The cogs of migration are slowly beginning to turn with me hearing my first chiffchaff of the year yesterday. As we say goodbye to our Winter visitors and prepare the reserve for the Spring arrivals I thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect upon some of the birding highlights of the year so far here in the Valley.
The first candidate worth mention is a regular winter visitor (recorded every year) but can be as difficult to see as an Umpalumpa laying down in a carrot field. It is of course the diminutive and perfectly camouflaged Jack snipe. In the last coordinated snipe count on February 29th we flushed at least 6 of them which is a good count for anywhere in the country let alone a small 'urban' reserve. This year they have also been coming to within spitting distance (literally) of the hide and giving amazing photo opportunities (alas I haven't been there when this has been the case). One visitor was fortunate enough to get this shot after a brief visit to the hide in February.
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| Jack Snipe - RSPB Sandwell Valley - Feb. 2012 - Kyle Smith |
These have been accompanied by their slightly bigger cousin the common snipe which have also been present in good numbers with 60 being counted in the end of February snipe count. This year I haven't managed to get a good photo of one yet, but here is an older photo taken from the Sandwell Hide.
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| Common Snipe - RSPB Sandwell Valley - Date Unknown/Forgotten - Mike Ixer |
In early February a group of 6 golden plover were seen on the other side of the Valley by Salters Lane.
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| Golden Plover - Sandwell Valley - Feb. 2012 - Mike Ixer |
The next visitor was the real star of the year so far. It arrived on the 12th, stayed for 5 days in February and had it's gender discussed at length. It was of course the redhead smew and was the first of this species to visit the Valley in at least 8 years - if not more.
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| Smew - RSPB Sandwell Valley - Feb. 2012 - Mike Ixer |
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| Smew - RSPB Sandwell Valley - Feb. 2012 - Mike Ixer |
At the same time as the smew was floating around the lake, we also had a visit from some greylag geese (scarce in the Valley) and a handsome drake pintail.
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| Greylag Goose - RSPB Sandwell Valley - Feb. 2012 - Mike Ixer |
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| Pintail - RSPB Sandwell Valley - Feb. 2012 - Mike Ixer |
Mid February also saw the return of our regular oystercatcher Stumpy. She is so named because of her distinctive missing foot - an injury which looks to be very uncomfortable but is clearly not too much of an inconvenience because this is her 5th summer in the Valley! Below is a photo I took yesterday on the North Island. In it you can just about make out that the bird on the right is missing her left foot.
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| Oystercatchers - Sandwell Valley - Mar. 2012 - Mike Ixer |
On the 22nd of Feb we had a brief visit from a yellow-legged gull which unfortunately avoided the camera lens. We also had our first visit of the year by a black-tailed godwit (which I missed because I didn't arrive until the afternoon!). One of the hide guides managed to phonescope this shot though.
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| Black-Tailed Godwit - RSPB Sandwell Valley - Feb. 2012 - Richard Edwards |
A pair of ravens has been present in the Valley recently and there have been sporadic sightings from the reserve but they have thus far remained unphotographed. The same can't be said about the dunlin which dropped in on the 4th March.
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| Dunlin - RSPB Sandwell Valley - Mar. 2012 - Mike Ixer |
This brings me bang up to date to my visit yesterday which coincided with the first redshank of the year.
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| Redshank - RSPB Sandwell Valley - Mar. 2012 - Mike Ixer |
So my Sandwell Valley yearlist stands at 79 for the year so far and with the early signs of Spring migration being seen I hope to add to that over the next few weeks.
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