Tuesday 30th October 2012 - Shenstone

As I was still car less I was all set for another day stuck in doing chores or yet another walk down the town when the phone rang.  It was my old mate Tony who was feeling rather sympathetic towards my current predicament and offered to pick me up so we could do a tour of the patch.  With the fact that he is a fellow Baggies supporter I felt a lot better about taking him up on his offer!

We started down on Stanklyn Lane where the paddocks were a hive of activity.  Redstart hedge was absolutely chuffing with Blackbirds, 18 in total (all of which appeared to be 1st winter Scandanavian birds with dark bills).  Also noted at the paddocks were 2  Common Buzzards (light morph), 1 Jay and 1 Green Woodpecker.  Along the lane a Mistle Thrush was in the large Oak at the entrance to the beet field.  A single Raven flew over heading West

Heath Lane was relatively quite except for good numbers of Skylark that were drifting through.  Every few minutes another one could be heard calling as it flew over.

At Witch Lane we hit another pocket of bird activity.  In the now bare bean fields there were c.60 Lapwing, c.80 Starling and c.30 Linnets present.  We also observed 2 Kestrels (1♂ & 1♀) at different parts of the lane.  A single Common Buzzard (dark morph) was also recorded.

The final area we checked out was Butts Lane.  It was fairly disappointing here although we did note 3 Meadow Pipits flying ESE, 2 Pied Wagtails heading North and a Common Buzzard (dark morph).

Still, it was great to get out for a couple of hours and catch up for a natter with my curmudgeonly old mate Tony.  Hopefully my car will be back by my next post and I can resume my travels and maybe even do a bit of ferrying around for some of my birding buddies!

Kestrel - Witch Lane (archive shot)