You’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s Winter with snow being on the ground on Saturday and these northerly airflow; it feels very un Spring like! The migrants will be wondering why they ever left the warm climes of Africa and the Med! However last week felt like proper Spring with new birds turning up everyday and butterflies on the wing.
Sedge and reed warblers are increasing in number around the fringes of the wetlands. As are the grasshopper warblers with 7 being heard on Sunday. With a bit of patience and good luck you can get decent view of them, often sat low down in a small tree or bramble patch. We are just waiting for the garden warblers to arrive and then we will have our ‘perfect 10’ set of warblers across the reserve!
Last Tuesday, a male redstart was spotted by our volunteers Nigel and Mick by the canal near Fishers Mill whilst they were out on a breeding bird survey. This led to a dash out to try and relocate it but to no avail. There is so much hedgerow down the canal and Langley brook it could easily move about unnoticed. On the same day, I had a short-eared owl fly over Fisher’s Mill heading south. Quite a surprise as I had assumed they had all left the valley by now. Poor thing was getting dive bombed by the gulls, once on it’s way south, then 10 minutes later when it decided to turn around and head north! Another surprise was a cuckoo calling from the play meadow on the 14th – I think this might have been the earliest one I’ve ever seen, usually expecting them around the 18th-20th of the month. A proper sound of spring and a welcome one considering how much of a population decline this bird has been going through.
Cuckoo by Nick Martin
Out on the wetlands, a male garganey has been playing hide and seek on the North Pit. Often going missing for hours then seemingly appearing out of nowhere! There are also 4 Mediterranean gulls mixed in with the black-headed gull colony, which are not always easy to find as they do wander about the place. Wader wise, we haven’t had the best start to the year, with 4 floods in the last 2 months there is a lot of water to shift and as soon as the levels go down another rain front moves in and tops us up again! Being at the mercy of the weather can be frustrating at times, especially for the management team, but it does keep us a very dynamic site! Never the less, greenshank, avocet, common sandpiper, dunlin and a sanderling have been seen in recent weeks. An Osprey was drifting around the valley yesterday, being seen at Shustoke reservoir (which is to the south of us) at 4.55pm, then at the West Midlands Bird Club reserve Ladywalk (also to the south) at 5.10pm eventually reaching us at 5.50pm! The power of social media meant people were out looking and could spread the word! It’s quite satisfying when things like that happen!
Wednesday last week was the first ‘butterfly day’, by that I mean it was warm, still and this seemed to bring out a variety of species. Orange tips, brimstones, peacocks, small tortoiseshells and comma were fluttering around on the bridleway. Days like that are life lines for butterflies which struggle in cold damp early months of the year. It looks like they may struggle this year too. I’ve yet to see a holly blue, of which we do get plenty down the bridleway and canal. They favour the ivy and a good spot is as you come over the canal bridge in the ivy clad trees around there.
Redstart by Nick Martin
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 Middleton and other sightings in the valley check out the tame valley birding blog http://tamevalleybirding.blogspot.co.uk/