Kestrels trip to RSPB Middleton Lakes
Following the success of our inaugural WMBC Kestrels walk, our 2nd walk soon came round. This time we were at RSPB Middleton Lakes, and reserve volunteer / WMBC member Colin Sedgwick was leading for us.
We were slightly depleted in numbers due to the lurgy, but it was great to meet some of the Kestrels members who hadn’t been on the first walk. The weather-gods were on our side again, and it was a lovely autumnal morning for a walk around the reserve.
The walk through the forest, out to the lakes, was uncharacteristically quiet, but we saw the usual Tit species, a couple of Nuthatches and a pair of unusual white Pheasants in the distant fields by the canal bridge, but once at the lakes, things definitely picked up!
Initially it seemed quite quiet out on Fisher’s Mill, with a good mix of Black Headed Gulls, Teal and Tufties. A Heron was preening on the Tern raft and a couple of Cormorants were on the near-bank spit. We also heard the first of several Water Rail, with their distinctive ‘squealing pig’ call, but they always remained hidden in the reeds.
Just as we were about to move on, a large bird lifted out of the reeds to our left, “Bittern!” went the call, and quickly all eyes were on this special bird. As it flew across the reed-beds, the morning sun really lit up its golden brown feathers. All too soon, the attention of a couple of gulls forced it back down into the reeds.
We then moved a short way up the path, pausing to look at a couple of Great Crested Grebes, suddenly a second Bittern lifted out of the reeds in front of us for a short flight across the bay! At this point there were a lot of comments thanking Colin for bringing his pet Bitterns along for the walk - what a start, and a lifer for several members of the group!
There wasn’t much activity at the West Scrape screen, but as we walked along the causeway there was a lot more to see; Great White Egrets, Herons and Greylag Geese were all showing well out on the Jubilee Wetlands. Waders seemed to be conspicuous by their absence, but several small groups of Snipe did fly past us as we scanned the wetland edges.
Flocks of Lapwing regularly lifted into the air, but we couldn’t see what was spooking them. However, at the East Screen we got a clue what it might have been, as a Sparrowhawk glided in and landed on one of the spits. It then walked a short way out into the water, where it stood for a few minutes. When it took off it flew fast and low across Jubilee South, causing chaos amongst the Lapwing and Black Headed Gull flocks!
As time was getting on, we had a quick visit to the two benches viewpoint in the hopes of seeing the Pectoral Sandpiper. Although we had no luck with this rate visitor, we did see a couple of Ruff, a pair of Egyptian Geese plus lots of Shoveler Duck. We also saw a pair of Goosander on the river.
On the way back to the cars, we saw several Buzzards, including one that flew past us in the Play Meadow. Initially we thought it may have been a Marsh Harrier, but photos later showed it to be a juvenile Buzzard. We finished with an impressive total of 59 species in the time we were there - thanks to Roo for keeping tally! We’d also like to say a huge thank you to Colin for a wonderful walk and for giving up his time to support the Kestrels!
The WMBC Kestrels next few events are fully booked up, but we will soon be sending out details of our plans for December to February.
So, if you know a young birdwatcher, aged 8 - 17, who would be interested in joining us on future walks, please send me an email and I’ll add you to the distribution list for future walks. The email address is Kestrels@westmidlandbirdclub.org.uk
