rollingthunder
Well-known member
2022 has not been that memorable a year for local birding personally. Like most I bash my immediate area within 5 miles radius of the house. This is what I term a ‘local patch’ - not something that you drive to 5-30 miles away in a comfortable car. The bulk of my birding is undertaken on several bikes c/w Dog basket weather permitting. I seldom chase other peoples’ ‘finds’ being content to know what species has been seen as a ‘heads up’ for passage movement. Fens Pools has been the focus of my visits due to it comprising of 3 pools supplying a canal feeder and thus is a decent-sized contiguous body of water. The Top Pool in particular has retained its Carmarguesque look and feel after water levels were dropped over the Winter to service an overflow valve and dig some fresh Great Crested Newt pools. This pool did not disappoint and iirc recorded (reliably) some 19 or 20 species of wader. Virtually all were seen and photographed by the finders. My own humble contribution were the 2 Black-tailed Godwits, first LrP’s of the season, a high count of Common Sands and the only Whimbrel which I heard calling and did not see. There are a couple more wader species that are in the annotated list below - I have not included those.
The Hastings Rarities 2.0.
The attached list is more or less the Twitter feed of a local birder. I have had updates throughout the year provided by a good friend of mine who has recently moved to the mid-Welsh coast. He takes great delight in keeping his finger on his former local pulse and feebly attempting to wind me up as frequently as he can! Take it from me you have to work very, very, hard to find anything remotely of note around this part of the Midlands and in the West Midlands generally particularly if you do not visit the local honeypot reserves
There are several features common to the bulk of these records and they are as follows:-
Not a single record, whether follow-up sightings or self found are accompanied by a photographic record. I know of few, very few, ‘patch’ birders that do not record their sightings. I personally photograph everything I find. This is done for personal pleasure and as a site record. You would think that someone who claims the variety and number of species/birds seen would want to substantiate records for several reasons and it would obviously help with/if/when submitting records and critical peer review?
Virtually, not all, of the records are only seen by the observer and author of the Tweets. They are either ‘flying through’, ‘without stopping, or overflying ‘the house’ or ‘the garden. Birds claimed are often heading West to the Land of No Other Birders (it’s called Shropshire) or ‘towards Bartley’ (The Bartley Triangle)…..where they disappear without trace. They are often seen ‘at Dusk’ - maybe they are preyed on by local Vampires because they are not recorded again. A good number of records are nocturnal, particularly waders - presumably whilst working the Moth trap (abundant pictures of those btw). A pity that there is no NocMig evidence. I have a setup and it cost me about 30 quid because we all know that birds, particularly Waders, move at night for safety reasons. I set mine up about a dozen times and left it running during the night this Spring and Autumn - maybe I was unlucky but I didn’t a peep get (pun intended).
Finally I detect a subtle pattern to the timing of these records…..
A % of these records concern species seen elsewhere more or less at the time, have departed the original site, then posted as being seen in the recording area - not seen again but no surprises there. A lot of notable birds generally pitch up elsewhere and are found at other sites and are generally accepted as the same individual when direction and timing is factored. I found a Spring male-type Marsh Harrier that flew through Fens Pools a few years ago and an hour later was seen at The Goldfish Bowl - the bird had a missing primary and was one and the same individual. My point being that birders are observant and out and about. Little gets missed if it exists.
One group of birds that concerns me is the sheer variety of Raptors recorded - again not seen locally or noted elsewhere. The most recently discovered ‘new’ Raptor flyway is Batumi in Western Georgia - having been there twice I can attest to the abundance (days of 30k are common) and variety of birds and species that move through the Lesser Caucasus. My last visit yielded 30 species including 7 Eagles, Crested Honey Buzzard and ‘Eastern’ Black-winged Kite (dusky secondaries). Perhaps I should set up camp on Barrow Hill, Dudley, and watch the skies darken each September as birds of prey funnel down the Russell’s Hall > Himley corridor onwards to cross at the Straits of Gibraltar bound for Maroc and the Sahel?
Below is the 2022 list, most recent to the oldest - you the Jury decide…..
DECEMBER -
Dec 30th - ‘An amazing 163 species I’ve recorded in the Dudley Council area this year, best by far, thanks to everybody’s quick tweets for Fens, Netherton, Himley etc, you know who you are - I think the best find Alpine Swift Fens Pools, unfortunately too brief…..’
*More to the point mate, we know who you are, just a pity that you don’t tweet your finds straight away so they can be verified and even maybe, just maybe, photographed for record purposes. As for the Alpine Swift will it and anything else of note be submitted to the WMBC? (Walter Mitty Bird Committee).
Dec 27th - Milking Bank pool, Firecrest (!) briefly mid a.m.
Dec 25th - ‘Another gem I’ve just pulled out at dusk while walking the Dog - a Firecrest (!) first picked up by call (eyes roll) in Hawthorns and Willows between Milking Bank and Himley Road’.
Dec 16 - 1y Med Gull on ice (it is Xmas panto season) at Himley Great Pool at dusk ‘then flew towards Bartley direction’.
Dec 15th ‘Keep your eyes open - Work colleague had a Barn Owl fly across Peartree Lane > Netherton Hill whilst gritting about 9pm last night’.
Dec 8 - GNDiver overflying Priory Park.
Dec 3 - 4x Woodcock flushed Cotwall End, Red Kite over garden.
NOVEMBER -
Nov 11 - No sign of White Stork (reported by ex) Wombourne.
Nov 11 - 1y Kittiwake Himley GP.
Nov 9 - Little Egret over Tesco, Castle Hill, Dudley.
Nov 8 - Saw the reported White Stork @ Wombourne but couldn’t read the ring and *obviously no photos.
Nov 5 - Recounting memories of the Holkham Red-breasted Nuthatch in 1989 and the 1990 Yellow-throated Vireo in Cornwall.
OCTOBER -
Oct 24 - 3 Hawfinch over the garden towards Barrow Hill.
Oct 24 - 4 Hawfinch over Priory Park and a Red Kite over his garden.
Oct 22 - Dawn vismig:
C1000 Redwing
200 Fieldfare
1 Ring Ouzel
10 Song Thrush
40 Blackbirds
4 Whooper Swans
1 Hawfinch
10 Brambling
C200 Chaffinch
1 Skylark
2 Pipit
2 Siskin
1 Redpoll
1 Pied Wa
1 Grey Wag
1 Raven
1 Rook
1 Jay…..
*When I vismig around here I get Wood Pigeons and large Gulls.
Oct 18 - Barn Owl, Baggeridge.
Oct 16 - Twitched a (actual)female Pintail at Fens Pools with a ‘bonus Rock Pipit’ that, conveniently, flew in then out > SW.
Oct 9th - 1y Common Gull at Trimpley c/w 2 Mandarin and 4 Swallow with a (daytime) Noctule Bat in the air at the same time…..
Oct 8th - 1y Caspian Gull spent 5 mins over the ‘garden of delights’ allowing ‘cracking views’ before heading towards Fens/Netherton and would ‘probably end up at Bartley’ was the verdict.
Oct 4th - Whinchat, Baggeridge.
Oct 3rd - Barn Owl, Gospel End Road, Sedgley c1930.
Oct 2nd - ‘Can’t beat garden watching when it’s this good’……
Oct 2nd - Hobby high over garden > S.
Oct 2nd - Late Swift > S over garden.
Oct 2nd - Male Brambling >S over garden.
Oct 2nd - Appeared to be very productive with a coupla GSWpeckers, 2 Cormorant and a good range of passerines inc a party of 100 mixed Tits.
Oct 1st - Grey Plover calling over garden at 11pm.
Oct 1st - *Apologies for ‘late news’ of a belated SEOwl flushed by his Dog at Baggeridge.
SEPTEMBER -
Sep 29th - Female Stonechat Fens Middle Pool.
Sep 29th - Jack Snipe flushed Fens Pools.
Sep 27th - 2 Shelduck from kitchen window - didn’t even have to venture into the ‘garden of delights’.
Sep 20th - whilst at Merry Hill heard Pinkfeet and clocked a skein of c50 heading NW.
Sep 19th - 2 Red Kites over Garden.
Sep 19th - Spotted Flycatcher in…..next door’s garden!
Sep 19th - Whilst carrying out a garden watch had 4 Great White Egrets high >W ‘is this the highest number recorded for West Mids county?’.
Sep 11th - Posts picture of the 2004 Wryneck that he found on the Russell’s Hall Estate - *I can vouch for that because I saw it.
Sep 9th - Juvenile Stonechat Fens Pools.
Sep 8th - ‘There’s one thing I can say about it, I have made some good birding friends along the way and my obsessive Midland listing was passed onto me by my late great friend, Eric Phillips, a true legend’. *I knew Eric personally and he was not obsessive. He was thoughtful and a keen observer of the natural world. He was certainly a big and keen UK lister this partially due to not travelling abroad. Knowing Eric he would have taken a lot of these sightings with a pinch of Salt and would be turning in his grave imo…..
Sep 8th - *More philosophical opining ‘Lapland Bunt Berry Hill, Pine Bunts Halesowen and Worc. Considering we live in the landlocked Midlands region that’s not a bad haul for our area. There’s one thing about it we have to work hard to find our birds’.
*And there’s more:
‘Icterine warb belv, savis church lench, dartford lickeys, rosy starl fradley, black throated thrush Redditch, bluethroat Upton, red flank bluetail Redditch, des wheat barton, citrine wag Brandon, red throated pipit lawford, richards pip mowcop, little bunts caunsall’.
There are several more posts with 30 or 40 species mentioned.
The obvious difference with the above records is that the birds actually existed.
Sep 6th > 7th - *A series of posts with regard to declaring himself the biggest West Midlands regional lister at a claimed 315 species! Needless to say this creates a febrile atmosphere where his list comes in for a grilling and the boy himself a roasting (certainly away from his own thread on Twitter). He posts 313 seen 1 heard then ups it to 315 - this beats both Graham Mante and Steve Whitehouse both of whom I have known since early-80s Scillies waaaaay before his listing.
Sep 5th - Tree Pipit >S over Gornal Crem.
Sep 4th - moribund Guillemot at Stubbers Green - *it was there, if that’s your sort of birding.
Sep 3rd - Little Egret, 2 Tree Pipits and a male Redstart in and over that garden and a Swift over Himley.
Sep 2nd - Juvenile Marsh Harrier >SW over Cotwall End Road, Sedgley at 1650, ‘stuck in traffic, got bins with me’.
AUGUST -
Aug 28th - Common Sandpiper calling over garden at dusk.
Aug 28th - 2 Tree Pipits and wait for it 10, yes 10, Yellow Wags over the house.
Aug 27th - 5 Spotted Flys Cotwall End Paddocks and a Whinchat at Sedgley Beacon plus a Peregrine on Baggeridge Stack for good measure.
Aug 27th - 2 male Redstarts and a Spotted Fly Fens Top Pool.
Aug 27th - Wood Sand at Fens Top Pool (I was there, it was there).
Aug 27th - 2 Tree Pipits also Fens Top Pool.
Aug 22nd - Whimbrel over the garden, *2 others reported earlier today so a nice ‘safe’ call.
Aug 21st - a Red letter day for waders…..*again over the magic garden.
A calling Snipe around midnight, Spotted Redshank at 2340 and both Dunlin and Ringed Plover calling in flight at dusk
‘Can’t believe how many waders we are hearing locally after dark, just wish we could see them’ - *so do we mate so do we…..
Aug 20th - Dipper again on the rapids into Himley from Island Pool 0630.
Aug 19th - Fens Pools, Y Wag over, Common Sand feeding and then another 2 dropped in and flew off…..
Aug 17th - 5 Spotted Flys @ Baggeridge ‘moving through’…..as they do.
Aug 17th - Fens Pools, Common Sand and male Redstart.
Aug 15th - Pied Fly, briefly, Baggeridge CP.
Aug 14th - ‘Just had Todd Chater’s Marsh Tit near Netherton Hill, didn’t think I would ever see another one of these in the Dudley area’ - *there’s always a chance if somebody else finds one mate…..
Aug 14th - whilst ‘nothing’ in the garden…..Tawny Owl plus both Common Sand and a Whimbrel over early hours.
Aug 11th - Juv Goshawk circling a private wooded area >W at Baggeridge CP plus a ‘green coloured Crossbill >SW.
Aug 11th - Fens Pools fem-type Redstart and 2x Common Sand over Grove Pool 7am before flying off ‘7-8 years since my last record’ - *I had a single bird last year and found time to photograph it…..
Aug 9th - Female type Merlin across Baggeridge village access road and a Red Kite, ‘1st Merlin in Dudley area since 2006’.
Aug 9th - 2 Hobby and 2 Peregrine over garden.
Aug 8th - 2 Hobby, 2 Raven and 2 juv Redstarts off Trig point Baggeridge CP.
Aug 8th - Osprey high >NW over garden heading > Baggeridge.
Aug 3rd - Juv Redstart, Baggeridge village.
Aug 3rd - Green Sandpiper on pool by Baggeridge stack.
JULY -
July 29th - Long Eared Owls calling at Bagg CP…..again also plenty of Tawny Owls.
July 28th - Juv Cuckoo and 2 Redstarts at Baggy CP (*found by another).
July 25th - 1 Little, 2 Black Terns and c6 Common Sand at Bartley, *presume found by a local birder.
July 23rd - Black Tern at Bartley, Hobby caught Swift over garden and male and fem Redstarts at Baggeridge.
July 22nd - *2 Greenshank at Fens Pools flushed by Gulls at 7am were mentioned as an afterthought from the previous day.
July 22nd - 3 young LEOwls in Himley/Baggeridge area last night.
July 10th - 26th Red Kite of the year over…..the garden…..includes a party of 5 a 3 and several twos.
July 8th - Dipper and Reed Warblers at Baggy.
July 3rd - That group of 5 Red Kites, 2 Peregrines at Baggy CP and another over the house that took a ‘tumbler’ Pigeon.
JUNE -
June 30th - Osprey over Buffery Park.
June 27th - Red Kite and Tawny Owl from Garden.
June 21st - Reed Warbler singing locally at Milking Bank Pool.
June 20th - UK tick of Little Bittern @ Ladywalk - *no arguing with that one except why not the Chelmarsh bird a few years ago? I was there all day and cycled there and got back home having covered over 80 miles and 4 punctures later!
June 19th - Another Red Kite over the house. ’Still missing Kestrel, crazy when I’ve had Marsh n Hen Harriers, Goshawk, Osprey dark Honey Buzzard, Peregrine, Hobby etc’.
June 18th - Male Black Redstart by Saracen’s Head, Dudley. *My Brother found this bird (the poster hinted that the bird he saw was ‘possibly’ a different individual…..)
June 1st - Quail heard and then seen, briefly, Swindon, Staffs.
June 1st - White-tailed Plover at Sandwell. *It was only there a couple of hours so that is a lucky jam-in but no excuse as this individual had been present for weeks on the East Coast where I saw it.
MAY -
May 30th - Barn Owl off Himley Road following a ‘tip off’.
May 30th - Little Egret over garden.
May 29th - LRP and Sedge Warbler @ Fens Pools.
May 25th - Pair of Peregrine over garden.
May 23rd - Fens Pools, 2 Sanderling and 5 Dunlin flew around without landing and >E.
May 21st - 131 for Dudley Borough and 76 for/from Magic Garden lists and a belated mention of 3, yes 3, Red Kites.
May 21st - Spotted Fly feeding in neighbour’s garden.
May 19th - Cuckoo, Gornal Crem.
May 17th - ‘Holy Christ, dark-morph Honey Buzzard over the house. Thought it was a Marsh Harrier or Black Kite until it got closer until I could get shape properly’. *Take it from me the 3 species are noticeably different but angle and distance might mean you have to wait but if you see enough of them on passage (not here obviously) they are not a problem.
May 16th - 2x Hobby over garden.
May 13th - ALPINE SWIFT between Fens and Middle Pools. Also a Swift with a very White throat. *At least 2 other birders were there within minutes of it being reported. Unfortunately, as usual, it was not reported first off iirc and the rest as they say…..is a mystery - no reports of an AP anywhere else in the vicinity. He did pick it up again right at the far end of the pools…..when people had gone.
May 8 - Fens Pools, 2 Wood Sand (found by Todd Chater) and 2 LRP (found by me).
May 4th - Summer plumaged Turnstone ‘briefly ‘(*aren’t they always) on the decking at Himley Pool and ‘at least’ 2 Common Sand seen whilst ‘on works business’ - nice work if you can get it…..
May 3rd - Fens Pools, Ringed Plover (it was there) 2 Sedge Warbler and an overflying Yellow Wag.
May 2nd - 16 Arctic Terns >N through Himley Great Pool in the afternoon and a female-type Marsh Harrier >N over the Garden of Delights.
APRIL -
April 30th - Osprey >N over the house.
April 25th - Nocturnal Bar-tailed Godwit calling over the house.
April 24th - Little Owl, Lutley Lane ‘first for 4 years’.
April 23rd - Fens Pools, Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank - *found by another.
April 16th - Garden tick male Mandarin ‘distant but good scope views’.
April 12th - Male Black Redstart Cotwall End paddocks ‘before being chased off by a Robin’.
April 12th - Male Wheatear, Hillcrest school pitch.
April 12th - Pairs of Ring Ouzels in Cotwall End valley and Netherton Hill (4), male and fem Redstarts at Fens Pools and Netherton Hill (4), Common Sand Fens Pools and Yellow Wag on Netherton Hill ‘what a day’.
April 10th - 2x BNGrebes Netherton Reservoir (*they weren’t there the next day).
April 9th - Red Kite over Bunkers Wood.
April 7th - 2x Red Kite over the garden…..*surely they breed by now?
April 7th - Ring Ouzel, Wombourne (*every minute).
April 5th - Osprey circling Barrow Hill plus 2 Red Kites (*presumably the resident pair) over the garden.
April 1st - Osprey catching a Perch at Himley Pool.
MARCH -
Mar 29th - 2 Goosander over the house before leaving for ‘work’.
Mar 29th - ‘Another party’ of Common Scoters at 0030 whilst Mothing.
Mar 24th - Little Egret on Modern Hill paddocks.
Mar 24th - Red Kite over the garden…..*the first of many.
Mar 24th - 91 species for the year thus far. ‘Forgot about one of the best birds, 2 Black-tailed Godwits at Fens Pools -
Mar 23rd - 2 parties of Common Scoter 00:50.
Mar 20th - 2 Black-tailed Godwits, Fens Pools, “good addition to the DMBC year list” - anything to oblige mate particularly as I found them…..
Mar 19th - Whilst dog-walking near Nanny Rock, Kinver Edge, ‘jammed into a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker’.
Mar 17th - ‘Mega from the Garden (of Delights) a ringtail Hen Harrier, ‘5th one for me in the Dudley area’.
Mar 14th - *Yet another ‘forgotten to mention’ record this time an Oystercatcher heard over Milking Bank.
Mar 14th - ’not a bad all-day birdwatch from the garden (why bother going elsewhere?) 10 Brambling >E, c50 Siskin, Peregrine pair, Raven pair, big Female Goshawk circling towards Himley (*it’s looking for you mate)…..
Mar 13th - c20 Buzzard over house.
Mar 11th - Jack (booted) Snipe at Fens Pools.
FEBRUARY -
Feb 28th - 6 Raven and 6 Siskin ‘over garden’.
Feb 27th - Red Kite circling over White’s Wood, Baggeridge CP.
Feb 26th - ’New record of 24 Goosanders on Milking Bank pool’ - for those unfamiliar with the area MB is a puddle. In addition a Peregrine and those c20 Buzzard over the house.
Feb 12th - Male Reeve’s Pheasant, Enville - this record is accompanied by a ‘crap phone pic’. *There you go mate it is possible to record stuff…..
Feb 12th - 2 Golden Plover >N, 2nd garden record.
Feb 10th - 10 Buzzard over the house.
JANUARY -
Jan 28th - ‘Local mega’ Bittern, flushed by a Grey Heron at Milking Bank pool……*another dusk record with the bird flying out to the ever-darkening Western hinterland.
Jan 24th - Male Stonechat, Baggeridge back fields.
The rest of January consists of lots and lots of Goosander records with a few Raven and Peregrine.
Jan 2nd - 11 Golden Plover ‘high South over Milking Bank pool.
Jan 1st - Ad + 1y Great Black-backed Gulls and a 1y Yellow-legged.
Good birding but it won't be as good as that lot.
Laurie -
The Hastings Rarities 2.0.
The attached list is more or less the Twitter feed of a local birder. I have had updates throughout the year provided by a good friend of mine who has recently moved to the mid-Welsh coast. He takes great delight in keeping his finger on his former local pulse and feebly attempting to wind me up as frequently as he can! Take it from me you have to work very, very, hard to find anything remotely of note around this part of the Midlands and in the West Midlands generally particularly if you do not visit the local honeypot reserves
There are several features common to the bulk of these records and they are as follows:-
Not a single record, whether follow-up sightings or self found are accompanied by a photographic record. I know of few, very few, ‘patch’ birders that do not record their sightings. I personally photograph everything I find. This is done for personal pleasure and as a site record. You would think that someone who claims the variety and number of species/birds seen would want to substantiate records for several reasons and it would obviously help with/if/when submitting records and critical peer review?
Virtually, not all, of the records are only seen by the observer and author of the Tweets. They are either ‘flying through’, ‘without stopping, or overflying ‘the house’ or ‘the garden. Birds claimed are often heading West to the Land of No Other Birders (it’s called Shropshire) or ‘towards Bartley’ (The Bartley Triangle)…..where they disappear without trace. They are often seen ‘at Dusk’ - maybe they are preyed on by local Vampires because they are not recorded again. A good number of records are nocturnal, particularly waders - presumably whilst working the Moth trap (abundant pictures of those btw). A pity that there is no NocMig evidence. I have a setup and it cost me about 30 quid because we all know that birds, particularly Waders, move at night for safety reasons. I set mine up about a dozen times and left it running during the night this Spring and Autumn - maybe I was unlucky but I didn’t a peep get (pun intended).
Finally I detect a subtle pattern to the timing of these records…..
A % of these records concern species seen elsewhere more or less at the time, have departed the original site, then posted as being seen in the recording area - not seen again but no surprises there. A lot of notable birds generally pitch up elsewhere and are found at other sites and are generally accepted as the same individual when direction and timing is factored. I found a Spring male-type Marsh Harrier that flew through Fens Pools a few years ago and an hour later was seen at The Goldfish Bowl - the bird had a missing primary and was one and the same individual. My point being that birders are observant and out and about. Little gets missed if it exists.
One group of birds that concerns me is the sheer variety of Raptors recorded - again not seen locally or noted elsewhere. The most recently discovered ‘new’ Raptor flyway is Batumi in Western Georgia - having been there twice I can attest to the abundance (days of 30k are common) and variety of birds and species that move through the Lesser Caucasus. My last visit yielded 30 species including 7 Eagles, Crested Honey Buzzard and ‘Eastern’ Black-winged Kite (dusky secondaries). Perhaps I should set up camp on Barrow Hill, Dudley, and watch the skies darken each September as birds of prey funnel down the Russell’s Hall > Himley corridor onwards to cross at the Straits of Gibraltar bound for Maroc and the Sahel?
Below is the 2022 list, most recent to the oldest - you the Jury decide…..
DECEMBER -
Dec 30th - ‘An amazing 163 species I’ve recorded in the Dudley Council area this year, best by far, thanks to everybody’s quick tweets for Fens, Netherton, Himley etc, you know who you are - I think the best find Alpine Swift Fens Pools, unfortunately too brief…..’
*More to the point mate, we know who you are, just a pity that you don’t tweet your finds straight away so they can be verified and even maybe, just maybe, photographed for record purposes. As for the Alpine Swift will it and anything else of note be submitted to the WMBC? (Walter Mitty Bird Committee).
Dec 27th - Milking Bank pool, Firecrest (!) briefly mid a.m.
Dec 25th - ‘Another gem I’ve just pulled out at dusk while walking the Dog - a Firecrest (!) first picked up by call (eyes roll) in Hawthorns and Willows between Milking Bank and Himley Road’.
Dec 16 - 1y Med Gull on ice (it is Xmas panto season) at Himley Great Pool at dusk ‘then flew towards Bartley direction’.
Dec 15th ‘Keep your eyes open - Work colleague had a Barn Owl fly across Peartree Lane > Netherton Hill whilst gritting about 9pm last night’.
Dec 8 - GNDiver overflying Priory Park.
Dec 3 - 4x Woodcock flushed Cotwall End, Red Kite over garden.
NOVEMBER -
Nov 11 - No sign of White Stork (reported by ex) Wombourne.
Nov 11 - 1y Kittiwake Himley GP.
Nov 9 - Little Egret over Tesco, Castle Hill, Dudley.
Nov 8 - Saw the reported White Stork @ Wombourne but couldn’t read the ring and *obviously no photos.
Nov 5 - Recounting memories of the Holkham Red-breasted Nuthatch in 1989 and the 1990 Yellow-throated Vireo in Cornwall.
OCTOBER -
Oct 24 - 3 Hawfinch over the garden towards Barrow Hill.
Oct 24 - 4 Hawfinch over Priory Park and a Red Kite over his garden.
Oct 22 - Dawn vismig:
C1000 Redwing
200 Fieldfare
1 Ring Ouzel
10 Song Thrush
40 Blackbirds
4 Whooper Swans
1 Hawfinch
10 Brambling
C200 Chaffinch
1 Skylark
2 Pipit
2 Siskin
1 Redpoll
1 Pied Wa
1 Grey Wag
1 Raven
1 Rook
1 Jay…..
*When I vismig around here I get Wood Pigeons and large Gulls.
Oct 18 - Barn Owl, Baggeridge.
Oct 16 - Twitched a (actual)female Pintail at Fens Pools with a ‘bonus Rock Pipit’ that, conveniently, flew in then out > SW.
Oct 9th - 1y Common Gull at Trimpley c/w 2 Mandarin and 4 Swallow with a (daytime) Noctule Bat in the air at the same time…..
Oct 8th - 1y Caspian Gull spent 5 mins over the ‘garden of delights’ allowing ‘cracking views’ before heading towards Fens/Netherton and would ‘probably end up at Bartley’ was the verdict.
Oct 4th - Whinchat, Baggeridge.
Oct 3rd - Barn Owl, Gospel End Road, Sedgley c1930.
Oct 2nd - ‘Can’t beat garden watching when it’s this good’……
Oct 2nd - Hobby high over garden > S.
Oct 2nd - Late Swift > S over garden.
Oct 2nd - Male Brambling >S over garden.
Oct 2nd - Appeared to be very productive with a coupla GSWpeckers, 2 Cormorant and a good range of passerines inc a party of 100 mixed Tits.
Oct 1st - Grey Plover calling over garden at 11pm.
Oct 1st - *Apologies for ‘late news’ of a belated SEOwl flushed by his Dog at Baggeridge.
SEPTEMBER -
Sep 29th - Female Stonechat Fens Middle Pool.
Sep 29th - Jack Snipe flushed Fens Pools.
Sep 27th - 2 Shelduck from kitchen window - didn’t even have to venture into the ‘garden of delights’.
Sep 20th - whilst at Merry Hill heard Pinkfeet and clocked a skein of c50 heading NW.
Sep 19th - 2 Red Kites over Garden.
Sep 19th - Spotted Flycatcher in…..next door’s garden!
Sep 19th - Whilst carrying out a garden watch had 4 Great White Egrets high >W ‘is this the highest number recorded for West Mids county?’.
Sep 11th - Posts picture of the 2004 Wryneck that he found on the Russell’s Hall Estate - *I can vouch for that because I saw it.
Sep 9th - Juvenile Stonechat Fens Pools.
Sep 8th - ‘There’s one thing I can say about it, I have made some good birding friends along the way and my obsessive Midland listing was passed onto me by my late great friend, Eric Phillips, a true legend’. *I knew Eric personally and he was not obsessive. He was thoughtful and a keen observer of the natural world. He was certainly a big and keen UK lister this partially due to not travelling abroad. Knowing Eric he would have taken a lot of these sightings with a pinch of Salt and would be turning in his grave imo…..
Sep 8th - *More philosophical opining ‘Lapland Bunt Berry Hill, Pine Bunts Halesowen and Worc. Considering we live in the landlocked Midlands region that’s not a bad haul for our area. There’s one thing about it we have to work hard to find our birds’.
*And there’s more:
‘Icterine warb belv, savis church lench, dartford lickeys, rosy starl fradley, black throated thrush Redditch, bluethroat Upton, red flank bluetail Redditch, des wheat barton, citrine wag Brandon, red throated pipit lawford, richards pip mowcop, little bunts caunsall’.
There are several more posts with 30 or 40 species mentioned.
The obvious difference with the above records is that the birds actually existed.
Sep 6th > 7th - *A series of posts with regard to declaring himself the biggest West Midlands regional lister at a claimed 315 species! Needless to say this creates a febrile atmosphere where his list comes in for a grilling and the boy himself a roasting (certainly away from his own thread on Twitter). He posts 313 seen 1 heard then ups it to 315 - this beats both Graham Mante and Steve Whitehouse both of whom I have known since early-80s Scillies waaaaay before his listing.
Sep 5th - Tree Pipit >S over Gornal Crem.
Sep 4th - moribund Guillemot at Stubbers Green - *it was there, if that’s your sort of birding.
Sep 3rd - Little Egret, 2 Tree Pipits and a male Redstart in and over that garden and a Swift over Himley.
Sep 2nd - Juvenile Marsh Harrier >SW over Cotwall End Road, Sedgley at 1650, ‘stuck in traffic, got bins with me’.
AUGUST -
Aug 28th - Common Sandpiper calling over garden at dusk.
Aug 28th - 2 Tree Pipits and wait for it 10, yes 10, Yellow Wags over the house.
Aug 27th - 5 Spotted Flys Cotwall End Paddocks and a Whinchat at Sedgley Beacon plus a Peregrine on Baggeridge Stack for good measure.
Aug 27th - 2 male Redstarts and a Spotted Fly Fens Top Pool.
Aug 27th - Wood Sand at Fens Top Pool (I was there, it was there).
Aug 27th - 2 Tree Pipits also Fens Top Pool.
Aug 22nd - Whimbrel over the garden, *2 others reported earlier today so a nice ‘safe’ call.
Aug 21st - a Red letter day for waders…..*again over the magic garden.
A calling Snipe around midnight, Spotted Redshank at 2340 and both Dunlin and Ringed Plover calling in flight at dusk
‘Can’t believe how many waders we are hearing locally after dark, just wish we could see them’ - *so do we mate so do we…..
Aug 20th - Dipper again on the rapids into Himley from Island Pool 0630.
Aug 19th - Fens Pools, Y Wag over, Common Sand feeding and then another 2 dropped in and flew off…..
Aug 17th - 5 Spotted Flys @ Baggeridge ‘moving through’…..as they do.
Aug 17th - Fens Pools, Common Sand and male Redstart.
Aug 15th - Pied Fly, briefly, Baggeridge CP.
Aug 14th - ‘Just had Todd Chater’s Marsh Tit near Netherton Hill, didn’t think I would ever see another one of these in the Dudley area’ - *there’s always a chance if somebody else finds one mate…..
Aug 14th - whilst ‘nothing’ in the garden…..Tawny Owl plus both Common Sand and a Whimbrel over early hours.
Aug 11th - Juv Goshawk circling a private wooded area >W at Baggeridge CP plus a ‘green coloured Crossbill >SW.
Aug 11th - Fens Pools fem-type Redstart and 2x Common Sand over Grove Pool 7am before flying off ‘7-8 years since my last record’ - *I had a single bird last year and found time to photograph it…..
Aug 9th - Female type Merlin across Baggeridge village access road and a Red Kite, ‘1st Merlin in Dudley area since 2006’.
Aug 9th - 2 Hobby and 2 Peregrine over garden.
Aug 8th - 2 Hobby, 2 Raven and 2 juv Redstarts off Trig point Baggeridge CP.
Aug 8th - Osprey high >NW over garden heading > Baggeridge.
Aug 3rd - Juv Redstart, Baggeridge village.
Aug 3rd - Green Sandpiper on pool by Baggeridge stack.
JULY -
July 29th - Long Eared Owls calling at Bagg CP…..again also plenty of Tawny Owls.
July 28th - Juv Cuckoo and 2 Redstarts at Baggy CP (*found by another).
July 25th - 1 Little, 2 Black Terns and c6 Common Sand at Bartley, *presume found by a local birder.
July 23rd - Black Tern at Bartley, Hobby caught Swift over garden and male and fem Redstarts at Baggeridge.
July 22nd - *2 Greenshank at Fens Pools flushed by Gulls at 7am were mentioned as an afterthought from the previous day.
July 22nd - 3 young LEOwls in Himley/Baggeridge area last night.
July 10th - 26th Red Kite of the year over…..the garden…..includes a party of 5 a 3 and several twos.
July 8th - Dipper and Reed Warblers at Baggy.
July 3rd - That group of 5 Red Kites, 2 Peregrines at Baggy CP and another over the house that took a ‘tumbler’ Pigeon.
JUNE -
June 30th - Osprey over Buffery Park.
June 27th - Red Kite and Tawny Owl from Garden.
June 21st - Reed Warbler singing locally at Milking Bank Pool.
June 20th - UK tick of Little Bittern @ Ladywalk - *no arguing with that one except why not the Chelmarsh bird a few years ago? I was there all day and cycled there and got back home having covered over 80 miles and 4 punctures later!
June 19th - Another Red Kite over the house. ’Still missing Kestrel, crazy when I’ve had Marsh n Hen Harriers, Goshawk, Osprey dark Honey Buzzard, Peregrine, Hobby etc’.
June 18th - Male Black Redstart by Saracen’s Head, Dudley. *My Brother found this bird (the poster hinted that the bird he saw was ‘possibly’ a different individual…..)
June 1st - Quail heard and then seen, briefly, Swindon, Staffs.
June 1st - White-tailed Plover at Sandwell. *It was only there a couple of hours so that is a lucky jam-in but no excuse as this individual had been present for weeks on the East Coast where I saw it.
MAY -
May 30th - Barn Owl off Himley Road following a ‘tip off’.
May 30th - Little Egret over garden.
May 29th - LRP and Sedge Warbler @ Fens Pools.
May 25th - Pair of Peregrine over garden.
May 23rd - Fens Pools, 2 Sanderling and 5 Dunlin flew around without landing and >E.
May 21st - 131 for Dudley Borough and 76 for/from Magic Garden lists and a belated mention of 3, yes 3, Red Kites.
May 21st - Spotted Fly feeding in neighbour’s garden.
May 19th - Cuckoo, Gornal Crem.
May 17th - ‘Holy Christ, dark-morph Honey Buzzard over the house. Thought it was a Marsh Harrier or Black Kite until it got closer until I could get shape properly’. *Take it from me the 3 species are noticeably different but angle and distance might mean you have to wait but if you see enough of them on passage (not here obviously) they are not a problem.
May 16th - 2x Hobby over garden.
May 13th - ALPINE SWIFT between Fens and Middle Pools. Also a Swift with a very White throat. *At least 2 other birders were there within minutes of it being reported. Unfortunately, as usual, it was not reported first off iirc and the rest as they say…..is a mystery - no reports of an AP anywhere else in the vicinity. He did pick it up again right at the far end of the pools…..when people had gone.
May 8 - Fens Pools, 2 Wood Sand (found by Todd Chater) and 2 LRP (found by me).
May 4th - Summer plumaged Turnstone ‘briefly ‘(*aren’t they always) on the decking at Himley Pool and ‘at least’ 2 Common Sand seen whilst ‘on works business’ - nice work if you can get it…..
May 3rd - Fens Pools, Ringed Plover (it was there) 2 Sedge Warbler and an overflying Yellow Wag.
May 2nd - 16 Arctic Terns >N through Himley Great Pool in the afternoon and a female-type Marsh Harrier >N over the Garden of Delights.
APRIL -
April 30th - Osprey >N over the house.
April 25th - Nocturnal Bar-tailed Godwit calling over the house.
April 24th - Little Owl, Lutley Lane ‘first for 4 years’.
April 23rd - Fens Pools, Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank - *found by another.
April 16th - Garden tick male Mandarin ‘distant but good scope views’.
April 12th - Male Black Redstart Cotwall End paddocks ‘before being chased off by a Robin’.
April 12th - Male Wheatear, Hillcrest school pitch.
April 12th - Pairs of Ring Ouzels in Cotwall End valley and Netherton Hill (4), male and fem Redstarts at Fens Pools and Netherton Hill (4), Common Sand Fens Pools and Yellow Wag on Netherton Hill ‘what a day’.
April 10th - 2x BNGrebes Netherton Reservoir (*they weren’t there the next day).
April 9th - Red Kite over Bunkers Wood.
April 7th - 2x Red Kite over the garden…..*surely they breed by now?
April 7th - Ring Ouzel, Wombourne (*every minute).
April 5th - Osprey circling Barrow Hill plus 2 Red Kites (*presumably the resident pair) over the garden.
April 1st - Osprey catching a Perch at Himley Pool.
MARCH -
Mar 29th - 2 Goosander over the house before leaving for ‘work’.
Mar 29th - ‘Another party’ of Common Scoters at 0030 whilst Mothing.
Mar 24th - Little Egret on Modern Hill paddocks.
Mar 24th - Red Kite over the garden…..*the first of many.
Mar 24th - 91 species for the year thus far. ‘Forgot about one of the best birds, 2 Black-tailed Godwits at Fens Pools -
Mar 23rd - 2 parties of Common Scoter 00:50.
Mar 20th - 2 Black-tailed Godwits, Fens Pools, “good addition to the DMBC year list” - anything to oblige mate particularly as I found them…..
Mar 19th - Whilst dog-walking near Nanny Rock, Kinver Edge, ‘jammed into a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker’.
Mar 17th - ‘Mega from the Garden (of Delights) a ringtail Hen Harrier, ‘5th one for me in the Dudley area’.
Mar 14th - *Yet another ‘forgotten to mention’ record this time an Oystercatcher heard over Milking Bank.
Mar 14th - ’not a bad all-day birdwatch from the garden (why bother going elsewhere?) 10 Brambling >E, c50 Siskin, Peregrine pair, Raven pair, big Female Goshawk circling towards Himley (*it’s looking for you mate)…..
Mar 13th - c20 Buzzard over house.
Mar 11th - Jack (booted) Snipe at Fens Pools.
FEBRUARY -
Feb 28th - 6 Raven and 6 Siskin ‘over garden’.
Feb 27th - Red Kite circling over White’s Wood, Baggeridge CP.
Feb 26th - ’New record of 24 Goosanders on Milking Bank pool’ - for those unfamiliar with the area MB is a puddle. In addition a Peregrine and those c20 Buzzard over the house.
Feb 12th - Male Reeve’s Pheasant, Enville - this record is accompanied by a ‘crap phone pic’. *There you go mate it is possible to record stuff…..
Feb 12th - 2 Golden Plover >N, 2nd garden record.
Feb 10th - 10 Buzzard over the house.
JANUARY -
Jan 28th - ‘Local mega’ Bittern, flushed by a Grey Heron at Milking Bank pool……*another dusk record with the bird flying out to the ever-darkening Western hinterland.
Jan 24th - Male Stonechat, Baggeridge back fields.
The rest of January consists of lots and lots of Goosander records with a few Raven and Peregrine.
Jan 2nd - 11 Golden Plover ‘high South over Milking Bank pool.
Jan 1st - Ad + 1y Great Black-backed Gulls and a 1y Yellow-legged.
Good birding but it won't be as good as that lot.
Laurie -
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