Thursday 30th September 2010 - Shenstone

This mornings visit to the patch provided me with my first Redwings of the Autumn, with 14 Redwings seen flying South West over Stanklyn Lane beet field. Also of note along Stanklyn Lane were 2 Jays and 1 Green Woodpecker.

Huge numbers of Skylarks were on the move today with c.120 Skylarks seen flying South over Heath Lane. Also along Heath Lane were a flock of 40 Linnets and a ♀ Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen on telegraph pole. 5 Common Buzzards were up soaring high above the fields opposite the Islamic School.

A further 12 Skylarks Flew South West over Witch Lane. Lapwing numbers have decreased significantly with only a small flock of 14 Lapwings present. 47 Herring Gulls and 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were in one of the ploughed fields along Witch Lane. A Grey Heron, 2 Kestrels and a Common Buzzard were also present in the area.

Kestrel hovering - Shenstone, 30th Sept 2010:

Wednesday 29th September 2010 - Shenstone

Another quiet day around the patch today. Popped to Captain's pool this morning where 4 Great Crested Grebe (1 adult & 3 juv) were still present and an immature Swallow was flying around over the water.

On the wires at Heath Lane paddocks there were c.140 Starlings and 7 Linnets. 2 Green Woodpeckers were in one of the paddocks along Stanklyn Lane and Skylarks were heard singing from 3 different locations around the patch.

The Lapwing count was slightly down today with only 81 Lapwing present along Witch Lane. In the same field 7 Mallards, 1 Grey Heron and 1 Black-headed Gull were present. An adult ♀ Kestrel was also seen hovering over this field and a flock of c.120 Linnets were still in the area. The 'bean field' along Witch Lane held 19 Herring Gulls, 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 1 Black-headed Gull and 2 Common Buzzards.

Also of interest was a Shaggy Ink Cap fungus in someones front lawn along Butts Lane.

Monday 27th September 2010 - Shenstone

After Saturdays excitement it was business as usual around Shenstone this morning. c.100 Starlings were present on the pylons along Stanklyn Lane and a Jay and a Green Woodpecker were present in the paddocks. A further 27 Starlings were on the wires over Heath Lane paddock and 17 Mistle Thrushes were in the ploughed field opposite the Granary, along the A450.

59 Large Gulls (Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls), 2 Black-headed Gulls and 11 Pied Wagtails were in the, now ploughed, bean field along Witch Lane. a Further 24 Large Gulls were in the ploughed field on the opposite side of the road. The Lapwing flock has re-located along Witch Lane and now numbers 96 Lapwings. A flock of c.120 Linnets were also present flitting around over this field. Its always nice to see good flocks of Linnets and cruel as it may seem leads me to think Merlin food!

A ♀ Kestrel and a Common Buzzard were also seen along Witch Lane and 9 Meadow Pipits flew over heading in a South Eastern direction.

If any of you were wondering why I tend to get such numbers of gulls 'on the deck' in an arable area, it's due to Shenstone's proximity to Hartlebury landfill site which is only about 1 mile as the gull flies.

Saturday 25th September 2010 - Shenstone

Its days like today that make local patch birding all the more worth while. On the face of it what seemed to be a completely dead day turned out to be anything but with me picking up a Shenstone mega and patch tick.

I was unable to get around the patch until early afternoon at just before 2pm along Witch Lane I saw all the Large Gulls go up from one of the ploughed fields. I raised my bins and scanned for a possible raptor. Indeed there was one gliding low across the field with its wings held in a shallow V and on seeing its white upper tail coverts and barred tail I knew I had a female/immature Hen Harrier (or 'Ringtail' as they are commonly known). This is not the first Hen Harrier I've seen in Worcestershire but to get one on my patch...I was elated. The bird then flew in an ENE direction towards Chaddersley Corbett and Bluntington when I lost sight of it.

This is the second record of Hen Harrier for Shenstone with the previous one being recorded some years before by fellow local birder John Cox along Heath Lane.

Also of note around the patch were c.120 Large Gulls (Herring & Lesser Black-backed Gulls) that settled in a ploughed field the other side of Witch Lane after the Harrier went through. Also along Witch Lane were a ♂ Kestrel and 2 Pied Wagtails. A single Meadow Pipit flew over Butts Lane and there was no sign of any Lapwings today in the field that they had been favouring along the A450.

Friday 24th September 2010 - Upton Warren & Shenstone

On my way out to Shenstone this morning I decided to pop for a cup of tea at Tony's Cafe (they will let any old riffraff in there its great!). Whilst there both myself and TS received a message saying that a Marsh Harrier was at Upton Warren Flashes and had gone to ground in the reed bed. We decided to go for it and on arriving at the hide we were told it hadn't gone up yet. The waiting game was on. After about half hour the farmer whose land is adjacent to the reed bed went across the edge of his field in his Range Rover, this was enough to put the bird up and we were treated to cracking views of this stunning ♂ Marsh Harrier. Eventually it was mobbed by many corvids and flew off into the distance not to be seen again that day. In my opinion this was a bird well worth going for, as most sightings in Worcestershire of this fairly scarce (in this county) raptor are brief flyovers and this infact was a county tick for me. Also of note on the flashes were 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper and c.60 Shoveller.

After spending a while at Upton we decided to go and check out Grimley. First call was the farm shop for a coffee to warm the cockles. Whilst consuming our beverages another message came through from Worcester Birding (I highly recommend subscribing to this relatively inexpensive service to all local birders). This time the message was to let us know that a Pectoral Sandpiper had dropped in at Upton Warren Flashes. Needless to say we returned to Upton to see this scarce American passage wader and I'm so glad we did. The bird was showing really well not too far away from the hide and what a superb looking bird this immature Pectoral Sandpiper was, especially when the sunlight caught it. My second county tick of the day. After a good while, and many photos later, TS and I left and headed back to Kidderminster.

Pectoral Sandpiper - Upton Warren, 24th Sept 2010:

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From Tony's I then quickly shot round Shenstone. The number of Lapwings in the field alongside the A450 continues to increase with 76 Lapwings present today. A covey of 6 Red-legged Partridge were in the field opposite the Islamic School, Heath Lane and c.70 Linnets were in the harvested cereal field along Butts Lane. The large ploughed field along Witch Lane is drying out and only contained 3 Pied Wagtails today. The same field also contained 21 Herring Gulls and 29 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 4 Stock Doves were also present. 2 Grey Herons were sat in another field along Witch Lane.

Worcester Birding/Birding Today news service:

http://www.birdingtoday.co.uk/online_bird_news_2.html