Recent Sightings - April 2011

The spring/summer migrants were in with a few late winter vagrants:

 Arctic Tern (21st), Black Tern (22nd), Blackcap (7th), Black-tailed Godwit (20th), Buzzard (11th), Cetti’s Warbler (7th), Chiffchaff (1st), Common Sandpiper (12th), Common Tern (3rd), Cormorant (10th), Cuckoo (16th),  Curlew (18th),  Dunlin (1st),  Garden Warbler (22nd), Garganey (18th),  Goldfinch (7th), Goosander (9th),  Grasshopper Warbler (Dosthill, 9th), Green Sandpiper (4th), Greenshank (7th), Grey Heron (29 active nests and 55 chicks have been recorded before the foliage obscured surveying),  Grey Partridge (22nd),  Greylag Goose (12th), Hobby (21st), House Martin (1st), Lapwing chick (28th),  Lesser Whitethroat (19th),  Linnet (1st), Little Egret (10th), Little Ringed Plover (1st), Mallard (with 11 young, 6th), Marsh Harrier (22nd), Oystercatcher (1st), Peregrine (7th),  Pied Wagtail (4th), Pink-footed Goose (3rd), Pochard (21st), Raven (2nd),  Red Kite (22nd), Redshank (21st), Reed Bunting (21st),  Reed Warbler (9th), Ringed Plover (1st), Ruff (7th), Sanderling (20th), Sand Martin (1st), Sedge Warbler (9th), Shelduck (21st), Skylark (1st), Snipe (7th), Spotted Redshank (10th),  Swallow (5th),  Swift (24th), Waxwing (5th), Wheatear (10th), Whinchat (23rd), Whitethroat  (11th), Wigeon (18th), Willow Warbler (3rd), Yellow Wagtail (6th).

 Our resident water birds and waders were pairing off:

Canada Goose, Coot, Gadwall, Great Crested Grebe, Lapwing, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Shoveler, Tufted Duck.

The woods were alive with the song of our resident birds (as well as the new arrivals):

Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Song Thrush, Wren. 

 Butterflies:

A warm late winter and early spring has brought out large numbers of  Orange Tips which survived the winter.

Brimstone, Comma, Common Blue, Dingy Skipper, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Large White, Orange Tip, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Specked Wood.

 Damselflies & Dragonflies:

Banded Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly (earliest sighting for Staffs & Warks), Large Red Damselfly (earliest sighting for Staffs & Warks).

Shrubs: Blackthorn, Broom, Gorse, Hawthorn.

 Wild Flowers:

Bluebell, Colt’s Foot, Cow Parsley, Cuckooflower, Dog’s Mercury, Field Forget-me-not, Greater Stitchwort,