Saturday 25th June 2011 - Grimley

Today, myself and a fellow local birder (Mark P) popped to Grimley Gravel pits for a bit of  a nose around.  Its a site that can be confusing if you are not  used to the various pits/pool locations and as Mark hadn't been here before I thought I would show him whats what.

We started at the newly landscaped North end of the Camp Lane pits.  It was pretty quiet here birdwise but the area next to where we were stood was very good for the insects.  At this rate I will have to change the name of the blog to the Shenstone Entomologist!  Only kidding but it does fill a gap nicely during the summer birding lean spells.  Anyway back to the post.  In this area we recorded 6 Marbled Whites, 1 Narrow-bordered 5-spot Burnett Moth and a handful of Common Blue Damselflies.

We then popped down to the causeway to view the South Pool and the Camp Lane main pit.  The only notable waders were a single Common Sandpiper, 2 Oystercatchers and a few Lapwings.  There were 6 adult Common Terns present and one pair had 2 very young downy chicks that looked freshly hatched.  There were a number of Gadwall on the pool including one family with 4 reasonably sized chicks.  Also of note were 2 Little Grebe, 2 Teal, Tufted Ducks and Great Crested Grebes.  Sedge Warbler and Reed Buntings were calling along the causeway and a few Sand Martins were hawking for insects over the water.  In terms of insects we recorded a further 6 Marbled Whites, 2 Small Skippers, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, many Common Blue Damselflies and 1 Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly.

Our final stop was Wagon Wheel Lane pits.  In the ploughed field next to the pits were a flock of 30 Lapwing and 3 Little Ringed Plovers.  The pits themselves were quiet but for a pair of Tufted Ducks but we did have 4 Oystercatchers dropped in and a Hobby went over. In fact at one point we had Hobby, Kestrel and Common Buzzard up in the air at the same time.  

All in all a good day out...it's just a pity I had to spend it in the company of a Woverhampton Wanderers supporter..the shame of it!  (just kidding Mark)

Marbled White

Common Blue Damselflies