Sunday 2nd Jan 2011 - Shenstone

Happy New Year to you all. So here we go my first visit to the patch in 2011. Not the nicest of days weather wise, overcast and gloomy (so no photos today folks). Anyway on with the post....

I started at the Butts Lane/Back Lane triangle where 1 Linnet, 2 Common Buzzards and a Pied Wagtail were present. 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew N and c.30 Redwings flew over heading S.

From Butts Lane it was over to Witch Lane where c.200 Wood Pigeons were seen feeding in the stubble. 17 Black-headed Gulls, 9 Starlings and a ♀ Kestrel were seen here. 30 Skylarks flew up out of the stubble field opposite the old grain store. 2 Stock Doves were also in this field.

Heath Lane paddock contained 2 Fieldfare, 1 Mistle Thrush, 4 Blackbirds, 1 Robin and a Green Woodpecker. c.60 Wood Pigeons were on the adjacent stubble. 19 Fieldfare and a Common Buzzard were over the large field over the road from the paddock. 20 Linnets and 4 Yellowhammers (3♂) were present at the model aircraft field. A real highlight of today's visit were 2 Ravens that flew over 'kronking' away heading E. 7 Long-tailed Tits were seen in the trees opposite the aircraft field.

My final stop was down on Stanklyn Lane where I undertook a walk through the beet field to Captains pool and back. The beet & stubble field held 11 Chaffinch, 3 Yellowhammers (1♂), 45 Linnets, 36 Starlings, 5 Blackbirds, 1 Jay and a Kestrel. No sign of the large finch flock or the female Brambling though today :-( Along the path to Captains was a Tit flock that contained 1 Marsh Tit (a scarce bird on the patch), 4 Long-tailed Tits and a number of Great Tits & Blue Tits. Also seen along the path were 2 Jays and a House Sparrow. C.60 Rooks were in the field along side the footpath.

Captains Pool was still pretty much frozen with 36 Black-headed Gulls on the ice and a number of Canada Geese and Mallards in the small unfrozen area. On returning to Stanklyn Lane I recorded the Light-phase Common Buzzard, a ♀ Pheasant and 16 Jackdaws.

All in all not a bad haul of birds for my first patch visit of the year....I cant wait to see what future visits will bring.

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