Midlands Birding Blog

With an end to restricted travel getting closer every day, I'm sure everyone reading this is keen to get out and spread their birding wings. I know I certainly I am. But to avoid you wishing away these next few weeks or months, my post this week is going to be a series of 'Low Carbon Birding Challenges', to make the most of our local birding scene before we can all travel further afield, and before some of us forget about the spots that we've grown to love over the last year. A Lockdown Birding Bucket List Top 10 if you will.  Hopefully, it might help us to rekindle our love for our local area, a love which might have worn quite thin over the last few months of being forced to visit it exclusively every day! I hope this highlights a few positives that we can take away from this past year of enforced local lockdown birding, and maybe some that we can continue to enjoy after lockdown and beyond. If there are any you haven't done already, there's still time to give...

We all need a bit of a boost right now. Fortunately for me, and for many of you reading this post, birdwatching provides some much needed relief in this difficult state of the world. Birding offers a mindful and uplifting escape that remains even throughout the pandemic. Sure, we might not be able to travel to a bird reserve or maybe even our local patch, but I've put together some birding activities that just about anyone can enjoy even now. Hopefully, they provide you with some of the mindfulness and joy that we could all do with at this time. Perhaps the key to all this is that nature is unchanging in the face of all the problems in the human world. Nature can provide great solace during the harsh reality of the pandemic. Watching a Goldcrest foraging in a pine tree today is just the same experience as it was 5 years ago, and it's this normality that we all crave right now. Being present and enjoying the birds you are seeing couldn't be a better way to experience mindful...

I finished last week on 66 species, far surpassing my expectations. At the end of the last post , I wondered what other surprises were in store for the patch this year, but I didn't expect the first one to come so soon. After a walk with my family on the 9th we drove over the Staunton Harold Reservoir road bridge on our way home. From the fleeting view I got from the moving car, I thought I saw the Ring-Necked Duck with the Tufties. The bird had been present from late December through to the 2nd of January, at which point it had moved to nearby Foremark and not been seen again. Obviously, from this fleeting view I didn't really trust my instinct and assumed it must have been a Tufted Duck seen at speed. I presumed the bird must be long gone, with no sightings at Staunton Harold for at least a week. I had been back a few times in the days in between and had no sign, and many others had done the same. The following day, I walked back to the area, which has been so productive for ...

Looking back now, it was quite fortuitous that the young birders decided to compete in a patch challenge in 2021. When Joe first suggested the idea in December we were all very keen, having regularly discussed our own patch birding during 2020 it seemed like a fun idea to introduce a bit of competition. We might not have guessed though that local birding would soon become the only form allowed in the third lockdown that hit the country at the start of January. It was lucky that my 2021 birding plans were already prepared for this. The rules are that we must have a specified 5 square mile continuous area that we call our patch. Most people have a smaller area than this which gives them somewhere manageable to cover regularly, but the large limit allows us to discover or test out new areas without feeling restricted. The other key rule is that we must walk or cycle around this area. My birding began on New Years Day when I did a short, but very successful, walk around the fields behind m...

With the recent lessening of lockdown regulations I've been able to get out a bit more in the last week and explore some local sites. With university exams I haven't been getting out as much as I'd like. But I've only able to walk from home for 8 weeks now so in the few trips recently I've seen many birds I haven't seen in several months! Last Thursday I visited a new site for me - Tucklesholme Quarry - just over the border into Staffordshire. This site was only very recently established and shows great potential. It appears to be reasonably reliable for Temminck's Stint each spring already! The hope is that this site might one day bring Bittern back to Staffordshire where it formerly bred. At the moment, the reeedbeds certainly aren't well enough established but that didn't stop me logging 8 species of warbler on my visit (missing only Reed and Willow Warbler). Record shot - testing out my Nikon P900 on fast-moving targets! There was no ...

If you read nothing else in this post, just know that I recommend this camera. It is fantastic. I'm very grateful to those on Twitter who responded to my tweet and recommended it to me. I could not be more pleased with my purchase so far. I wanted to write an article to capture my initial enthusiasm before I begin to look a bit deeper into modes and settings. Consider this as a review rather than a how-to guide, because I'm still very much learning! An initial disclaimer: I'm not a photographer - I know the photos I am posting wouldn't win any awards, but nor do I want them to. I am a birder with a camera. My main wish from my camera is that I can take a record shot (or slightly better) of the birds that I see and if the bird poses particularly nicely perhaps a photo that would be considered good. The P900 fulfils this purpose and surpasses it. This is largely due to its most impressive feature, and the feature that I'm sure will have initially attracted any...

The weather has suddenly changed lately, and with it there is the possibility of an interesting wader/tern. One of the first birds I heard on my walk yesterday was the distant rattle of a Lesser Whitethroat . My first of the year. I followed the sound for around 100m right to the boundary of the field but sadly the bird must have been hiding some distance over the hedge so there was no chance of a sighting. On the lake, I found a male Gadwall sleeping in the reeds on the edge, which was a good tick. There was no sign of the Wigeon from last week. As it got darker under an ominous-looking rain cloud, a group of hirundines dropped down to the lake. With them, were the birds of the day -  5 Swift . An April Swift is a challenge I always set myself each year, and I managed it on the final day of the month! What fantastic birds. The first of the year is always a thrill. Also among the hirundines, I found 2 Sand Martin . These were also my first of the year - I don't think I'...

It finally happened. I hit 50 species from the garden during lockdown, and it feels great! The bird that took me over the line was rather unceremoniously a Great Black Backed Gull . They're not exactly my favourite bird but I celebrated it like it was! Helpfully, it came north over the house with 2 Lesser Black Backed Gulls. So there was no question mark over its size. I can't quite believe I've hit 50 so quickly. Before lockdown my all-time garden list stood at just 54. I guess it shows I just wasn't looking hard enough, because now that I've put in the effort for a few weeks, I'm approaching it fast. The next and biggest target is to beat this total - 55 would be incredible. They're getting harder now no doubt, but Swift will eventually be a given, and Red Kite and Hobby certainly renewed my faith in surprises. Garden listing is very much a personal endeavour. It's based on personal targets, and while you can encourage and discuss with others, ...

Just after I had written my previous post yesterday complaining about how additions to my garden list were now in the hands of surprises, a surprise came! A  Hobby flew east, high over the house. Not only is this my earliest ever Hobby, but it's also a full garden tick. And it certainly wasn't one I was expecting. In fact, in less than an hour I had a total of 3 new garden lockdown ticks. Swallow  was perhaps an overdue one but nonetheless the first Swallow of the year is always a thrill. Finally, I joined the Red Kite club, with one circling distantly to the south in the direction of Ibstock. I have never seen one even within 15 miles of home before so getting this from the house was almost as much of a surprise as the Hobby! In any case, these additions bring my total to a tantalising 49. The 50th will certainly be a cause for celebration...

In the last few days, my garden lockdown list has slowed down considerably. After being stuck on 45 for almost a week, I had my first House Martin of the year from the house on Thursday. These birds nest on the estate each year but sadly this one didn't stick around. This takes my garden list to #46 since lockdown. I think I might have done "too well" early on during lockdown and now there are no ticks left for me to get! New additions are definitely drying up, though Swallow, Swift and maybe Whitethroat should be on their way. I always have the chance of a Kestrel or Rook drifting over too. But after that, it's pretty much down to surprises! I've been going on walks for exercise most days - mostly around my town and usually without binoculars - but yesterday I finally managed to make it to the nearby lake south of my town (quite a long walk away) and got a few new additions. I don't normally get to see Green Woodpeckers very well - but this one po...

If you're like me, you'll be continually trying to come up with ways to satisfy your birding hobby without leaving the house. I've tried to put together a list of all the ideas I can think of: Garden Birding: of course the most simple thing you can do is bird watch in your garden or from your window. 'Lockdown Listing' has become really popular among birders. I'm on 45 from my suburban estate garden. Set a target for your garden and see how many you can see! Don't forget to upload your sightings to BirdTrack to help the BTO's citizen science initiative. Patch Birding: just like with garden birding, lockdown doesn't have to mean the end to birding itself. Find an area you can walk to and visit here on your daily exercise walks. You don't even need to take binoculars - practise your naked eye/sound identification. If it's a new area you haven't birded before, who knows what you could turn up - you'll probably know it better than...

Being unable to leave the immediate area of my house recently, has made me grateful for my old trips to my patch Willington Gravel Pits that I used to take for granted. It's a 15 minute drive away but one of my nearest areas of wetland habitat. I have spent a long time trying to decide where to call my “patch”. Where I live there isn’t an obvious choice. I could bird the area immediately behind my house, and I do this often. But the woodland and farmland habitat and lack of water can become quite frustrating after regular birding because a lot of effort will still only yield the same selection of resident birds and nothing new. This is something I'm finding at the moment now that I am restricted to this area during lockdown. If this lockdown has shown birders anything though it surely has to be the potential that our gardens, patches and local areas have for turning up unusual birds. So what better time to get out a map and find a patch that you can focus on. Whether it...

This week's lockdown listing has consisted mainly of garden birding. I have been out on a couple of short walks in the fields behind my house though. These brought a couple of new lockdown ticks in the form of Red-legged Partridge, Jay, Green Woodpecker and my first Willow Warbler of the year, singing from the plantation along the Ivanhoe Way. This is such an evocative sign of spring. As soon as I got back from my walk, I opened my bedroom window and saw a phyllosc. warbler in the garden. It had a long primary projection and pink legs, then sure enough it sang. Willow Warbler . A fantastic record for the garden and not one we get often. #41. I had to wait until Thursday for my next addition. A Mistle Thrush flew over with nest material and a very distant Pheasant finally barked loud enough from the fields to be heard from the house. Yesterday started with another two Mistle Thrushes. Why is it that as soon as you first see a bird they're suddenly everywhere?! But the ...

It's been a great few days for my garden Lockdown List - I've spent a lot of time watching the skies because most additions now will probably come in the form of a flyover, until some warblers arrive. Wednesday gave a garden first in the form of 2 Grey Herons flying South. Thursday was a great day for additions. I saw 2 Mallard flying over early morning and then a singing Song Thrush was a long overdue tick. I spent Thursday night sat out on my deck listening in case of a flock of Common Scoter. Thousands of these birds have been flying over the country in recent days - their movements concentrated in the North of the country but several birders near me have got lucky. This is presumably an annual occurrence but with more people watching their gardens the scale has now been properly documented! Unfortunately, I didn't get lucky and have a flock fly over the garden but it was fun to try a form of birding that's completely new to me, and a calling Coot was a new ...

I've been diligently watching my garden for the past few days to increase my BWKM0 Garden List - I've now joined a league with other Leicestershire birders and the competition is tough to beat! Over the past few days I've managed to add several new birds though: Saturday:  the day got off to a great start with a Raven and a Black-headed Gull in view at the same time - a double addition! A Pied Wagtail flew over in the evening Sunday: no new birds came until the evening until 3 Redwing and 2 Fieldfare flew over in quick succession. Somehow my first Starling  also put in an appearance. Monday:  difficult day with some rain but a male Reed Bunting was a great find. Tuesday:  the Reed Bunting was seen several times today, but the first new addition came when 2 Canada Goose flew loudly east. Although not a garden tick, we rarely see Reed Bunting and rarely a male! This takes my garden list to 32 species. I'm now impatiently waiting for the summer migrant...

In support of the fantastic Champions of the Flyway competition which has sadly been cancelled this year (as with everything else), I tried to record as many birds as I could today during my exercise walk and from the garden. This is a competition I'd love to take part in some day. My walk this morning took me underneath the bypass along the Ivanhoe Way and out into the farmland beyond it. It was a beautiful morning - warm and very still - which was great for listening for birds singing. Drumming woodpeckers, singing Chiffchaffs and my first Blackcap of the year made for a fantastic spring soundscape. This is as close as it gets to a wetland habitat near to my house - this pool had Moorhen and Mallard In total, I recorded 39 species on my walk. Which I am really pleased with, especially considering the complete lack of water (aside from a few algae covered ponds) anywhere near me. The main highlights were a huge number of Yellowhammer, a Mistle Thrush, Stock Dove, Raven and L...