Shropshire Birding (5 Viewers)

[woodwolf]

Ring Ouzel

Visited Titterstone today with Shenstone Birder

Male Ring Ouzel around new working quarry Titterstone Clee today SO 59597 75672

On the Summit, 2 Stonechat, 40+ Raven

Cheers
Mark

 

[Spotter]

Visited Chelmarsh scrape this morning, the water was high and virtually no birds. Only saw 1 coot 2 mallard and 2 little grebe

 

[pandachris]

I've not been online much recently, having been away (again), so didn't see your post, Spotter. I've never bothered with Chelmarsh oddly because I'm seldom in that part of the country. I think it's usually a bit better than on your trip, though, so you must have hit an off day. Think we'll get out today and see if we can find any Waxwings. I've found a few over the years but never when I've been deliberately looking, but you never know ...

 

[Spotter]

No probs Pandachris. As you say it probably was an off day due to the high water but now I've been there I'll go back again as it's not that far away probably 14 miles if that. Hope you found your waxwings I've not seen any for years.

Tony

 

[Rob Swift]

WMBC/BTO Local Conference

Hi everybody,

there's still time to get tickets for this Saturday's conference....should be a very interesting day of talks and presentations.

www.bto.org/news-events/events/2012-11/west-midland-bird-clubbto-conference

Everybody welcome!


cheers

Rob Swift

 

[pandachris]

No luck with Waxwings yet, though I found out too late that there are some about a mile from my house at the Centurion Business Park. As a result of some bizarre working hours I could have easily gone to look for them yesterday around lunchtime. not back in Shropshire until Sunday so I'll have to try to track some down in the south-east Midlands or hope that they linger. I did notice loads (several hundred) Waxwing-sized birds on Sundorne Rd yesterday and pulled over for a look but could only see Starlings.

Slightly more interesting, in the minute or so that it took me to wark from the door to my car at about 9 p.m. in my Telford centre office car park I counted 18 Redwing calls overhead, along with 3 Fieldfare vocalisations and a couple of Blackbirds, the implication being that there were a lot of thrushes moving through that part of the country. Surprisingly when I got back home to Shrewsbury I couldn't here any. Redwing calls at night in the autumn are something I've been aware of for many years but I really can't remember hearing or noticing Fieldfares before, although the two species are often associated in the UK so presumably migrate together.

 

[jwreeves]

There were 2 waxwings still in centurion buisiness park til 1:15 when they flew off low north, another 5 probables seen from the car near the battlefields roundabout (in flight) so they are still in the area

 

[pandachris]

Cheers. If there's not much happening in/near Northants on Sunday we might be heading home early.

 

[pandachris]

BTW - a few years back there was a large flock of Waxwings for a few days around the car park at the back of the shops in Heath Farm (and also in the trees and bushes around the Steam Wagon pub. Some of the berry bearing bushes have been removed from the car park but might still be worth a look. I had a quick check yesterday but didn't see anything. Then there's the tree around Shrewsbury police station which were also very productive a few years ago.

 

[pandachris]

We saw Waxwings in both Northampton and Shrewsbury. The tree that they were feeding on in Centurion Park didn't look as though it would last much longer, especially given that the flock had increased to at least 28 by yesterday p.m. Others were seen (not by us, though we looked) around the cinema. There were certainly more berries available there so that might be a good place to look.

Julie checked Telford Central station this morning on her way to work. I haven't heard from her so presumably there weren't any. We saw Waxwings there for a week or so in early sping a few years ago, but I'm guessing that the sort of berries available are the ones that get left until all their favourites are gone.

 

[pandachris]

An interesting folow-up to my post #636 (complete with typos), an otter was seen last week very close to the spot mentioned in the earlier post, between Frankwell and the town centre. It would be nice if the species has got to the point where it is seen frequently in towns (assuming that it is because of population increases and not desperation).

 

[jwreeves]

Great northern diver at chelmarsh reservoir, around 2pm it was near the sailing club, also black-necked grebe in the same area

 

[Spotter]

At Venus Pool today and there were a number of snipe, greylag geese and 3 Whooper swans..

 

[Patrick_L]

Those still in need of a Waxwing experience could do no better than check the small garden opposite Greenfields Post Office on Ellesmere Road in Shrewsbury, where more than 50 were stripping the only tree of berries on Saturday and some were still there this morning.

Up to 5 Coal Tits together on the garden feeders recently - very nice.

Cheers all,

Patrick

 

[pandachris]

Typical! I've been looking for Waxwings for years on Sundorne Rd, about 4 or 5 times a week during the season, then I have a few days out of the county and a load of them turn up, as per Jim Almond's update on Shropshirebirds.com . We had a quick look at 15:30-ish and estimated that there were about 80 just opposite the Coracle pub but the flew off and didn't look like returning before sunset.

There were berries remaining on the two Rowans that they were using so I'd guess that they will be back tomorrow morning, but with that number of birds there might not be much left by lunchtime.

 

[pandachris]

There seem to be plenty of Waxwings in Shrewsbury at the moment. I went to watch the Sundorne Rd birds at about 09:30 this morning. I counted 69 but I suspect I missed a few. I got a snap of the main tree they were waiting in just as some were flying off and I can count 60 in it, plus there were more in another tree (I think 14) so the number was probably closer to 80.

A single Mistle Thrush was trying to keep them off the berries and it was joined for a short while by a male Blackbird but this was also chased off by another male Blackbird that was probably letting genetic imperatives get in the way of common sense.

 

[pandachris]

Shrewsbury Waxwings

A few pics that might have been better had it not been raining ...

 

[pandachris]

And a male Blackcap in my garden just - first of the "season", although that's mainly because I'm seldom here in daylight. He's probably around a lot.

 

[Spotter]

Good Spot on the blackcap and good photos

 

[Rhys70]

Visited Venus Pool this morning on a trip with MWT Bird Group. Nice 3 hours highlights where; Brambling,Water Rail,Green Woodpecker,Pintail(m) also good numbers of Teal and Wigeon and 70+ Snipe.
Then i popped to Sundorne Rd for really good views of 60+ Waxwings:eat:.