Birding In Staffordshire (8 Viewers)

[coloz]

Why not start a Staffs birders out and about thread for the out of county reports?

I think there's to many staffs threads already Carl, i just think for example say as a staffs birder if you went to Parkgate in Cheshire and you saw 9 SEO wouldn't that kind of information be better being reported on the the Cheshire thread and then that information is then processed by there county recorder, i am sure they would be more thankful of it . col :t: PS And also there is a (Staffs birders out and about) page on facebook .

 

[NickPomiankowski]

Stuff

Lots to comment on:

RIP Jim, it was good to know you.

Staffs thread - I recall agreement that this thread should be for Staffs birds, not birds seen elsewhere by Staffs birders. As others have said there's plenty of other threads for out of county birding.

Red Grouse - a big article on the state of the bird in Staffs will be in the soon (honest it's soon :-O) to be published 2008 WMBC annual report - by Derek Yalden. Hope I've got the name right - apologies if not.

Adam - good to hear about Coombes Pied Flys. 2009 was a cr*p year because of the dreadful summer but in the three years before then, 40-42 pairs were breeding in the boxes, so 34 this year is a move in the right direction and hopefully we'll see more in future years if the habitat is being improved.

 

[Neil-T]

I'm also with Tim (Gronk) on this one. Sometimes it's good to know the sightings of Staffs birders when they are out of the County. This lets everyone who looks in on the thread know that some of the rarer birds are still about. And some of the other forums of neighbouring Counties can be a bit slower, and some of us tend not to look at them much. For instance: it would be good to know that Coloz went to Cheshire and saw a Black redstart. If we don't look at the Cheshire thread then we could have missed the bird for a year tick. No need to report common stuff seen in other Counties IMO. Neil.

 

[Neil-T]

Spent most of today on Cannock chase with Charlie, no sign of the shrike or Hawfinch that were reported. No sign either of the Waxwings. Lot's of Redwings and Fieldfares about, also good views of Green woodpecker. Had a look around Freda's grave area and there are still a lot of birds here despite the non feeding regulations. Highlights being, Willow tit, Fox and Deer. Oops!! the last 2 should be on the Flora and Fauna. Neil.

 

[coloz]

I'm also with Tim (Gronk) on this one. Sometimes it's good to know the sightings of Staffs birders when they are out of the County. This lets everyone who looks in on the thread know that some of the rarer birds are still about. And some of the other forums of neighbouring Counties can be a bit slower, and some of us tend not to look at them much. For instance: it would be good to know that Coloz went to Cheshire and saw a Black redstart. If we don't look at the Cheshire thread then we could have missed the bird for a year tick. No need to report common stuff seen in other Counties IMO. Neil.

For one Neil i wouldn't go to Cheshire to see a Black Redstart we get enough of them at Berryhill Staffs :t:and also i find the http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=468 very useful and one i look at that every day, plus there is Birdguides and RBA and http://rarebirdsinbritain.blogspot.com/ cheers col " OOPS " i forgot to mention the Staffs rare and scarce thread as well what can be a good source of information as well, so there is lots of ways you can find out about Birds Locally or nationally.

 

[Rockbirder]

Sad to hear about Jim passing away. The best photo' of a Peregrine on my wall was taken by Jim.

Top man.

 

[Adam M]

I think stuff just over the border is fine (Carsington, Astbury Mere, the ring ouzel come summer, olde staffs etc) but only for rarer stuff, so the recent GND is ok by me, but a full report on what you saw at Minsmere might not be quite so relevant nor would a list of what you saw on your mates feeders in Crewe, unless something decent was on them of course. The odd one might slip the net, but I cant see why it would be too upsetting if even as many as one post per page didn't quite fit the above criteria.

As for things like what you saw at Minsmere (for example only), post it on the appropriate thread and maybe post a link at the end of your next post on this thread.

So you would have 'Today I went to Dimmingsdale and saw....whatever...... Last weekend I went to Minsmere, full report here LINK.'

This allows this thread to stay about Staffs, or near by, birds yet still allows others to see what Staffs birders have been up to, if they are so inclined, without having to search all of birdforum.

Just my opinon of course.

Loads of goldfinches in the garden today, along with 4 greenfinches. I don't seem to be getting any less than before, apart from a small expected drop as I took one of my feeders down. The young uns were making a right mess and dropping more than they ate. So I had to remove at least one of the feeders so that not too much seed was on the floor, I was a bit concerned about attracting rodents. But they have taken to the hanging birdtable well, so hopefully should see numbers return to what they were a few weeks ago, about 6 or 7.

Adam

 

[keith clowes]

Sat in my bird hide this morning,lots of the usual stuff,coal tit,blue tit,great tit,nuthatch,woodpecker,blackbird,treecreeper,dunnock,wren,longtailed tits,
A buzzard landed on the table where i put the scraps of meat,its been visiting quiet regular this past week,must be the bad weather/or not much food about

 

[Neil-T]

For one Neil i wouldn't go to Cheshire to see a Black Redstart we get enough of them at Berryhill Staffs :t:and also i find the http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=468 very useful and one i look at that every day, plus there is Birdguides and RBA and http://rarebirdsinbritain.blogspot.com/ cheers col " OOPS " i forgot to mention the Staffs rare and scarce thread as well what can be a good source of information as well, so there is lots of ways you can find out about Birds Locally or nationally.

It was a "FOR INSTANCE" Col, not directed at you personally, It could apply to anyone on the Staffs thread who has seen a "RARER" bird out of the County. Not all of us have time to look at several websites to troll through all the sightings in neighbouring Counties and further afield. Neil.

 

[coloz]

It was a "FOR INSTANCE" Col, not directed at you personally, It could apply to anyone on the Staffs thread who has seen a "RARER" bird out of the County. Not all of us have time to look at several websites to troll through all the sightings in neighbouring Counties and further afield. Neil.

You need a pager Neil :-O Sorted

 

[russell toon]

I was sorry to hear about Jim.
Did not know him as well as a lot of people on the forum but bumped into him a few times at Berryhill including one morning at the crack of dawn at the Lap Bunt paddock which took me by surprise.

Russell

 

[Upland Birder]

I used to post my out of county birding travels on here a long time ago but now post these in the relevant county sections. I used to find it interesting to read what you staffs birders were up to but can read about it in your blog links.

I am of the opinion that we don't really need to report out of county trips/photo's and sightings on this thread. By reporting out of county trips on the relevant threads elsewhere it gives those threads a boost.

If I go and see a rare or scarce bird out of county I sometimes record this on the Rare Bird information thread on BF if it is listed and others are also making comment.

I think it would also be good if new locations in Staffs were reported on from a birding perspective. There must be lots of locations that are not covered on here. We will need to seek them out.

One thing I've learned this week is that Astbury Mere is not in Staffs :-O I'd not heard of it until this week.

I agree with Nick there was agreement about this many many pages back.

Looking at Nicks last post 'stuff' I think we should rename the county 'Stuffordshire'. I quite like that.

Dean:t:

Happy Birding

 

[Neil-T]

You need a pager Neil :-O Sorted

I would have one if I could afford it Col:-C Never mind you could always call me everytime a rare bird comes on and I will pay you a penny per call.:t::-O

 

[rayman64]

Westport this morning in horrid weather paid off with Ray's Woodcock from last week, the dog flushed it not far from were Ray had it, just above the boardwalk bridge near the stream, a Westport tick for me, so made the visit well worth it, also present, 3x Mute Swans, 29x Tufted Duck, 1x Shoveler, 20x Pochard, 1x Goldeneye, 1x Common Gull, 1x Jackdaw, 4x Bullfinch, 3x Great Crested Grebe and 1x Little Grebe.

Just one other point I'd like to make, in this time of new beginnings etc, are we keeping this as a Staffs thread or a mixture of what the people from Staffs see, recently various things have been mentioned on here which have nothing to do with Staffs, now if everyone is happy with this then no problem carry on but it was my understanding that this is a thread on the birds of Staffs and those others things that get mentioned can be found on other threads of the forum, just a point that I feel need clarifying.

hi Chris
really glad you got my woodcock lol fair play as you say a good westport tick for us and your dog
cheers ray

 

[chris23565]

I can kind of understand the recent Great Northern Diver at Astbury although as Dean has said it would be better to post on the relevant thread and help give those threads a boost, I do feel though that esp rare birds like the recent Pied billed Grebe and American Robin don't need a mention on this thread as they have very strong threads themselves which people can comment on, like wise the recent Lee Evans issue has two strong threads running and therefore is better suited to that thread, I could go on about other things, ie I not a fan off using this thread to talk about the Blackbird and Blue Tits in the garden, but i do understand that other people enjoy hearing these stories and so fair enough.

For me this thread is about getting out and about in Staffs and letting people know what was seen in these areas, and the odd topic and arguement here and there is healthy as long as things don't get out of hand!

Anyway it's late and I've not long ago finished work so off for some much needed rest, happy birding.

 

[chris23565]

hi Chris
really glad you got my woodcock lol fair play as you say a good westport tick for us and your dog
cheers ray

Cheers Ray, still waiting for her too flush something a bit special though!

 

[M_T]

RIP Jim and condolences to the family. I never met Jim and came to this thread relatively late (early 2009) but have read his posts when I went back and worked my way through the thread. RIP.

I'm really glad to see a few names posting again on here, I always really enjoyed this thread (even if only an occasional poster) and was sad to see it go quieter. I agree, lets get it back to a Staffs birding community thread again.

Re: out of county posts. They never bother me, unless it gets clogged up with them, and in fact I've heard about a few good birds out of county on here that I would have missed otherwise! (Didn't know anout the GND for instance until I saw it mentioned on here). However, I think the best solution out of those proposed is to mention here that you went somewhere else out of county and post a link to the thread in the appropriate county where you provide the details. That reminds everyone to check the nearby county threads (I always forget and then check the Derby one and realise that something good is at Carsington for instance!), and gets people posting in the threads if they are a bit quiet (as well as letting the county recorder know, etc).

Haven't had the chance to get a lot of birding done recently. Started volunteering at Coombes a few months back (nice to meet you Adam briefly!). Saw the Leek Waxwings (my first ever, wierdly - missed all the ones in 2008 as I wasn't really keeping up to date and only really started in 2009), dipped on the GGS at Cannock twice, and spent a cold Saturday evening at swallow moss seeing only a kestral, 100s of fieldfares coming into roost, and hearing red grouse. Swallow moss was packed on Saturday though!
Doxey on Saturday - nothing out of the ordinary, was hoping for a Jack Snipe but no - 4 Goosanders was probably the highlight.

 

[Gronk08]

Hi

I think Carl could have the simple answer with a days out thread. There are quite a few threads on the Staffs area but you don't have to look at everyone.

My stance comes from not having a pager (and due to cost not likely to get one any time soon) and seeing that certain counties have very slow or hardly any activity.
Cheshire like Staffs has a nice active range of threads allowing us Staffs birders to keep an eye what is going on across the boarder. But for along the North Wales Coast the treads are all quite although the Dee Estuary site covers part of the area it does not detail Conwy for example.
As Neil has said it does allow us to keep an eye on what interesting stuff is still around so you can plan your weekend birding or that day out during the week. For me it's not just the rare like the Pied Billed Grebe but the less common like Snow Bunting, ok you don't need to say how many Black Headed Gulls you saw at Leighton Moss but a quick comment about the Bearded Tits would be of interest.

This site has opened my eye to many new sites to visit and the Staffs thread has been very useful didn't know about the joys of Berry Hill till joining this thread so it has allowed me to do alot more Staffs birding. I do though enjoy hearing about everyone's days out.

As I said before I will go with what the majority feel is best for the forum.

As a quick birding note can Willow Tits have quite grey coloured wings? We most days get a pair of Willow Tits on our feeders but recently we have had the odd quick visit by a bird with much greyer wings.

Tim.

 

[namron]

I think what's happening here Col is Staffs birders don't want fellow Staffs birders to miss a bird close by even if it is just over the border. Like me I spend alot of my days in Crewe working so I could do with a North Staffs/South Cheshire thread maybe lol

 

[Charlie Sargent]

I think I might have started this debate and when I wrote I suspected peoples views would be expressed.. The Diver at Astbury was too good for me to miss, my first. When I wrote I did say I know its out of county but......... This was because I felt it was an opportunity for other Staffs birders to see it if they wished. After all it was only a few miles over the border and lets face it we are only a few miles from the Shropshire border as well.. I could have posted it on a Cheshire thread but for sure I would not have known about it if I was you because I do not that often read other County threads. Some of you do but I am sure there are others like me that don't. We all have different opinions about what should and should not happen and you will never ever get something that suits everyone. It's a debatable subject but we must be careful it does not get out of hand. From my part I wrote what I did to try and help other Staffs birders and the odd occasion this happens I really do not believe it to be a problem. If things start to get regimental participation from forum members will reduce again to how it was. We have to use our common sense as with most things in life. As daft as it may seem carlj's suggestion for an Out and About thread is a way to resolve this. If you are not interested on information out of county then you don't have to read it.

Charlie