Friday 27th August 2010 - Shenstone & Grimley

Today I went around the patch mid-late morning. The flock of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, in the ploughed field along Heath Lane, now numbers c.240 birds. Also with them were 4 Black-headed Gulls. 3 Yellowhammers and 4 Linnets were also seen on the adjacent hedgerows. 8 Wheatears were reported from this field this morning (Bob Williams), but no sign when I was there :-(

3 ♂ Wheatears were present along Heath Lane just before dusk this evening (TMH). These three Wheatears were all well marked males that were not yet in moult, unusual this time of year as most birds we tend to see are dowdy brown jobs. It is likely that these birds are of the more Northerly races, as Northerly birds tend too moult later than Southerly birds due to climatics.



From Shenstone I popped to Grimley New Workings (Camp Lane) to see the juvenile Little Gull that has been showing well. I wasn't disappointed and this elegant tern-like Gull was literally just flying within feet of me whilst I was stood on the causeway, stunning! Also of note were 2 Greenshank, 4 Little Egrets and a Common Snipe.

Little Gull - Grimley, 27th August 2010:

3 comments:

  1. you'll get the Wheatear soon enough jason :-)

    How far is the Little Gull from you patch ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. A nice looking Little Gull, send them down to us. I am in the mood.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Little Gull is at an area in Worcestershire called Grimley where there area a number of Gravel Pits in close proximity to the River Severn. Its about 10 miles from my patch. But as my patch is pretty much an arable area with a duck pond (Captains Pool), I usually go to Grimley a couple of times a week to catch up with waders etc.

    Bob, I will see what I can do ;-)

    ReplyDelete