The sun brought out the butterflies this morning with 11 Brimstones, 5 Peacocks, 2 Small Tortoiseshells, 1 Comma and 1 Orange-tip being seen. A Curlew called as it flew over and three Sand Martins were seen near the river, also a Blackcap sang briefly near the Haven. On the Slurry Lagoon two Shelduck were present first thing. PS.
Tag Archives: Sand Martin
Curlew – 6th April
Common Tern – 13th April
This morning there were two Common Terns on the Deep Pit, four Little Ringed Plovers on the Wader Scrape and two on the Slurry Lagoon dry end. There were several Sedge Warblers, three Lesser Whitethroats, three Swallows, six Sand Martins and a House Martin. PS.
Green Sandpiper – 10th April
This afternoon, on the Wader Scrape, there was a Green Sandpiper, a Dunlin, three Little Ringed Plovers and a White Wagtail. A Swallow flew through and several Sand Martins were seen. In the reed bed on the Slurry Lagoon a Sedge Warbler was singing. PS. RW.
Little Ringed Plover – 28th March
This morning a Little Ringed Plover was seen on the Wader Scrape. JMD. There are now several Chiffchaffs singing and the Sand Martin nesting bank has been installed in the Deep Pit.
Black Redstart – 12th April
This morning a female/1st summer male Black Redstart was seen on the dry end of the Slurry Lagoon. Three Wheatears were on the Severn Trent fields. Later there was a Willow Warbler singing in the Deep Pit and seven Little Ringed Plover on the Wader Scrape. RW.
In the afternoon there were two female/1st summer male Black Redstarts on the dry end of the Slurry Lagoon and five Sand Martins and a Swallow passed through. PS.
In the early evening a Curlew flew through, a Green Sandpiper was on a riverside flood and the Barn Owl was hunting over the reserve. RW.
Twite – 10th April
Early this afternoon a Twite was tentatively identified on the Wader Scrape. At least five Little Ringed Plover were present and a Little Egret. Later the Twite returned giving good views and the identification was confirmed. Three Sand Martins were briefly seen over the Deep Pit. PS.
Swallow – 8th April
This afternoon there were three Swallows, a Sand Martin, four Little Ringed Plovers and a Ringed Plover on the Wader Scrape. In the late afternoon a Marsh Harrier flew over the railway land, pursued by crows. JC.
Green-winged Teal – Patchwatch day – 14th October
Today, during the Patchwatch, 74 species of bird were seen on the site. There were good numbers of Lesser Redpoll about as well as Song Thrushes and Skylarks. The highlight was provided by a male Green-winged Teal on the Slurry Lagoon with about 150 Eurasian Teal. Other good site finds were three Jays, a Tree Sparrow and a very late Sand Martin, plus two skeins of about 65 each of Pink-footed Geese flew over to the east. PS.
Warbler Walk – 9th May
After a bright sunny morning the weather clouded over and the first raindrops were felt just as three intrepid birders arrived to start the walk. By the footbridge there were Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and a Lesser Whitethroat, so at least the warblers were not put off by the weather.
The rain came and went in short, light showers, so the weather was not too uncomfortable, as we made our way around the south western side of the Slurry Lagoon. There were lots of birds singing, making it sometimes difficult to point out a particular species, with Dunnocks, Wrens, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Robins joining the singing throng. A Willow Warbler perched up nicely so that everyone could see it as it sang its sweet cadence of descending notes. More Blackcaps were singing but they were much harder to see, and another Lesser Whitethroat was rattling out its song from deep in the hawthorns. Whitethroats were heard but they were giving their ‘churring’ contact notes and the only singing bird was rather distant, so we moved on towards the Causeway, where I hoped to find Reed and Sedge Warbler.
When we arrived by the reed bed there was such a hubbub of song that again individuals were hard to pick out. Then a Sedge Warbler started to perform and its staccato notes gave us no doubt of the performer’s identity. The Reed Warblers sang much more rhythmically with a more even range of notes. None of the birds were showing as they remained deep in the dried stems of last years reeds. A Whitethroat sang briefly from the Deep Pit but gave very poor views, and the Cetti’s Warbler song exploded from the bushes at the foot of the bank several times as it made its patrol.
All of this was soon forgotten as rain brought Swifts and House Martins low and their close passes above our heads completely stole the show. They seemed to go through in waves as first there were Swifts rocketing over the Causeway at head height, and then the House Martins could be heard giving their conversational ‘prrit’ calls as thirty or so were feeding higher up. Next some Swallows came though and then it was House Martins again. During this time the Swifts kept coming though, sometimes passing between peoples’ heads and Common Terns flew between the Deep Pit and Slurry Lagoon several times, calling excitedly as they pursued one that was carrying a fish. The Swifts were so impressive that it took us a long time before we could drag ourselves away.
We walked around the Deep Pit and back along its eastern side towards the river. On the bank by the river there were two Sedge Warblers singing loudly and a good view was grabbed of a male Whitethroat. On the fence we noticed some Swallows having a rest, so we paused until they decided to continue their journey, which was not very long. We tried to identify the males from the females. Some Sand Martins were feeding in the Deep Pit and we heard their rasping ‘trrrsh’ calls as some flew over towards the river. We carried on back towards the Causeway, hearing Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps singing along the railway embankment. Back on the Causeway we struck lucky as a Garden Warbler bubbled through its repertoire as it sat on an exposed perch and everybody got good views of it. The Swifts were still performing well, so we dawdled along the Causeway, hearing the Cetti’s Warbler again. It now began to rain more seriously and so we made our way off the site. We had missed one of the warblers, so we only scored nine. The Grasshopper Warbler has only been heard once or twice, very briefly, and is possibly not even on site this year.
Warbler Walk – 9th May
After a bright sunny morning the weather clouded over and the first raindrops were felt just as three intrepid birders arrived to start the walk. By the footbridge there were Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and a Lesser Whitethroat, so at least the warblers were not put off by the weather.
The rain came and went in short, light showers, so the weather was not too uncomfortable, as we made our way around the south western side of the Slurry Lagoon. There were lots of birds singing, making it sometimes difficult to point out a particular species, with Dunnocks, Wrens, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Robins joining the singing throng. A Willow Warbler perched up nicely so that everyone could see it as it sang its sweet cadence of descending notes. More Blackcaps were singing but they were much harder to see, and another Lesser Whitethroat was rattling out its song from deep in the hawthorns. Whitethroats were heard but they were giving their ‘churring’ contact notes and the only singing bird was rather distant, so we moved on towards the Causeway, where I hoped to find Reed and Sedge Warbler.
When we arrived by the reed bed there was such a hubbub of song that again individuals were hard to pick out. Then a Sedge Warbler started to perform and its staccato notes gave us no doubt of the performer’s identity. The Reed Warblers sang much more rhythmically with a more even range of notes. None of the birds were showing as they remained deep in the dried stems of last years reeds. A Whitethroat sang briefly from the Deep Pit but gave very poor views, and the Cetti’s Warbler song exploded from the bushes at the foot of the bank several times as it made its patrol.
All of this was soon forgotten as rain brought Swifts and House Martins low and their close passes above our heads completely stole the show. They seemed to go through in waves as first there were Swifts rocketing over the Causeway at head height, and then the House Martins could be heard giving their conversational ‘prrit’ calls as thirty or so were feeding higher up. Next some Swallows came though and then it was House Martins again. During this time the Swifts kept coming though, sometimes passing between peoples’ heads and Common Terns flew between the Deep Pit and Slurry Lagoon several times, calling excitedly as they pursued one that was carrying a fish. The Swifts were so impressive that it took us a long time before we could drag ourselves away.
We walked around the Deep Pit and back along its eastern side towards the river. On the bank by the river there were two Sedge Warblers singing loudly and a good view was grabbed of a male Whitethroat. On the fence we noticed some Swallows having a rest, so we paused until they decided to continue their journey, which was not very long. We tried to identify the males from the females. Some Sand Martins were feeding in the Deep Pit and we heard their rasping ‘trrrsh’ calls as some flew over towards the river. We carried on back towards the Causeway, hearing Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps singing along the railway embankment. Back on the Causeway we struck lucky as a Garden Warbler bubbled through its repertoire as it sat on an exposed perch and everybody got good views of it. The Swifts were still performing well, so we dawdled along the Causeway, hearing the Cetti’s Warbler again. It now began to rain more seriously and so we made our way off the site. We had missed one of the warblers, so we only scored nine. The Grasshopper Warbler has only been heard once or twice, very briefly, and is possibly not even on site this year.