Midlands Birding Blog

As you would expect in mid-June, the patch year list has slowed down considerably in the last few days. That doesn't mean there haven't been a few nice additions.  Yesterday, a morning visit in nice weather gave lots of singing warblers, the best of which was a reeling Grasshopper Warbler in the Owl Field. There were two birds, possibly a pair. It was actually the first time I've ever seen a Grasshopper Warbler before  hearing it first. The female bird perched up on the fence which bisects the field and then flew off into the long grass, then a few seconds later a male popped up from below the fence and began to reel, giving walkaway views. The best birds on the lake were Shoveler , Common Tern and some really showy Reed Warblers . The patch, while there isn't the variety of migration times, is really nice at the moment with the breeding season in full swing and lots of fledglings around.  A visit in strong wind this afternoon didn't produce the passerines I saw ye...

It was so nice to get back to my patch today after a long absence. The first visit to Willington in the spring is always a year-tick fest, it's just that normally it doesn't have to wait until June! I got no fewer than 14 year ticks this morning, 7 of which were warblers. I arrived at Willington GPs at 06:50, feeling like I was up before everyone else. Apparently, though, I wasn't. Another gentleman was leaving as I arrived! Now that's impressive commitment. I was hoping to get to the platforms early to avoid other people, but I only saw 3 other birders in total on my visit from 06:50 to 09:00 and passed them all easily at 2m along the lane. I had originally been avoiding the patch for fear of it being a difficult place to socially distance, but found it no trouble at all. The view from platform 1 - the exposed mud here looks good for Common Sandpiper this year The hide is closed, of course, but instead I viewed the lake from the small platform past the hide. T...

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...

I'm at home now due to the coronavirus emergency, and in less upsetting circumstances I'd be excited to be able to visit the patch during the start of the spring migration (something I rarely get to see). As it stands, I still plan to visit occasionally for exercise though this may well change in the coming days. I chose not to use the hide and scan from 'Platform 5' at the end of the track and avoided using the platforms when any other birders were present, keeping at least 2 metres away from anyone I saw on the way. Despite the nice weather and an enjoyable visit, we had a frustrating double miss today. My dad and I arrived at Willington GPs around 8:30 this morning and had an enjoyable day of birding in wonderful weather. I was pleased to hear huge numbers of singing Chiffchaffs - in excess of 15 were recorded during the walk. For me, this is one of the most exciting sounds of the spring (though not a patch on the first Cuckoo). A singing Skylark was a very welco...

Recent rains meant that the patch was still flooded today. The main drive entrance was knee deep with floodwater, despite recent sightings being reported from the platforms (including 2 Ruff!). These must have been from people with waders or perhaps just people braver than I am! I thought perhaps it would be possible to avoid this main flooded section by entering the reserve from the new workings area along Kingfisher Lane in Willington village and walking along the causeway to the fisherman's gate - and from there, picking up the lane to the platforms. This idea worked well at first, but I soon found out that the lane was equally flooded further up and had to give up on this plan. Halfway down the lane, floodwaters were equally bad Instead, birding around the new workings area (an area of the patch I rarely give much time) offered a Mistle Thrush, which was new for the patch year list, along with Raven, Little Grebe, Curlew and a very nice Kingfisher seen from Kingfis...

Being back from university for the inter-semester break, I took the opportunity to spend a day at Willington. I arrived in the dark hoping to see the ringtail Hen Harrier that has been present in recent weeks leave the roost, half an hour before sunset at around 7:30. The roost is in the trees in the southern corner of the main lake, out of the left window of the hide. At least 24 Little Egrets were in the roost but unfortunately no sign of the Hen Harrier leaving nor did it hunt over the reedbeds on the far side of the lake like it has recently. This means that it hasn’t been seen for around a week now, despite people looking, so I’d be interested to know where else it roosts and hunts - it‘s surely in the area somewhere because it spent around a month in November 2019 at Willington and then presumably the same one reappeared two weeks ago. I did find Shelduck, Curlew, Sparrowhawk and Goosander from the hide though, along with the usual selection of ducks and best of all Willow Tit...

My dad and I were up early at Willington this morning just as the sun was coming up, hoping for a Bittern sighting or perhaps a Great White Egret leaving the roost. Sadly, we weren’t so lucky, though the reports in the sightings book seem to suggest Bittern is being seen regularly at the moment which is great news. The view from the hide at Willington GPs We spent around two hours birding the main reserve, clocking the usual species for the patch year list but nothing too out of the ordinary. A Peregrine overhead was a nice surprise, and Oystercatcher, Goldeneye, Snipe and Jayfeatured in the list of the sometimes-trickier species. Cetti’s Warblers were vocal as always and several Water Rails made their presence known. Unfortunately, we didn’t get Willow Tit or Treecreeper this morning – two big winter targets. After visiting all the platforms and the hide, the morning was getting on so we moved across to Egginton, a new area on my patch for this year, to see what this new habi...