Friday 26th August 2011 - Shenstone, Woodrow & Tanwood

The 2 Wheatears were still present at Stanklyn Lane paddock this morning and 2 ♂ Redstarts were new birds in (TMH)

I arrived on the patch early to mid afternoon and headed straight for Stanklyn Lane.  There was no sign of this morning's Redstarts but there were now 3 Wheatears in the horse paddocks.  Also present were 18 Mistle Thrush, c.60 Starling, 6 Linnets and 11 Pied Wagtails.  A highlight for me was watching a young Swallow that was perching on a vent slat of the stable being regularly fed by its parents.  I've managed to get some video footage which I will put up later in this post.

2 Common Buzzards were on the fence posts at Heath Lane paddocks but otherwise it was very quiet there.

There were good numbers of hirrundines over Butts Lane with c.30 House Martins and c.40 Swallows present.  Whilst scanning through these in the hope of picking up a Sand Martin or a hawking Hobby.  I noticed a line of 5 dumpy looking birds flying WSW.  On closer inspection I could see that they were Golden Plover.  It's bit early I would have thought for migration but something (perhaps the weather) had caused them to be on the move.


Northern Wheatear
















Prior to arriving at Shenstone I had checked out the nearby areas of Woodrow and Tanwood.  At Woodrow there was a Yellow Wagtail in the small horse paddock with 6 Pied Wagtail and at Tanwood I was treated to an imm. Common Redstart.  So all in all a good day with plenty of bird movement.
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5 comments:

  1. Anonymous27 August 2011 at 21:44

    That fledgling Swallow is just something else, Jason. Well captured.

    I wonder if Fridays northerly & rain had prompted the Goldies to move so early.

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  2. boatbirder27 August 2011 at 23:13

    Jason, your video is always a nice touch, wish I had the patience :)
    Not sure if youve had as much rain as us over the past several days but lots of fields are now quite flooded! Perhaps the Plovers are just loooking for better feeding ground.

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  3. Jason K28 August 2011 at 02:35

    Thanks Dean..It was a privalige to watch the young Swallow. I was really interested to read that you had recorded Golden Plover movements too...it must have been weather related I would have thought.

    Cheers Keith, much appreciated. Perhaps you are right regarding the Plovers feeding grounds. Either way it was nice to see them

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  4. Bob Bushell28 August 2011 at 10:55

    Your video is astonishing, I could have stopped and watch for hours.

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  5. Jason K29 August 2011 at 00:30

    Thanks Bob...it was a joy to watch (let alone film)

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