Merry Christmas

And Winter Came! (Thanks Enya!)

No, I'm not going to whinge, it may have been cold but it was lovely today as the photo I hope will illustrate. Bird numbers were up and going through them was quite exciting as the shear diversity became apparent. I waited until afternoon in the vain hope that I might connect with the second year Iceland Gull that has been roosting at Chasewater but it was not to be. The local gull watchers might be interested in an unusual Herring Gull that was present which either had a very dark hood or was oiled? I expect it will draw some attention if anyone does the gull roost tonight.
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To be frank, the Marsh was not worth doing but the Mere was like birding Slimbridge this afternoon. I did take a number of Photos which I have assembled in to a montage (Below). Sorry if the text is a bit disjointed but the blog engine makes doing something as simple as that actually very time consuming and complicated.
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If the cold spell continues I think we will start to inherit some birds from further afield so it is certainly worth keeping an eye on things at the moment. Lets hope we get something good to provoke a bit of interest at New Year - Chaz

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Clayhanger Marsh (pm)
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At least one Chaffinch, one Buzzard, a Willow Tit by the Ford Brook, two Grey Wagtails flew over from the farm land and three Fieldfare and two Redwing were feeding on exposed Grass seeds alongside the Mineral line.
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Ryders Mere (pm)
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Just a count will suffice, please be aware that the duck counts are minimum and only represent those that I could see (I expect a lot of Wigeon were feeding in the grass around the edges).
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Little Grebe (1), Great Crested Grebe (1), Cormorant (1), Tufted Duck (15M 9F), Wigeon (159), Gadwall (5M 2F), Teal (54), Pochard (10M 2F) and a Snipe was flushed from the waters edge.

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Winter Montage

Swans and other Wildfowl converge on the Mere
(Below) Wigeon huddle in open water

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As small pools freeze, more and more wintering wildfowl take refuge on larger and more open waters like Ryders Mere. This afternoon I went through the vast array on at least five occasions and I don't think that there was one instance where I either -didn't find something that I had previously missed or had to adjust a previous count.
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The Marx Brothers might like 'Duck Soup' but it makes obtaining accurate counts almost impossible as birds are continuously moving too and fro as more birds come in to roost for the night.
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The photo showing the approach to the Mere from Pelsall shows it white with snow and frost, which may be a nice change from last weeks mud bath but is scary to walk on!
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A good number of birds can be disturbed from the adjacent grassland when it is like this. Today it was mainly pipits and House Sparrows but in the same location I have often found parties of Yellowhammer, Stonechats and Skylarks. It was also in this area a few years ago that the late Steve Tonkinson found the only Brambling to occur during my tenure. This bird kept company with a large flock of Chaffinch (which is unusual in itself and suggests they were also probably Continental birds). At the bottom, you can see the farm fields. Not so white but as hard as stone at the moment providing little sustenance.
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It is always worth checking for foraging Partridge when conditions are like this and it has even provided a small party of Pink footed Goose on one occasion.
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Anyway, the peace and quiet, winter skies and abundant wildfowl make it a place worth going at the moment. So let me know what you see and I can put my feet up by the fire for a change!

Interim report - Sunday December 20th

Something Special for Christmas - and perhaps New Year?
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No update this weekend despite the harder weather I hoped for, getting ready for Christmas is having to take priority. I shall be finishing work on Tuesday and hopefully, weather permitting, will do an update on Wednesday.
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Big thank you to Ray and Tony from Pelsall who have been having regular views of our Christmas Present, a pair of wintering Green Sandpiper. Always noteworthy, these birds have a track record of spending the winter on Pete Newman's local patch in Goscote Valley but this year have obviously decided to try Christmas on the Ford Brook for a change?
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Ray has also seen double figures of Goosander on the Mere and I believe that the Stonechat have also been showing.
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I also had an e-mail from another birder (thanks Kev) who had an even more unusual sighting on the 17th when he flushed a Woodcock into flight. these birds are regular locally, particularly in the winter but are very rarely seen due to their skulking nature Kev also counted 30 teal and a couple of Gadwall still present on the Marsh and also had the pleasure of seeing another of our regular winter visitors, a Bullfinch.
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Midwinter day tomorrow, the winter solstice or the shortest day if you prefer, after which we start the lengthening days toward the spring migration (I can hear the Warblers already).
Have a good week and I will update before the big day in case anyone wants to walk off their Christmas Pud. - Chaz

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News from the Marsh

The removal of some hedge line at Grange Farm allowed close-up views of some woodpecker damage.
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WELL - if your deciding if it's worth reading on, I'll tell you know the star bird of the day was a Pochard! Conditions had changed little since last week although if anything, the marsh is even worse under foot and not somewhere to be approached without appropriate footwear.
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For all that it was a lovely day and I took a number of photos as I did my rounds and have also posted one or two of them (Below) to give a feel for how nice things were looking (and NO, I don't have ant pretensions of being a good photographer - but I do love low winter sunlight).
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I suspect that we will need some hard weather to shake things up a bit and as there's an outside possibility of some snow next week next weekends bulletin may be more interesting?

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Clayhanger Marsh (am-pm)
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Wildfowl seen included Teal (37), Wigeon (1M), Gadwall (4M 1F), and Shoveler (2M 3F).
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Around the farmland there were three Buzzard, three Fieldfare, two Chaffinch, a Yellowhammer and a Jay. The usual Grey Wagtail was on the Ford Brook and the Nuthatch was active along the edge of the woods.
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Ryders Mere (pm)
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A block count of a large flock of Lapwing seemed to indicate about 130 birds however two more accurate counts both resulted in counts of 110, still an impressive number.
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Wildfowl included; Wigeon (128), Tufted Duck (3), Goosander (4M 2F), Gadwall (4M 2F) a male Pochard, and singles of Great Crested and Little Grebe.

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That's it for another week - hope we get a Christmas present on the marsh soon - Chaz

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Some views of mid-December

I Love this light effect - you only get it in winter

Left: Low light in Grange farm Woods
Below: Old Tree revealed by hedge clearence and sunlight on
Winter fields.

News from the Marsh

Sorry folks - but a very quiet day at both sites today. Although it could have been different!
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Amongst the Goosander on the Mere today was a smaller specimen which seemed to show very little brown colouration to the head and had a more grebe-like structure. I have to veer to the cautious and say that it was a juvenile female Goosander but had I been at the coast I would have called Red-breasted Merganser without a qualm so regulars please keep your eyes peeled!
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Not only would it be a site first, its a damn good bird at any inland site. Anyway it flew out with a couple of Goosander at twelve forty-five so from my point of view it will have to remain unresolved.
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Those 0f you with an interest in the battlefields of the Somme might enjoy a visit to the Marsh at the moment but for the rest of you I would suggest that you wait for things to dry out a bit - it was atrocious today!

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Clayhanger Marsh (pm)

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Don't trust counts that end exactly with a zero - but I'm afraid I was able to count exactly 80 Teal today. A Bullfinch was heard calling, the male Sparrowhawk was active on the village side and there was a pair of Gadwall and a pair of Goosander at the south end of the swag pool.

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Ryders Mere (pm)
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A Cormorant flew out at about twelve thirty and the following wildfowl were noted; Little Grebe (4), Great Crested Grebe (1), Wigeon (105), Tufted Duck (21), Gadwall (2M 1F), and eight male and ten female Goosander (or was that Eight male, nine female and a Merganser ?).
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For those who live at Ryders Hayes the Grey Wagtail was over flying occasionally.

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Sorry for those awaiting an update -but I cant make the birds appear. Have a good week - Chaz

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