Newbridge, April 12th 2015
Catch it as it fades, the
true sound of
summer
The end of Easter
week, the trees round the playingfield buffeted by an afternoon squall as rain
sweeps in from the south west. Grey, wet
and cool, yet only hours ago the morning sun was lighting up the underwings of Common Buzzards as they twisted and
turned against the wind above the sloped grass bank overlooking the Birmingham
Canal locks south of Aldersley junction.
The birds, the northernmost of three pairs nesting in the Smestow Valley
and its immediate surroundings, were most probably responding to the appearance
earlier of a dark ragged-winged interloper seen recently over the Compton
barleyfield and elsewhere. Today’s freshening
wind was in stark contrast to the recent run of calm, warm days, when spring
was well and truly sprung . . .
NEWBRIDGE, THURSDAY
APRIL 9th
Across the field and into the
wood, where the ground is turning from brown to green. It’s relatively quiet, the high-pressure calm
interrupted intermittently by the calls of Nuthatch,
Great Spotted Woodpecker and Green Woodpecker (a male was excavating
a nest hole on March 24th). A
Treecreeper inches its way up a
flaking trunk, in the distance a Mistle
Thrush starts its short laboured song, and the repetitive notes of at least
two Chiffchaff are a reminder that
migrants have been arriving for some weeks now.
Then, caught momentarily on the thin spring air and fading almost as
soon as it has begun, comes the true sound of summer, a short run of gently descending
notes hinting at warmer days ahead, the valley’s first recorded Willow Warbler for 2015. This fleeting, wistful song seems always to
be edging away, leading further along a woodland edge path or through stands of
heathland birch, in gentle contrast to the explosive notes of some other migrant
warblers. Willow Warbler breeding
numbers locally have declined in recent years, with pairs under increased human
pressure, particularly along edge-of-habitat areas such as the Compton
barleyfield where thoughtless dog-walkers have ignored or destroyed signs
asking for their pets to be put on leads during the nesting season.
Other recent Newbridge records
include Goldcrest, Collared Dove, Stock Dove, Jay, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit and
singing Goldfinch, with Long-tailed Tit and House Sparrow collecting nest material,
Blackbird and Woodpigeon pairs seen mating , and subdued Blackcap song on April 4th (males are now singing all
along the valley). Four Greylag flew south westwards on April 4th,
a Buzzard pair displayed on April 6th,
and two Sparrowhawk displayed on
April 12th.
DUNSTALL PARK has witnessed
the disappearance of wintering gull flocks, leaving just a few city-nesting Lesser Black-backed Gull and Herring Gull visiting the lake daily for
a wash and brush-up. The Gadwall pair departed c.March26th, the
last Teal were seen on April 8th,
and a lone male was the only Shoveler present
on April 12th. A single Snipe flew from lakeside grass on March
30th, (at least 10 were present five days earlier), the lake’s
second Green Sandpiper for the year
flew from the open Smestow brook culvert on March 25th before
leaving north westwards, and a lone Lapwing
was by the lake on April 3rd raising the faintest of hopes that the
species might once again nest at the racecourse. Lapwings first appeared at the lake only
months after its creation late in 1993, and autumn and wintering flocks have
visited the racecourse annually ever since. Numbers have fluctuated, but totals
of c.500 and c.600 birds were noted in February of 2000 and 2002, and display-flying
in April and May was seen as early as 1998. It seemed only a matter of time
before breeding was attempted, and in 2002 two pairs nested, with one set of
youngsters successfully fledging. For the next few years at least one pair bred
annually, but the last success was in 2007.
The racecourse operators are still leaving a 20-metre strip unmown near
the lake to encourage the birds to nest, so once again it's fingers crossed. More positive news on another former breeding
species, as the Mute Swan pair,
first seen at the lake in late December last year, are now nesting, the female
sitting since the end of March. At least
one pair of Coot are nesting, territorial
aggro from Little Grebe suggests that
at least one pair are breeding following success in 2014, but a wrecked nest
and scattered broken eggs indicate that Canada
Geese are again victim of last year’s mystery predator that wiped out all
nests on the island and shoreline. A
male Reed Bunting has been singing
intermittently in lakeside sallows, Nuthatch
are calling from nest tress in the north western corner, at least 17 Rook nests have been built in the
nearby oak copse bordering the Staff & Worcs Canal, more than 30 Crow were on grass near the lake on
March 25th, and there was the intriguing report from Gareth of at
least 600 Jackdaw in a pre-roost
gathering at the racecourse on March 30th.
MIGRANT UPDATE
A phone call from a friend at 7pm
on Monday (13th) resulted in a trip to Wightwick where, as he had described, a
male Common Redstart hawked from
bushes and fed on his lawn. We watched
this beautiful and obviously hungry bird for around 15 minutes before the
resident Robin gave it its flying orders as the light began to fade. Some garden record!!
As the temperature rose this
morning (Wednesday 15th) two male Wheatear ran and dipped in the heat, feeding in the middle of the
central mown grass area at Dunstall Park.
The racecourse ground staff report that a Barn Swallow was flying
round the stables nest site on Monday 6th. There were two birds there today. The world turns . . .
NB. Dunstall Park is a
restricted commercial site. Access is
strictly controlled.
