A walk around the whole Valley

So, an afternoon off Uni and a nice day, what to do?

In the name of laziness I parked in the Swan Pool car park and set off around the pool itself towards Priory Woods. There was very little of note on the water with 3 great crested grebes being of most interest seeing as one pair were hanging around the location where they have tried to nest the last couple of years. I had my fingers crossed that I might stumble upon a very early bit of weed dancing, but this proved a little optimistic (I did forget it was still January and NOT Spring). So seeing as they didn't dance for me, here is a pic of a pair having a quick shimmy in the same spot taken in late February last year.

Great Crested Grebes 'dancing' on Swan Pool - Feb. 2011 - Mike Ixer

There is a long boom which sits in the water at Swan Pool and it is always worth a look through the assembled gulls to see if anything 'unusual' has sneaked in. At the end of January last year a yellow-legged gull put in an appearance, but today there was nothing of note (unless more experienced gull watches than myself (of which there are many) can see anything).

Gulls at Swan Pool - Jan. 2012 - Mike Ixer

As I pushed on into Priory Woods I was initially surprised by how quiet it seemed - then I noticed the smouldering remains of a couple of bonfires and the rangers packing up and the apparent quiet was no longer a mystery. A shrill squawking call then resounded through the woods followed by another, then another, and so on. The Heronry is active again! Emerging out of the trees and through to Ice House Pool I counted at least 25 grey herons standing watchfully over the nest sites which have been used for years - my second early sign of Spring; the first being watching two mistle thrushes forage together outside my flat near to a regular nesting spot whilst seeing off any rivals.

A record shot of a few of the herons - Ice House Pool - Jan. 2012 - Mike Ixer

The accompaniment to the herons came in the form of 10 goosander, pochards, turfted ducks, gadwall, mallards, coots, moorhens, canada geese and mute swans with the later few vying for the best spot not to get fed in front of me.

Moving through the woods everything again seemed quiet until a very quiet and high pitch noise caught my attention. I turned my gaze upwards to see a treecreeper shimmying up the tree ... followed by a nuthatch ... heading towards a goldcrest. Amazing! Nothing particularly rare but to see these three highly charismatic species, which can all be a pain to see on occasions, all in the same field of view was a real treat. Further inspection revealing a second nuthatch and a second treecreeper on an adjacent tree with a pair of bullfinches also in attendance.

Now the only disappointment which arose from this thoroughly enjoyable situation was that all the photos which I took are rubbish! It is the one problem with the camera and lens combo I carry around. The lens has a very good magnification (150mm-300mm Olympus fit which is apparently a 300mm-600mm in normal cameras) and is also very compact. However, in anything other than good lighting it struggles massively; a fact which is a problem while trying to photograph things in woodland.

Nuthatch in Priory Woods - Jan. 2012 - Mike Ixer

Frustrating!

Treecreeper in Priory Woods - Jan. 2012 - Mike Ixer

Even more frustrating!

Anyway, I left Priory Woods and had a good look around the Paddocks with the hope that I would find a little owl after it was seen last week. Of course I had no luck finding the little blighter - it seems unlike other little owls, the Valley residents do not have a regular resting place, just a tree that you 'might' see them in. The paddocks were well populated with Turdus (and not because of the horses), the vast majority of which being redwings but fieldfare, blackbirds and mistle thrushes also featured. There was also the addition of a great spotted woodpecker, some stock doves and a collared dove to keep things interesting. I have attached a photo below to prove the little owl does exist and it is not just a myth conjured up by RSPB volunteers wanting to keep people looking. It was taken in the Paddocks 12th February last year.

Little Owl with Great Spotted Woodpecker - Paddocks - Feb. 2011 - Mike Ixer

I walked back through the skylark (but not yet) field and around the other side of Swan Pool. A cormorant and 5 herring gulls had now joined the previously assembled gulls on the boom but nothing else had appeared.

Fox on the Forge Mill Farm Trail - Dec. 2010 - Mike Ixer

Today was quiet with long-tailed tits, redwings and wrens being the only company.

Robin - RSPB Sandwell Valley - Jan. 2012 - Mike Ixer

Clouds - RSPB Sandwell Valley - Jan. 2012 - Mike Ixer