The missing months; January and February 2021

January and February were spent locked down in Shropshire, I was stuck at Wyke, hardly the birding capital of anywhere (even Shropshire!) but I managed a pretty decent 100 species in this period, which just shows the benefit of working a local patch daily, even here and even in the winter.   Large parts of it was spent walking from Wyke (where I grew up with notes going back to the early 90’s) but I did drive to a few local sites every so often (as far as the pandemic ethics of this, I was always on my own ☹ and chose places where I would hardly see anyone else – often far fewer people than if I walked somewhere from home).   Birds seen comprised;

Greylag Goose – Numbers at Benthall Pools rose to 12 on 3rd February; elsewhere 378 at Chelmarsh Reservoir on 11th January was the peak count.

Russian White-fronted Goose – Two records as part of the excellent winter influx in the UK; a single adult was at Chelmarsh Reservoir on 7th January and two adults were at Cressage Bridge on 27th January.   [also of definite note was the epic, for Shropshire, flock of 59 at Melverley Floods seen well on 4th January, just before the lockdown kicked in]

Pink-footed Goose – A single was with the Greylag flock at Chelmarsh Reservoir through until the end of January.

Canada Goose – Numbers at Benthall Pools slowly built-up to a maximum of 54 by the end of February; elsewhere 350 at Cressage Bridge on 27th January was the highest count.

Egyptian Goose – A pair were seen sporadically at Venus Pool through February.

Shelduck – Up to six were at Venus Pool from late January.

Mandarin – A drake was along the river at Buildwas on 26th February; a poor return really as this stretch of river is usually pretty productive for Mandarins.

Shoveler – Numbers peaked at 13 at Cressage Bridge on 1st January and 38 at Venus Pool on 27th February.

Gadwall – Cressage Bridge was unusually productive for this species as they are traditionally uncommon along the river, numbers peaked at 32 on 27th January.   Venus Pool was the only other place I saw them where the highest count comprised 23 on 9th February.

Wigeon – Not many at all wintered in the area, 38 at Cressage Bridge on 1st January was the only double-figure count.

Mallard – Benthall Pools peaked at 25 on 23rd January.

Pintail – Only seen at Cressage Bridge when the fields were flooded where counts comprised 28 on 1st January, 16 on 27th January, 17 on 4th February and 12 on 25th February.

Pintail at Cressage Bridge

Teal – Up to six were regularly at Benthall Pools when they weren’t frozen while the peak count from elsewhere was 120 at Cressage Bridge on 4th February when the river was flooded.

Pochard – Only seen at Venus Pool peaking at 14 in late February.

Goldeneye – One at Chelmarsh Reservoir on 11th January was the only record.

Goosander – Regular all along the river peaking at 17 at Buildwas on 10th February and Cressage on 17th February, my highest roost count at Chelmarsh Reservoir was 22 on 15th February although I rarely stayed late enough to get a proper count.

Little Grebe – The first returning bird at Benthall Pools (1-2 breeding pairs but they do not over-winter) was seen on 7^th February, with three present on the 10th, unfortunately the pools froze solid for the next five days, forcing them to leave again but soon after the thaw it didn’t take them long to return – I guess they just went back to the river Severn.

Coot – The first returning bird at Benthall Pools (usually 3-4 pairs here but they do not over-winter) was seen on 19th January, eventually rising to eight birds by the end of February.   Elsewhere the peak count was 52 on Chelmarsh reservoir on 26th January.

Oystercatcher – The first returning birds were two on the river at Buildwas on 10th February, riding to five there by the end of the month; also seen at Chelmarsh and Venus Pool.

Lapwing – Varying numbers were regular along the river and at Venus Pool peaking at 600+ at Venus Pool on 16th February which possibly involved some cold-weather immigrants.   Four at Wyke on 23rd January were also noteworthy.

Golden Plover – A good winter period for records as they have never been regular in this immediate area; sighting comprised an unprecedented flock of 32 in fields just up the lane at Wyke on 6th January (the first ever record here!), a single at Buildwas on 10th February and 48 at Cressage Bridge on 12th February.

Ruff – Three were flying high around Venus Pool with a big flock of Lapwings on 16th February; they never even came close to landing and were probably more displaced birds from the very cold week in mid-February.

Woodcock – Two were flushed from Farley / Wood House Farm on 15th February; both in slightly atypical locations so were probably displaced birds from the cold weather in the previous week.

Snipe – Numbers at Benthall Pools peaked at 26 on 5th January.

Green Sandpiper – A single was sporadically at Chelmarsh Reservoir through the period.

Common Gull – Always scarce in Shropshire away from The Meres; two were at Chelmarsh Reservoir on 15th February and more noteworthy was one at Venus Pool on 16th February.

Great-northern Diver – The first-winter from last autumn at Chelmarsh Reservoir was last seen on 21st January.

Great White Egret – One was on flooded fields by the river at Cound (where the Swan flock usually is) on 2nd February – my first record from anywhere around this area!

Little Egret – One was on the river at Buildwas on 19th February.

Goshawk – The biggest surprise and joy of the lockdown period was the unprecedented number of Goshawk sightings in the area with multiple records of multiple birds at two locations and another couple of sightings elsewhere.   I’ve only seen them in this area three times before, ever, they were never resident around here back in the day, so an encouraging run of sightings (observer bias must be considered as this year is the first time in many, many years I’ve been present here throughout February – when they are displaying and at their most obvious).

Buzzard – Very common all over Shropshire, my peak count was 18 at Chelmarsh Reservoir on 21st January.

Buzzard on the birdtable at Wyke

Red Kite – Seen occasionally in most places, they’ve only become regular in this area in the last few years.

Barn Owl – One was seen hunting along the lanes near Chelmarsh Reservoir on 15th February.

Peregrine – Seen regularly over Wyke with probably two different pairs involved in the sightings.

Skylark – Seen regularly around the area with high counts of 20 at Wyke and 32 at Buildwas on 10th February probably consisting of a little cold-weather movement in the county.

Chiffchaff – One was singing at Cressage Bridge on 25th February; a very early record so presumably an over-wintering bird which decided to have a bit of a sing in the fine weather rather than a migrant, I can’t remember hearing a singing bird in February before.

Dipper – A singing male was on the brook at Farley on two dates in mid-January.

Redwing – Common at most places, peak count was 250 at Benthall Hall on 19th January.

Fieldfare – Common at most places, peak count was 170 at Wyke on 14th February.

Starling – Slightly oddly, Starlings have never been common in the immediate Wyke area but there were higher numbers present through this winter-period than usual, usually mixed in with the Redwing and Fieldfare flocks peaking at 60 on 6th February.   A big, tight flock of c130 heading NE over Wyke on 22nd February was even more unusual.

Stonechat – A pair overwintered at Venus Pool while a male in hedgerows up the lane at Wyke on 21st February was an early ‘migrant’.

Stonechat at Venus Pool

Pied Wagtail – Good numbers were around the wet fields in the area throughout the period, high counts included 59 at Buildwas on 19th January and 18 at Farley on 8th January.

Meadow Pipit – Good numbers wintered in the area (seemingly higher numbers than usual); peak counts comprised 60 at Cressage Bridge, 65 at Chelmarsh Reservoir, 39 at Benthall Pools, 35 at Wyke and 23 at Farley.

Brambling – Single figures were ever-present in the finch flocks at Venus Pool peaking at eight on 29th January; singles at Wyke on 15th January and Cressage Bridge on 25th January were the only other records.

Brambling at Venus Pool

Hawfinch – A female-type was at New House Farm (down the lane just south of Wyke) on 15th February – only the third area record.

Linnet – Seen most places throughout the period but the flock at Venus Pool was the most noteworthy, eventually peaking at 300 on 9th February after which numbers rapidly declined through the rest of the month.

Linnet flock at Venus Pool

Lesser Redpoll – Numbers peaked at 42 in the finch flocks at Venus Pool on 22nd January; odd singles were seen elsewhere.

Crossbill – Never regular in this area so two north over Wyke on 22nd February and another single, also north over Wyke on 24th February were very noteworthy.

Yellowhammer – Numbers at Venus Pool peaked at 60 in late January.

Corn Bunting – Singles were seen at Venus Pool on three dates in the period with two at Cressage Bridge on 17th February more noteworthy as I’ve never seen them at that site before.

Other birds were – Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Moorhen, Water Rail, Great-crested Grebe, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Cormorant, Heron, Sparrowhawk, Tawny Owl, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Goldcrest, Wren, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Siskin, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting.