My last sightings blog was called it’s all kicking off, and the weekend of the 18th April, it kind of did when 2 black-winged stilts paid a visit! See our twitter feed for some great photos. These long legged lovlies stayed all day, feeding merrily around the jubilee wetland edge. They are so unbelievable to look at with those long legs! It was very exciting and the reserve was buzzing as this was the first record in the tame valley for 28 years!
Digiscoped with excited shaky hands! by F.Mosey
On a more up to date note, the waders that have been around this week are black-tailed godwit, greenshank, whimbrel, dunlin, common sandpiper and a very early spring curlew sandpiper. We usually expect to see these waders in the autumn, so a spring record is a very interesting one indeed!
The bank holiday weekend also produced some goodies, May can be a really good month to see something a bit different and unexpected. This was the case when one of our local birders, Geoff, was checking the gulls and hirundines on the North Pit when a large raptor flew in. It lingered for 5 minutes before drifting north and Geoff put out the report as a possible black kite! Unfortuantley it wasn’t seen at Middleton again that day, but the next day a possible black kite was reported further west in Staffordshire and one further south in Oxfordshire so who knows....In between the showers at the weekend, the lakes were graced with a first summer little gull on the north pit, arctic tern and 4 black terns flew through. The garganeys are still around, with fishers mill being the best place to scan for these skulking ducks. The fence line around jubilee has been a great place over the last few days to spot the whinchats. Up to 3 have been on site, including a cracking male.
The first cuckoos, swifts and hobbys are about now. The best places to see these are on the wetlands, but they will range quite far over the reserve. Especially the hobbys. Their favourite dragonfly prey haven’t started to emerge on mass yet so they are busy causing havoc with the martins and swallows! In these blustery conditions, the newly arrived swifts are feeding low over the water and often flying just above head height!
The reserve is bursting with song and boasting 10 species of warblers, which on a decent sunny, calm morning should all be achievable. On these sunny days, the butterflies have also been performing with a full complement of spring butterflies being recorded. Holly blues are becoming more obvious in the woodlands as are the speckled woods. The orange tips seem to be everywhere as well! The riverside paths are pretty good for these as the cuckoo-flower or ladys smock grows here, orange-tips favoured plant for egg laying!
Orange tip on wild turnip by K.Thorpe
Also along the riverside path, the first banded demoiselle was seen this week! Won’t be long before they are dancing over the water. Last year was a fantastic year for them, and at times there seemed to be clouds of demoiselles. The banded demoiselles join the large red damselflies which are on the wing at the moment.
The reserve is becoming alive with colour now. Whites, pinks, blues, and yellows; an assortment of colour for the eyes! And these colourful blooms are the flowers we notice first, it can lead us to look closer and find the less obvious flowers. I for one am not brilliant with my plants and flowers and always enjoy learning some new bit of botanical knowledge. Our flora recorder, John, alerted me to a colony of town hall clock (Adoxa moschatellina) which we had plonked a small dead hedge on! Completley inocently as we didn’t realise the plant was there, and it’s not a common one in Warwickshire I am told. So after moving the dead-hedge (which was there to stop people wandering into the woods), I had a good look at this delicate little flower. You can tell where it gets its name, with its 4 flower facing outwards, like the 4 sides of a clock tower! My ropey photo tries to show this! It likes damp, shady places, so our woodland seems to provide a perfect little home for it (minus the dead hedge!)
Not the best photo of town hall clock! At least it's distinctive leaves are in focus! by K.Thorpe
We will endeavor to keep this blog updated on a weekly basis, but to keep your finger on the Middleton Lakes pulse check out our RSPB Birmingham, Black Country and Warwickshire facebook page and follow us on Twitter @RSPBMiddleton. If you enjoy taking photos, we would love for you to add them to our Community page. To keep up to date with other sightings in the valley check out the tame valley birding blog http://tamevalleybirding.blogspot.co.uk/