The 'wider patch' and beyond....

Sunday 19th January 2014

Shenstone:
Today I had received a text from my old mate Jared 'Bellamy' Tibbetts informing me that he had encountered the winter Corn Bunting flock in the field known as the beet field off Stanklyn Lane, and had counted 34 Corn Bunting.

I headed down there an hour or so later and walked the fields but, sods law, there was no sign.  That said I did flush 7 Meadow Pipits, 2 Skylarks and c.50 Linnet.  Also noted during this walk were 1 Fieldfare, 11 Redwing, 1 Mistle Thrush, 6 Blackbirds, 1 Jay, 2 Robins and 4 Dunnock.

Another flock of c.80 Linnets were present further along Stanklyn Lane towards Summerfield.

At Stanklyn Lane Paddocks a large mixed flock of Fieldfare and Redwing were feeding on the deck.

There was not much was happening over at Witch lane but for the seemingly ever present Grey Heron sat in the field.

Hartlebury:
From the patch I headed a mile or so down the road to check the pools at Hartlebury.  The drake Mandarin was again present on the larger pool and 74 Lapwing were present in the adjacent field.  The Little Grebe was again present on one of the two smaller pools just down the lane

Little Grebe - Hartlebury

Thursday 23rd January 2014
A pair of Goosander were present on Captains Pool this afternoon and left shortly before dusk (TS).

Friday 24th January 2014

Captains Pool:
I received a message today from my old mate and general all round curmudgeon Tony Smith today informing me that there was both a Goosander and a drake Pochard present on Captains Pool.  Both of these species are good winter birds at the pool with Pochard being very scarce these days.  The last one at Captains was on 4th March 2012, so needless to say I headed over there.

On arriving I managed to pick up both the Goosander and the Pochard.  In fact the Pochard was being typically Pochard-like and kept its head tucked in the whole time I was there!   A Lesser Black-backed Gull, 4 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Coots and a Moorhen were also of note on the pool.

Whilst I was stood at the edge of the pool a Treecreeper landed on a nearby Oak and a Goldcrest was seen flitting around in an adjacent Alder.

Pochard - Captains Pool
(record shot)

Goosander - Captains Pool
(record shot)

Hartlebury:
From Captains Pool I headed over to the pools at Hartlebury to see if anything interesting had turned up there.  Today there was no sign of the Little Grebe, Mandarin or Lapwing.  Infact the only bird of note was the Barnacle Goose which had showed up again with 22 Canada Geese.

Barnacle Goose - Hartlebury 
(record shot)

Bio Survey (week 3)

Wednesday 15th to Tuesday 22nd January 2014 (Bio Survey wk. 3)

As expected for this time of year, things have slowed down considerably on the 1km² survey.  That said there was still a trickle of new species added to the list.

Birds:
Two species of birds were added for the 1km² in Wren and Song Thrush.  In fact 2 Song Thrushes were showing well as they fed in the paddock opposite the entrance to the gallops field.

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

Mammals:
I finally added Rabbit to the list this week, as they don't seem to be very showy on the patch at the mo.

Invertebrates:
A single invert was added to the survey list in the form of a Harlequin Ladybird that I found hibernating in the leaf litter.

Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)

Galls:
Also whist having a furtle about in the leaf litter I found a number of Common Spangle galls.  These had now dropped of the Oak leaves on which they were formed and dropped amongst the leaf litter.  It's within these galls that the larvae of a tiny gall wasp Neuroterus quercusbaccarum spends the winter, emerging as adults in the spring.

Fungi:
Fungi is the most productive area of the survey at the present time with 5 new species identified and added to the 1km²:  Crepidotus fungus s.p., Exidia plana, Hairy Curtain Crust, Peniophora cinerea and Yellow Brain.  I also recorded more White Brain fungus in 3 further locations around the periphery of Stanklyn Wood.  

Crepidotus fungus s.p.

Exidia plana

Yellow Brain (Tremella mesenterica)

Trees:
I also managed to identify 2 more species of tree present in Stanklyn Wood this week in the shape of Corsican Pine and Elder.


So there you have it, this weeks Bio Survey findings. Roll on Spring when things really start to pick up! 

Total no. of Species recorded in 1km² = 87 
 ­

Corn Buntings at risk again....

Hi blog readers,

It appears that the planning application for the Travelling Show People site (on my local patch) at Shenstone has been re-submitted....

As you may or may not be aware, Shenstone holds one of the largest and last remaining breeding populations of Corn Bunting in the Worcestershire and this development could have an adverse effect on said species and other declining arable birds in the area.

So I am rallying around and would be grateful if you could lend your support and object to this proposal on the grounds of the potential impact on the areas bird life

The application can be viewed/objected to/commented on by clicking on the the following web link:

http://www.wyreforest.gov.uk/fastweb/detail.asp?AltRef=14/0017/FULL&ApplicationNumber=14%2F0017%2FFull&AddressPrefix=&Postcode=&CaseOfficer=&ParishName=&AreaTeam=&WardMember=&DateReceivedStart=&DateReceivedEnd=&DateDecidedStart=&DateDecidedEnd=&Locality=&AgentName=&ApplicantName=&ShowDecided=&DecisionLevel=&Sort1=FullAddressPrefix&Sort2=DateReceived+DESC&Submit=Search

Corn Buntings are a nationally declining red data species and any support that you can give (regardless of where you live) will be much appreciated!

Cheers
Jason

 

Corn Bunting - Shenstone

 

Bio Survey (week 2)

Wednesday 8th January to Tuesday 14th January 2014

It's been a slower week on the patch this week but there were still a few bits and bobs to add to the Bio Survey list from the 1km².

Birds:
The highlight of the week was picking up on 2 Lesser Redpolls (1♂) with the flock of c.40 Siskin that were feeding in the Alders at the edge of Stanklyn Wood on Monday 13th Jan.  These were actually the first patch Lesser Redpolls I had recorded all winter!  Other additions to the survey bird list were Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Collared Dove, Stock Dove, Greenfinch, Jay and Rook.

Fungi:
Three more fungi were added to the 1km² list:  Coral Spot, Holly Speckle and Crystal Brain.

Holly Speckle is a tiny brown/black disco type fungi that grows on dead Holly leaves.

Crystal Brain (Exidia nucleata)

Coral Spot (Nectria cinnabarina)

Holly Speckle (Trochila ilicina)

Click on image to enlarge









Galls:
During a walk around the 1k square on Saturday 11th Jan. I noticed that there were the remains of many Robin's Pincushion galls on the Dog Rose plants along Butts Lane.  Robin's Pincushions are caused by a minute gall wasp called Dipoloepis rosae.  The gall develops on the stems of wild roses during late summer and acquires a reddish colour as it matures and later turns brown.  The grubs inside the gall feed on the host plant throughout the winter and emerge in spring as adults.

Robin's Pincushion

Flora:
During this period, I was able to identify 4 more wildflowers that were in bloom and a fifth by it's seed head.  The four in bloom were Common Field-speedwell (Veronica persica), Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) and Wild Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) .  The other plant identified was Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum).

Trees:
Another tree was identified within the 1k square in the form of a Hazel which was present just off Butts Lane.

Hazel (Corylus avellana)














Total no. of Species recorded in 1km² = 76 

The 'wider patch' and beyond....

Well, I am happy to say 2014 has seen me find my wildlife and blogging mojo again.  I think sometimes a bit of timeout followed by a fresh approach can really help.  But enough on my current renewed passion for the great outdoors (and associated wildlife) and on with the post.  Aside from the 1km² that I am studying in depth I am still making time to look at what's happening on the 'wider patch', although not in the same level of detail. 

Birdwise, the patch year list has got off to a sluggish start and believe it or not, It's now the 9th January and I still haven't added Corn Bunting to said list.  Don't panic though folks, Shenstone's Corn Bunting population (which is the biggest remaining one in Worcestershire) has not just disappeared.  During the winter months the Corn Buntings flock together, sometimes with other buntings, to search for food amongst the stubble fields around the patch.  Some years they are easily seen feeding in fields near public footpaths or just off the lanes, but other times they favour some of the fields that are privately owned and just cannot be accessed or viewed (of which there are a fair few).  I will certainly keep you all updated when I do next connect with them.

At Witch Lane a Grey Heron has seemingly taken up residence in one of the ploughed fields there.  It's amazing what they will feed on,  away from there usual diet of fish their diet can also consist of insects, crustaceans, frogs and even small mammals.  I've even seen them eating raw offal at a Red Kite feeding station in the past.

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Just 'off patch' at Hartlebury the local winter Lapwing flock has numbered 72 birds, I just need them now to head the mile or so up  the road to Shenstone!

Also on a small pool at Hartlebury there was a drake Mandarin present on 4th January (discovered by TMH).  When I popped to see the bird later that day a Barnacle Goose had also come in with a flock of Canada Geese.  This was an unringed bird and presumably the same one that visits Captains Pool periodically.

Barnacle Goose and Mandarin Duck
(distant record shots)