Sandwell Valley April 2016

On Sunday I was back volunteering at RSPB Sandwell Valley once again. The hide was well-staffed by volunteers in the morning so Alf and I went for a ramble around the reserve, our first in a while! Before we set off though we had a few nice sightings from the centre, mainly of birds on and around the feeders. The place is teeming with Lesser Redpolls, even more than last time, I don't think there have ever been this many here before - usually sightings are restricted to the occasional small flock around the Alders in the reedbed. Some of the males are by now looking very nice in their breeding plumage - like they've been eating raspberries rather messily! The other usual friends were also around, including Reed Bunting, Bullfinch, Coal Tit and Chaffinch. I also saw a Rook fly over which was unusual - they are normally found more around the farmland in the wider Sandwell Valley. A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly also landed briefly on the Marsh Marigold growing in front of the window.

On our walk Alf and I heard our first Blackcap of the year near Kingfisher Corner. We also saw many of the usual suspects on Forge Mill Lake and the marsh including Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Grey Heron, Gadwall and Teal. Our best sighting of the day came when we were walking along the bank overlooking Forge Mill Lake; I spotted a Yellow Wagtail busily striding around one of the islands in the lake! This was a reserve tick for me as Yellow Wagtails never stick around here for long and I've always missed them in previous years. Hurrah! I also took some photos of a few plants that we saw during our walk.

Not quite sure what this is - going to wait for it to flower.....

I love the sun shining on willow catkins!

Not 100% sure but I think this might be Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor).

At lunchtime we headed down to the hide, enjoying some more nice sightings on the way down:

A Willow Warbler singing over our heads.

First Orange Tip of the year.

Down in the hide the fun continued! The Common Scoter which had been around since Wednesday was still present so we enjoyed watching him, constantly diving, staying under for several minutes, and only resurfacing for a few seconds before the next dive. As well as that, there were also three Greylag Geese present - slightly unusual visitors to the reserve, usually the Canada Geese have the monopoly. Still a few wintery ducks around - some Shovelers and Goosanders. There were a couple of Little Ringed Plovers, and loads of hirundines - I had my first Swallows and Sand Martins of the year (having had a pair of early House Martins in the Lake District a couple of weeks ago). Overhead we had a few Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk. A Fox casually walking along the opposite bank also entertained us and flushed a couple of Snipe!

Distant Fox.

Sandwell Valley March 2016

On Sunday I was back volunteering at RSPB Sandwell Valley, for the first time in a while due to being ill last month. It was nice to be back! In the morning Alf and I mooched in the visitor centre, chatting to visitors and regulars and enjoying the birds through the giant windows looking out onto the feeders, and the marsh and Forge Mill Lake beyond. Several Lesser Redpolls had been visiting the feeders lately and we enjoyed them particularly, as well as the usual suspects including a Willow Tit which put in a brief appearance, a Coal Tit, a few Long-tailed Tits, a Song Thrush down on the ground and a smart male Reed Bunting.

Mr Reed Bunting.

We also spotted a few Wigeon join a Shoveler down in the marsh, and a pair of Stock Doves flying around. At lunchtime Alf and I headed down to the hide, where we were joined a little later by Ian. After the previous very chilly day we hadn't exactly been relishing the prospect of sitting in the hide for several hours, but luckily the weather was considerably perkier than forecast and in fact we enjoyed a pleasantly cosy afternoon! Before we'd even reached the hide we startled a Snipe out from the edge of the marshy pool next to the path leading down to the hide; the first of a few we saw that afternoon, winter hasn't quite left us yet. In a similar vein there were still 17 Goosander on Forge Mill Lake and a scattering of Teal; and I STILL haven't found my first Chiffchaff of the year! Conversely, the Little Ringed Plover which has already been present on and off for around a month was bobbling around on the islands bringing cheer to us all, the Great Crested Grebes were busting some moves out on the water, and a pair of Coots were trying their hardest to build a nest in their usual spot in front of the hide. We also heard the noisy resident Rose-ringed Parakeets squawking away, saw several Buzzards hunting over the golf course, and enjoyed a Kingfisher whizzing past.

We were quite busy with visitors most of the afternoon, but I managed to grab a few minutes for some sketching too, as well as a bit of messing around with my zoom lens!

Great Crested Grebe dramatically silhouetted - that's my excuse for the terrible lighting anyway!

Lapwing.

Sketches of Canada Geese.

Sketches of Canada Geese and Little Ringed Plover.

Sandwell Valley January 2016

On Sunday I was back for the first time this year for my monthly volunteering day at RSPB Sandwell Valley. We started the morning with an enjoyable half an hour watching the feeders from the warmth of the visitor centre, where alongside the usual suspects the highlights were the occasional Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Reed Bunting and Song Thrush; it was also good to see such high numbers of Greenfinch, which seem to have well and truly bounced back after their populations here were decimated by trichomonosis a few years ago.

It was then time for my stint down in the hide and I had wrapped up well in preparation. It was rather chilly! We were on the lookout for a female Smew which had briefly spent some time on Forge Mill Lake the previous day, but sadly she didn't show up again. No Goldeneyes either despite the freezing temperatures! We made do with a couple of Wigeon, some Shoveler, Pochard, Goosander, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Lapwing, as well as the ever-present Black-headed Gulls. There was also a Grey Wagtail and a Pied Wagtail around, and a nice group of Snipe sheltering by a large willow stump at the end of one of the islands, which I attempted to draw:

Snipe sketch.

The female Oystercatcher also put in an appearance, having first returned to the reserve in December, a couple of days before New Year - around a month earlier than her usual return date! We know it's the same one every year as she only has one foot. We did see one more unusual visitor to the reserve - a Great Black-backed Gull.

The female Oystercatcher.

Great Black-backed Gull.

I went back up to the visitor centre to eat my lunch and warm up; luckily there were enough volunteers in the hide that afternoon for me to stay in the warm for the rest of the day! We continued to watch the feeders and there was quite a bit of excitement when a Fox appeared underneath them and swiftly dispatched a Rat that had been eating fallen birdseed! This Fox has been seen taking out Rats in this fashion a few times - it seems he has become quite skilled at it. We saw him again, although he didn't catch a Rat the second time. It was amazing how he just seemed to be able to appear out of nowhere!

Fox with his tasty Rat prize.

Fox.

Sandwell Valley - November 2015

On Sunday I was back again for my monthly volunteering stint at RSPB Sandwell Valley. As the weather was extremely windy and a bit drizzly, and there were plenty of volunteers down in the hide for the morning, Alf and I stayed up inside the visitor centre, keeping nice and warm whilst enjoying the view of the feeders and down over the marsh from the giant windows! It was very pleasant indeed; on the feeders it was great to see so many Greenfinches - many of them juveniles so they've obviously had a successful breeding season. We also kept our eyes peeled for Bramblings as a couple had been spotted recently, but alas we couldn't make any of the numerous Chaffinches we saw into Bramblings. Also around were the usual Blue and Great Tits, Bullfinches, and a few House Sparrows, Goldfinches and Dunnocks, as well as a group of Long-tailed Tits passing through at one point.

After lunch we headed down to the hide. On the way I took a few photos:

Secret passage for the young 'uns! (HDR).

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) berries (HDR).

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) berries.

Hedge Bedstraw (Galium mollugo) still in flower.

Down in the hide, Forge Mill Lake was looking very choppy indeed and as a result virtually all the lake's usual residents were sheltering down at the far end in the distance. This included quite a few Goosander, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Mallard, the first Wigeon I've seen this autumn at Sandwell Valley, and just a couple of Shoveler. Along with a small group of Gadwall braving the wind up at our end of the lake, and a few skittish Teal, we've nearly got the full complement of winter ducks in now! Our search for Goldeneye proved fruitless, but they usually turn up when it gets colder.... There were also a few Snipe on the islands and far shore which generally kept their heads down, but occasionally would fly up or scuttle around a bit. One other interesting thing I observed which I'd never seen before was a Magpie caching an acorn - it landed on the island with its cargo and proceeded to peck a small hole in the mud, insert the acorn, then drop a bit of mud back on the top!

Choppy Forge Mill Lake.

Rough waters!

As most of the birds were a bit out of range for drawings and photos, I resorted to the omnipresent Black-headed Gulls to practice my sketching and photography skills; here are my efforts!

Black-headed Gulls.

Black-headed Gulls.

Black-headed Gulls.

Black-headed Gulls.

Black-headed Gull sketch.

Black-headed Gull sketch.

Although I didn't capture any in my photos, a couple of the Black-headed Gulls had partially-developed brown hoods, as though they were developing their breeding plumage. We didn't know whether this might have been related to the recent warm temperatures - I'm not sure what the triggers are for the development of breeding plumage, maybe temperature plays a part, maybe it doesn't.....something I'll have to try and find out more about. Either way, I'm hoping for some more seasonally-appropriate weather soon, and looking at the forecast for this weekend I think I might finally be in luck! Looking forward to seeing what changes it may bring to my birding :o)

Sandwell Valley - October 2015

On Sunday I was back at RSPB Sandwell Valley for my monthly volunteering stint. Although the forecast had been for sunny spells, the day ended up being one of blazing sunshine and cloud-free skies and I felt a bit overdressed in my woolly jumper (I am ready for winter!). The calm conditions meant that there wasn't much out of the ordinary around but we had an enjoyable day nonetheless. 

Alf and I started the day with our usual walk around the reserve. We began by heading up to the horse paddock as I thought I'd spotted a Fox sunbathing there (as they often do) from the car on the way in. When we got to the paddock there were no signs of life, so we turned around to walk down to the river, only to see a bushy russet tail whisk away into the undergrowth on the other side of the road! The sneaky fox had probably been watching us the whole time! So I was unsuccessful in my attempts to get a Fox photo, but here are a few other photos of the reserve looking splendid in the early autumn sun.

The woodland around the path leading down to Kingfisher Corner.

Not 100% sure but I think this is Prickly Sow-thistle (Sonchus asper).

A very shiny iridescent beetle on some Nettles. My identification efforts only got me as far as some kind of leaf beetle, can anyone else identify it more conclusively?

Forge Mill Lake.

The new nature-themed screen looking over the marsh.

We saw a pair of what we were 90% sure were Ravens flying down the railway line near the bridge - they zoomed past us so we only caught a glimpse, but their apparent large size, longish-looking tails and the whoosh of air against their powerful wings gave us definite Raven vibes. Along the River Tame we saw Grey Wagtail and Meadow Pipit, some nice views of Snipe on the far side of the islands, several Buzzards up and enjoying the clear skies, and there was lots of Jay action, unsurprising for the time of year. We saw a fair few busily ferrying acorns around, causing us to ponder the mutualistic relationship between Jays and Oaks, and also between other species of jay and tree. I then started thinking about jays generally and how awesome they are - I have only seen three jay species (Eurasian, Siberian and Blue); how amazing would it be to see every jay species in the world!

From the hide Teal had increased in number since my last visit and there seemed to be plenty of Gadwalls quacking around, but only a few Shovelers and one Pochard. The Kingfishers were putting on a good display once again, they seem to have become used to using the numbered posts around the Lake edge as perches. We also heard the squeal of a Water Rail which remained typically hidden in the reeds, and the Lapwings were very jumpy indeed, all taking flight at the slightest provocation. Our best sighting of the day was a  Mediterranean Gull roosting with the Black-headed Gulls; it was preening its snowy plumage with one hefty bill! I enjoyed playing with my new camera once again; here are some of the results:

A Coot enjoying Alf's apple core.

Lapwings.

A Coot reflecting.

Due most likely to the pleasant weather, the hide was very busy so I sadly didn't have much time for drawing. Here's what I produced; I think it's probably my best attempt yet at a Snipe (previous efforts have been pretty terrible!):

Snipe and aborted Gadwall sketches.

Finally, back in the centre, I picked up a copy of the new RSPB Sandwell Valley Flora produced by SandNats. Looking forward to getting stuck into this!

Essential reading for Sandwell Valley fans.

Sandwell Valley - September 2015

Yesterday I was back once again for my monthly volunteering jaunt at RSPB Sandwell Valley. It had been a while since I was last there - September has been very busy so far, we went to End of the Road festival, had a week in the Lake District, oh and I FINISHED MY DEGREE! I submitted my final assignment on Saturday so now I have a bit more free time to play with and am looking forward to cracking on with various other fun projects that I've been planning for a while. 

Back to Sandwell Valley though.....Alf was off gallivanting around Portland Bill for the weekend so we didn't have our usual morning stroll, instead I was in the hide all day - I had no complaints about that though. I had my new camera with me and was looking forward to trying it out. Bird-wise it was quiet-ish, a few dregs of summer migrants were still sloshing about - we saw quite a few Swallows from the hide and there were several Chiffchaffs about, I even heard one singing briefly when I first arrived at the reserve. Small numbers of winter visitors have started to arrive - we had nice views of 2 Snipe feeding on the shore of Forge Mill Lake, and small groups of Teal and Shoveler dibbling around. We also enjoyed the antics of a Kingfisher making its way around the lake, stopping to sit on nearly every number-post; later on it was joined by its partner near the sluice gate. A Little Egret was a somewhat unusual visitor too, they only occasionally swing by Sandwell Valley, but this one had apparently been around for a while.

Here are a few photos...........

Little Egret on the move.

Massively cropped so not a good photo, but this gull (perching) is really bugging me! The one on the water is a Lesser Black-backed, the weird gull had similarly-coloured wings but pink legs and the strange bill pattern. Is it just a weird juvenile?

Robin outside the hide.

And here are some drawings! 

Black-headed Gull sketch.

A mixed bag of Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gull sketches.

Back up at the centre I bought one of the limited edition Snipe badges to commemorate the opening of the new visitor centre. A lovely design and still some available, pin badge fans!

Sandwell Valley - August 2015

On Sunday I was back once again for my monthly volunteering stint at RSPB Sandwell Valley, but it was a bit of a different day to normal. We had a big Family Fun Day event arranged to celebrate the opening of the brand new visitor centre and with wildlife activities aplenty expertly organised by Alex, Cathy and Nadia, and a good weather forecast, were hoping to get a good turnout! When Alf and I arrived the place was teeming with volunteers; we'd all been allocated a role in Alex's Rota (our masterplan for the day). Instead of my usual place in the hide I was down to be a 'roving' volunteer in the morning and afternoon, walking around the reserve and talking to visitors, and to cover other volunteers' lunch breaks around lunchtime. Sounded good to me - I would get to do a nice variety of things.

I started off with a walk around the reserve which was looking great in the sunshine.

The Marsh.

Forge Mill Lake.

I saw and spoke to a few people; bird-wise it was fairly quiet as expected for the time of year. There were lots of Reed Warblers skulking around in the reeds fringing Forge Mill Lake; a fair bit of Green Woodpecker activity (we'd seen a juvenile and an adult from the centre before I set off) and the usual suspects on the lake. The juvenile Common Terns were still around and doing well, and I saw a very cute juvenile Blackcap hopping around in the bushes on the lake bank. I also saw quite a few Large White butterflies and a few Small Whites, plus the odd Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown. The Himalayan Balsam was in full flow and getting a bit out of hand in places - it's very difficult to keep on top of. It does provide nectar for various pollinators though.

As well as this hoverfly I saw plenty of bumblebees visiting the Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera ) flowers.

I also managed to find a plant I'd never seen on the reserve before.

Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea). Lovely.

I headed back to the new volunteer room in the visitor centre for an early lunch, in preparation for covering other volunteers' lunch breaks. At 12:30 I was scheduled to cover pond dipping at pond 2! The last time I did any pond dipping was probably at least 2 decades ago, although I did also remember a bit of the identification stuff from the short aquatic invertebrate monitoring project I did much more recently as part of my degree. After watching the demonstration from chief pond-dipper Rachel though I soon got the hang of it and had a great time looking at what everyone had found and helping them identify their critters. There were plenty of newt tadpoles, water boatmen, whirligig beetles, snails, leeches and the like. Both kids and parents were well into it! It was a big contrast to my relatively quiet morning wandering around the lake but it was good fun. Each session lasted half an hour then at the end we had to make sure everyone had put all their pond beasties safely back into the pond, and rinse out and fill the trays and pots with a bit of pond water ready for the next group.

Learning how to pond dip!

At 13:30 I was covering pond dipping at pond 1! As it turned out, pond 1 seemed to be short of volunteers for the rest of the afternoon so that's where I stayed until 16:00 when it was time to start clearing up. The afternoon was so hectic I didn't have time to take any more photos! It was great helping visitors find and identify pond creatures and seeing them getting so excited about nature. I also saw Mike Poulton and we had a quick chat about the latest Friends of Rowley Hills antics, things are going well with our group. Once the pond dipping equipment was tidied away I caught up with Alf and Colin who'd had similarly busy days in the centre, showing visitors birds through their scopes. The centre was still packed with people; visitor numbers had far exceeded what we were expecting. They did all eventually leave though, and we were left slightly dazed but very happy with how successful the day had been!

Sandwell Valley - July 2015

Yesterday I was back for my monthly volunteering stint at RSPB Sandwell Valley. Exciting times afoot, as the brand new visitor centre 'Nature's Reach' is now open to the public! Although I think it's been open for a couple of weeks or so, there is an official grand opening event on 2nd August so come along to that for the full experience! Yesterday though as they were a bit short of volunteers I was in the hide in the morning, and on reception at Nature's Reach from 2:30 in the afternoon until closing time at 5, so I had a nice varied day :o)

Down in the hide there was some excitement due to the presence of two Black-tailed Godwits, fairly unusual visitors to the reserve. One looked smaller than the other and had brighter plumage, although both had their breeding season rusty red feathers on. They seemed fairly settled, busily feeding mostly around a group of Black-headed Gulls and Lapwings, and although they did fly up a couple of times when disturbed, always returned again. I had a go at sketching them:

Black-tailed Godwit sketches.

There were quite a few juvenile birds about. The Common Terns have been successful, raising two chicks that it seemed were taking their first flights this very day - apparently they hadn't been flying at all the previous day. Their parents were vigilant as ever at seeing off Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Magpies that got too close, but now the young'uns can fly they are hopefully pretty much home and dry. We also saw one Little Ringed Plover juvenile scuttling about but it probably came from elsewhere - don't think they've bred at Sandwell this year. There were a few Tufted Ducklings about also. 

Juvenile Little Ringed Plover, digiscoped through the hide scope as I didn't have my own with me today.

Forge Mill Lake looking splendid.

Behind the hide we had a brief and unexpected encounter with a Garden Warbler - well not entirely unexpected as we'd heard one singing in the same location on the breeding bird survey, but now everything's stopped singing you don't really expect to get a great view of anything really, much less a Garden Warbler. I didn't spot any new plants to try and identify this time, but the damp bit behind the hide always has some nice plants, like this Meadowsweet and Water Figwort:

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria).

Water Figwort (Scrophularia auriculata).

Around the reserve throughout the day I saw plenty of butterflies - Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Large Whites and the highlight - one Marbled White in the grassland as I was walking up to the visitor centre. I'd never seen Marbled White at Sandwell Valley before, although apparently a few do pop up here and there every year.

The only photo I managed to get of the Marbled White - they never sit still!

In the afternoon I enjoyed familiarising myself with Nature's Reach and selling LOTS of ice creams and cold drinks to visitors - cheers nice weather! Here are a couple of pics of the interior - in some ways it's similar to the old centre, but a lot more spacious and with even bigger windows looking down onto the marsh and Forge Mill Lake:

A bit blurry, the new reception area.

For all your snacking and beverage needs!

Take a seat and enjoy the view.

Best of all, about an hour before closing time Chris and our friends Andy and Ellie (who were visiting for the weekend) came to visit :o) They enjoyed looking round Nature's Reach and searching for newts in the ponds, then once the centre was closed up for the evening we went for a short walk around the reserve. I craftily steered us towards the best spot for checking whether the Black-tailed Godwits were still there, and indeed they were. One was roosting with his beak tucked away, but we all enjoyed watching the other having a good preen - Chris, Andy and Ellie had never seen a godwit before and were suitably impressed by its very long beak! After a nice walk in the sun we all headed home together - infinitely better than my long solitary bus journey to the reserve that morning.