Birds of Earlswood

Ponds at Earlswood

2012-01-26T23:59:00.004Z

It seems to be a little-known fact that once upon a time there was a fourth water of significant size in the Earlswood area, though much smaller than the three lakes. Little-known, hence the only information I've been able to find out about it is that which I've gleaned from maps and aerial photos. It was a large pond called Cleobury Pool, situated to the northeast of the junction of Norton Lane and Rumbush Lane. It seems to have been fed by a brook which ran through the pond and out towards Big Cleobury Farm, and was surrounded by broadleaved trees. It was certainly as old as the lakes, being present in the first OS map of the area in 1831, but could have been much older as in an article by B.K. Roberts it's included as a fishpond in a map reconstructing how the local area would've looked in c. 1350! OS maps from the 20th century suggest that the pond was gradually silting up, with the trees becoming woodland and the surface area of water decreasing and, although still present in the late 1950s, by the early 1970s the site is shown as two fields with a little woodland, and it has remained in a similar state ever since. I recently had the opportunity to see these two fields from Rumbush Lane, whilst there are no leaves to obstruct viewing, and there is indeed no sign whatsoever of the pond. I often wonder which bird species might've visited it, and if anything unusual like Teal might've bred there, but suspect I'll never know for sure. Hopefully the fields might come up for sale and I'll buy them and re-create the pond! ;-)

Cleobury Pool, 1887 and 1955

I'd love to hear of any records of birds seen at this pond, and if anyone has any further information or memories of it, do please get in touch. I intend to write about how the habitats and landscape of Earlswood have changed over the years in my book, as it is very relevant to the study of birds.

I just can't stop thinking about the "wildlife pond" that's been proposed, and eagerly await news of whether permission is given or not. It would be 2 acres - a similar size to the extent of the Cleobury Pool in the 1950s, and could potentially be great for wildlife, especially as there is no public access to the field, and many of the best nature reserves for birds in the midlands are centred around shallow pools (e.g. Upton Warren). If part of the meadow was restored and no further trees planted, such a shallow pond would be an ideal breeding ground for Lapwing and Redshank. Another species that doesn't breed at the lakes but might do at this pond is Little Grebe, whilst Green Sandpiper might over-winter. It could act as a refuge for waterbirds fleeing from the lakes at weekends! Other wildlife that could particularly benefit are amphibians and invertebrates, such as damselflies and dragonflies.

At Morton Bagot (about eight miles from Earlswood), there are two shallow pools similar in size to the proposed "wildlife pond". These two pools have attracted over 40 species of waterbird in recent years including White-fronted Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Shelduck, Garganey, Pintail, Little Egret, Wood Sandpiper and Ruff, plus both Water Pipit and Rock Pipit. Lapwing breed there, and in winter flocks of over 100 are frequently seen, whilst large numbers of Wigeon and Teal have also been recorded. This proves how good a 2-acre pond could be for the birds of Earlswood. I'll take this opportunity to mention that Richard Harbird has set up a blog for the birds of Morton Bagot at http://mortonbagotbirder.blogspot.com/.

Matt

Edit: I wrote most of the above a few days ago, but earlier today found out that the planning application for this pond has been refused, although the reasons for this have not yet been given. If the landowner would like to push for a wildlife pond, permission for it may be more likely if it had the backing of the Earlswood Wildlife Partnership; please get in touch if interested.

2011 summary

2012-01-22T00:36:00.007Z

Birding at Earlswood seems to get better each year. By my reckoning, a total of 133 species were recorded in the Earlswood area in 2011. I ticked 127 of them, easily beating the 113 species I had in 2010. Painfully, the six species I missed were:
Pink-footed Goose - two of unknown origin (Martin Lindop).
Little Tern - three at the lakes briefly (Martin Lindop).
Hoopoe - one at Manor Farm briefly (Richard Greer), which was the first record at an Earlswood property but the second for my recording area.
Stonechat - one seen from Springbrook Lane (Mike Jeeves).
Grasshopper Warbler - one heard near the pumping station south of Windmill Pool (Jim Winsper).
Crossbill - a pair at Terry's Green (Mike Jeeves), the first confirmed record for my recording area.

Still you can't see everything. The only other major disappointment of the year and a big embarrassment was overlooking the 2 Ruff, even though a number of dog-walkers saw them without binoculars, but at least I saw the one of them.

On the plus side I added 17 species to my patch life list, which were:
Night Heron (had to put this at the top!)
Barnacle Goose
Shelduck
Garganey
Little Egret
Peregrine
Little Ringed Plover
Ruff
Woodcock
Black-tailed Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
Whimbrel
Greenshank
Redshank
Sandwich Tern
Short-eared Owl (site first!)
Tree Pipit (both birds heard only but still counting them!)

As far as Earlswood is concerned, I'm sure 2011 will be best remembered for the long-staying Night Heron, which allowed numerous midlands birders to see it; a county tick for many Warwickshire birders too. However, it was also a better year than usual for waders (16 species), Shelduck (3 records), Little Egret (4 records), Little Gull (4 or 5 records) and terns (5 species). Another highlight for me (though not in Earlswood) was finding a putative Northern/Continental Long-tailed Tit in my back garden, which if accepted by the national British Bird Rarities Committee would actually be the rarest bird I've found to-date. I intend to put another post on here of 2011 bird photos taken at Earlswood soon...

Having more or less given up on my website, I've learnt how to add a page (rather than a post) to this blog and so have added the systematic list here. This will actually be much easier for me to update than the website, so perhaps this change is for the better. I will give people a couple of weeks to see which species were recorded last year, before updating it for 2012.

So on to this year. The Earlswood Wildlife Partnership have some more events planned (I'm going to start posting their newsletters on here), and the Olympic torch is to make a visit. Work is ongoing with my book.

Potentially the most notable event for the birds of my recording area could be the creation of a large shallow "wildlife pond" in a private meadow near the village, if planning permission is given. In size and depth, the plan for this pond sounds similar to a pool at Morton Bagot (near Redditch), which has proven to be rather good for birds. However, prior to putting the application in the landowner sprayed and ploughed up the meadow allegedly as part of its management, which has eliminated any interesting wildflowers that would've been impacted by the digging and spoil-spreading associated with pond creation - a wildflower meadow removed for a "wildlife pond"!!! Therefore, this proposed pond could turn out to be a very useful habitat for a variety of waterbirds that normally visit Earlswood infrequently and/or in very small numbers (most waterfowl and wader species); or it could turn out to be a pond of little wildlife value, of the "managed, neat and tidy" kind seen in large gardens or, heaven forbid, yet another fishing lake. It all depends on what the landowner's true intentions are and whether they're happy to take advice from people who know how to make ponds great for wildlife. If planning permission is given, I'm hoping the Earlswood Wildlife Partnership will be able to give advice on the pond, and perhaps the restoration of at least part of the meadow.

M.P. Griffiths

January 21st 2012

2012-01-21T22:52:00.001Z

A slightly better visit than the previous couple, with a Greylag Goose seen over Windmill Pool, and the Little Grebe along the northwest side of Terry's Pool still. I haven't seen the Mandarin since the 18th, but of course she could still be around. Annoyed to see a pair of fishermen at Terry's Pool fishing near the entrance to the woods, where they shouldn't be - evidently it isn't enough that they have the other two pools, the dam side of Terry's and the Mereside Pools to use for their "sport"! I told the water bailiff but I don't think he did anything about it. There is fishing line in a couple of places around Terry's Pool too, which I can't reach. >:-(

Good to meet John Yardley at the lakes, and walking around we had 15 Siskins at Engine Pool and a flock of c. 160 Lapwings over Windmill Pool, the latter being the largest flock of this species that I've seen at Earlswood. Although I haven't seen any in the last few days, Golden Plovers have been flying over the area in large numbers this winter too, with Tony Philp recording a flock of 600+ over the Hungry Horse field (WMids) on the 11th.

Invasion of the Golden Plovers, 11/01/2012 (© Tony Philp)

There have been quite a few more Mute Swans present at the lakes this month, with a peak of 13 so far, though presence/absence of rings and ageing indicates that more individuals than this have visited.

M.P. Griffiths

January 20th 2012

2012-01-20T23:59:00.002Z

Another fairly quiet visit, though at Terry's Pool I relocated the Little Grebe amongst branches along the northwest side (which I didn't check yesterday) and heard Greylag Goose calls coming from the other pools. At the causeway I had flyovers of 3 Lapwings and a Sparrowhawk.

M.P. Griffiths

January 19th 2012

2012-01-19T23:59:00.000Z

A quiet visit, with just a female Teal at Terry's Pool the main bird of note, whilst there was no sign of the Little Grebe or Mandarin Duck.

M.P. Griffiths

January 18th 2012

2012-01-18T23:59:00.001Z

A warmer day with less ice on the lakes than yesterday. For the third day, workmen were cutting trees and branches along Valley Road, opening it up more along there, which hopefully will also be beneficial for the flora along the brook. The Little Grebe and Mandarin Duck were still at Terry's Pool along with a flock of 13 Siskins. At Windmill Pool, a Grey Wagtail rose from the Spring Brook and a Raven passed over.

John Hunt reports seeing a presumed Marsh Tit in the woods on the 15th.

M.P. Griffiths

January 17th 2012

2012-01-17T23:15:00.002Z

Even more ice covering the lakes today, but still not as much as on many occasions last winter. There was nothing notable new in but lingering birds included the Little Grebe at Terry's Pool near the weir, the female Mandarin Duck at Engine Pool and a male Teal at Windmill Pool. For me though, this visit's highlight were the Mallard (yes, the Mallard!), and with birds concentrated at the unfrozen patches and hardly any movement between those patches, I counted 478 - probably a patch record!!!
M.P. Griffiths

P.S. I've been trying to update the systematic list of birds and birders' lists pages, but it seems my account has expired and the company want my card details, even though it's free, so looks like I'm gonna have to move this elsewhere.

January 16th 2012

2012-01-16T23:59:00.002Z

More ice on the lakes than yesterday, and evidently some movement overnight as a few new birds had appeared, namely a Little Grebe at Terry's Pool near the weir, and at Windmill Pool a female Pochard, 2 Wigeon (pair), 4 Teal and a Common Gull. The female Mandarin Duck was still at Engine Pool.
M.P. Griffiths

2 Wigeon at Windmill Pool, 16/01/2012 (© Tony Philp)

January 15th 2012

2012-01-15T23:59:00.000Z

During this month's WeBS counts, I saw 2 Kingfishers at Terry's Pool, the female Mandarin Duck at Engine Pool (later at Terry's), and a male Teal and Grey Wagtail at Windmill Pool.
M.P. Griffiths

2012 so far

2012-01-14T23:56:00.002Z

Just wanted to wish everyone a late "happy New Year". Late, because I've recently had computer problems, with my computer's mains supply / fan going bang and being forced to use my sister's laptop which is slow and overheats quickly! Having finished the Warwickshire bird news for next month's Birdwatching magazine (been doing it for a few months now), I am now going through a backlog of emails sent to me, so apologies to everyone who I'm late replying to. It's been a better January for good patch birds than usual, but rather than repeat what I'd written, I've included something for the local Residents Association newsletter in the post below. The main bird of note today was a female Gadwall at Windmill Pool, the first female I've seen at Earlswood in ages, whilst yesterday I saw a Marsh Tit around Terry's Pool, my first around the lakes since last spring. I haven't seen the pair of Mandarin Ducks since the 10th, but they can be elusive.

Obviously I'm very excited about what 2012 will bring in terms of birds and it's looking good so far, though it will take a lot to beat last year, which was possibly the best year at Earlswood on record in terms of number of species. I hope to write a summary of 2011 in another post, including the many photos sent to me which I've so far failed to put on here. May I take this opportunity to thank everyone who's sent me their sightings and/or photos - they're much appreciated, so please keep them coming :-)

Matt

Winter summary

2012-01-14T23:52:00.000Z

Here's a couple of paragraphs that I've written for the local Residents Asociation newsletter:

---------------------------------

A number of uncommon birds have visited Earlswood so far this winter, and it will be interesting to discover what else occurs in the next few months now the water levels are much higher than they had been. Whilst water levels were still very low back in November, a Shelduck, a Dunlin and a Rock Pipit visited the lakes. This winter's undoubted highlight though was in December when a Short-eared Owl circled briefly over Windmill Pool (a first for Earlswood), whilst other good birds visiting the lakes in that month were a Peregrine Falcon flying over, two Gadwall, a Shoveler and a Little Gull. More recently this year, a Kittiwake blown inland by the strong winds, two Shelducks flying over, a Little Owl, four Wigeon, another Gadwall and another Shoveler were seen. A pair of Mandarin Ducks have been present for a while, favouring Terry's Pool, and several Teal have been seen. A Woodcock appears to be over-wintering in the vicinity of the lakes, as does a Kestrel which strangely has even been seen in Earlswood Common gardens backing onto Windmill Pool. Peaks of 600+ Golden Plovers and c. 110 Lapwing have been seen flying over the area, with flocks being seen on many more occasions than usual. Other winter visitors like Redwing, Fieldfare, Siskin and Lesser Redpoll are also residing at Earlswood this winter, but perhaps in lower numbers than the 2010-11 winter. In the Manor Farm and Hungry Horse area along Norton Lane, the Peregrine was seen on two consecutive days, apparently feeding on prey, and was photographed. In a garden near the lakes, up to five Brambling have been reported visiting.

Talking of gardens, I'd love to hear from residents about interesting birds they see in their gardens or the local area and can be contacted via email (matt_avesmaster@hotmail.com). Perhaps you have a Blackcap wintering in your garden, or you've counted a large flock of House Sparrows visiting your feeders? Maybe something unusual like a Brambling or even a Black Redstart or Waxwing pays a visit? Perhaps on a walk around the local area you find something "strange"? Do please get in touch. (N.B. obviously photos are very useful for identifying or confirming something unusual).

Matt Griffiths

Seven duck species

2011-12-29T22:45:00.000Z

At the lakes today were seven species of duck. Apart from the usual Mallard, Tufted Duck and a species that shall not me named(!), there was a pair of Mandarin Ducks at Terry's Pool along with the long-staying 2 Gadwalls and Shoveler, with 2 Teals at Windmill Pool.
M.P. Griffiths

Two patch ticks in two days!

2011-12-29T22:38:00.000Z

Three uncommon bird species that I'd had in mind to target seeing at Earlswood next year were Woodcock, Curlew and Peregrine Falcon. Woodcock is one of my bogey birds, as a number of other observers have reported seeing them at Earlswood in recent years, but all I'd managed was a sighting of one in flight at nearby Blythe Valley CP and even then I'd have missed it if it hadn't been pointed out to me. Curlew is another bird I've had rotten luck with, as although I've seen them several times in the midlands and even found the rarer Whimbrel at the lakes this year, I've had three Curlew-/Whimbrel-type birds fly over which I've been unable to ID to species. And with the Peregrine, there were several previous documented records, so it seemed to be a bird I'd eventually encounter.

Well, on Christmas Day I went to the lakes a little earlier than usual to avoid the inevitable crowds, and standing at the causeway at c.8:50 am, bingo: an adult Peregrine Falcon flew southeast over Engine Pool and the Valley Road area. Then next day, Boxing Day, I was walking through a marsh when a pigeon-sized bird flew over, apparently coming from the nearby scrubland, and I got my bins on it as it flew over the southeast corner of Windmill Pool and saw that it was the bird I'd been most wanting to add to my patch list - a Woodcock! Two patch ticks in two days, putting me on 138 species for my Earlswood life list and 127 for my Earlswood year list. Very pleased!

I've added 18 species to my patch life list this year, but very much doubt I'll add more than half this many in 2012 - new species just get harder and harder to find. Curlew is of course now the species I most want to tick, but I'll need excellent views or better yet have one calling. I'm also expecting to see Red Kite one of these days, as they expand their breeding range in the midlands further.

M.P. Griffiths

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-24T22:29:00.000Z

Just wishing everyone who reads this a happy Christmas! Main birds of note at the lakes today were the 2 Gadwall and single Shoveler still present at Terry's Pool, though strangely I couldn't find the Gadwall yesterday. As all regulars to the lakes will have noticed, the water levels at Engine and Windmill have risen rapidly in the past couple of weeks. The submerging of the "mudflats" has meant the Teal flock left a while ago, but all of the submerged plants on the shores seem to be attracting a large number of Mallards, which in turn might bring in something interesting.
M.P. Griffiths

One of the Gadwall, 21/12/2011 (© Tony Philp)

Medal for Clowes Wood warden

2011-12-24T21:55:00.000Z

Ron Hill, warden of Clowes Wood and New Fallings Coppice SSSI, is the recipient of the 2011 Christopher Cadbury medal. Read more here.

Little Gull again, plus a year-tick

2011-12-20T23:48:00.001Z

With lots of long shifts at the warehouse I work at and not many days off recently, what with the busy run-up to xmas, I've missed visiting Earlswood some days this month. Most unusual for me these days, was only being able to make one 20-minute visit to the lakes in a period of five days - very depressing! Please get in touch if you've seen anything interesting at Earlswood recently, as I could easily have missed it, and many thanks to those who have reported their sightings to me already.

Terry's Pool has been more productive than usual recently. Firstly Robin Moore alerted me to an interesting duck there, which is likely to have been the female Mandarin Duck that I saw in the same area today. Then Jon Chidwick texted me about two Gadwall there, a species I've been waiting all year to see at the lakes for my patch year-list, but alas it was a day that I was working a 6am-5pm shift so definitely no chance of twitching! Not expecting them to still be there based on past experiences, I managed to see them (two males) during a brief visit yesterday, my 125th bird species seen at Earlswood this year! Even more surprisingly, they were still present for a third day today when I did this month's WeBS counts, and also seen by Tony Philp. With rain forecast tonight there's a fair chance they'll still be there tomorrow. Also seen at Terry's Pool today was the long-staying male Shoveler and a flyover Mistle Thrush, with a male Common Pheasant showing briefly on the path along the south side of Windmill Pool. Another surprise yesterday was a first-winter Little Gull flying around the lakes, viewed from the causeway, with rather worn black markings on the wings and tail, which I think was a different bird to the one seen on the 10th; not certain though as the first bird was not seen as well given fading light so tricky to compare, and as I said I've missed visiting some days, when a bird wandering the local area might have made other visits. Interestingly a report of Little Gull came from nearby Bartley Reservoir today, but I don't know the details.

M.P. Griffiths

St. Patrick's Church

2011-12-14T12:38:00.000Z

Back in the autumn, St. Patrick's Church (along Salter Street) was featured in the latest series of the BBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" programme, in the episode featuring artist Tracey Emin. The churchyard (which some of you will know I am gardener of) was shown briefly, and it was really nice to see something I'm so familiar with on the telly. Unfortunately I forgot to put anything about it on here, and actually almost missed watching it myself. A clip can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0161hmn, and hopefully the full episode including the local scenes will be put on the iPlayer when it's no doubt repeated.

Sadly I'll be finishing working at the churchyard at the end of this month, due to lack of time and other reasons, but I have really enjoyed working there and thank the churchwardens for taking me on.

Below is an article from a recent issue of the local church parish magazine, updated and amended, by Tony Philp.

Matt

------------------------------------------

GOD’S ACRE – ST. PATRICK’S CHURCHYARD CONSERVATION PROJECT

The term ‘God’s Acre’, which is often now used to describe conservation areas in churchyards, probably has its origin in a poem of the same title written by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow in 1841 – around the same time as the first burials at St. Patrick's. Ours though, is much more than an acre (2.15 to be precise), as Matt Griffiths, the gardener can testify, but it is proving to be a real ‘living sanctuary’, providing a refuge for a rich diversity of plants and animals.

For the past two years, both old and new parts of the graveyard have been sympathetically maintained to allow wild flowers to flourish, with selected areas being left un-mown until the plants have seeded, whilst providing food and shelter for insects and birds.

Interpretation boards have been made and strategically placed around the site, pinpointing what can be seen and giving information on particular plants currently in flower. These have created much interest and have been appreciated by many visitors to the graveyard.

So far this year, over 50 different wildflowers have been identified, with fine displays of primrose, bluebell and wood anemone in spring; ox-eye daisy and hawkweed in early summer; and in early autumn, tansy, teasel and knapweed.

In May, Dr. Adam Bates came to tell us the results of his bee survey and confirmed that out of all the churchyards that he surveyed, ours was outstanding in providing an ideal habitat for bees. He also presented us with two ‘Bee Hotels’ which have been placed on the south facing wall of the graveyard and have already been colonised by a number of solitary bees.

Insect life abounds and observations kept by myself and Matt over the past few months have recorded 16 different species of butterfly, with the grassland species of ringlet, meadow brown, gatekeeper and small skipper being the most numerous.

Recently, with the help of Earlswood Wildlife Partnership (who lent us the traps) we have begun a survey of moths in the churchyard. It is amazing how beautiful and numerous these mainly nocturnal insects are. To date we’ve caught and identified 28 different species, bearing some intriguing names like Hebrew character, ruby tiger and antler moth. A few, too, have been seen on the wing during daylight hours, including the five-spot burnet, cinnabar and chimney sweeper – all found among the grassland.

Birds are increasingly attracted to the site by the diversity of habitat and this year alone we have recorded 28 different species, with blackbird, robin, blue-tit, wren, long-tailed tit and wood pigeon all nesting, summer visitors like the blackcap and whitethroat singing in the hedgerow and a rare lesser-spotted woodpecker passing through.

We’ve yet to survey the area for amphibians, reptiles and mammals, but have already encountered the common frog, toad, rabbit, bank vole and grey squirrel during general maintenance work on the site and it is clear that the bat population is quite high – something that we intend to investigate further with the aid of bat detectors that will enable us to identify the species from the frequencies and sound patterns of their calls.

All the observation and research carried out this year has confirmed beyond doubt that maintaining parts of our churchyard as a conservation area has been beneficial, not only to the wildlife, but to many of the visitors tending graves in the churchyard, who now, often pause to take in the peaceful surroundings of a nature reserve and observe the wildlife at close quarters.

If you would like to take in this experience or help with surveys, feel free to contact me or Matt for a personal tour, or just come and sit on one of the benches in the middle of the churchyard on a sunny day and listen, look and marvel at the nature around you.

Tony Philp

(All photos taken in the churchyard this year) © TRP

Little Gull

2011-12-10T23:59:00.002Z

It was good to do some birding this evening after having done none during the previous two days due to long work hours. I thought it'd be yet another quiet visit, save for 4 Lesser Redpolls and a male Shoveler at Terry's Pool, but heading back to the causeway I got a call from "Midlands Birder" (thanks mate) saying there was a first-winter Little Gull resting with other gulls at Windmill Pool, so a bit of running got me there quickly and I enjoyed decent views of it in flight (despite fading light - it was late evening) over Windmill then Engine for a few minutes, before it disappeared towards Terry's. I think this is the fourth occurrence of this species at Earlswood this year, following the birds that visited in the spring, and the first ever winter record. It shows that the pre-roost gathering of mainly Black-headed Gulls, usually congregating at Windmill Pool each evening in winter, is worth checking for something unusual.

M.P. Griffiths

Update: A video of the gull now uploaded by MB below.

Short-eared Owl

2011-12-05T23:59:00.006Z

Yesterday, me and Jon Chidwick saw what we think was a Short-eared Owl briefly circling over Windmill Pool before vanishing somewhere to the east/northeast at ~9:45 am. My impression was that it was a migrant getting its bearings. Amazingly this seems to be only the fourth owl species reported at Earlswood, so perhaps another area first! It would be worth checking areas of rough grassland nearby, maybe Blythe Valley Country Park?

Other birds seen this month include a small long-staying flock of Teals currently favouring the "mudflats" (which are disappearing) at Windmill Pool.

M.P. Griffiths

Night Heron update

2011-11-10T19:58:00.001Z

Don't worry, the Night Heron hasn't been re-sighted! I finally got a reply from one particular zoo in Staffordshire, after emailing them for the third time asking if they'd had any of their Night Herons escape this year and it seems they haven't. I'd heard rumours of herons and storks escaping from there earlier this year, which as you can imagine got me worried! Elsewhere in the midlands, Twycross Zoo and Cotswold Wildlife Park were quick to confirm that none of theirs had escaped, whilst I don't think any other public collections in the midlands keep this species. Therefore, I'm very pleased to report that there's no evidence to suggest the Earlswood bird was anything other than a genuine wild bird. :-)

Matt

Ruff at Earlswood

2011-09-23T21:50:00.001+01:00

There was a juvenile Ruff at Engine Pool today, favouring the mudflats near the reed islands but flying short distances when disturbed - an area that I'd least expect a wader to frequent given the level of disturbance there, but according to locals two waders had been present in this particular spot for at least the past week, and I'm told there was a Ruff report on Birdguides from the lakes in the last few days. Although grateful to have seen today's bird (my 135th species at Earlswood), I feel dead gutted and incompetent to have probably missed two birds. In my defence I've not been able to spend much time birding since getting another job last week, and so have mainly been checking Engine Pool from the dam (opposite end) and concentrating on Windmill. Since this is an important record, being only the fourth Earlswood occurrence that I'm aware of, I'd like to document it as best as I can for my book, so if anyone has any further details please email me. I'd particularly like to hear from the birder who put the report on Birdguides. Dave and Jackie, please see my reply to your comment in previous post.
Matt

P.S. The Barnacle Goose and female Mandarin Duck reappeared at Windmill Pool today.

11th September 2011

2011-09-11T23:41:00.001+01:00

Whilst standing at the Malthouse Lane causeway with Jon Chidwick this morning, I was very pleased to pick out a Barnacle Goose flying in with Canada Geese to Windmill Pool, where they landed. It was still present late this evening, and I think it roosted with the other geese at Engine Pool. This is yet another scarce waterfowl species that I've managed to add to my patch list this year, following on from the Shelduck and Garganey. It seems to be only the sixth record for Earlswood, the last record being a single bird on March 31st 1986. It also brings my patch year list up to 120 species, which is the same number that my patch life list stood at at the end of last year!!! What a great birding year 2011 is proving to be at Earlswood!

Also seen this morning were 2 Common Sandpipers at Windmill Pool, and a total of 28 Siskins flew southwest over Engine Pool in two flocks. A Yellow Wagtail was heard flying over too.

M.P. Griffiths

Moth and Bat night

2011-09-11T23:09:00.000+01:00

Here are the Anabat recording results from Earlswood Lakes (SP1073 & SP1074) Saturday 3rd September 2011, 8.45pm to 10.51pm:

Soprano Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pygmaeus = 293 sonograms

Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus = 77 sonograms

50khz Pip (Com or Sop) = 138 sonograms

Nathusius Pipistrelle Pipistrellus nathusii = 2 sonograms (peak frequency 40.3khz and 40.0khz)(needs validation)

Noctule Nyctalus noctula = 4 sonograms

Daubenton’s Bat Myotis daubentonii = 21 sonograms (Probable, but with good observations to support)

Myotis spp = 11 sonograms

Brown Long-eared Bat Plecotus auritus = 1 sonograms

I challenge anyone to find a more active site for Soprano Pipistrelles! And the possible Nathusius! I recorded a pip here last year at 40khz too, I believe that common pips only get down to 41khz? The foraging is that good over the water bodies here that I am not surprised that a Nathusius might be tempted to make this a stopping point, we will have to scrutinise all the Pips found in any of the bat boxes now.

There were also larger Myotis flying across the main causeway but I have not picked up enough recordings to have been able to pin them down to a species, there was nothing this time to suggest Natterers, but we missed most of the woodland out this time.

Regards,

Paul Wilkinson (06/09/2011)

Moth & bat walk

2011-09-02T14:04:00.001+01:00

Sorry for the short notice, but a moth and bat walk has been organised by the Earlswood Wildlife Partnership for tomorrow:

Saturday 3rd September Moth & Bat night - meet at 8:30 pm Malthouse Lane Car Park. Come along for an informal short Bat Walk and to see how a moth trap works.

Kayak fishing update

2011-09-01T23:59:00.001+01:00

It is with much relief that I found out today that British Waterways have decided to cancel the kayak fishing trial at Terry's Pool with immediate effect, and crucially that:

"The Earlswood site will not be considered for Kayak angling in the future."
Many thanks to everyone who contacted British Waterways with their comments on this issue, and a big thank you to British Waterways for coming to the right decision.
Matt

European Bat weekend at Earlswood Lakes

2011-08-30T22:10:00.004+01:00

Thanks to all those that turned out last night (32 people signed in) to witness a spectacular storm, a lightning bolt that must have blown the tern-raft out of the lake and got the local Tawny Owls talking, and a bit of rain to make sure we went home wet. Oh, and quite a few bats performed for us too.

The evenings tally on the Anabat recordings were:

Soprano Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pygmaeus = 173 sonograms

Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus = 19 sonograms

50khz Pip (Com or Sop) = 10 sonograms

Noctule Nyctalus noctula = 3 sonograms

Daubenton’s Bat Myotis daubentonii = 6 sonograms (probable)

Natterer’s Bat Myotis nattereri = 1 sonogram (probable)

Myotis spp = 3 sonograms

Brown Long-eared Bat Plecotus auritus = 2 sonograms

As you can see, the Soprano Pipistrelle is by far the commonest and would have been the species flying around our heads and dive bombing towards our faces all around the lakes (non caught up in hair though).

The Myotis are a difficult group to separate from calls and I have given it my best guess, only checking the bat boxes will allow us confirmation of which Myotis we have on the site.

Thanks again,

Paul Wilkinson (27/08/2011)

More on Kayak fishing

2011-08-25T17:18:00.003+01:00

I've just found the website of the kayak fisherman I saw at Terry's Pool on August 4th, with his account of the day here.

You can see the boat this guy is using, a bright orange one just perfect for scaring birds with. He also writes that his blood was boiling after loosing four big fish. Well my blood is really boiling at the thought of three of those fish with hook and line still in their gobs, which will no doubt cause further problems to wildlife once dislodged or the fish die, plus line was caught in "weed" - problems caused by just one fisherman here but all too easily exacerbated by others. Also the big fish were only carp, which can be caught at comparable size and more easily at the other two pools without needing a boat.

Most concerning though is the choice of wording in the last paragraph about the Angling Trust "securing" Terry's Pool for kayak fishing.

Reading this account, I realise that kayak fishing is going to cause even more problems:

Terry's Pool has many overhanging trees and aquatic plants that fishing line and hooks can get caught on, which if left are a major threat to wildlife, birds especially which I've seen suffering or killed by this on numerous occasions. Also, who would tidy up fishing line and hooks left behind - the volunteers (who do all litter-picking) don't have a boat.
I suspect one of the main causes of Earlswood's blue-green algae problem is the large amount of groundbait that is put into them, because it is more of a problem at Engine Pool and Windmill Pool - the amount of groundbait I've seen thrown in by some people is staggering! I can't say I've noticed anywhere near as much algae at Terry's Pool, but that could change if the amount of fishing increases.

In my previous post on this subject, I neglected to mention the tern raft, which of course will have no chance of being used if even just one kayak is allowed on the water in the 2012 breeding season.

I urge anyone opposed to this to write a letter to British Waterways.

email: enquiries.westmidlands@britishwaterways.co.uk

British Waterways, Peels Wharf, Lichfield Street, Fazeley, Tamworth, B78 3QZ.

Matt

25th August 2011

2011-08-25T13:35:00.000+01:00

Excellent morning, with an eclipse male Garganey feeding with Mallards on the "mudflats" at Engine Pool for about an hour before being disturbed and flying to Terry's Pool, where still present at 8:50 am. Being the first wild individual I've seen, this was a lifer for me! Also the first Earlswood record I'm aware of since 2003, and another example of how important Terry's Pool is as a refuge for birds disturbed at the other pools.

Also seen were the female-type Mandarin Duck at Terry's Pool; plus a Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpipers, 4 Teals and a Greylag Goose at Windmill Pool.

M.P. Griffiths

St Patrick’s Church open day

2011-08-23T13:48:00.001+01:00

St Patrick’s Church, Salter Street

“A striking & unexpected accent in a wholly rural landscape” (Quote from English Heritage)

Earlier this year, St Patrick’s Church, Salter Street achieved Grade II*listed status. The beautiful Victorian church, designed by Bidlake, had finally been recognised as the very special place it is; there are intricate carvings, ornate decorations, stunning murals and a wonderful ceiling.

To celebrate this, recently, there have been three open days allowing many people to come in and see the treasures for themselves. This will be repeated on:

Bank Holiday Monday 29^th August

Visitors will be welcome between 10am-4pm. There will be

· accompanied tours

· a chance to sit quietly

· the Millennium Tapestry to see

· books for sale

· refreshments to enjoy

Tony Philp

Kayak fishing at Terry's Pool‏

2011-08-20T23:59:00.005+01:00

On the 4th of this month, I was surprised to see a man in a kayak fishing on Terry's Pool and assumed this was just a one-off instance of rule-breaking, as I knew for a fact fishing was only allowed along the side adjoining Engine Pool. However, two days later I found a Shoveler at Terry's Pool, then all of a sudden it flew off rapidly with a few Mallards, leaving the lakes. Walking round a bend I found the reason - there was a kayak with a fisherman in it again, and he was fishing next to one of the Amphibious Bistort beds.

It's only during the past few days that I've found out what is happening here. British Waterways are allowing Kayak fishing at Terry's Pool for a trial period of 12 months, after which they will review the situation. This trial has been started (3 months ago???) apparently with no consultation with anyone local, and certainly not with the Earlswood Wildlife Partnership.

A significant number of lakes in Warwickshire have been spoilt for birds due to the introduction or intensification of fishing, and there is bird count data to prove this. Naturally I am very concerned about the effects these kayaks will have on the waterbirds that breed at Terry's Pool - Great Crested Grebes, Coots, the Mute Swan pair and other species. Terry's Pool is also used as a refuge by visiting and resident birds, which are often disturbed by activities at the other two pools. My other concerns are damage to the Amphibious Bistort clumps, which are favoured feeding areas for waterbirds and I assume the fish too, and soil erosion on the banks used to access the water, since there is no slipway. There is also the danger of people seeing the kayaks on the water and going on the water with their own boats, homemade rafts, etc. which could be dangerous for them.

I appreciate that British Waterways is due to become a new charity next year, and will need to look for more ways to earn money from its waters, but this is a very bad idea in my opinion, for wildlife and human reasons.

If you have any comments on this please leave a comment on this post or send them to my email address, and I'll pass them on to the Earlswood Wildlife Partnership, who'll need to receive them before August 26th.

Matt

Warwickshire Bat Group walk

2011-08-20T23:58:00.001+01:00

The Warwickshire Bat Group have organised a guided bat walk at Earlswood lakes and Clowes Wood next week, on Friday 26th, 8:45 - 10:00 pm, at the Wood Lane car park near the engine house. From their website:

European Bat Weekend! Go bat spotting at Earlswood Lakes on a guided walk with British Waterways ecologist Paul Wilkinson. A great chance to see these fascinating creatures in their natural habitat and find out more about them. Wear outdoor clothing and sensible shoes. Children should be accompanied by an adult. Meet at the car park For more information, call Paul Wilkinson on 07919 552527. Grid ref: SP 11257438 Postcode: B94 6AD

(http://www.jwaller.co.uk/batgroup/bat_diary.asp)

Summer 2011

2011-08-05T23:59:00.000+01:00

Yet another long-overdue post! Hard to believe that it's over two months now since the Night Heron was at the lakes, lastly on the evening of May 28th. Since then I've seen a number of other good birds at Earlswood, not nearly as rare but they're making for another great patch year. As expected with the low water levels exposing much lakebed, a number of waders have visited the lakes during July, signaling the start of the autumn passage, and so far I've recorded a Whimbrel, three lots of Black-tailed Godwit (only two previous Earlswood records!!!), Oystercatcher, Redshank, Green Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper (up to 12+ reported!) and Lapwing. In all 14 wader species have been recorded in the area this year to date, of which Woodcock is the only one I've failed to connect with; I'm expecting Greenshank to occur, but would most like to find Wood Sandpiper as it'd be the first since 1949! The only problem is that many people are walking on the lakes' beaches and scaring things off, with many of the waders disappearing by 8:00 am, and hardly any seen since the summer holidays started. One female dog-walker particularly annoys me, always allowing her Alsatians to run off lead and chase birds from the shore, and on one occasion I believe these dogs caused a few nesting Great Crested Grebes and Coots at Windmill Pool to desert as their nests were dangerously close to the falling water's edge at the time. Those two species haven't had a good year at the lakes this year, but Mallard have had an excellent one with many broods seen.

Also frustrating in the last few days have been a couple of sightings that I've had to let slip: 2 possible Crossbills over, which would've been the first record at Earlswood in over 100 years, and a probable Gadwall, which otherwise would've been the first recorded this year. However, I was very pleased to find a juvenile Shelduck at Windmill Pool one morning, which was my 130th bird species at Earlswood, and in the last few days a female/juvenile Mandarin Duck has been present, the well-watched and long-staying male being last seen in eclipse plumage early last month. From memory, other particularly notable sightings in the last few months have been a Little Grebe, the odd Hobby, up to 2 Little Owls, a Yellow Wagtail and 2 pairs of Spotted Flycatchers. I've recorded 115 bird species at Earlswood so far this year, already smashing my previous personal record of 113 that I set last year, and the best months of the autumn passage are still to come - very exciting! This is out of a total of 122 bird species recorded at Earlswood so far this year.

Earlier today I walked all the way around Terry's Pool for the first time since late May - the path improvement work along the northern sides of the pool appear to be finished and I think they've done a good job. I was particularly pleased to see that the path has been raised so that damage to tree roots has been kept to a minimum. Already quite a few walkers were using it, which from my point of view and the birds' could be a bad thing, as disturbance here could now increase. We shall see...

M.P. Griffiths

Warwickshire Flora Group field meeting

2011-05-26T17:10:00.002+01:00

Note the following Warwickshire Flora Group field meeting is being held at Earlswood this Saturday:

Saturday 28 May - Clowes Wood and Earlswood Lakes

The reserve is about 5 miles south of Solihull. Please park in small reserve car park at SP101743 in Wood Lane or carefully outside in the road. Ron Hill, the warden, will lead us around the site.

Targets: rare sedges, Wood Horsetail, Heath Spotted Orchid, Lily of the Valley, Bitter Vetch, Marsh Violet, Northern Yellow-cress.

Meeting will start at 10 a.m. and finish at about 3.30 p.m. or when everybody has had enough.

Please bring sandwiches and drinks. Walking will be limited to a couple of miles.

Weekday meetings will start at 10 a.m. and finish at about 1 p.m.

You do not need to be a member of the BSBI or anything else to come along. You can be a beginner or an expert, or just interested in identifying and finding plants. Please bring field guides and a lens if you have one.

Night Heron present for ninth day

2011-05-23T15:30:00.001+01:00

The Night Heron put in a very late appearance yesterday at 9:15 pm, flying over Windmill Pool towards the canal. I was therefore pleased to see it fly over the lakes from that direction at 7:00 am this morning, hopefully having just had a good night's feeding. There's a chance it may leave Earlswood tonight or tomorrow night, as the next two nights are forecast to be clear according to www.xcweather.co.uk

A Garden Warbler appears to be holding territory along the west side of Windmill Pool at the moment.

Matt

Night Heron present for a week

2011-05-21T23:43:00.004+01:00

The Night Heron was seen flying over the lakes this morning at 6:40 am and this evening at 8:30 pm, both times viewed from the causeway by patient birders. How long will it stay? Here's Dave Hutton's excellent photos of the little stunner:

Adult Night Heron, Terry's Green, 18/05/2011 (all © Dave Hutton)

Note that one of the head plume feathers is visible in photo 3.

Not much else of note was around today, though a Garden Warbler singing along the railway in Clowes Wood was my first in those woods. Nearby, saw a Cinnabar moth at the Railway Scrubland (my first for a couple of years).

Matt

Night Heron still in area

2011-05-19T23:59:00.004+01:00

Arrived at the lakes this afternoon after a long rest, and was directed to a rather confiding Ringed Plover at Windmill Pool by Jim Winsper - another wader patch tick! Pete Walkden took some excellent shots of it which I'll try to put on here soon. It was also great to see that the Engine Pool island has just started to appear today, so it could be a brilliant year for waders at Earlswood - 10 species recorded so far! With five tern species and perhaps Earlswood's rarest bird ever found, 2011 looks set to be a smashing year for the patch.

The Night Heron was seen again this afternoon, and twice flew over Springbrook Lane, lastly at 8:55 pm which was the only time I saw it. So far the bird has been flushed just a few times, but I'm concerned that it could be excessively disturbed, so please search areas where it might be flushed after 5 pm to a) let the bird rest and b) allow more birders a better chance of seeing it. Around another 20-30 birders saw it today, and I think most of the people who've made more than one attempt have now seen it.

Matt

Night Heron makes a third showing

2011-05-18T23:59:00.001+01:00

Great afternoon! Night Heron was refound late afternoon by Mike Doughty in roughly the same area of the Spring Brook Scrubland where it was last seen perched yesterday late evening. After visiting Windmill Pool it flew off, where by an amazing stroke of luck it was seen flying over Springbrook Lane by Richard Harbird as he was driving along there! He located it in a tree at a large pond, where I finally managed to get a brilliant view of it perched, and Dave Hutton got some smashing shots (now on web). The bird then relocated to around a wooded marlpit at Springbrook Farm (Terry's Green), where patient birders waiting at the gate near the junction of Malthouse Lane and Small Lane eventually were rewarded with a couple of decent flight views, last seen flushed by a crow and seemed to fly down to the area near the two bridges along Springbrook Lane (near where Mike first had it), sometime around 8 pm. This is the last definite sighting I know of.

Many of the birders who've put the hours in have been rewarded now. Over 30 people have seen it so far. I hope more see it, but please keep disturbance at the scrubland to a minimum (breeding birds) - try scanning trees next to water. I still think the causeway is worth staking out too, though the bird is covering a large area (at least 1 x 2 km).

Everyone who's thought about the age of the bird agrees it's an adult.

Another highlight for me today was a Redshank over Engine Pool this morning, which John Sirrett put me on to (another patch tick).

Matt

Night Heron reappears!

2011-05-17T15:38:00.001+01:00

After no sign yesterday, I saw the Night Heron fly over from the northeast (probably from the canal), over the Malthouse Lane causeway then fly down to Terry's Pool at 10:05 am today. This is the 3rd time I've located it from the white railings at that causeway, so clearly the place to go if anyone's interested. Maybe best to get there 7:00 pm or earlier, as on Sunday evening the bird appeared at 7:20 pm. Fingers crossed...

Also finally saw a Hobby over Engine Pool, and the Mandarin Duck and a Common Sandpiper were at Windmill Pool.

Matt

NIGHT HERON!!!

2011-05-15T23:10:00.002+01:00

I found a Night Heron at the lakes c. 9:00 am this morning briefly from Malthouse Lane causeway, when last seen flying towards Terry's Pool. Bird was also seen by Jon Chidwick (who ID'ed it) and Kevin Bates - a lifer for me and Kevin, and a first for Earlswood!!!

The bird reappeared this evening, when I confirmed age as adult, first seen over Engine Pool before disappearing along Valley Road. It then rose and was back over Engine Pool, where it perched for a few minutes in a tree along the northwest side, and although distant the head plumes could be made out. It moved to Terry's Pool, where it was seen once or twice, lastly around 8:15 pm. Unfortunately when I refound it I was only able to text Mike Inskip before my mobile's batteries went dead (really sorry), after all the texts/calls I made this morning! Mike tried to contact some birders but none could make it. He was able to see the bird, making just four birders who've done so.

There's a good chance it'll still be there tomorrow if anyone's interested. Terry's Pool is the smaller, western one. Closest car park is at Malthouse Lane. Long overdue path maintenance work along the north side of Terry's Pool is due to start tomorrow, but not sure if this will mean less or more disturbance there.

M.P. Griffiths

2011-05-01T23:40:00.001+01:00

93+ arctic terns through, and an adult-summer little gull at the lakes today!!!

St. Patrick's Church open day

2011-04-30T23:22:00.001+01:00

For anyone who'd like to have a look at the wildlife of St. Patrick's Church, Salter Street, an open day has been organised:

The Church will be open on
Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May
From 10 am. - 4 pm.
Bring friends & family to see:

the beautiful Grade II* listed building
the decorations in church
the Millennium Tapestry &
the wild flowers in the churchyard

Refreshments will be served
Anyone wanting just to come in & sit or light a candle in remembrance will be most welcome

2011-04-27T22:58:00.001+01:00

2 arctic terns at lakes today, but no sign early evening.
mandarin duck still at windmill, with female teal there early morning, common sandpiper, swift over, yellow wagtail heard overhead
reed warbler singing from engine pool reed island

In case I don't update blog in next few days here's a few events organised by Earlswood Wildlife Partnership

Sunday 1st May - Dawn Chorus Walk - meet at Wood Lane car park (Clowes Wood) at 4:30am

Friday 6th May - Bat walk around Earlswood Lakes - meet at Anglers car park (bottom of Wood Lane near Red Lion) at 8:45pm

Sunday 15th May - Bluebell walk through Clowes Wood - meet at Wood Lane car park (Clowes Wood) at 2:30pm (cost £2 towards upkeep of wood)

Monday 16th May - EWP Annual General Meeting - Earlswood village hall at 7:30pm

Saturday 21st May - Bluebell walk through Clowes Wood - meet at Wood Lane car park (Clowes Wood) at 10am (cost £2 towards upkeep of wood)

2011-04-20T23:50:00.002+01:00

along springbrook lane, male whinchat and wheatear on fence posts along brook, plus male yellow wagtail at "earlswood stables" fields.
mandarin still at windmill pool, and 2 whitethroat in scrubland to south
sedge warbler singing at one of the engine pool reed islands

2011-03-18T23:45:00.001Z

little egret at terry's pool today, still present c1:40 pm but no sign later in afternoon, mandarin still at windmill pool

12th February-15th March 2011

2011-03-15T23:59:00.002Z

Finally, an update and it's a long one. News first:

---

The birding walk on Feb 19th went okay. I was joined by Tony and John H, and despite it raining from the start, things started off well with the Water Rail in the usual place at Engine Pool. Two of us saw a Kingfisher at Terry's Pool, and there was a large flock of Fieldfares and Redwings in a field beside Big Clowes Wood. However, we got a good drenching and failed to see the Pintail or a Marsh Tit during the rest of the walk around the lakes and through Clowes Wood and New Fallings Coppice. For those that couldn't make this walk, I will be happy to do another or maybe a migation watch one day this spring, if people are interested?

---

Construction of the tern raft started on Feb 12th, with Ron, Bob, Barrie and myself making good progress, then Ron and I did further work on Mar 4th. Much work was done on the 13th, when about 13 people (mainly Clowes Wood volunteers) helped put the raft together at the playing field and then Terry's Pool dam before floating it. Next day, Paul and another guy from British Waterways used a boat to move the raft and anchor it into place (BW article). Unfortunately only a few people got to watch this work on the 14th, but I filmed most of it - links to videos:
Part 1
Part 2
These videos will take a few minutes at least to load (took at least 9 hours to upload the two you know!!!). The raft looked fine today, and I'm really pleased with the result, and how what started as just an idea has come to fruition and is now floating on Terry's Pool ready for the terns, due early next month - exciting! On behalf of the terns, many thanks to Ron, Izumi, Bob, Cheryl, Andrew, Barrie, John H, John, Paul, Robin, Simon and about four others whose names I'm afraid I forget or don't know, all of whom helped at some stage.

---

Don't want to dwell on this too much, but I was rather annoyed a few weeks back to see that someone had defaced a sign about the SSSI status of Clowes Wood and New Fallings Coppice with the words "stop cutting tree,s" in what looks like permanent marker, like they know how to best manage a woodland for nature. Warden Ron Hill and the other hard-working volunteers have been trying to make an area of hazel coppice to attract certain types of wildlife. See this article Managing Woodlands for Biodiversity (7 pages) to see how cutting a few trees down can benefit wildlife by letting more light reach the ground.
However, tree-cutting is obviously bad if done excessively, and the Earlswood area has lost three significant woods in the last 100 years, including Forshawpark Wood and Small Lane Coppice. Astonishingly, the third seems to have been cleared secretly in the last decade, and I'll be posting evidence of this in another post soon.

---

Other news is that I've set up an Earlswood wildlife slideshow/gallery for photos taken by anyone who sends them to me, visible in the righthand column of this page - will try to add more pics soon. Also, I have on loan the diaries of a birder who visited Earlswood in the late 1940s and 1950s, plus at long last a copy of "A survey of the birds of Earlswood" (1955), all of which make fascinating reading and will be most useful for my books. Turtle Doves, Tree Pipits, Willow Tits and Hawfinches all breeding, plus Nightingales and a Woodlark singing, all back then but how times change!!! Many thanks to John Sears for posting these to me.

---

On to sightings. Apart from long-stayers, it's been a fairly quiet period until the last few days, when migrants have started to arrive. Highlights:
Greylag Goose: one over Engine Pool on Mar 11th and 2 at Terry's Pool on 12th.
Mandarin Duck: a confiding male at lakes from Mar 4th to today, favouring Windmill Pool but has been seen at other two pools.
Pintail: long-staying female showing on and off, usually at Terry's Pool; last seen on 14th.
Shoveler: a pair at Terry's Pool today.
Teal: pair at Terry's Pool on Mar 3rd, male at Windmill Pool on 4th-5th, and a pair over Terry's Pool on 6th. Two on Mar 11th (Yvonne Heward)
Wigeon: male at Terry's Pool on Feb 14th.
Pochard: female at Windmill Pool on Mar 5th (Tony Philp), and subsequently seen at Terry's Pool up to today.
Goldeneye: 4 (inc. a young male) at Terry's Pool on Feb 27th - good number for Earlswood.
Little Grebe: one at Windmill Pool on Mar 13th.
Water Rail: long-staying rather confiding bird seen most days. Still present today (John Hunt). Many people including fishermen and walkers have seen it now.
Golden Plover: 80+ quite high over Windmill Pool on Mar 11th.
Lapwing: Singles over lakes on Feb 22nd and Mar 11th. At Hungry Horse field, one on Mar 4th and 9 on 6th.
Common Snipe: a couple flushed on two occasions.
Little Owl: one in area since Feb 14th (Tony Philp). Seen/heard for myself on Feb 18th.
Stock Dove: Peak of 11 in Hungry Horse field on Feb 22nd.
Kingfisher: up to 2 seen at once.
Grey Wagtail: finally, one over Windmill Pool today just before I left.
Redwing: 64+ in field along Wood Lane on Feb 15th.
Fieldfare: 60+ around Terry's Pool on Mar 2nd.
Chiffchaff: an early bird at Spring Brook Scrubland on Mar 13th, then singles noted at Windmill Pool and along Springbrook Road today.
Marsh Tit: At least two found in Clowes Wood on Feb 14th with two also seen on Mar 11th (John Oates). I've only managed to see one in there so far this year.
Greenfinch: 20+ at Spring Brook Scrubland on Feb 22nd (Tony Philp) - good count for recent years.
Linnet: 4 at Railway Scrubland today.
Lesser Redpoll: peak of c. 12 at Spring Brook Scrubland on Mar 13th.
Reed Bunting: a pair are present at Spring Brook Scrubland.
Also, on 14th, 106 adult Common Frogs spawning and a Buff-tailed Bumblebee queen at Terry's Pool, with 7+ more Common Frogs at Windmill Pool (peak number evidently occurred earlier there with much frogspawn present).

Patch year ticks were Marsh Tit, Common Snipe, Little Owl, Lapwing, Goldeneye, Mandarin Duck, Golden Plover, Little Grebe, Chiffchaff, Linnet and Grey Wagtail, bringing my personal Earlswood 2011 list up to 76. Many thanks to Tony Philp, John Oates, Phil Block, Yvonne Heward, Mike Holt and Des Ridge for their recent sightings.

---

Well done if you've made it to the end of this essay! Here's some of Tony Philp's recent photos taken at the lakes, some of which may be useful for identification purposes.

Female Pintail (front) with female Mallard and Mute Swan (© Tony Philp)

Local celebrity, the Engine Pool Water Rail (© Tony Philp)

Ground-creeping Treecreeper (© Tony Philp)

Black-headed Gull - first-winter bird (© Tony Philp)
For ageing gulls, look at head, wings and tail

Black-headed Gull - adult winter (© Tony Philp)

Black-headed Gull - adult nearing completion of moult into summer plumage (© Tony Philp)

Long-tailed Tit (© Tony Philp)

Common Frog hoping to "make babies" (© Tony Philp)

M.P. Griffiths

Birding walk this Saturday

2011-02-18T01:02:00.000Z

Just to confirm, the birding walk is taking place tomorrow (19th). Meet at the car park along Wood Lane near the engine house at 8:00 am. Unfortunately the weather is forecast to be cold and rainy, so please dress appropriately, and bring wellies and binoculars.
Matt

P.S. John H, you're welcome to join the walk (I had my reply to your email returned).

14th January-11th February 2011

2011-02-11T23:59:00.003Z

I hope this isn't too short notice but I have decided to do my birding walk of the lakes on Saturday 19th next week, probably around 8:00 am before the crowds arrive. Meeting place will be at one of the car parks, hopefully the one near the engine house if the Engine Pool Water Rail continues to show. Will confirm closer to the time. Thanks to Tracey, Kevin and Dave for expressing interest - others are welcome to tag along but as this will be the first time I've led ~~a walk~~ anything I'd like to keep numbers small. If it goes well, I may lead other, more official walks for the Earlswood Wildlife Partnership later on.

Other news: Mute Swan "V72" had fishing line and a hook for a while recently but was caught and the hook/line removed at the lakeside, so hopefully the pair will now be able breed again this year. Anyone who's visited Windmill Pool recently will have noticed that a number of trees along the east side have been cut down about a couple of months ago; I suspect this is for the benefit of fishermen, but it will be interesting to see how this area develops for wildlife now that more light can reach the ground there. The tern raft is going to happen, and construction is due to start tomorrow! Finally, the dark domestic duck that has been resident at Windmill Pool for several months now has recently been confirmed as a Muscovy Duck x domestic Mallard hybrid (see http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=190116).

Request: Could the person who reported the following on December 5th last year please contact me:
c25 Waxwings near Earlswood Lakes at Warings Green Wharf in oak tree briefly then flew off.
Waxwings are quite rare in the midlands most years, and I will need a description to accept this record, subject to acceptance by the county recorder.

Now for the sightings. It's been fairly quiet since my last post, except for some waterbird movement. Most notable was Tony Philp's Little Egret (now confirmed), with perhaps a second bird, seen with the naked eye flying along the canal feeder channel towards the lakes on Feb 6th - the second patch rarity of the year and I've missed them both!!! Sightings at the lakes during January included a female Pintail on 17th, 22nd-23rd and 28th-31st, with a flock of 4 briefly on 24th; peaks of 4+ Teals on 16th, 5 Shovelers on 24th-25th and 2 Wigeons on 28th-29th; a male Pochard on 19th-20th and a female on 31st; the Water Rail at Engine Pool on a number of occasions up to 31st; and a peak of 30+ Siskins on 25th.

February sightings so far include the female Pintail on 3rd and 8th-9th, 2 Wigeons today, 2 Shovelers on 8th-9th, a male Pochard on 10th (also seen by Tony Philp), a male Sparrowhawk on 1st, a group of 7 Jays on 3rd and 6+ Lesser Redpolls also on 3rd. After an absence the Water Rail reappeared in the channel along the north side of Engine Pool on 9th, and much to my astonishment saw it grab a Nuthatch from a nearby tree trunk and pin it down in the water before I intervened and the Nuthatch escaped; though I've read of Water Rails preying on smaller birds this is the first time I've witnessed it and thought it only happened during harsh winter weather (it was a mild day). In hindsight I have mixed feelings about whether I should've intervened (I did it without thinking), but I doubt the rail will starve as a result given the good weather at the moment, and it was still present today. Away from the lakes, the most notable birds I've seen were 4 Stock Doves at the Hungry Horse field on Feb 1st, and 2 Mistle Thrushes at Forshaw Heath on Feb 3rd. Personal patch year ticks besides the Pintails, Wigeons and Pochards were a first-winter Common Gull on Jan 16th and a Meadow Pipit roosting at a marsh next day - increasing my list by just five to 65 for 2011 :-(

M.P. Griffiths

P.S. an interesting Long-tailed Tit with a light head visited my garden on a number of occasions from Jan 18th-31st, and was also seen by my mom on 4th this month. Further details, pics and links to videos at http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=190334

Egret

2011-02-06T22:36:00.003Z

1 probably 2 egrets flying along canal feeder channel near lakes this morning, seen by Tony Philp. Hopefully more details to follow...

1st-13th January 2011

2011-01-13T23:59:00.008Z

Seemed a good time to update the blog now that the "ice age" has passed, for the moment at least, with practically all of the ice at the lakes gone today. I've had interest expressed in a birdwatching walk around the lakes, so if anyone else is interested please send me an email.

I was gutted to learn that a Shelduck was seen on the ice at Engine Pool on New Year's Day by at least three people, one of whom has shown me a photo of it on his camera. I didn't think there'd be much at Earlswood that day because of all the people that tend to be there on bank holidays, plus I had a headache and the flu, so chickened out - best bird of the year so far and I missed it! As far as I'm aware, this is the 12th record for the lakes, the last in 2007.

As you can imagine, I was at the lakes early on the 2nd but the Shelduck had gone. Engine Pool was good though with 4 Teals, a male Shoveler and the Water Rail. 7 Siskins were seen at Windmill Pool. In the vicinity of the lakes, 2 Ravens (over), up to 3 Rooks (over) and 11 Greenfinches were notable, with a pair of Common Pheasants and 2 Stock Doves in a field along Gypsy Lane. Springbrook Scrubland was pretty good, with 118 Fieldfares (trees along Earlswood Common), 3 Bullfinches, 2 Reed Buntings, a Skylark (over) and a Lesser Redpoll (over) noted. I moved on to Earlswood Train Station, where the decent-sized Bullfinch flock was still present nearby, with 8+ counted, as well a Goldcrest and a Coal Tit. In Little Clowes Wood I saw another Goldcrest but the numerous dog-walkers in there put me off exploring the rest of the woodland. It was quite a good visit to Earlswood, and I managed 52 species for the year list - not a bad start.

A brief visit to the lakes on 3rd produced 25 Siskins and the Water Rail at Engine Pool; I was joined by the recently elusive Kevin Bates who got to see the latter bird.
I then moved on away from Earlswood to an area of farmland near Studley called Morton Bagot where I joined John Yardley and Chris Lane, and not long into the visit we found a Corn Bunting - a rarity in this part of Warwickshire and a lifer for me! Richard Harbird joined us near one of the pools there, and we subsequently saw 2 Mandarin Ducks, a Little Egret, 79 Wigeons, a Goosander (unusual there), 3 Great Black-backed Gulls (over), 6+ Bramblings and a Marsh Tit - another really good day, but a pity we don't have farmland or wetland habitat anything like that at Earlswood...

Subsequent visits to the lakes produced little, but notable birds (mainly additions to the patch year list) were:

04/01/2011: a male Kestrel over the Malthouse Lane causeway.

05/01/2011: a Green Woodpecker near Gypsy Lane, and a Tawny Owl (heard) near Reservoir pub.

06/01/2011: a Kingfisher (finally, but heard only) at Terry's Pool, and 2 Greylag Geese over Springbrook Scrubland. 135+ Fieldfares at fallen apples in an Earlswood Common garden viewable from Windmill Pool.

08/01/2011: 2 Mistle Thrushes low over Engine Pool, but highlight was the Water Rail taking Lynda's thrown bread!!!

10/01/2011: a Great Crested Grebe at Engine Pool was great to see at long last! Also 21 Lesser Redpolls at Springbrook Scrubland. Total of 16+ Bullfinches noted in Earlswood area (good winter for them it seems).

11/01/2011: A Sparrowhawk (over), the Great Crested Grebe and the Water Rail all seen at Engine Pool. A Kestrel distant over Malthouse Lane gardens (nice garden tick if anyone saw it!).

Other sightings included a Mink along the Spring Brook beside Windmill Pool on 9th. Rob Field saw a Kingfisher along the brook beside Clowes Wood on 9th - a good record for that area.

The Water Rail along the north side of Engine Pool has been seen a few times this month; today (13th) I saw it and also managed to see the second more-elusive bird at Terry's Pool for the first time this year. There was no sign of the grebe.

My 2011 Earlswood bird list now stands at a modest 60. I haven't seen anything particularly unusual yet, and there's still some common-ish species to be added before things kick off in the spring.

---------------------------------
Addendum for 2010:
Tony Philp had 2 Shovelers at Engine Pool on December 31st.
---------------------------------

M.P. Griffiths

21st-31st December 2010

2010-12-31T23:59:00.005Z

I've still been feeling a bit under the weather lately so have only made four visits to the lakes during the last eleven days of this year - tut, tut, I know. Highlights have been 3 Water Rails and an adult Common Gull on the 27th, with 2 of the Water Rails still showing on 28th. Kevin Bates reported a Water Rail at Terry's Pool on the 24th.

As today (31st) should be the last day that my book will cover, I thought I'd cram lots of Earlswood birding in, managing about 8.5 hours (all of the daylight)! After seeing 17 Bullfinches (Earlswood record?) near Earlswood Train Station, I spent much of the day in the Forshaw Heath area, where I did a Bird Atlas TTV survey at the same time, and among the birds seen were 2 Ravens, 4 Siskins, 37 Fieldfares, 2 Goldcrests and 3 Treecreepers. With little more than an hour's decent light left, I moved on to the lakes but the only bird of note there was a redhead Goosander amongst the Mallards at Engine Pool. By late evening I was at the Springbrook Scrubland and was going to wait to see if any owl visited the scrubland in the dim light but then a woman with her 3 dogs, noisy and off their leads, came along and proceeded to walk through the scrubland - I imagine many of the thrushes that I saw going to roost there were scared off, so no owl would appear there anytime soon so I scrapped that idea *sighs*. Mammals seen today included 3 Red Foxes at Forshaw Heath, and a Mink at Engine Pool.

So nothing particularly unusual noted this month, but there's been some really good numbers of common birds around. Some of my counts for certain species this month may turn out to be patch records, including those above for Water Rail and Bullfinch, as well as Mallard, Mute Swan and Blackbird, so I'm rather pleased. On the minus side not a single grebe seen, and I didn't manage to see a Woodcock or anything else new for my personal patch list.

I managed to observe 113 bird species at Earlswood this year, compared to 99 in 2009. Looking forward to what 2011 brings!

Wishing everyone a happy New Year!

M.P. Griffiths

1st-20th December 2010

2010-12-22T16:35:00.000Z

Currently have flu for the second time this month. The first only stopped me visiting Earlswood for a day, but this second lot has meant my regular visits have ceased since the 17th, although I forced myself to do the Wetland Bird Survey counts on 20th (not much fun, especially when snowflakes go in your eyes in the middle of counting!). Have been doing a little birdwatching from my living room and today had a Moorhen fly and perch in a hawthorn in my garden!

Earlswood Lakes highlights so far this month have been a fly-over Common Snipe (3rd), a female Pintail last seen on 6th, Greylag Goose last seen on 8th, 3 fly-over Gadwalls (12th), 2 male Pochards (13th), up to 2 Common Gulls (adult and first-winter), up to 2 Water Rails and up to 56+ Siskins. Most notable bird on 20th was a Water Rail, currently favouring the channel along the north side of Engine Pool and usually seen sneaking away into some fallen branches.

The other Water Rail is much more difficult to see, favouring the reedmace in the channel along the southeast side of Terry's Pool, where I last saw it on 16th. Richard Greer also saw it there on 6th as well as a Common Snipe nearby.

I'm a bit disappointed that I still haven't found a Woodcock at Earlswood yet, and with just over a week to go, time is rapidly running out to add it or something else to the patch year list...

M.P. Griffiths

24th-27th November 2010

2010-11-27T23:07:00.004Z

The last few days have been really cold but also really productive at the lakes, with some cold weather bird movement.

24/11/2010: Heard/saw a Marsh Tit in New Fallings Coppice. 2 Water Rails (!) seen chasing each other at water's edge near southwest corner of Windmill Pool, plus 2 Little Grebes in that area.

25/11/2010: There were 2 male Gadwalls and a male Wigeon at Terry's Pool, plus a Raven over. A Little Grebe was at Windmill Pool in the reeds at the southwest corner.

26/11/2010: Heard/saw a Marsh Tit in New Fallings Coppice again. The male Wigeon was still at Terry's Pool, with 7 Siskins in alders and 2 Ravens over vicinity. A Water Rail (heard), a male Teal and a Little Grebe were at Windmill Pool.
The day got even better as my mom who'd been in Solihull Hospital for a week was alright to come out. Parking my car at the visitor car park, my window was open and I immediately heard Waxwing calls nearby!!! I quickly spotted them at the top of a tall tree at the edge of the car park, next to Grove Road; counted 10 Waxwings there, then they flew over the car park and away, probably to roost. Unfortunately I didn't have my binoculars with me, so definitely want to see more of these erratic winter visitors, which are starting to appear in the midlands in good numbers this winter.

27/11/2010: Another great patch birding day. 2 Mistle Thrushes were along Fulford Hall Road - haven't seen many of these this year. At the lakes, Terry's Pool was completely frozen over, so the other two lakes were hogging everything. Ducks comprised a female Pintail, 2 Goosanders (unusually they landed on Engine Pool briefly but they didn't dive for any fish), 5 Teals, 2 Wigeons, 12 Tufted Ducks and (I counted exactly) 300 Mallards.
Other birds included 3 Lapwings (high over) and 10 Herring Gulls at Engine Pool; plus just 1 first-winter Mute Swan and a Raven (heard overhead) at Windmill Pool, and 6 Stock Doves at one of the Gypsy Lane horse pastures. Highlight though was a Common Snipe, which landed on one of the fishing platforms near the causeway, not far from me and so I was treated to excellent views of it. Made the long walk to Earlswood STW, where saw 2 Meadow Pipits (on filter beds - my first here and long overdue), a Treecreeper and 3 Bullfinches. Walking back along Malthouse Lane saw a flock of c. 20 Lesser Redpolls in trees beside the railway near the bridge (my first decent-sized flock of this species at Earlswood), and 50+ Starlings.

Whilst this weather is proving to be great for bringing waterbirds to Earlswood and concentrates their numbers, making them a little easier to count, I hope it doesn't last too long for their sake.

M.P. Griffiths

16th November 2010

2010-11-16T22:48:00.003Z

Yesterday evening's talk by Ron Hill was really good, though I was expecting more people to turn up for it.

This afternoon, after many months waiting, finally managed to see more than 2 Kingfishers together today with 4 Kingfishers seen at Terry's Pool - a site record as far as I know. Also present there were 12 Goosanders, and thought I heard a Chiffchaff calling along southwest side but couldn't spot it with my bins. 2 Shovelers at Windmill Pool for second day, along with a Little Grebe.

There was no sign of the Pintail, but Tony Philp saw her yesterday morning, along with 8 Goosanders and about 3 Teals.

M.P. Griffiths

Earlswood wildlife talk

2010-11-14T23:59:00.000Z

Just remembered I've forgotten to publicise this on here:

Ron Hill, warden of Clowes Wood and New Fallings Coppice, will be giving an illustrated talk entitled “Wild Wonders of Earlswood” at Earlswood village hall on Monday November 15th at 7:30pm. Cost £2.50 (including tea and biscuits).

Unmissable!

13th November 2010

2010-11-13T23:59:00.000Z

Female Pintail at Terry's Pool this evening, with a Water Rail along southeast side.
M.P. Griffiths

10th November 2010

2010-11-10T23:59:00.000Z

Redhead Smew at Windmill Pool for a few minutes before flying towards Terry's Pool around 7:50 am.
M.P. Griffiths

20th October 2010

2010-10-20T23:59:00.001+01:00

Bingo! New birds at the lakes this morning were both at Terry's Pool, namely a Wigeon, plus an elusive redhead Goosander that might've arrived whilst I was there. A Chiffchaff around Terry's Pool showed well, and there were single Redwings perched around Both Terry's and Windmill Pools. Not much visible migration though.
M.P. Griffiths

Addendum for 19th October 2010

2010-10-19T22:22:00.000+01:00

Keith Lovell had a Raven over Windmill Pool during the morning.

16th-19th October 2010

2010-10-19T22:01:00.002+01:00

I'll try to keep these posts going!!! Recent highlights:

16/10/2010 = 9 Bullfinches around the lakes was my personal best site count for the species. 1 Wigeon at Terry's Pool and a Lesser Redpoll over Engine Pool. Along the west side of Windmill Pool, I started making whistles like Chiffchaff calls, got a response in one quiet call from amongst the willows and then saw a Phylloscopus warbler, which vanished when I moved my binoculars to my eyes, never to be seen again - late Chiffchaff, I reckoned.

17/10/2010 = Fairly good visible migration in the early morning, with 385+ Woodpigeons, 1 Linnet, up to 3 Rooks, 1 Skylark, 2+ Meadow Pipits, Redwings, and best of all my first definite vis-mig Song Thrush, over in ~90 minutes obervation from the causeway. Moving on to the Springbrook Scrubland, saw a Common Snipe and 60+ Redwings in flight, which were flushed by nearby clay pigeon shooting and dog-walkers. At Terry's Pool, the female Pintail was seen again, plus 3 Teals and 5 Wigeons.

18/10/2010 = Nil of note at the lakes, although I did leave it late visiting.

19/10/2010 = 194+ Starlings at the Hungry Horse field. At the lakes, 5 Mute Swans (family of 4, plus an adult). Just this minute looked out the window and the moon is out, so hopefully something new in at the lakes tomorrow morning... (please!)

M.P. Griffiths

P.S. On the 17th, I checked the canal feeder channel near the engine house, which has been dredged in the last couple of weeks so that now the water and east side are much more open, and much more of the channel can be seen from the gate. I'm quite excited to see how the dredging of the channel will affect lake water levels next year - fingers crossed the water levels will reveal the Engine Pool island for the first time since 2008, and attract some waders. The other feeder channel, easiest to view from Springbrook Lane, was dredged a month ago at least, and already seems to have become more suitable for Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail.
I must thank Tony Philp and Mike Holt who checked Earlswood during the weekend I was away - thank you both. Tony had a Shoveler and 1+ Wigeon at Terry's Pool on the 9th, but these had gone next day; whilst Mike had about 50-60 Redwings in the Springbrook Scrubland (south of Windmill Pool) on the 10th. Some of the photos taken by Tony at the lakes recently:

Wigeons and Mallard, 06/10/2010 (© Tony Philp)

Pochard, 13/10/2010 (© Tony Philp)

15th October 2010

2010-10-15T20:50:00.004+01:00

Had a really good morning at the lakes today, with the best sighting being a juvenile Kittiwake (lifer!) at Windmill Pool for several minutes mid-morning, picked out amongst a small group of Black-headed Gulls on the water. Viewed from the sailing club slipway, I last saw it flying to Engine Pool but there was no sign of it by the time I reached the causeway. Also saw a female Pintail at Terry's Pool, and a Dunlin over (viewed from causeway). A Teal was flying around, a Wigeon was heard at Windmill Pool, and a late Swallow and 2 presumed Lesser Redpoll flew over Engine Pool.
M.P. Griffiths

P.S. Kittiwake and Dunlin put me on 111 for my personal 2010 patch year list. Earlswood systematic bird list (link on right) updated.

This Friday & weekend

2010-10-06T00:01:00.000+01:00

The weather forecast for this weekend looks really, really good for something unusual turning up at Earlswood, with easterly winds blowing and a little fog in the mornings to ground birds, but can you guess who's not going to be able to cover Earlswood?! Having forgotten that I'd the WeBS to do Sunday, I'd agreed to go camping with a couple of mates in Wales Friday-Sunday and am really worried I'm gonna miss a rarity! I'm even gonna try to sneak half an hour's birding in first light Friday. It would be good if someone could check the lakes this weekend, at least the causeway where Rock Pipit or a tern are possibilities.

Earlswood is long overdue a really good bird, and the last twitchable one was the Grey Phalarope in early October 2007!

2010-09-26T19:52:00.002+01:00

Pintail at Terry's pool, found this morning by Jon Chidwick, and seen by Kevin Bates and myself this evening.

2010-09-14T13:41:00.000+01:00

black tern at lakes atm

2010-08-16T18:29:00.000+01:00

Common Redstart at scrubland south of Windmill Pool late morning. Also Hobby over Springbrook Lane.

Summer 2010: the long awaited post!

2010-08-13T16:00:00.000+01:00

At long last, an update! Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few months, I've been busy with volunteering work, courses and coursework, lots of birding, and for over a month now a part-time gardening job. I have far too many notes to go through and pick out highlights for the last few months, so much of the following is from memory!

The Mute Swan pair at Terry's Pool hatched cygnets, of which two remain and are a good size now but sticking to Engine Pool. A male Mandarin Duck was seen again on several occasions, moulting into eclipse plumage, but was either very elusive or able to fly elsewhere as he pleased; last seen July 10th. A Shoveler put in an appearance at Terry's Pool. Tufted Ducks have been seen most visits, but no ducklings unfortunately. Great Crested Grebes have done well this breeding season, with six broods seen so far. I've seen single Hobbies a few times, including over the lakes twice, and Craig Reed had one over a Norton Lane garden. As usual, not many waders have been seen, apart from Common Sandpipers which I saw regularly during the Spring passage but very few so far during this return passage period. Had a probable Curlew/Whimbrel fly silently over the lakes distantly. Common Terns have been ever present in good numbers (reaching the 30s on one occasion), and it's been a good year for Arctic Terns, with birds seen on three more occasions since the previous posts (20 on May 6th was the most I saw - amazing!). 1 or 2 Cuckoos held territory in the area, and it seems very likely that a pair of Little Owls have bred.

Sky Larks were noted at Fulford Heath, and a Yellow Wagtail was seen around Windmill Pool one day. Following the Wheatear sightings along Springbrook Lane, I had 2 Whinchats along there on different occasions. The year has been really good for warblers, and I've now seen every species on the Earlswood list at Earlswood this year! Hot on the heels of the Grasshopper Warbler was a Wood Warbler I saw singing in Big Clowes Wood on May 4th, a county rarity and the first confirmed record for Earlswood since 2001 so a real highlight; only saw it because I tagged along with a birder doing a breeding bird survey in the woods on the other side of the railway! Earlier that same day I had a Sedge Warbler in scrubland near Earlswood Railway Station, which was a patch tick too! There was no sign of the Wood Warbler on subsequent visits. Thanks to recent habitat changes at the lakes, Reed Warblers have been present in record numbers but elusive; fortunately I managed to note 5 (4 singing) one day. Although really pleased with this year's warblers, I wouldn't mind seeing a Yellow-browed Warbler! Another highlight was finding a pair of Spotted Flycatchers breeding. I was quite concerned at the absence of Marsh Tit in the woods this summer, but am pleased to report that 2 were heard/seen in Big Clowes Wood on July 30th; if only Willow Tit would return. 2 Ravens were seen north of the lakes on July 15th, whilst a recently harvested field at Fulford Heath attracted 16+ Rooks (most I've seen in area, I think) on July 24th. I've been hearing a Yellowhammer singing at Fulford Heath on many occasions this summer.

Most recent highlight was an Oystercatcher flying over the lakes calling on July 26th, which is the 100th bird species I've seen at Earlswood this year, and puts me on 112 for the patch life list.

Yesterday:
12/08/2010 = Noted 28+ Common Terns, 50+ Swallows, 18 House Martins, 2 Sand Martins, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Reed Bunting (feeding fledgling), 1 Reed Warbler (apparently feeding young in dense bushes) and 1 Common Whitethroat during two visits to the lakes.

Weather-wise, this weekend is looking good for birding...

M.P. Griffiths

P.S. Thanks to those birders who've passed their sightings on to me in the last few months; as always these will be very useful for the Earlswood bird book I'm still planning to produce.

Moth Trapping Night

2010-06-14T23:04:00.002+01:00

There's a moth trapping night being held at Clowes Wood tomorrow night. Further details at:
www.wkwt.org.uk/home/news-and-events/cinderellas-not.aspx

International Biodiversity Day walks at Earlswood

2010-05-19T20:50:00.013+01:00

Currently on another course but have a break at the moment and have been alerted to this event coming up very soon at Earlswood:
www.waterscape.com/features-and-articles/events/4870/dawn-chorus-and-early-morning-wildlife-stroll

More info at:
www.waterscape.com/features-and-articles/news/2723/wild-walks-for-international-biodiversity-day

Anyone who's interested had better quickly register their interest in tagging along, as it's this Saturday! Not sure if it starts at 3:00 or 3:30 am, but will post here if I find out.

Matt

Edit: Paul Wilkinson (walk leader) tells me he's aiming to get there for 3:00 am.

16th May 2010

2010-05-16T23:59:00.000+01:00

A male Mandarin Duck flew low over Terry's Pool early morning.
M.P. Griffiths

23rd April 2010

2010-04-23T23:59:00.001+01:00

2 Arctic Terns over Engine Pool, still present 7:00 pm. Also up to 11 Common Terns and 1 Common Sandpiper.

Grasshopper Warbler and Cuckoo at scrubland south of Windmill Pool yesterday.

M.P. Griffiths

8th-18th April 2010

2010-04-18T23:59:00.001+01:00

As I'm so far behind with updating this blog, here's some main highlights:

08/04/2010 = Had my first Common Sandpiper and Willow Warblers (2) at the lakes this afternoon at Terry's Pool. Also saw 17 Fieldfares quite high over Clowes Wood. Steve Lloyd had a total of 4 Willow Warblers around the lakes in the morning. Later, Kevin Bates noted 4 Common Terns and a Sand Martin. Bob Roberts had a Kestrel along Wood Lane and a Reed Bunting at Gypsy Lane.

09/04/2010 = Saw 4 Buzzards soaring around Earlswood Common. During evening 2 Greylag Geese appeared at Terry's Pool and there were 14+ bats around Engine Pool.

10/04/2010 = Had a Rook, singing Skylark and a Lapwing along Norton Lane early morning. 3 Shovelers and a Kingfisher noted at the lakes.

11/04/2010 = 25 Tufted Ducks at Terry's Pool was probably the most I've seen at Earlswood. Kevin Bates had a few House Martins and 2 Swallows over the lakes in the evening.

14/04/2010 = Saw 2 Rooks and a Kestrel fly over the lakes. Probably the same Barnacle Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid that I saw earlier this year flew in and landed on Terry's Pool.

15/04/2010 = The Barnacle Goose x Greylag Goose hybrid was at Engine Pool, with a Grey Wagtail at Windmill Pool.

16/04/2010 = At the lakes, David Scott had 2 Willow Warblers at Terry's Pool, plus 4 Common Terns.

17/04/2010 = Had a Common Sandpiper over Engine Pool then gain height and leave, plus a Kingfisher at Windmill Pool. Passing through "Springbrook Scrubland" found my first Common Whitethroat of the year and 4 Reed Buntings, plus a Fox and a Muntjac Deer. At Springbrook Lane, spotted a distant bird on the railway embankment which I suspected was a Wheatear (reckon I saw the same bird next day). Moving on to Terry's Green, saw 11 Fieldfares in a field near the STW, but there was no point checking the STW as there were workmen present. Tired, but managed to walk back to the lakes and was rewarded with a Grass Snake on the path around Terry's Pool.

18/04/2010 = A Mistle Thrush was singing along Wood Lane near New Fallings Coppice. During my WeBS counts, had 4 Common Sandpipers including 3 on islands at Terry's Pool, and 4 presumed Lesser Redpolls flew quite high over Engine Pool. Passing through "Springbrook Scrubland" saw a Lesser Whitethroat (Earlswood tick!) singing, as well as a Common Whitethroat. Spent an hour at Springbrook Lane and just before giving up a male Wheatear appeared on fence posts along the Spring Brook feeder channel and showed well for about 10 minutes before flying off.

Common Terns noted on almost every visit.

Another update soon, I promise!

M.P. Griffiths

7th April 2010

2010-04-07T23:59:00.000+01:00

Easily the highlight of this afternoon's visit was an Arctic Tern with 5 Common Terns at the lakes, which I must've watched for over two hours because I knew it was very early and just had to make fully sure my ID was correct. With two Arctics also reported in Hertfordshire today, but none earlier that I'm aware of, this appears to be the joint-first Arctic Tern reported in the UK this year, and the earliest occurrence at Earlswood - well chuffed!!! Other birds of note were 15+ Sand Martins, a House Martin and 4+ Swallows.
M.P. Griffiths

6th April 2010

2010-04-06T23:59:00.001+01:00

Another afternoon visit but quieter today, with 2 Common Terns, up to 5+ Swallows, 7 Sand Martins and a House Martin all at Windmill Pool being the most notable birds seen. Met a birder, Phil Stainton, who's been visiting the lakes for many years and is kindly going to pass some records of his on to me - I know I keep asking for them, but if anyone else has Earlswood records then they'd be gratefully received and acknowledged in the book.
M.P. Griffiths

5th April 2010

2010-04-05T23:59:00.001+01:00

Bob Roberts saw a Common Tern, 12 Swallows and a Chiffchaff (others heard) around Windmill Pool, plus a total of 16 Tufted Ducks at the lakes.

---

During an afternoon visit, I finally noted my first House Martin of the year at Windmill Pool, plus up to 3 Common Terns, 15 Swallows, 3 Sand Martins and a Sparrowhawk. 8 Lapwings flew over the lakes, whilst 3+ Chiffchaffs were observed around the sides.
M.P. Griffiths

4th April 2010

2010-04-04T23:59:00.000+01:00

Walking to Earlswood along Norton Lane early morning, was nice to see a Skylark in song-flight over fields, plus c. 45 Fieldfares in trees and 8 Meadow Pipits pass over. Twenty minutes viewing lakes from causeway produced 2 Common Terns still, 2+ Greylag Geese and 4 Swallows.

I understand that 3 Common Terns were reported there later on.

M.P. Griffiths

P.S. For those who get the WMBC Bulletin, I'd like to point out that my "article" in last month's bulletin had four of the five maps I'd spent a good few hours on removed, with just Figure 1 printed, yet the text at the side referring to Figure 5 was left - bit disappointing. Yet a whole page was given to a write-up of Birmingham Branch fieldtrips to places well outside of the midlands...!

3rd April 2010

2010-04-03T22:01:00.001+01:00

A 10-minute visit to the lakes mid-morning produced 2 Common Terns visible from the causeway, plus a Chiffchaff heard nearby. Looks like they'd been reported on BirdGuides before I got there. So first apparently the earliest Common Tern in Warwickshire this year, now two and still none reported elsewhere in Warwickshire, Worcestershire and West Midlands county - nice to see Earlswood beating other sites in the midlands for a change! ;-)

Craig Reed text me during the afternoon, saying 2 Common Terns were still at lakes, plus 11 Great Crested Grebes, 5 Herring Gulls and a Mute Swan there; also a pair of Bullfinches in a Norton Lane garden.

M.P. Griffiths

2nd April 2010

2010-04-02T23:59:00.000+01:00

Given the recent poor weather, the presumed same Common Tern was present for its third day. A female Goosander at Windmill Pool was unusual both for the time of year and location, showed for some minutes after appearing from nowhere, whilst up to 9 Swallows, 2 Sand Martins, 2 Grey Wagtails and 2 Kingfishers were also there. A male Blackcap was still singing around Engine Pool.
M.P. Griffiths

1st April 2010

2010-04-01T23:59:00.001+01:00

Presumably the same Common Tern was still present at the lakes and showing well at times. Other notable sightings were 2 Ravens and a Meadow Pipit over the causeway, a Chiffchaff heard nearby and 8 Herring Gulls. 15+ Swallows and a Sand Martin were over Windmill Pool, a Blackcap was singing around Engine Pool, and 4 Treecreepers were around Terry's Pool.
M.P. Griffiths

25th-31st March 2010

2010-03-31T23:59:00.000+01:00

As I'm really behind with this blog, here's a summary of my sightings, with a few from Bob Roberts and Steve Lloyd, for late March:

25/03/2010 = 2 Pochards, 1 Kingfisher and 1 Goldcrest at Terry's Pool, with 26+ Redwings in trees to the north. 2 Mute Swans at Engine Pool. 2 Swallows and 7+ Chiffchaffs (most silent but seemed to be this species) at Windmill Pool.

26/03/2010 = Bob Roberts had just 1 male Pochard at Terry's Pool, plus 2 Mute Swans apparently nest-building again, 4 Tufted Ducks, 1 Goldcrest and 1 Nuthatch.

27/03/2010 = After helping with the nestbox project at Blythe Valley, Humphrey Miller kindly dropped me off at the lakes. There was no sign of any Pochard, but Terry's Pool held a male Gadwall (only my second sighting of this species at the lakes!) and 12 Tufted Ducks. 2 Mute Swans at Engine Pool and 2+ Chiffchaffs at Windmill Pool also noted.

28/03/2010 = Presumably the same male Gadwall was still present, at Windmill Pool. Also 26+ Golden Plovers flew over the lakes (my first this year), heading towards the Hungry Horse but no sign of them by the time I got there. Otherwise, 3 Greylag Geese landed on Engine Pool, and a Chiffchaff was near the causeway. I wasn't able to check Terry's Pool.
Bob Roberts did check Terry's Pool and had 5 Greylag Geese and 9 Tufted Ducks there, plus a female Common Pheasant and 2+ Chiffchaffs along Gypsy Lane (track from Malthouse Lane to Windmill Pool).

29/03/2010 = 3 small horses grazing on the lawn in my front garden were a big surprise this morning!!! Hightlight at the lakes was a male Blackcap singing from south side of Engine Pool. Also noted were 4 Swallows (flying through), 1 Grey Wagtail and a Kingfisher at Windmill Pool; and 2 Mute Swans at Terry's Pool. 2 Chiffchaffs heard around lakes.
Steve Lloyd had a Swallow over Engine Pool as he drove past at 6:15 pm.

30/03/2010 = Someone reported 10 Swallows and 2 Sand Martins at the lakes on BirdGuides, which I only found out about later through Warwickshire Birding.
At Windmill Pool I too managed to see up to 10 Swallows, but up to 7 Sand Martins, plus a Sparrowhawk appeared to have a go at them. 1 Kingfisher and 2 Bullfinches noted at Terry's Pool, as well as 2 Mute Swans at Engine Pool. 3+ Meadow Pipits flew over lakes. A notable increase in Tufted Duck numbers was apparent with 21 counted, and after an absence the "three musketeers" (small domestic ducks) had returned.

31/03/2010 = Highlight was a very early Common Tern showing well from the causeway. Also noted were 6+ Swallows and 4 Sand Martins at Windmill Pool, with a Chiffchaff near the causeway. 2 Mute Swans were back at Terry's Pool - this pair look set to breed this year so seems little point in keep mentioning them here.

Earlswood Lakes have been pretty good for migrant birds this month, with perhaps Warwickshire's first Common Tern this year, and Sand Martin and Swallow sightings possibly only preceded by sightings at Draycote as far as Warwickshire is concerned. Not a single House Martin though, unlike last year.

M.P. Griffiths

23rd-24th March 2010

2010-03-24T23:59:00.003Z

I was unable to visit the lakes during these two days, but following the request I put on here Tony Philp had a look around on both days:

23/03/2010 = 2 adult Herring Gulls, 7 Great Crested Grebes, 4 Tufted Ducks, 1 Muscovy Duck, 2 Long-tailed Tits and 1 Nuthatch at Windmill Pool. 2 male Pochards, 2 Mute Swans (nest-building on bank of western shallows), 6 Tufted Ducks, 10 Great Crested Grebes, 2 immature Herring Gulls, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Nuthatches and 2 Long-tailed Tits at Terry's Pool. 2 adult Herring Gulls and 14 Great Crested Grebes at Engine Pool. 1 Grey Heron and 1 Buzzard (over) along canal feeder channel. 20+ Common Frogs spawning in shallows at Terry's Pool.

24/03/2010 = 2 Mute Swans (appeared to have abandoned building nest on Terry's), 16 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Grey Heron and 1 Black-headed Gull at Engine Pool. 2 male Pochards, 7 Tufted Ducks, 6 Great Crested Grebes, 1 juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2 Treecreepers, 1 Jay, 1 Long-tailed Tit and 3 Nuthatches at Terry's Pool. 1 Chiffchaff (heard), 5 Tufted Ducks, 7 Great Crested Grebe, 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and 1 Buzzard (over) at Windmill Pool. Apart from the multitude of Common Frogs spawning everywhere you look, today's find was a pair of jack Pike spawning in the shallows of the canal feeder at the northern end of Terry's Pool.

17th-22nd March 2010

2010-03-22T23:59:00.002Z

As I'm so far behind with keeping this blog up-to-date, here's the highlights for mid-March:

17/03/2010 = 4 Pochards at Windmill Pool. A Rook and up to 3 Lapwings over lakes.

18/03/2010 = 2 Sand Martins over Engine Pool were my first summer migrants this year. 4 or 5 Goldcrests around lakes.

19/03/2010 = 1 Pochard visible at Windmill Pool amongst vegetation.

20/03/2010 = 2 Greylag Geese over Engine Pool. 2 Kingfishers at Terry's Pool. 3 Pochards and my first migrant Chiffchaff at Windmill Pool. Total of c. 170 Common Frogs counted at lakes.

21/03/2010 = 2 Sand Martins flew over Engine Pool, also seen by Kevin Bates who was with me. I also saw a Rook and a Meadow Pipit (others heard) fly over the lakes. Although almost certainly yet another escapee, I was very pleased to see a male Wood Duck at Windmill Pool. A Goosander and 2 Pochards were at Terry's Pool, with a 3rd Pochard and a Chiffchaff at Windmill. Missed the volunteer work party in the woods again unfortunately, but did hear a Marsh Tit in New Fallings Coppice.

22/03/2010 = 2 Meadow Pipits (others heard) seen over Rumbush Farm. 5 Greylag Geese, 2 Pochards and a Chiffchaff at Terry's Pool. 2 Swallows (my first this year) and 2 Sand Martins over Windmill Pool, also seen by Tony Philp, but no sign of Wood Duck.

The Muscovy Duck was seen on every visit, always at Windmill Pool, and looks set to stay so doesn't seem much point in continuing reporting it, but I am interested to see how long it stays.

M.P. Griffiths

16th March 2010

2010-03-16T22:47:00.000Z

Saw my first bumblebee of the year yesterday in my garden, and for the first time attempted identification - seems to have been a Buff-tailed Bumblebee.

Got up early, and after giving my bicycle's chain a good oiling (it had gone a bit rusty!) went out on it for the first time in a couple of weeks. Hightlight at the lakes was seeing 7 Mute Swans at Engine and Windmill, including 3 first-winters. Apart from 2 Goldcrests singing around Terry's Pool, all the other notable birds were at Windmill Pool, where 4 Pochards, a Kingfisher and the Muscovy Duck were seen, plus 2 presumed Lesser Redpolls flew over. As I was on my bike, decided to check out the eastern parts of Earlswood, managing 7 Lapwings and a Green Woodpecker (on telegraph pole), after which I very briefly checked the lakes again from the causeway and continued on to Terry's Green, where I'd hoped to check the STW but a recently cut hawthorn hedge scuppered that so had to make do with just a Buzzard overhead. Forshaw Heath was very quiet.

With the winds now blowing from the south or thereabouts since this afternoon and forecast to continue doing so for the rest of the week, I'm hoping Earlswood's first migrants will be seen very soon - tomorrow maybe??? Seems Warwickshire's first Sand Martin of the year was seen at Draycote Water today.

M.P. Griffiths

14th March 2010

2010-03-14T23:59:00.001Z

I had good views of a Bullfinch, saw 3 Pochards, 3 Herring Gulls and the Muscovy Duck on Windmill Pool and another Pochard on Engine Pool.
Bob Roberts

---

Overslept a little this morning for the WeBS survey, hence I didn't get to the lakes til 8:40 am by which time other people were walking around, plus the boats were out at Windmill Pool by the time I got there, so the counts were no doubt affected. Just 1 Goosander was at Terry's Pool; 2 Mute Swans and a Pochard at Engine Pool; and 4 more Pochards and the Muscovy Duck at Windmill Pool, plus a Sparrowhawk (soaring over) and a Grey Wagtail. With the survey finished, I went back to Terry's, finding 2 Shovelers there as well as the lone Pochard that had relocated from Engine.
M.P. Griffiths

13th March 2010

2010-03-13T23:59:00.002Z

Carrion Crow calls coming from near my bedroom helped to wake me up early this morning, and I was surprised to see a group of 30 Carrion Crows in trees nearby. I'd never seen so many in my village before but have seen even larger gatherings at Earlswood, and it just goes to show that groups of large crows should never be presumed to be Rooks.

Walking to Earlswood, presumably the same male Yellowhammer was still singing at Fulford Heath, and I also heard a male Common Pheasant there - my first at Earlswood this year at long last, though Bob Roberts has already had up to two in the area this year. Reaching New Fallings Coppice, 2 Goldcrests there caused me to change my plan and I decided to have a good search of the wood and Clowes Wood. I only managed to locate 1 more Goldcrest, but also 8+ Treecreepers, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 32 Redwings, a Buzzard and 3 Mallards (along brook - unusual). Also, after about 90 minutes of searching, I found a Marsh Tit in Little Clowes Wood, along the railway on the northern side - I've seen no more than one this year, whereas two were resident last year, so hopefully this species isn't going to disappear from the area.

On to the lakes, where a 4th Goldcrest was seen at Mereside Pools, plus a 9th Treecreeper around Terry's Pool. There were 2 Mute Swans at Engine Pool, and 3 Pochards circled over before flying down to Windmill Pool; but with the boats out they were nowhere to be seen by the time I got there, though a Kingfisher and the Muscovy Duck were there.

I continued to Earlswood Moathouse NR, but a Buzzard overhead was the most notable bird seen, although a 5th Goldcrest was heard in a nearby Earlswood Common garden. Going home, noted a Kestrel along Springbrook Lane.

M.P. Griffiths

10th March 2010

2010-03-10T23:59:00.003Z

Walked to the lakes early morning, and counted 42 Fieldfares and 10 Redwings in a field along Norton Lane on my way there. Saw 2 Shovelers, 3 Pochards, 4 Mute Swans (until the one pair noticed the other!) and the Muscovy Duck at Windmill Pool; whilst 3 more Pochards, 2 Greylag Geese (over), a Goosander and a Kingfisher were seen at Terry's Pool. From the causeway, 3+4 Goosanders were seen flying over but I can only be sure that 4+ were at the lakes today; as well as a wader flying over from south of Windmill and quickly gaining height which sadly I was unable to ID - whatever it was it would've been very notable. It seemed rather dark overall with no noticeable wing-bars or white rump/tail (although viewing conditions were dull), and had quite a long bill that seemed too short for Common Snipe or Woodcock - was it a Jack Snipe??? I don't have much luck with waders in flight! :-(
M.P. Griffiths

P.S. In case anyone's been wondering what the Muscovy Duck looks like, here it is:

7th March 2010

2010-03-07T23:59:00.000Z

Bob Roberts visited the lakes today and noted 2 Pochards, 5 Tufted Ducks and 2 Song Thrushes at Terry's Pool, plus 2 Mute Swans at Engine Pool. Also 2 Nuthatches around the lakes, one of which he had a really close view of.

---

I went to help Ron Hill and the other volunteers in Clowes Wood today, and whilst on my way there along Fulford Hall Road it gave me great pleasure to see a male Yellowhammer singing again in the same area as last time - presumably this is the same male on territory. I had a good time helping the guys in the SSSI with work on the paths, after which I spent just over an hour at the lakes, but to Bob's sightings I can only add that the Muscovy Duck was still at Windmill Pool.
M.P. Griffiths

6th March 2010

2010-03-06T23:38:00.001Z

Spent much of the morning at the lakes. Engine Pool held 2 Mute Swans and a Reed Bunting singing from one of the reed islands. Terry's Pool held up to 13 Goosanders, 1 Kingfisher (heard only), the Muscovy Duck, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 3 Bullfinches and 3 Treecreepers, with a Goldcrest heard at Mereside Pools. Windmill Pool held 3 Shovelers, 4 Pochards and 9 Tufted Ducks, plus the Muscovy Duck moved to there as the morning progressed. From the causeway, a Skylark was heard passing over. At the "Springbrook Scrubland", south of Windmill Pool, saw more Lesser Redpolls (I reckon there were 8+ in the vicinity of the lakes today) and heard 2 more Bullfinches.
M.P. Griffiths

P.S. I've made what I hope are improvements to the Earlswood bird list, putting it in tables. I hope people find the column with the last year each species was recorded useful.

2nd March 2010

2010-03-02T23:59:00.001Z

A first for some years - a day spent at Earlswood without any form of optical aid!!! Yep, I left my bins and scope at home as I went to help some Nature Force volunteers with improving a section of path in Little Clowes Wood, having been invited there by Izumi Segawa (Warwickshire Wildlife Trust). I find it satisfying knowing I've made a small contribution to improving the woods, plus now there should be one less "muddy bit" in there. I plan to start helping the volunteers who go there on Sundays, when I can. Birds noted were a Buzzard along Fulford Hall Road, and a Goldcrest heard in Little Clowes Wood.

Humphrey Miller visited Earlswood, and noted 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming in the woods and 3 Goosanders at Terry's Pool.

M.P. Griffiths

P.S. Izumi (contact details) is leading a National Grid corporate team to carry on the path work in Clowes Wood on Tuesday 9th March, which I think other people are welcome to come along to.

1st March 2010

2010-03-01T23:59:00.002Z

Cycled to the lakes early morning, enjoying the pleasant weather and it became clear there'd been more waterbird movement since yesterday. Great Crested Grebe numbers had increased some more to 20, and whilst most of yesterday's less-common duck species had left the lakes (including the Mandarin Ducks, sadly), there was a female Pochard at Windmill Pool. Terry's Pool held 5 Goosanders and 2 Kingfishers, with up to 6 (!) noisy Jays plus 2 Treecreepers and 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers around the sides; 2 Mute Swans at Mereside Pools were unusual. Also unusual was a redhead Goosander I saw at Engine Pool (possibly one of the birds seen at Terry's), as well as a Grey Wagtail, and heard a Green Woodpecker nearby. As well as the Pochard, the Muscovy Duck was still at Windmill Pool, whilst 25 Lapwings (first flock I've seen at Earlswood this year) and 3 Buzzards passed over. Whilst talking to a lady (who reads this blog) along the track from Windmill Pool to Malthouse Lane, 3 Siskins were noted. Then along Malthouse Lane as I was leaving, met local birder Bob Roberts, who I've met before, and he too said he reads this blog - it's good to know some people are enjoying it and it encourages me to continue.

Bob hadn't seen the Mandarin Ducks today either, but did note the 2 Mute Swans at Mereside Pools, as well as 5 Goosanders, 5 Tufted Ducks, a Kingfisher and c. 40 Black-headed Gulls, amongst other birds, at Terry's Pool. He also kindly sent me details of a male Mandarin Duck he saw at Terry's Pool last year, together with this pic:

This is the third confirmed record of this species at the lakes in 2009 that I'm aware of. It's interesting to note that this species has been reported at the lakes every year now since 2007, so I'm confident others will be found, although most seem to only stay a day and could easily be missed.

M.P. Griffiths

28th February 2010

2010-02-28T23:59:00.003Z

A super day! I was walking along Fulford Hall Road during the morning when I heard a call that sounded somewhat familiar and I thought "no it can't be", but it was - a male Yellowhammer singing from the top of a tree at Fulford Heath! This is only my second sighting of this species in the Earlswood area, since I saw 3 birds together one morning last year, so I was really pleased!

I'd hoped to meet Clowes Wood warden Ron Hill for some volunteer work, but I was a bit late (due partly to the yellow bird!) and it turned out he wasn't there, and as I was late and a newcomer I didn't want to bother the volunteers (who were busy with the good work they do) anymore than I had already. So I went on to the lakes, where my day got even better! Approaching Terry's Pool, I had a poor view of two ducks flying over the water/trees, and something about them made me think they weren't Mallards, so I made sure I kept an eye on the airspace in case they flew over again (the Gadwalls I saw last year were rather flighty). Sure enough, they flew over a little later and with better views I realised they were a pair of Mandarin Ducks! Later still they landed on Terry's distantly and so I hurried back to get closer views, which I got but these birds were wary - the male was the first I'd seen at the lakes. Terry's Pool also held 2 Shovelers (patch year tick!), a male Pochard and up to 19 Goosanders, so I guess there'd been some duck movement in the night; and the usual Kingfisher. Great Crested Grebe numbers had risen to 10, and 4+ Mute Swans were also at the lakes.

I texted a couple of birders, and John Yardley came out to see the Mandarin Ducks during early afternoon. They showed for him, whilst I had better views of them than before. At Windmill Pool, the 2 Shovelers had relocated there, and the Muscovy Duck also showed - wonder how long this bird will stay?

John Sheppard photographed these beauties today:

M.P. Griffiths

26th February 2010

2010-02-26T23:59:00.000Z

Spent late morning doing my fourth and final bird survey of tetrad SP07X, and in the Earlswood part managed a Sparrowhawk at Fulford Heath, whilst in the Worcestershire part saw 5 Siskins and a Coal Tit in Fulford Heath Golf Course.

I was able to spend a bit of time at Terry's Pool after the survey, noting 9 Goosanders, 2 Nuthatches, a Treecreeper and a Coal Tit there. Also met Kevin Bates there, who'd had a Kingfisher and 2 Mute Swans at Engine Pool, the latter of which I saw whilst passing in a car.

M.P. Griffiths

25th February 2010

2010-02-25T23:59:00.002Z

Another late afternoon visit produced an elusive female Pochard at Windmill Pool (I'd have never seen her if I hadn't spent so much time at the causeway), as well as the Muscovy Duck. Noted 7 Goosanders fly over Engine Pool from Terry's Pool, which had 2 more still on the water when I got there. Great Crested Grebe numbers had increased to 3.
M.P. Griffiths

24th February 2010

2010-02-24T23:59:00.001Z

Saw a Kingfisher, 2 Mute Swans and the Muscovy Duck during a late afternoon visit. After an absence, 2 Great Crested Grebes had appeared at Engine Pool, whilst a flock of 90+ Jackdaws flew over Windmill Pool.
M.P. Griffiths

21st February 2010

2010-02-21T23:59:00.001Z

Another WeBS visit during early morning, with all the best birds at Windmill Pool - 3 male Pochards, flock of 16 Tufted Ducks, 2 Mute Swans and the Muscovy Duck - well, until the boats came out >:-(
With the counts done, I headed back to Terry's Pool and found the 3 Pochards had relocated there, plus 5 Goosanders and 2 Kingfishers were also noted. Saw a Muntjac Deer in Mereside Pools, then to my disbelief saw some nasty teenager chasing it away with a slingshot, missing I think when he used it, but then lobbing a snowball at it - not all anglers are nature lovers!!!
M.P. Griffiths

19th February 2010

2010-02-19T23:59:00.000Z

A somewhat quiet early afternoon visit to the lakes produced 2 Ravens over Windmill Pool; a Kingfisher (heard), 2 Song Thrushes and 2 Nuthatches at Terry's Pool; and a Reed Bunting (rose from reed island) at Engine Pool. Saw the Muscovy Duck at Terry's and Windmill, and I reckon it's a female. Leaving the lakes, noted 3 Stock Doves on telegraph wire along Wood Lane.

At 7:30 pm, I went to a meeting at Earlswood village hall, having been invited there by Clowes Wood warden Ron Hill. The formation of a new "Earlswood Partnership" group was discussed, and hopefully this group will be able to improve things for wildlife at the lakes, SSSI and other parts of Earlswood...

M.P. Griffiths

P.S. Went to see a Great Grey Shrike at Morton Bagot (Warwickshire) a few days ago - great bird!

14th February 2010

2010-02-14T23:59:00.001Z

I spent most of the morning at the lakes and it turned out to be my best visit there this year. First checked Terry's Pool, and had 2 Kingfishers there, then Engine Pool which had nothing unusual. Then got to Windmill Pool and soon noticed a lovely male Goldeneye there (only the second time I've seen this species at Earlswood), and also saw 2 Siskins and a Raven (over). Back at Engine Pool, spotted the Muscovy Duck (had it roosted elsewhere?) and had a flyover Greylag Goose. I then spent some time at Terry's Pool again, watching Goosander numbers slowly build up to a peak of 20 (possibly a site record?!), 2 Mute Swans land on the water and a Pochard. Kevin Bates also saw the Goldeneye at Engine Pool and in flight, but I reckon the bird left the lakes during late morning.
M.P. Griffiths

13th February 2010

2010-02-13T23:59:00.000Z

At the lakes late afternoon, things were very quiet with just a Kingfisher and the Muscovy Duck seen at Terry's Pool. However, just as I was leaving, thought I'd check the canal feeder channel on the opposite side of Valley Road to the engine house and was rewarded with what I presume was a Water Rail dashing away from me at the edge of the Lady Lane garden there.
M.P. Griffiths

11th February 2010

2010-02-11T23:59:00.001Z

After being dropped off at the lakes late afternoon, saw a Kingfisher, the Muscovy Duck and 3 Pied Wagtails at Engine Pool. A total of 14 Tufted Ducks was counted.
M.P. Griffiths

10th February 2010

2010-02-10T23:59:00.000Z

At the lakes during morning, saw 2 Goosanders at Terry's Pool and a Kingfisher at Windmill Pool, whilst at Engine Pool saw a third Goosander (unusual) and the Muscovy Duck. Checked the Hungry Horse field, but 2 Stock Doves over were the only birds of note - this field has been very disappointing recently, with not a single Lapwing or Golden Plover seen there this year so far.
M.P. Griffiths

9th February 2010

2010-02-09T23:59:00.001Z

I was at the lakes for much of the morning. Saw a Sparrowhawk over Engine Pool again - have seen one on each visit this month so far - though this time the bird was being mobbed by a brave Collared Dove. At Terry's Pool, saw 4 Goosanders and a Kingfisher, plus just 1 Siskin and a Stock Dove, whilst a Buzzard flew over followed by a Raven a little later. To be honest, a pleasant surprise was a Muscovy Duck, which I first saw at Windmill Pool and then saw at the other two pools - okay it's just some escape, but I always find it nice to see an unexpected species at my patch, plus it seems to be a new one for Earlswood's Category D and E list *everyone rolls eyes*. Noted 8 more Stock Doves in a horse pasture near Windmill Pool, with 3+ Lesser Redpolls seen along the track in that area. Leaving the lakes, saw possibly the same Raven over Biddles Hill (Terry's Green). Noted a total of 3 or 4 Buzzards in the Earlswood area.
M.P. Griffiths

5th February 2010

2010-02-05T23:59:00.000Z

Walking along Fulford Hall Road, saw 10 Redwings and 2 Mistle Thrushes in a field, and counted 21 Fieldfares and 4 more Redwings in another field along Wood Lane. A look in Big and Little Clowes Wood produced 2+ Treecreepers, a Goldcrest, 2 Coal Tits and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. At Terry's Pool, saw 12 Goosanders and 2 Kingfishers, plus a second Goldcrest at Mereside Pools. A Sparrowhawk flew over Engine Pool.
M.P. Griffiths