|
This article is incomplete. This article is missing one or more sections. You can help the BirdForum Opus by expanding it. |
|
Overview
Green oasis area between Fenton, Bentilee and Berry Hill, Stoke-on-Trent, North Staffordshire. Good at any time of the year but does attract some interesting birds during migration times. It is a reclaimed coal industry area, consisting of open hillside grassland, rough paddock areas and some scrubby loose hedgerows and ditches and a few scattered ponds, but no large area of open water.
Birds
Notable Species
Top site for Wheatear in Spring and autumn; Whinchat and Common Redstart are regular in Spring and autumn; Stonechat can (usually) be relied on in Autumn and Winter; Ring Ouzel are annual visitors which can linger.Black Redstart are also recorded annually. Short-eared Owl are regular winter visitors November to April.
Rarities
Bittern; Corncrake; Red-backed Shrike; Wryneck; Black Redstart; Snow Bunting; Lapland Bunting; Golden Oriole; Eurasian Hoopoe; Eurasian Dotterel;Stone Curlew.
Check-list
Birds you can see here include:
Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Great Cormorant, Great Bittern, Little Egret, Grey Heron, White Stork, Mute Swan, Whooper Swan, Pink-footed Goose, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Barnacle Goose (ferel), Egyptian Goose, Common Teal, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Common Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Mallard,Goosander, Red Kite, Osprey, Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Eurasian Kestrel, Eurasian Hobby, Peregrine Falcon, Hen Harrier, Merlin, Common Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Grey Partridge, Common Quail, Corncrake, Water Rail, Coot, Moorhen, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Stone Curlew,Common Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Eurasian Dotterel, Eurasian Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Jack Snipe, Common Snipe, Woodcock, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Curlew, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper,Green Sandpiper, Dunlin, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Cuckoo, Little Owl, Tawny Owl, Long-eared Owl, Short-eared Owl, Barn Owl, Common Swift, Eurasian Hoopoe, Eurasian Wryneck, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Eurasian Skylark, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Common Kingfisher, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Pied Wagtail, White Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, White-throated Dipper, Waxwing, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Black Redstart, Common Redstart, Whinchat, European Stonechat, Northern Wheatear and Greenland Wheatear, Ring Ouzel, Eurasian Blackbird, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Common Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Wood Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Willow Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Eurasian Treecreeper, Red-backed Shrike, Common Jay, Eurasian Magpie, Eurasian Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven, Starling, Eurasian Golden Oriole, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brambling, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Lesser Redpoll, Eurasian Siskin, Eurasian Linnet, Common Crossbill, Eurasian Bullfinch, Twite, Lapland Bunting, Snow Bunting, Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting
Escape: African Grey Parrot
===Current site total=== 155 (153 BOU)
Please note: The only approved and complete list of birds for this site is held within the Staffordshire birds database - contact the Staffordshire County Bird Recorder for details.
Other Wildlife
Brown Hare still hanging on here
Site Information
History and Use
To do
Areas of Interest
Hillside below transmitter mast has a "cloughy" appearance helped by scree of coal in the steeper parts. Horse paddocks well grazed hence good aspect for Wheatears and fences here need checking for chats, hawthorn scrub near industrial units in east attracts some thrushes and finches, etc
Access and Facilities
Access excellent from several points around the site: end of Arbourfield Drive,Mossfield Road; etc
Terrain largely good with some metaled path surfaces. Generally dry enough for shoes/boots rather than wellies
Can be busy during the day with dog-walkers being main users
Disabled access
An edit from anyone with a perspective on this would be valuable
The site has a good metaled pathway (estimated at 1 mile+) around the eastern core which would allow views of many of the regular species but some locations of past rarities would be difficult to reach without leaving this pathway; entry points need checking for wheelchair suitability as some may not be wide enough for use (eg Arbourfield Drive looks narrow); Bentilee access points probably best but need checking. The metaled pathway is flat in some places but has a few medium/steep inclines.
Public transport
An edit from visitor using public transport would be valuable
Rail: Stoke-on-Trent railway station is approximately one mile from the site. Several bus routes (radiating from Hanley bus station) run nearby making Berry Hill very accessible by bus, and leave visitors with short walks to the site entrances. Traveline midlands Planner should help bus travellers (e.g. destination Bentilee>Dividy Road>Abourfield Drive etc).
Survey work known
To do
Contact Details
To do
Regularly bird-watched by:
add names;
Other sites nearby are:
within a few minutes travel: Park Hall, Wetley Moor,
a little further afield: Tittesworth Reservoir, Rudyard Lake, Westport Lake, Apedale, Blackbank, Consall,
Bibliography/Further Reading
- A section in Where to Watch Birds in the West Midlands, Graham Harrison et al, 3rd edition 2007, Christopher Helm, ISBN 978-0-7136-6419-5
- ??Stoke-on-Trent City Council leaflet - more details needed
- West Midland Bird Club Bulletin No. 440, p.19 "Berryhill Fields, Stoke-on-Trent". ISSN 1477-6111
External Links
Please add if any reputable, non-commercial, sites are known.
References
Reviews
Please add any visit details
