22-24th May 2017

Up at some crazy hour on Monday morning, I set up the nets on Hundred Acre, conscious that I'd have few more chances to net this spring. Another reasonable session saw seven Reed Warblers among 14 new birds ringed, this being across three nets.

Reed Warbler

juvenile Robin, my first caught this year (along with juveniles of Blackbird and Dunnock)

Out of the area again, I visited Middleton Lakes with David D-L on Tuesday evening, securing some value in the form of two summer-plumaged Little Stints with four Dunlin and four Ringed Plovers. Other notables included a Hobby, two Peregrines and two Cuckoos. Earlier in the day, birds in central Birmingham included two of both Grey Wagtail and Mistle Thrush.

Little Stints at Middleton Lakes

On the way back home yesterday, I met up with Paul S and reconvened with DDL for some White-winged Black Tern-watching at Staines Reservoirs; the 2cy bird showed rather well on the west side, where it skipped between the basins and repeatedly splashed into the water during a dizzying and energetic flight. Two fine Black-necked Grebes showed distantly on the South Basin and three Ringed Plovers flew over...

2cy White-winged Black Tern at Staines Reservoirs

Birmingham and Middleton Lakes RSPB, 9th May 2017; Canons Farm and Beddington Farmlands, 11th May 2017

Back in the Midlands for work on Tuesday, a Yellow Wagtail flew over central Birmingham in the early morning and I took another chance to walk around Middleton Lakes, listening to three Cuckoos, including a female, and a variety of common warblers including five Garden Warblers. On the scrapes were two Ringed Plovers, a Dunlin, a Common Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover, two Mediterranean Gulls and a few Avocets. Perhaps 300 Swifts swirled around overhead, along with 10 House Martins (worryingly, my highest count anywhere so far this spring!). Four or so Common Terns were also busying themselves.

Common Terns at Middleton Lakes

Today, I started with a walk around Canons. It was evident that it was still very much off its past form. Birding there has been a challenge this spring. However, a showy Garden Warbler, a personal patch year tick, cheered things up. A quick afternoon trip to Beddington yielded highlights of Yellow Wagtail, Little Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper.

Garden Warbler at Canons

Birmingham and Dunsop Bridge, 4th May 2017

adult ♂ Pallid Harrier at Dunsop Bridge

Banished to Middle England for work, after noting Lesser Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler singing in central Birmingham, I had most of the day free so what else to do after clock-off than tackle the extra couple of hours to Lancashire where a raptorial celebrity was on offer? Soon after breaking into beautiful Bowland, it was a matter of dropping the gears to complete the last few sloping, winding miles to the sweet little village of Dunsop Bridge. The surprisingly large pay and display car park was also surprisingly full so I was grateful to the thoughtful chap who secured me his space when he left and gave me his parking ticket, as well as giving a detailed run-down of the bird's location and habits.

With a spring in my step, the kind that comes along with a bright and smooth-sailing day and no serious time constraints, I embarked along the bridleway towards the Whitendale Valley. Willow Warbler song trickled off the slopes while the stony stream rang with the calls of Common Sandpipers and Grey Wagtails. Stinted bursts of song a little further along alerted me to a gorgeous male Pied Flycatcher, although he didn't hang around for a picture. It felt about twice as long as I expected it to be but I eventually reached a huddle of birders who reported that the harrier had gone AWOL for the last hour or so. Bugger. A Red Grouse was showing, which was my first in a while and raised the spirits again.

The voracious wind made it challenging to scan the valley to the north properly but perseverance soon paid off, the adult male PALLID HARRIER sliding into my field of view from the west and plonking itself on the opposite side. And there it stayed for at least the next 90 minutes, at which point I felt I ought to make tracks. Unfortunately it didn't perform any of the grand aerial displays or calls that I was hoping for, instead affording fastidious attention to its plumage condition, only allowing itself a few moments at a time to nestle into the heather between bouts of almost obsessive preening. With the wind behind me, the descent back to the car was a breeze and made all the better by calls of Crossbills somewhere overhead.