Brandon Marshes :: 10 July 2011

Starting with lunch in the "Badger Tea Room"; this time in addition to wife and two children we also had the youngest's best friend. It had been quite a few weeks since our last visit and the landscape had changed considerably with the many wild flowers dominating the vista. The profusion of baby rabbits had not changed though; the more trusting (stupid) ones letting us get within a few feet to watch at close quarters. The girls loved that.

The afternoon went along un-remarkably until we got to the Carlton Hide. There the crowds had gathered to watch the kingfisher parade around the various vantage points. Significant lens were pointed and triggers pulled with sharp repetitive bursts of shutter actuations filling the air. As a finale we watched a green sandpiper feed in the shallows right in front of the hide. On the right-hand edge of the pool significant numbers of reed warblers sped along the reeds, occasionally accompanied by the odd linnet.

Our species count for the afternoon totaled 40, including: blue tit, great tit, reed bunting, bullfinch, magpie, feral pigeon, chaffinch, collared dove, swallow, house martin, woodpigeon, carrion crow, robin, blackbird, greenfinch, buzzard, grey heron, mallard, lapwing, oystercatcher, greylag goose, common tern, coot, black headed gull, tufted duck, canada goose, cormorant, ringed plover, starling, little ringed plover, teal, great crested grebe, moorhen, lesser black backed gull, mute swan, whitethroat, linnet, kingfisher, green sandpiper and pheasant.

Our favourite of the day though has to be the kingfisher; from the numbers in the Carlton Hide, we were not alone.

Brandon Marsh :: 28 May 2011

A blustery day which was forecast to have rain showers throughout the afternoon. After an early lunch we set off for an afternoon on the reserve; rain on the journey up made us worry that we might end up just having a coffee in the tea room. We needn't have worried as the sun broke through the clouds as soon as we got onto the paths and didn't leave us all afternoon. In fact we got a bit hot in our waterproof tops.

There were significant numbers of juvenile great and blue tits at the reserve feeders being chased by two squirrels having their fill. A good number of rabbits also populated the paths.

Again, there were whitethroats everywhere. Every bush seemed to have some; their songs singing through the wind (reducing to breeze as the afternoon wore on). We came across one guy who had spent 2hrs in the same spot watching a pair of whitethroats who were showing well and had shots where you could virtually identify the insects in their beaks. Passing views of linnet were also good.

Our species for the day numbered 37 and included: great tit, feral pigeon, chaffinch, great-spotted woodpecker, reed bunting, bullfinch, blue tit, magpie, swallow, blackbird, woodpigeon, greylag goose, mallard, canada goose, carrion crow, linnet, swift, jay, whitethroat, tufted duck, grey heron, lapwing, coot, black-headed gull, cormorant, redshank, ringed plover, pied wagtail, common tern, sand martin, mute swan, stock dove, great-crested grebe, moorhen, robin, oystercatcher and willow warbler.

Our favourite of the day was the jay who seemed to have found rather a lot of new berries on a nearby tree.

RSPB Middleton Lakes :: 22 May 2011

RSPB Middleton Lakes is the latest RSPB nature reserve to open to the public. Last weekend it opened officially and this weekend it was hosting a Bird Fair. Since the RSPB acquired the site in 2007, they have developed the lakes, reedbeds, meadows and woodlands make it one of the best birdwatching sites in the area. Still they need more funding to install hides, bridges and a visitor centre. Still a good place to visit, even as it is.

An hour up the M40/M42 saw us arrive at 10:20, doors having opened at 10:00; we took the last parking space in the Middleton Hall courtyard. After a quick look around we located the RSPB Marquee and booked ourselves onto the 11:00 guided walk.

Our walk was scheduled for 2 hrs and aimed to introduce all of the established habitats. Immediately beside the RSPB car park there is a "play" meadow where kids can run, crawl, climb in the tree, jump and paddle in the ponds. From here you progress along a 700m trail through an ancient woodland. From here you can then choose left ot right: to the right is the meadow trail, home to English Longhorn cattle and an abundance of wild flowers; to the left a wetland trail (the "wilderness") which meanders through reedbeds, lakes and at times alongside the River Tame.

As a large group we were rather conspicuous and not likey to see much before it saw (or heard) us. We did manage to see a few birds, particularly a huge number of swifts, swallow and martins. Our species total on the walk numbered 26, including: swallow, woodpigeon, jackdaw, grey heron, carrion crow, tufted duck, whitethroat, coot, black-headed gull, mallard, housemartin, mute swan, blue tit, oystercatcher, sandmartin, swift, pied wagtail, great-crested grebe, shelduck, canada goose, chaffinch, robin, gadwall, lapwing, blackbird, and cormorant.

A quick lunch in Middleton Hall (tasty sausage and egg bap!) and a tour round the various Bird Fair stalls and marquees took us to the end of our visit. It won't be long until we come back to tour at our own speed, without a large entourage in tow.

Somerford Keynes, Cotswold Water Park :: 01 May 2011

Not really a day out birdwatching but instead lunch with family. Great to be having lunch and looking out over the water just along from the Cotswold Water Park; watching the coots with their young, moorhen, housemartin, swallows, canada geese, mute swans, mallard, black headed gull, carrion crow, blue tit, goldfinch, blackbirds, starlings and song thrush. A pair of binocs and a camera to hand we relaxed and took in the view. Then onto the water landed rather an odd looking duck which on later review turned out to be red-crested pochard. In the skies we also spotted a pair of birds which from the photos turned out be hobby. Two new species in one day.

Out for a walk after a delicious lunch and we came across a mallard family, then tufted ducks, great crested grebe, common tern, wood pigeon, dunnock, sedge warbler and this time a pair of red-crested pochard.

A great way to spend the day and still get in a little birding.

Brandon Marsh :: 21 April 2011

Back to Brandon Marshes for what promised to be a stunning day. Forecasts for the Easter weekend looked more like mid-summer than mid-spring; I expect we will pay for it later.

With the family and parents we arrived in time for a spot of early lunch and then onto the trails. It was evident that there were significantly fewer ducks on the site than in any of our previous visits this year. However, the arrival of the common terns was a welcome sight, as was the common sandpiper. The numbers of ringed and little ringed plover had increased significantly and gave a fluid movement of birds from area to area (ably supported by the swallows feeding over the water).

Warbler numbers seem to be growing as we came across first sedge and then cetti's warbler. This was soon followed by a large number of whitethroat, spread right across the reserve and showing well.

Highlights for the kids though were the squirrel, rabbits out in the open and three friendly mice who seemed quite unconcerned even when granny took a call on her mobile!

Our sightings for the day totalled 41, reduced from our last visit due to the absence of ducks, snipe and buzzards. They included: great tit, mallard, great-spotted woodpecker, blue tit , chaffinch, bullfinch, swallow, reed bunting, robin, magpie, pied wagtail, greylag goose, carrion crow, canada goose, coot, mute swan, cormorant, great crested grebe, lapwing, common tern, teal, gadwall, wigeon, ringed plover, tufted duck, black headed gull, common gull, oystercatcher, common sandpiper, little ringed plover, sedge warbler, cetti's warbler, blackbird, feral pigeon, greenfinch, goldfinch, whitethroat, moorhen.

Our birds of the day had to be the whitethroats who darted around and never stopped chattering.

Brandon Marsh :: 29 March 2011

Reports of the visiting spotted crake reached me while I was at work on Monday. "Damn" I thought - it first showed just 1½hrs after I left on Sunday. It was apparent that after a quiet day the crake had been active late in the day at around 1835. Up then at 0530 this morning to have a peek and hopefully add it to the list. A 40min drive and a short walk later I joined about 10 people in the East Marsh Pool hide. Eager to see the bird, I just joined the vigil. A few tens of minutes later it became apparent that a fox had paraded around the reeds and the front of the hide about 10-15mins before I arrived. So that is why it was so quiet for that next hour!

Unfortunately another 40mins drive home and I was ready for work, having missed this spot. Checking the boards the spotted crake did show later, at least on three occassions. Damn again.

Beautiful sunrise over the misty pool though.

Brandon Marsh :: 27 March 2011

Ailsa on the keyboard again!

To start today we got up early and left the house without even having breakfast. The clocks had changed and so it was even earlier than the clocks suggested. It was not as sunny as we would have expected for this time of year when the daffodils are starting to blossom. We had planned another visit to Brandon Marshes but first we went to Rugby to search for waxwings. We have been reading a man's blog (onemanandhispond) where he spoke of waxwings around Lawford Lane - I would love to see them but unfortunately they couldn't be found during the hour we wandered around. We did come across a bear - no it's not what you are thinking, it's just a pub on Bilton Lane!

As I said, we didn't get to see any waxwings, but we did see these birds which weren't repeated at Brandon Marshes: song thrush, green woodpecker, kestrel, yellowhammer, rook, starling and house sparrow.

After spending an unsuccessful hour in the cold morning air we arrived at the warm cosy Brandon Marsh visitor centre. By then it was half past ten and we were all starving. We snuggled up in the "Badgers Tea Room" and had three full cooked breakfasts and a ham and cheese panini, which we all enjoyed. The teas, hot chocolate and coffee weren't too bad either.

After the nice hot beverages, we went back out into the cold again and started our trek round the reserve. We visited every single hide on the way and found a new species of bird for our list in every hide.

We spotted our record number of birds in a single day at Brandon Marshes. Our highlight bird was a new bird we had never seen before, a Cetti's warbler which we only just got a picture of, through the reeds. You can only see it if you look really carefully. Even the sun came out before we packed up to leave - not before another drink and a slice of cake! To sum it up, a record breaking day.

We spotted 43 species on the reserve this time, including: greenfinch, reed bunting, feral pigeon, chaffinch, coal tit, great tit, blue tit, bullfinch, woodpigeon, dunnock, robin, great-spotted woodpecker, greylag goose, nuthatch, goldfinch, carrion crow, willow tit, canada goose, jay, buzzard, coot, tufted duck, sand martin, mallard, lapwing, mute swan, shoveler, teal, oystercatcher, snipe, ringed plover, moorhen, great-crested grebe, wigeon, black-headed gull, long tailed tit, wren, cetti's warbler, gadwall, goosander, shelduck, pheasant and blackbird.