Warwickshire Patch Bird Race - species list

Here's the list of 106 species recorded on the all-dayer (plus 3 species recorded by non-participants in county). Thanks to Steve Haynes for putting this together.

Mute Swan
Greylag Goose	Brandon, Draycote, Morton Bagot
Canada Goose
Shelduck	Bubbenhall , Haselor, Ladywalk
Mandarin	Bubbenhall
Gadwall
Teal	KWP, Morton Bagot
Mallard
Garganey	Fisher’s Mill    (Other obs)
Shovelor	Brandon
Pochard	Lea Marston, Fisher’s Mill
Tufted Duck
Goosander	Ladywalk, Middle Spernal
Red-legged Partridge
Grey Partridge	Charlecote, Wishaw
Pheasant
Cormorant
Little Egret	Fisher’s Mill, Ladywalk
Grey Heron
Little Grebe	None at Draycote !
Great Crested Grebe
Marsh Harrier	Salford Priors
Sparrowhawk
Buzzard
Kestrel
Hobby	Bubbenhall, Charlecote, Kingsbury area, maybe others
Peregrine	Brandon (Other obs)
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher	Ladywalk, Kingsbury area at least
Little Ringed Plover
Ringed Plover	Draycote, Kingsbury area, Ladywalk
Lapwing
Dunlin	Draycote, Fisher’s Mill, Morton Bagot
Common Snipe	Ladywalk (2)
Whimbrel	Brandon  (Other obs)
Redshank
Common Sandpiper	Kingsbury WP, Shustoke
Black-headed Gull
Little Gull	Draycote
Mediterranean Gull	Shustoke
Common Gull	Draycote
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull	Brandon
Herring Gull	Bubbenhall, Charlecote, Draycote, Earlswood
Common Tern	Brandon, Draycote, Earlswood, Kingsbury, Shustoke (very few)
Stock Dove
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Cuckoo	Earlswood
Barn Owl	Charlecote, Kingsbury area, Ladywalk area
Little Owl	Charlecote, Morton Bagot
Tawny Owl
Swift
Kingfisher
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker	Shustoke
Jay
Magpie
Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion Crow
Raven	Charlecote, Draycote, Kingsbury, Morton Bagot, Shustoke at least
Goldcrest
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Marsh Tit	Charlecote, Morton Bagot
Skylark
Sand Martin
Swallow
House Martin
Cetti’s Warbler	Brandon and two other sites
Long-tailed Tit
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Blackcap
Garden Warbler
Lesser Whitethroat	Charlecote, Draycote, Earlswood, Kingsbury, Morton Bagot, Shustoke at least
Whitethroat
Grasshopper Warbler	Kingsbury area
Sedge Warbler
Reed Warbler
Nuthatch
Treecreeper
Wren
Starling
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Spotted Flycatcher	Earlswood, Farnborough
Robin
Whinchat	Brandon area
Wheatear	Coleshill, Morton Bagot
Dunnock
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow	Draycote
Yellow Wagtail	Draycote, Kingsbury, Morton Bagot, Shustoke at least
Grey Wagtail	Draycote, Kingsbury, Shustoke at least
Pied Wagtail
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Linnet
Bullfinch
Yellowhammer
Reed Bunting
Corn Bunting	Charlecote

Warwickshire Patch Bird Race - results

WARWICKSHIRE PATCH BIRD RACE

May 9th 2015

A total of 9 patches took part in this patch bird race. The final results are as follows:

1. Ladywalk/Coton/Shustoke - 84 species (Steve Haynes, Simon Roper)
2. Brandon Marsh - 77 species (Paul Cashmore, Dennis Woodward)
3. Morton Bagot - 76 species (John Coombes, Richard Harbird, Mike Inskip, Dave Scanlan, Jon Yardley)
4. Salford Priors GP - 75 species (Jon Bowley, Neil Duggan)
5. Charlecote - 71 species (Gus Ariss, Jon Barnett, Roland Hopkins, Dan Watson)
6. Earlswood - 65 species (Jon Chidwick, Paul Fitzgerald, Mike Jeeves, Matt Griffiths, Yvonne Heward, John Oates, Bob Roberts, John Sirrett)
7. Draycote - 64 species (Dave Cox, John Judge, Richard Mays, Steve Valentine)
8. Farnborough Park - 58 species (Gareth Blockley)
9. "The Dump" - 53 species (Gareth Blockley, Dan Watson)

Earlswood all-day bird race

This Saturday (9th), birders at Earlswood will be taking part in an all-day bird race against 7 or 8 other teams of Warwickshire birders at their local patches. These are set to comprise Charlecote, Draycote Water, Farnborough Park, Ladywalk area, Morton Bagot, Salford Priors Gravel Pits and Newton. Each team will be spending all or part of the day trying to find as many bird species on their patch as they can. The hope is that this will encourage further bird recording in Warwickshire, and that perhaps a few rarities will be found on the day.

Birders and garden-watchers are more than welcome to contribute what they see at Earlswood on the day, or meet up with me. I'll be at the Malthouse Lane causeway hopefully from first light to around 9am, with maybe a group photo around 8am/8:30am. Birding will be concentrated at the lakes, Clowes Wood / New Fallings Coppice, and Springbrook Lane areas, and we'll be aiming for a total of around 60 species. My email address is matt_avesmaster@hotmail.com

It's going to be a great day! :-)

Kind regards,
Matt

The Earlswood recording area:

Warwickshire Patch Bird Race - participants

WARWICKSHIRE PATCH BIRD RACE

May 9th 2015

A total of 10 patches are taking part in this Saturday's Warwickshire Patch Bird Race! Patches and participants:

Charlecote

Gus Ariss

Jon Barnett
Roland Hopkins
Dan Watson

Draycote

Dave Cox
John Judge
Richard Mays

Steve Valentine

Earlswood

Jon Chidwick

Paul Fitzgerald

Mike Jeeves

Matt Griffiths
Yvonne Heward
John Oates

Bob Roberts
John Sirrett

Farnborough Park

Gareth Blockley

Ladywalk/Coton/Shustoke

Steve Haynes
Simon Roper

Morton Bagot

Richard Harbird

Mike Inskip

Dave Scanlan

Jon Yardley

John Coombes

Salford Priors GP

Jon Bowley

Neil Duggan

Lee Taylor

"The Dump"

Gareth Blockley
Dan Watson

“The Puddle”

Matt Bruce

EWP Birding for Beginners 2015

Email: ewp2010@btinternet.com

Updated Cormorant proposals

Sorry, yet another Cormorants post! I've been forwarded these updated, more formal proposals for reducing Cormorant predation at the lakes, which look to be final. I'm generally happy with these, except for the "immediate use" of active scaring, suggesting it could be done during the breeding season, so will seek clarification on this.

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Earlswood Lakes Cormorant Predation Proposal

Reduce perching locations for cormorants:

• Removal of tree limbs from the two trees either end of the narrow island (closest to Engine pool) on Terry’s pool. (Time scale 3 months subject to nesting birds)
• Installation fabric meshing to wooden posts surrounding the narrow island (closest to Engine pool). This should both discourage perching and also allow for natural reeds to establish behind. (Time scale 3 months subject to nesting birds)
• Perimeter fencing on floating islands on Engine pool (see habitat improvements)
• Remove Tern raft from terry’s pool (see habitat improvements)

Active scaring of cormorants:

• Stop the action of using a metal bar to rap on tree trunks and fishing stages. (Time scale immediate)
• Permit the use of an instrument such as two pieces of wood that can be rapped together to create a cracking sound to disturb visible and active cormorants. Open to options, possible football rattle. (Time scale immediate use as required)

Habitat improvements:

• Carl Nicholls and Paul Wilkinson to explore options and solution for underwater fish refuges in the lakes. (Time scale 3 months)
• Installation of fish refuges within the lakes (Time scale 9 months)
• Paul Wilkinson along with new volunteer person (to be appointed) take forward repairs and re-establishing of floating islands on Engine pool. This is to include new planted coir matting and perimeter fencing around the islands to allow the young plants to establish and also reduce cormorant perching opportunities. (Time scale 9 months)
• Remove tern raft from Terry’s pool to allow for repairs and design modification to improve target birds use. (Time scale 3 months subject to nesting birds)

Record Keeping:

• Fishery bailiff and open match fishing organisers to keep daily records of: Date, Time of day, Cormorants seen flying over, Cormorants seen on the lakes, Cormorants seen feeding (yes/no) and photographic evidence of damage caused to fish by Cormorant predation.
• Annual records of Cormorant numbers recorded by local bird groups.

A review of measures and effectiveness of actions after 12 months.

Cormorant proposals - my comments

Thanks to those who sent me comments or responded directly to Canal & Rivers Trust about the recent proposals for reducing Cormorant predation of fish at Earlswood. I've just emailed the following to the fisheries manager.

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Dear Carl,

I hope I'm not too late to comment on the Cormorant proposals at Earlswood Lakes. I am a birdwatcher who has been visiting Earlswood regularly for over 7 years. My comments are below in red:

Improvements to the existing floating islands on Engine pool. This included new coir mats and replanting of native plants on the island. An increase to the perimeter edge of the islands with coir rolls and new perimeter fencing around the island to protect the new plants while they establish as well as hindering the perching areas used by the cormorants. As well as fish refuges beneath islands suggested by Bob Roberts, maybe also plant more reeds in the water around the sides of the pool as additional fish refuge habitat.

The long thin island nearest to the Engine pool on Terry’s pool is noted as a roosting and feeding location for the cormorants. Remove all the wooden posts surrounding the island that are used by the cormorants to perch on. Coppice all the trees and the island to reduce potential perching locations but retain valuable habitat for nesting of local birds. Only the tree at the western end of the long island tends to be used by resting Cormorants, so only this would need coppicing. The wooden posts surrounding the island may be holding it together, so alternatively the posts could be used along with branches or some other material to retain soil added there and then planted with reeds, making it unsuitable for the Cormorants but providing some useful breeding habitat for other animal species. The lakes would benefit from having more reedbed habitat than they currently have.

Opening up of more areas around Terry’s pool by removing encroaching branches to allow for more visual appreciation of the pool as well as naturally disturbing cormorant resting and feeding due to more visual public presence. Terry's Pool is used as a refuge by many of the shyer waterbirds that visit the lakes, not to mention breeding species, due to its more sheltered situation and less disturbance. Opening up more areas around the pool is going to cause more disturbance to the birds seeking refuge there, making humans and dogs more visible to them, and allow strong winds to penetrate what is effectively a shelterbelt for the birds. It will remove cover possibly being used by fish as shelter, and remove bird nesting habitat. It will also encourage more illicit fishing there by providing more access points to the water's edge. 

Use of starting pistol by fishery bailiff and an angling representative to create loud bang and disturb roosting or feeding birds. Conditions and code of practice to be agreed on time of day, number of times fired and per day, other users to the site etc.  Use of a starting pistol is going to cause disturbance to non-target bird species, and whilst Paul Wilkinson assures me that any disturbance like this will not take place during the breeding season, birds visiting at other times of the year are going to be affected. It will also be a nuisance and potential hazard to other human users of the lakes and those residents living within hearing distance.

Kind regards,

Matt Griffiths

Proposals for reducing Cormorant predation of fish

I was recently forwarded an email (below) about proposals to reduce Cormorant predation of fish at Earlswood, and would appreciate your comments. Cormorant numbers have increased at the lakes during the last few years, annual peaks being in the late teens/20s mostly during the autumn. I'm concerned about two of the proposals. Opening up more areas around Terry's Pool is going to cause more disturbance to other bird species seeking refuge there and encourage more illicit fishing. Use of a starting pistol is also going to cause more disturbance to non-target bird species, and I would certainly be against its use during the breeding season for obvious reasons. It's quite depressing really - Earlswood is more than adequately disturbed as it is! Please share with anyone else who might be interested.

Kind regards,

Matt

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Dear all,

On Tuesday 24^th February 2015 a group of interested representatives met at Earlswood Lakes to discuss the problem of cormorant predation and potential measures to help reduce the damage to fish and loss of fish being caused by cormorant predation.

The following people were in attendance:

Canal & River Trust: Carl Nicholls (Fisheries & Angling Manger), Paul Wilkinson (Senior Ecologist) and Sue Blocksidge (Waterway Supervisor).

Local anglers: Richard Verney, Mark Carney and Barry Cheese.

Angling Trust Fisheries Advisor on Cormorant predation: Richard Bamforth

Earlswood Wildlife Partnership Secretary: Bob Roberts

Fishery Licensee / Bailiff: John Collins

Local anglers and the fishery bailiff report increasing numbers of cormorants visually present with a maximum of 35 being recorded on one day. Bob Roberts and local bird watchers comment that they have seen numbers up to 25 present at times. Anglers and the bailiff are reporting fish visually being taken by birds as well as numbers of fish that are being caught having damage marks from either escaping or being too big for the cormorant to swallow. Actively feeding cormorants are also disturbing and stopping fish from setting on anglers baited areas which is affecting and reducing anglers catches. The effect of fish being eaten and angler’s catches being reduced is reducing pleasure and match angling attendances which is having a knock on effect in less income being received by the Trust.

Fish are also a valuable asset to the Trust with the average cost of fish now being £8/lb. On average a cormorant eats 1lb of fish. With a potential of 25-35 cormorants a day visiting the site this would equate to 175lb-245lb of fish being eaten per week at a replacement cost of £1400-£1960.

The group discussed and these are the proposals made:

·         Improvements to the existing floating islands on Engine pool. This included new coir mats and replanting of native plants on the island. An increase to the perimeter edge of the islands with coir rolls and new perimeter fencing around the island to protect the new plants while they establish as well as hindering the perching areas used by the cormorants.

·         The long thin island nearest to the Engine pool on Terry’s pool is noted as a roosting and feeding location for the cormorants. Remove all the wooden posts surrounding the island that are used by the cormorants to perch on. Coppice all the trees and the island to reduce potential perching locations but retain valuable habitat for nesting of local birds.

·         Removal of the Tern raft to allow the raft to be improved so that it is more attractive to its purpose species.

·         Opening up of more areas around Terry’s pool by removing encroaching branches to allow for more visual appreciation of the pool as well as naturally disturbing cormorant resting and feeding due to more visual public presence.

·         Use of starting pistol by fishery bailiff and an angling representative to create loud bang and disturb roosting or feeding birds. Conditions and code of practice to be agreed on time of day, number of times fired and per day, other users to the site etc.

·         Fishery bailiff and angling representative to carry and wear Orange Hi Viz vest to back up and enforce the use of the starting pistol. The cormorants build up an association with being disturbed and shot at with the colour Orange. Future association means the birds will naturally avoid areas where they see people in bright orange.

·         Fishery bailiff and angling representative to continue to monitor and record cormorant numbers and photograph any fish caught with damage caused by cormorants.

Should the above measures not help with a desired reduction in cormorant predation? An application may be made to Natural England to apply for a licence to shoot cormorants to re-enforce scaring methods and habitat improvements.

I would be grateful if you could take some time to look at the proposals and make any comments or suggestions?

Kind regards

Carl Nicholls

Fisheries & Angling Manager

Canal & River Trust, Peels Wharf, Lichfield Street, Fazeley, Tamworth, B78 3QZ

T 01827 252048   F 01827 25062    @CRTFisheries

Help shape the future of Earlswood Lakes!

I recently received the following from Dermot O'Brien, who is involved with the Tanworth-in-Arden Neighbourhood Development Plan, and is hoping for responses from as many interested parties as possible. Please comment, tweet or email me your thoughts and I will pass them on.

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I am trying to contact as many groups/organisations that use the Earlswood Lakes and the immediate surrounds.


The Lakes are in the Parish of Tanworth in Arden. The Parish is working with local residents in order to construct a Neighbourhood Development Plan for the Parish.


The main focus of this plan will inevitably be on the housing issue. Where to build and what to build in order to comply with new homes requirements from Stratford District Council.


A part of this plan will also consider the best way to identify other developments which would protect the lakes and enhance the experiences of the disparate groups using the Lakes environment.


To this end we are inviting user groups and interested parties to consider how they would like to see development of the Lakes. There may be particular aspects pertinent to your group that we need to consider, or there may be a desire to maintain and protect the status quo.


If you have any thoughts on this development I would welcome your input.



Dermot O’Brien
NDP member and Parish Councillor

Sites with wildlife interest vs. possible development sites

Further to the previous post, here's the Earlswood map of possible sites for future housing development alongside sites with wildlife interest:

In addition to the key on map:

• Areas with dark green border are being considered for possible development.
• Sites in light green have Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) designation.
• Sites in yellow have Local Wildlife Site (LWS) designation - These are wildlife-rich sites selected by a panel of experts for their local nature conservation value. They can contain important, distinctive and threatened habitats and species. Their designation is non-statutory and their only protection comes via the planning system. They are not protected by law like SSSIs or National Nature Reserves. Further info here.
• Sites in orange have potential Local Wildlife Site (pLWS) designation - These are sites identified by a basic habitat survey but awaiting a more detailed survey before being considered for LWS status.
• The area with purple border is National Trust estate (The Old Moathouse), where there has been talk about possibly allowing public access to the fields and improving them for wildlife.
• Sites in pink have no formal designation but in my opinion have some importance from an Earlswood perspective for birds, attracting species that are uncommon or rare in Warwickshire.

Fortunately none of the sites for possible development encompass a site with known wildlife interest. However E8 is situated very near to Clowes Wood SSSI and Terry's Pool and may have some botanical interest, so this is now being monitored by Earlswood Wildlife Partnership. I'm also concerned about E7, which adjoins both a hedge that annually attracts Redstarts on passage and a field with pLWS status, whilst the E7 site itself may also have some botanical interest. The five sites near the Common are of less concern, but E4 is on the Old Moathouse estate, where in the future management of the fields may possibly become the responsibility of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and possibly be opened up to the public.

Perhaps E3 may be the most suitable site because of its larger size and lower impact on the streetscene? However I've never really had a proper look at it.

Sources:

• http://www.solihull.gov.uk/Portals/0/StrategiesPlansPolicies/LandscapeandEcology/NatConsStratMap.pdf
• Map of LWS and pLWS in Earlswood emailed to me from Jon Bowley, Habitat Biodiversity Audit, 16/04/2014.
• Local birdwatchers