Related
Recommended
KatieT

It was a beautiful icy morning while we were out doing our monthly WeBS count on Monday. A quiet count with the full scores being....

Little Grebe:- 1

GC Grebe:- 4

Cormorant:- 11

Little Egret:- 3

Grey Heron:- 5

Mute Swan:- 13

GLGoose:- 2

Canada Goose:- 3

Shelduck:- 10

Wigeon:- 9

Gadwall:- 13

Teal:- 242

Mallard:- 65

Shoveler:- 19

Pochard:- 1

Tufted duck:- 71

Goldeneye:- 2

Water rail:- 3

Moorhen:- 19

Coot:- 168

Lapwing:-14

Snipe:- 9

BHGull:- 3

LBBGull:- 1

Highlights of the count were the number of noisy teal, mainly on the north pit but also on Jubilee and Fisher’s Mill. The males throwing their heads and bodies about in an act of contortion displaying to the females. Water rails kept scurrying out of the edges where it wasn’t frozen. You have a chance of seeing them on any bit of water, and under the feeders where they are happily mopping up seed and nuts. The newly strimmed Fisher’s Mill islands are revealing more snipe and lapwing loafing about on them. The snipe are very camouflaged against the yellowing reed and reedmace and checking the edges you may even find a jack snipe!

More highlights from the past week have been, chiffchaff along the river. Check out the over hanging brambles on the opposite side of the river and the roving tit flocks they associate with. Also along the river and in the woodland, lucky visitors keep spotting the lesser spotted woodpecker. There isn’t one place it pops up, I am forever checking every dead tree and creeping shadow I see, but alas, it’s normally a treecreeper or a nuthatch. Which are fine birds to spot as well.

In the cold snaps, the smaller birds become more obvious. Mixed flocks of linnet (up to 50), meadow pipit and reed bunting have been feeding near the lookout. When you walk around the wetland trail, it seems like the stonechats are everywhere, and always watching you to see if you kick up a leaf they can find food under. We even had an ice-skating stonechat on the WeBS count! Checking the hedgerow down the canal side can often reveal bullfinches, which look very smart and a splash of colour in the crisp Winter sun. The hedgerow near the Farm has housed 4 tree sparrows this week. Quite a rare bird in the Tame Valley these days, caused a bit of excitement. Hopefully they will stay and find our feeders!

While it’s been icy, the wildfowl count has been low, but in the past week we have had 15+ goldeneye on the jubilee wetlands. There have been 20+ in the valley, the deeper water of Dosthill and the water ski lake being a favourite area.

The highlight, at least for me, has been the egret roost in the heronry. As it’s getting dark, about 40-30 minutes before sun set, the little egrets start flying in. Only in 1’s or 2’s mostly – but a flock of 12 descended one night! The highest total so far has been 30, but there could well be more as some may fly in really early and others really late. With no leaves on the trees, they are rather obvious, looking like big white baubles in the Oaks! If you come to watch the little egrets – which are best viewed from the heronry boardwalk – keep an eye out for the barn owl hunting over the play meadow and the tawny owls in the woodland.

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. If you enjoy taking photos, we would love for you to add them to our Community page.