the brook’s source at fallings Park, South-west to Wightwick, meaning that birds are channelled along it on migration. This is emphasised by the fact that Wolverhampton lies at the West end of the West Midlands Conurbation. Birds don’t like flying over built up areas so in a similar way to Lutley Wedge, birds fly around the edge of the conurbation, and hence numbers passing through tend to swell. However the belief that birds simply fly North and South each year on migration is too simplistic. Birds also utilise the winds and so will fly across rather than along the valley, when the winds run in such directions.

Another odd fact is that a lot of birds prefer to fly into the wind, rather than with it. This is due to the design of the wing, and appears to be especially important to smaller species. (numbers of Wood Pigeon heading South last Autumn peaked when they actually had North winds pushing behind them. Nature has very few set rules.)

Anyway enough of the Science and Geography……the next two hours (06:30-08:30) produced a superb range of birds, including what I believe to be a first for the Barleyfield:

Canada goose- 5SW

Black-headed gull – 23 SW

Lesser Black-backed Gull – 2SW

Stock Dove – 1 North

Wood Pigeon – 62 East to North

Skylark – 3 North

Meadow Pipit – 66 NE to North

Grey Wagtail – presumably a local bird heading North along the line of the canal.

WAXWING – 5 birds flew low NE over the Barleyfield at 07:00aring over Compton Park, heading straight at St Judes Church, showing beautifully in the emerging sunlight.

Redwing – 14 North, 2 NE and 2 East

Mistle Thrush – 2 NW, 2 East and 1 West

Fieldfare – 10 NE, 4 North and 1 SW

Rook – a single flew East over.

Brambling – a single NE over at 07:30

Greenfinch – 10 East

Siskin – 1 South

I then had a text from Geoff to say that he had found a Chiffchaff in the station Paddock. As if by magic a Chiffchaff started singing in the South-west corner of the Barleyfield. At last they have arrived!!! I rang Geoff and shared the news. In traditional fashion though the bird was slowly making it’s way North along the railway line, but it was replaced by another bird that started singing in the Barleyfield Annex. This was confirmed when both birds were heard singing at the same time, the first having reached Graisley Culvert by this time. This again shows the importance of Wolverhampton’s linear Nature Reserve. Birds not only fly over the valley in significant numbers, they also move along it, feeding and replacing valuable energy along the way.

Having had such a good start to the day, I decided to cover the patch and see how many species I could Knock up. In addition to the sky watch, I had already added Grey Heron, 2 Green Woodpecker, 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (3 chasing each other on the eastern Border whilst a female sat watching the affair from the top of the barleyfield), Long-tailed Tit, Jay and 4+ Bullfinch to the day’s list.

At Compton Lock, the Goldcrest was picked up, with 2 Long-tailed Tits. A Coal Tit was calling as it moved along the tree tops at Prefab Weir.

The area just North of Meccano Bridge has been productive lately (where Ian had the first Chiffchaff of the year). A Little Grebe was present on the canal and a Treecreeper was making it’s way up one of the Alders. 2 long-tailed Tits were calling and 7 Siskin were calling and passing between the trees on both sides of the canal by the south end of the Paddocks.

At Newbridge, House Sparrow was added to the day’s list. I was conscious of time so I forfeited the search for the chiffchaff that Geoff had found at the old station, so I retraced my steps along the canal.

Everything was performing for me today, and the moment I got to the border between the Tennis Club and The Academy, the resident Nuthatch started singing. I had commented to Geoff that I could do with Cormorant and Goosander today, and I nearly fell in the canal when an adult and immature Cormorant passed West overhead. Everything was on cue!!

I started to try and guess how many species I had seen and became aware that I hadn’t had a bird of prey. So it was over to Compton Park at the North end of the Barleyfield to play the waiting game.

Mother Nature was really playing with me today. No sooner had I got myself positioned with a good view of the sky by Eddy’s Alders, when a pair of Linnet flew out of the hawthorn, only my second sighting of the year.....amazing. I spent 10 minutes watching and waiting, during which time, 3 more single Meadow Pipits, fighting against the now strong wind, headed North, being forced to fly just metres above the ground.

This prompted me to reflect on Kevin Clements’s posting at the weekend. I have this theory that might explain why the autumn migration appears to involve masses of birds, compared to much smaller numbers on the spring return….hormones!!!

In Autumn, most species tend to join feeding flocks, which I suppose has the added advantage of protecting the youngsters through safety in numbers. So when the birds do take to the air, their numbers are impressive. In Spring however, if you use say Little Grebe as a good example (for hormones, rather than migration), we see through both the plumage and leaving dates, that birds get the urge to move at different times. Only in the past few weeks, we have had full Winter-plumaged birds that have no intention of thinking of breeding along-side splendid full Summer-plumaged birds that were ready to jump on anything!!!! Black-headed gulls also demonstrate this variation, showing the various stages that their dark hoods are in.

Spring birds aren’t held back or needing to protect young either in Spring, so they are quite literally free as a bird to fly off to breeding grounds as soon as they get the urge. In Autumn it seems that by 9am it’s virtually a waste of time looking to the skies for moving birds, as most have shifted in the first hour and a half after dawn.

In Spring However I have seen Meadow Pipits, Wood Pigeons and Winter thrushes on the move at any time of day, although granted it still peaks about an hour after dawn.

I don’t really have time to read books on bird behaviour and migration much as a single working parent with my own business to run so please understand, these are only my thoughts. I am sure someone out there has the answers, so if you have, then please, please share. The best way to learn is through sharing and making mistakes!!!

Food for thought??…………more to the point!! How great is our Valley?? Within a mile of the City centre, and here I was, just about to tick off my last three birds that meant a grand total of 50 for the morning, and all wrapped up by 9:30 (and all seen within a linear section of the reserve, less than one mile long).

Just as I was about to give up, a  male Sparrowhawk flew into the lower Alders, and after a few minutes I decided I was happy without having to wait for a Buzzard to turn up so I headed off home across Compton park. A male Pied Wagtail was feeding under the foot-bridge at the wetland and after almost tripping over through looking back for a Buzzard as I walked, one kindly obliged, drifting up from the South and then circling overhead to make sure I had seen it!!!

Governments continue to ignore global warming, favouring profits, and vast swathes of the planet continue to vanish beneath the bulldozer, but for all those people who have profiled, created, managed, protected and enjoyed Smestow Valley, please please feel proud when you read these words. For Mother Nature was dancing this morning and showing her beauty up and down, on and over the jewel that is…..Wolverhampton’s only Local Nature reserve…..Smestow valley.

Mother Nature is powerful….but she can’t do it all now that there are billions of us around. She needs YOU!!!!!

This blog is linked to many other sites and also signposts you to organisations that protect our beautiful world. If you aren't already, then please get involved....the more the merrier and the safer our world will be!!

Sunday 17th March 2013
Cold, dry, partial high cloud, clearing, light frost, light Southerlies
Skywatch from North end of Barleyfield 06:00- 07:00 then
Mid-section of reserve - Compton to Newbridge including Barleyfield and Compton Park

Skywatch:
Canada Goose - 3 SW and 1 NE
Black-headed Gull - 13 SW
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 24 SW
Grey Wagtail - 1 high SE
Redwing - 5 East
Starling - 297 SW ( largest group of 130) peaked at 06:30
Chaffinch - 6 East

Patch Highlights:
Little Grebe - Summer plumaged pair still below Compton Lock and another lone individual just North of Prefab Weir.
Black-headed Gull - 55 on the upper pitches by Meccano Bridge - an exceptional count for this time of year as most birds have usually left for their breeding grounds by now.
Sparrowhawk - male West over Prefabs.
Green Woodpecker - birds calling from Henwood Road and the Barleyfield Annex.
Great Spotted woodpecker - Excellent showing with one chattering at the South end of the Paddock. Later a pair were seen in the lower Alders, whilst one called from the crossings. The two flew into Compton Park, where they were seen in a tree disputing with another bird that left towards S. Peters. Reasonable to assume that there are at least 4 birds in the area, possibly holding 3 territories.
Grey Wagtail -Pair at Compton Lock, raising hopes of local breeding.
Redwing - 1 East off the Barleyfield Crossings and 10+ at Compton Park - a significant count this year and no Fieldfare around or migrating over at all.
Goldcrest - 1 singing by Compton Lock and 1 at Meccano Bridge.
Long-tailed Tit - sparse with just 3 noted at the top of the Barleyfield.
Nuthatch - one calling in traditional spot between the Tennis Club and the Academy.
Jay - 1st mid-section bird of the year making a repeated heron like call in the middle of the Paddocks.
Linnet - one over the Paddock.
Bullfinch - singing males at the Tennis Club and top of The Barleyfield.
Finch Flock - Lower Alders holding 20+ Chaffinch, 5+ Goldfinch and 2+ Siskin.

Census:
Mallard - 17 male and 7 female
Moorhen - 12
Song Thrush - 5 (4 singing at Barleyfield Annex, South of Meccano Bridge, Newbridge and the Eastern border of Barleyfield)
Great Tit - 7 pairs

Total: 35 species.

Thur 17 January 2013                   mid morning

hard o/night frost  dull & bleak         Wightwick Fields & Pool Hall res

peace and quiet in the English countryside

On arrival at  Castlecroft Bridge and surveying Wightwick Fields all looked quiet apart from a single mistle thrush sat on a phone wire near the bridge over smestow brook,but on nearly reaching said bridge a noisy dog walker flushed a male kingfisher briefly onto an old fence near by,it then flew east to perch in a brook side bush at the eastern boundary of W/field where it showed really well for over 5 mins, it  then flew off east. Just minutes later and only 200m west I found probably the same male perched up again on the edge of the brook where it stayed for another 5 minutes before plunge diving then flew off west along the brook. I came across it again later even further west. I made my way off a v/quiet W/Field back to Pool Hall lane and west towards Pool Hall. I stopped briefly and listened,total silence, the peace and quiet of the English countryside at its very best (or worst). On arrival at Mopps Farm bridge I noticed a flock of sheep behind Pool Hall house had churned up their temporary field,although distant chaffinch were noted. On closer inspection from the top end of the public footpath to Perton Mill Farm (which the electric fence has blocked) I estimated 50 chaffinch also 6+ pied wagtail and at least 2 meadow pipit, 100+ starling were further away towards the smestow but no sign of Angus's redwing or fieldfare or skylark or yellowhammer.

 A frozen Pool Hall res

below the dam

A short walk took me to a frozen Pool Hall res with a small area of open water containing 22 coot, 2♂ teal 2♀ teal, 78 BHGull with a further 20 odd below the dam, a single grey heron stood on the ice, about 25 canada geece stood on the dam with 2 white hybrid geece,(maybe the snow goose type I had on 6th was one of these). The mute swan family was on the canal by Mopps Farm bridge,a short walk along the tow path was my first cold weather birds 3 cormorant flying towards me from the north east,as I watched they flew a complete circle and headed off back where they came from. A buzzard called as I approached Wightwick Fields and I found it sat on a phone wire post. A yellowhammer sat in the bushes near Castlecroft bridge and as I walked into the field 3 linnet flew south from a tree by the brook over my head calling and towards Pool Hall lane. Scanning the fields and finding nothing I headed back to Pool Hall lane where a green woodpecker was probing the truck of a large ash tree and a single goldfinch was searching it's canopy. As I continued I flushed 5 linnet from the hedge which flew back towards the canal.