Lutley Wedge 07/03/11 12.20pm (8°c) Sunny, clear skies. Light E/SE Breeze

Two patch 'year ticks' today. A single Meadow Pipit was in a field near Wassell Grove (first sighting since late November last year) and a superb ♂ Peregrine. The Peregrine was first picked up some distance away soaring over the Top Footpath, before circling high over Wassell Grove Pools on a thermal with (4) Common Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk!

Also seen:- 

(2) ♂♀ Teal (still present at Wassell Grove Pools)

(4) Siskin (2➝North)

(1) Skylark

♂Peregrine and Meadow Pipit 7/3/11

♀ Teal Wassell Grove Pools 7/3/11

Lutley Wedge 04/03/11 2.40pm Cold (5°c) Sunny, clear skies and patchy cloud. Cold NE wind

Finally some signs today that things are beginning to move! I found (1♂1♀) Eurasian Teal at Wassell Grove Pools this afternoon, the first sighting at Lutley Wedge for 9 years! These birds represent only the 3rd record for the local patch with the only two previous records of Teal being (1♀ 21/12/00 and 1♂ 10/3/02). 

According to the books (BTO Migration Atlas/New Birds of the West Mids) spring migration of Teal from Britain & Ireland to northern European breeding grounds begins in late February, with numbers wintering in the Midlands typically reaching a peak in December then declining until few are left by April. 

Also seen at Wassell Grove Pools :- 1 Redpoll sp, 2+ Siskin, 1 Common Buzzard. approx 160 Black-headed Gulls flew over >East probably heading for roost at Bartley Reservoir.  

♂♀ Teal Wassell Grove Pools 4/3/11

Lutley Wedge 3.00pm Cold (5°c) Sunny, clear skies. Cold NE wind

Things remain pretty quiet bird-wise at the moment, with no obvious signs on the patch of any spring migration getting underway. I checked my usual site for Meadow Pipits to see if any were back on territory to no avail, though they should be returning soon as i had birds displaying on the 9th March last year. Both Meadow Pipit and Stonechat should start to move North through the patch hopefully in the next week or so, and are normally the first signs of Spring migration here.

A quick check of Wassell Grove Pools was also quiet with only (1) Lesser Redpoll, 3 Siskin and  3 Redwing seen along with a couple of soaring Common Buzzard, amongst the usual suspects.

Common Buzzard 2/3/11

Lutley Wedge 27/02/11 2.35pm Cold (6°c) Grey and cloudy.

Highlights of quick check of Wassell Grove Pools today in less than inspiring weather, were (1)m Brambling (my first this year) and a flock of (8+) Siskins feeding in the Alders around the pools (one of the Siskin was carrying a leg-ring). Also seen:- 1 Treecreeper 1 Common Buzzard and 3 Bullfinch.  

Treecreeper 27/2/11

 

'Record shot' of todays Brambling and 'ringed' Siskin 27/2/11

Below is a short sound recording (and sonogram) of a Redwing in full song i was lucky enough to hear at Wassell Grove Pools on 8/2/11, though sadly i missed the best chance to record this singing bird when it was much closer!  I'll be trying to get some better recordings of Redwing song, before they start to depart back to their northern Scandinavian breeding haunts in the coming few weeks.

Redwing song by Lutley Birder

Lutley Wedge 12/02/11 10.50am (10°c) Mild & sunny, scattered cloud. SW wind.

There was more than a hint of early spring in the air on the patch today in the mild and sunny weather conditions. 

A flock of c60 Fieldfares and 6 Redwing were feeding in the fields alongside the track to Wassell Grove Pools, and 14 Skylarks flew over towards Hodge Hill. Nearby at Wassell Grove Pools 4 Redpoll sp flew over >ENE and another 1 Lesser Redpoll and 9 Siskin were in the Alders. 10 Pied Wagtails were in the horse paddock at Grange Farm and 16 Yellowhammer were along Lutley Lane footpath. Also seen of note :- 3+ Common Buzzards, 1 Kestrel and 2 Sparrowhawks. 

Fieldfare 12/2/11

Lutley Wedge 08/02/11 12.55pm (8°c) Sunny, Clear skies and scattered high cloud. Brisk SE Wind

The undoubted highlight today was a superb flock of 50+ Waxwings i found at 2.50pm 'flycatching' from the top of an Ash tree on Brookwillow Rd/Rosemary Rd Halesowen, right on the border of the Lutley Wedge recording area and alongside Lutley Brook.

At Wassell Grove Pools 2 Ravens flew over heading South towards Clent, 10+ Redwings and 5 Fieldfares were in the horse paddocks and a flock of around 60+ Redwings also flew over with some dropping out into the hedgerows, (at least one of the Redwing was heard singing snatches of full song amongst lots of noisy sub-song) Also seen 2 Siskin and 1 Redpoll sp. 

Waxwing  8/2/11

'Off after another fly!' 8/2/11

Halesowen West Midlands 4/2/11 4.00pm

Only just outside of the Lutley Wedge recording area, a flock of 15+ Waxwings were perched on a TV aerial on Witley Avenue/Huntingtree Road briefly late this afternoon.