Lutley Wedge 26/12/10 1.40pm (0/-1°c) Cold grey and overcast. S breeze

Highlights of a quick visit this afternoon were 11 Lapwing flying over heading West at 1.50pm, and a single Common Snipe which also flew West.

Also seen:-

19 Fieldfare

6 Redwing 

2 Herring Gull

12 Yellowhammer

Lutley Wedge 25/12/10 10.40am (-6°c) Freezing cold/snow cover (overnight severe frost -8/-9°c) Sunny, clear skies.

GBB!

As the snow and ice continued to grip the Midlands and the rest of the U.K, hundreds of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were on the move this morning flying over mainly to the North, with smaller numbers of Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls mixed in with the flocks. The Larid highlight however was a superb adult Great Black-backed Gull which i picked out flying North with 14 L.B.B Gulls at 11.10am (and only the 2nd record of Great Black-backed Gull at Lutley Wedge, since the first in December 1998!)

Although in the Midlands as a whole Great Black-backed Gulls are classed as a 'fairly common winter visitor', the winter distribution in the West Midlands is very low only 1% and even Worcestershire only 5% according to 'The new Birds of the West Midlands 2005'. This is presumably why it's taken me 12 years, and the coldest December for a 100 years to record Lutley's second! It was worth the wait!

Also seen:-

5 Lapwing (1 >E) (4 >NNW)

40 Fieldfare

10 Redwing

1 Siskin

Spot the GBB! 25/12/10

Great Black-backed Gull (middle) and Lesser Black-backed Gulls 25/12/10

Lutley Wedge 24/12/10 11.20am (-1°c) Freezing cold/snow cover. Scattered cloud and sun. Light N wind

Highlight today was a smart adult Common Gull which flew over heading East with 4 Black Headed Gulls, otherwise apart from a couple of Siskin flying over it was more of the same with Fieldfares making cold weather movements.

165 Fieldfare (91 >W/SW)

16 Redwing

2 Siskin >N

Fieldfares and Common Gull 24/12/10

Halesowen West Midlands 23/12/10 Waxwings

'More Trillers!'

A flock of 13 Waxwings flew over my garden at 10.07am totally ignoring all the apples i had put out to attract them, and landed in trees nearby on Bassnage Road for a few minutes before flying off again. 

 

Waxwings Halesowen West Midlands 23/12/10

Lutley Wedge 23/12/10 11.00am (-2°c) Freezing cold, light snow showers, overcast, (overnight hard frost -5/-6°c) N/NW wind.

There was a noticeable hard weather influx of Fieldfare today, with at least 184 flying over mainly to the South and West in an attempt to escape the freezing weather and snow covered ground.

Hard Weather movements 11.00am-12.15pm

184 Fieldfare (74 >W) (57 >S/SW)

22 Redwing

2 Song Thrush

4 Raven

also seen:- 4 Raven, 1 Common Buzzard and 14 Yellowhammers at Grange Farm 

Fieldfares 23/12/10

Lutley Wedge 19/12/10 10.40am Freezing cold (-6°c) with 16+cms of snow. (overnight severe frost -13°c!!) Cold ENE/N wind

'Life in the freezer' on the patch this morning! Temperatures plummeted to a record low of around -13°c overnight with at least 16 cms of snow still on the ground, from the heavy snowfall on the 18/12. Some cold weather 'escape movements' were noticeable over the top footpath, with the highlight being 2 Curlew that flew over heading West at 11.23am (these are the first winter records of Curlew at Lutley Wedge). A few Lapwings also flew over fleeing the freezing conditions including a flock of 7 flying at high altitude rapidly >West at 12.35pm, along with increasing numbers of Fieldfares and Redwings.
Hard Weather movements 10.40am-1.30pm
2 Curlew >W
9 Lapwing (7 >W) (1 >SSW) (1 >NE)
79 Fieldfare (48 >S/SE) (19 >W/SW) (2 >E) (3 >N)
57 Redwing (30 >S/SE) (12 >N/NW) (9 >W) (2 >E)
1 Song Thrush >W/NW
8 Skylark (7 >E) (1 >SW)
53+ L.B.B Gull
11 Herring Gull
2 Raven >E

Frozen Lutley looking South to Clent Hills, and Ice crystals 19/12/10

Curlew and Lapwing heading West 19/12/10

 Redwing and Herring Gull 19/12/10

Lutley Wedge 15/12/10 12.40pm (4°c) Cold and overcast. Cold NW wind

A quick visit this afternoon to Wassell Grove Pools. The highlight on a fairly quiet day was a large flock of 55+ Siskins feeding in the alder trees around the pools, until they were flushed by a hunting Sparrowhawk. Also seen:-  21 Redwings, 1 Fieldfare, 7 Bullfinch and 1 Common Buzzard.

Halesowen West Midlands 13/12/10 Waxwings

I found yet another flock of 42 Waxwings in Halesowen this afternoon, noisily 'trilling' from the top of a tree on Highfield Lane/Park near the junction with Chapel Street at 12.35pm before they  flew off to the SW.