RABBIT ACTIVITY
As regular visitors will have noticed, rabbit activity is causing holes on the hard core tracks and whilst we try and in-fill them, please be aware that the tracks are more uneven than normal as a result of the rabbit diggings.
TRAFFIC REGULATION ORDER – MARSH LANE, HAMPTON IN ARDEN
Please note that with effect from 20th January 2021 Marsh Lane, Hampton in Arden will be gated just north of the railway bridge which accesses the Marsh Lane Nature Reserve car park, to the west of Siden Hill Wood. The gate is going to be locked overnight. Solihull Council have deemed this has become necessary due to frequent problems of anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping and other forms of environmental crime at Bradnocks Marsh.
The closing/opening times will be as follows:
- 1st April – 30th September 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
- 1st October – 31st March 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Work Party Dates
Wednesday August 2nd – 6pm
Tuesday September 5th – 6pm
Wednesday October 4th – 6pm
Saturday November 4th – 2pm
Saturday December 2nd – 2pm
Link to West Midland Bird Ringing Group: https://www.westmidlandsringinggroup.co.uk/
8th August 2023
Overcast, light showers, light westerly.
A Yellow Wagtail paused briefly on the Car Park Pool islands where there has been at least one fledged Pied Wagtail of late. Singles of Common and Green Sandpiper fed along the margins, along with four Little Egrets. There were two adult Great Crested Grebes and a noticeable increase in geese with 292 Greylags and 165 Canadas. A Raven, Great Spotted Woodpecker, five Sand Martins and a Swallow were all noted.
7th August 2023
Sunny spells, fresh north-westerly.
A Hobby showed well this morning, hunting low over Car Park Pool where there were still plenty of dragonflies available. Other birds comprised three Little Egrets, two Great Crested Grebes, 10 Little Grebes and a chick on the Reedbed, one Green Sandpiper, one Common Sandpiper, and a Willow Warbler in the Back Gate Copse.
6th August 2023
Sunny intervals, brisk south-westerly.
Two Garden Warblers and a Whitethroat showed well along the Old Road near the Dragonfly Pond, and a little bit further north, a Lesser Whitethroat fed along the hawthorn hedges by the Flood Plain gate. Presumably the birds are showing a bit better, post-moult and breeding.
Other birds and insects today comprised 11 Mute Swans, four Shovelers, two adult Little Ringed Plovers, a Raven, two Little Egrets and two Great Crested Grebes. Courtesy of Dave Hutton, a number of Shieldbugs added to the variety with 36 Gorse Shieldbugs, three Green Shieldbugs and a Tortoise Shieldbug on the Causeway, where there was also a possible Willow Emerald Damselfly. This species is spreading throughout the UK, and it is probably a matter of time before one is definitely clinched.
Shieldbugs – Photographs by Dave Hutton
Gorse Shieldbug
Tortoise Shieldbug
5th August 2023
Overcast, rain all day.
The best bird, despite the weather, was a first-winter Caspian Gull which was amongst three juvenile Lesser Black-backs on Car Park Pool around 15.00. At the same time, there was a notable passage of hirundines in the heavy rain with 25 Sand Martins, five House Martins and two Swallows, plus two Swifts feeding just above or moving through the Reserve.
Two Common Terns circled over Car Park Pool, including one with a fish, and then flew off towards Railway Pool. Other counts today were eight Mute Swans, 199 Greylags, 29 Canadas, 11 Shovelers, 45 Gadwall, 51 Mallard, 31 Teal, four Little Egrets, a Heron, a Great Crested Grebe, nine Little Grebes, 13 Cormorants, (including one which attempted to take a Gadwall duckling, and was unable to swallow it, but it was subsequently predated by another Cormorant), 15 Moorhen, 82 Coot, 45 Lapwing, just four Black-headed Gulls, six Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Kingfisher on Car Park Pool and two Ravens.
A Green Woodpecker again showed well in the Oak Hide area where an adult and a juvenile have been regular over the last few weeks. A pair of Greenfinches around the Causeway area were commuting to and from the Car Park feeder, and five or six birds have been fairly regular there.
Kingfisher – Photograph by Stef Fraczek
4th August 2023
Overcast, fresh northerly, but dry.
There were 36 Teal, five Shoveler, a Great Crested Grebe, 14 Little Grebes, three Little Egrets, whilst over or through the Reserve there was a single Swift, three Sand Martins, five Swallows and two House Martins.
3rd August 2023
Sunny spells, fresh south-westerly.
There were two Black-tailed Godwits present today, but it is not clear whether one of these is the single bird present from the 30 July to 1 August. In addition, there were two Little Ringed Plovers, two Common Sandpipers, a Great Crested Grebe and three Little Egrets. Both Buzzard and Kestrel were present on or over the site. Butterflies extended to four Peacocks, a Red Admiral, a Common Blue, and plenty of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers.
2nd August 2023
Sunny spells, showers, fresh westerly.
The new brood of Common Terns below Railway Hide appear to have failed, and there was only a single adult present briefly. In the meantime, the carnivorous Cormorants were present on site again, with one taking a large Tufted duckling on Car Park Pool. Other birds making the log were singles each of Common and Green Sandpiper, four adults and a juvenile Oystercatcher, three Little Egrets, 42 Teal, 170 Greylags and 64 Canadas. The pair of Linnets were present again along the Causeway, and butterflies included Common Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, plenty of Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns and a Green-veined White.
1st August 2023
Windy from the south-west, sunshine and showers.
The Black-tailed Godwit remained for its third day, with other waders being a single Common Sandpiper and six Oystercatchers.
A male Sparrowhawk showed particularly well around the Car Park feeders. Teal numbers had reached 32 today, and there were three Little Egrets, two Common Terns, 10 adult and three juvenile Little Grebes, plus the chick on the Reedbed, and a Reed Warbler was feeding three juveniles below Railway Hide in the morning.
Insects included one each of Holly Blue, Small Copper, Brown Hawker, Emerald Damselfly and there were two Southern Hawkers as well.