Little Egret

Little Egret still from the railway bridge (Birdguides)

Little Egrets

Little Egret (2) still from railway bridge.

Little Egret

Little Egret still from railway bridge (J.Harris)

Birds of Whitacre Heath

I've started to compile a list of birds seen at Whitacre Heath (list below)

I'll update this list as and when i find out information. (updated Nov 2012, very few records found for the 90's).

No	SpeciesName	Year
1	Little Grebe	2012
2	Great Crested Grebe	2008
3	Cormorant (Great)	2012
4	Bittern (Great)	2010
5	Black-crowned Night Heron	1988
6	Little Egret	2011
7	Great Egret	2008
8	Grey Heron	2012
9	White Stork	2005
10	Greater White-fronted Goose	2007
11	Ruddy Duck	2004
12	Teal (Eurasian)	2012
13	Pintail (Northern)	2000
14	Goldeneye (Common)	2010
15	Mallard	2012
16	Barheaded Goose	2000
17	Shelduck (Common)	2011
18	Mandarin Duck	1985
19	Gadwall	2012
20	Pochard (Common)	2010
21	Canada Goose	2012
22	Wood Duck	2005
23	Pink-footed Goose	2009
24	Goosander	2011
25	Egyptian Goose	2004
26	Shoveler (Northern)	2012
27	Garganey	2009
28	Mute Swan	2012
29	Greylag Goose	2010
30	Tufted Duck	2012
31	Wigeon (Eurasian)	2011
32	Osprey	2011
33	Red Kite	2010
34	Marsh Harrier (Eurasian)	2009
35	Buzzard (Common)	2012
36	Hen Harrier	1986
37	Sparrowhawk (Eurasian)	2012
38	Goshawk (Northern)	2009
39	Kestrel (Common)	2012
40	Hobby (Eurasian)	2012
41	Merlin	2009
42	Peregrine Falcon	2012
43	Grey Partridge	1996
44	Red-legged Partridge	2012
45	Pheasant (Common)	2012
46	Crane (Common)	2000
47	Moorhen (Common)	2012
48	Coot (Common)	2012
49	Water Rail	2011
50	Oystercatcher (Eurasian)	2012
51	Pied Avocet	2011
52	Grey Plover	2000
53	Lapwing (Northern)	2012
54	Little Plover	1988
55	Golden Plover (European)	2000
56	Ringed Plover	2000
57	Ruff	1996
58	Jack Snipe	2010
59	Curlew (Eurasian)	2011
60	Little Stint	2010
61	Common Sandpiper	2009
62	Greenshank (Common)	2012
63	Green Sandpiper	2011
64	Spotted Redshank	1983
65	Dunlin	2011
66	Wood Sandpiper	2000
67	Black-tailed Godwit	2010
68	Woodcock (Eurasian)	2012
69	Redshank (Common)	2009
70	Bar-tailed Godwit	2000
71	Snipe (Common)	2012
72	Herring Gull	2009
73	Great Black-backed Gull	2006
74	Lesser Black-backed Gull	2010
75	Glaucous Gull	2008
76	Common Gull	2010
77	Black-headed Gull	2012
78	Common Tern	2008
79	Wood Pigeon (Common)	2012
80	Stock Dove (Pigeon)	2012
81	Collared Dove (Eurasian)	2008
82	Turtle Dove (European)	2000
83	Rose-ringed Parakeet	2004
84	Cuckoo (Common)	2012
85	Short-eared Owl	2012
86	Little Owl	2006
87	Tawny Owl	2004
88	Long-eared Owl	1970
89	Barn Owl	2010
90	Swift (Common)	2012
91	Kingfisher (Common)	2012
92	Great Spotted Woodpecker	2012
93	Green Woodpecker	2012
94	Lesser Spotted Woodpecker	2012
95	Sky Lark	2012
96	House Martin	2012
97	Barn Swallow	2012
98	Sand Martin	2012
99	Meadow Pipit	2011
100	Water Pipit	1982
101	Grey Wagtail	2010
102	Yellow Wagtail	2012
103	Pied Wagtail (White)	2011
104	Bohemian Waxwing	2009
105	Winter Wren	2012
106	Hedge Accentor	2012
107	Wheatear (Northern)	2012
108	Fieldfare	2012
109	Stonechat	2012
110	Whinchat	2011
111	Mistle Thrush	2011
112	Robin (European)	2012
113	Redstart (Common)	2012
114	Blackbird (Common )	2012
115	Black Redstart	1984
116	Redwing	2012
117	Song Thrush	2012
118	Blackcap	2012
119	Willow Warbler	2012
120	Whitethroat (Common)	2012
121	Cetti’s Warbler	2011
122	Reed Warbler (Eurasian)	2012
123	Sedge Warbler	2012
124	Lesser Whitethroat	2011
125	Savi’s Warbler	1972
126	Chiffchaff (Common)	2012
127	Garden Warbler	2012
128	Grasshopper Warbler (Common)	2011
129	Goldcrest	2012
130	Spotted Flycatcher	2012
131	Pied Flycatcher	1985
132	Long-tailed Tit	2012
133	Coal Tit	2012
134	Blue Tit	2012
135	Great Tit	2012
136	Willow Tit	2012
137	Marsh Tit	2012
138	Nuthatch (Wood)	2012
139	Treecreeper (Eurasian)	2012
140	Yellowhammer	2012
141	Reed Bunting	2012
142	Brambling	2009
143	Goldfinch (European)	2012
144	Siskin (Eurasian)	2012
145	Lesser Redpoll	2012
146	Greenfinch (European)	2012
147	Bullfinch (Common)	2012
148	Linnet (Common)	2012
149	Chaffinch	2012
150	Mealy Redpoll	2012
151	Tree Sparrow (Eurasian)	1985
152	House Sparrow	1996
153	Starling (Common)	2012
154	Rook	2012
155	Raven (Common)	2012
156	Carrion Crow	2012
157	Magpie (Black-billed)	2012
158	Jay (Eurasian)	2012
159	Jackdaw (Eurasian)	2012

160       Red-backed Shrike                      2014

Litte Egret

Two Little Egrets from railway bridge today (Birdguides)

2 Lesser redpoll in trees above car park feeders this morning.

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll (4), Siskin (1) and Willow tit at feeding station today.

Lesser-spotted woodpecker, heading towards car park (P.Goode)

Meadow Pipit and Buzzard over field next to car park.

Also Little Egret still from the railway bridge.

Good day for Little Egrets

Lesser Redpoll (5), Willow Tit and Siskin today (KT)

3 siskins drinking at pond and 1 redpoll. Saw lesser high in trees on way to river hide (Johns)

Also four little egrets from the railway bridge today (Birdguides)

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll (2) at the feeding station today, also at least two Willow Tits, plus the usual suspects.
Buzzard (1), Sparrowhawk (2) and Siskin near car park feeders.

Meadow Pipit (c20 in field nr. car park)

Also Little Egret again from the railway bridge.

Lesser-spotted Woodpecker

Male Lesser-spotted Woodpecker nr. car park, no sign of the stonechats from the flashes hide.

Also, Little Egret from the railway bridge just up the road from the reserve.

(per Reader aka John)

Saturday 19th January 2008

Feeding Station:
The usual birds were about: Willow Tit, Read Bunting, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed tit, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Robin, Blackbird, Pheasant, Sparrowhawk, Goldfinch, Redwing (along the path), Jay .

Also the usual bank vole

River Pool:
Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Little Egret

Main Pool:
Shoveler, Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Shoveler

The Scrape:
Shoveler, Coot, Moorhen

January 2008

Recorded in the log books:

17th Woodcock in ditch along path to feeding station/scrape hide.
16th Siskin at feeding station
08th Siskin and Redpoll at feeding station
02nd 15-20 Siskins at Feeding station

1996 Annual Report

WHITACRE HEATH NATURE RESERVE (SSSI)

ANNUAL REPORT 1996

Compiled by: Mark Smiles

1996 - A review of the year

Weather

The year began and ended with prolonged periods of snow and freezing temperatures with the months in-between being generally dry, leading to a full year without a life-bringing flood coming to the reserve.

From mid-January to mid-February, the whole country was subject to a moderate fall of snow on the 27th January. This cold period led to a mild week at the end of February, before the cold weather returned with winds from the east for most of March.

Spring was fairly cool on the whole, lasting well into May, with a late isolated snowfall on the 12th April.

The summer finally arrived at the start of June, with long hot, sunny days, interspersed with the odd thundery shower, though with little significant rainfall. This weather carried on almost to the end of October, when it ended in a short period of strong gales and rain.

From the middle of November, the snow returned with a fall of 2-3 inches on the 19th, starting a pattern of moderate snowfalls followed by thaws that carried on to the end of the year. Sadly, the amount of snow that fell was too little to raise the river level much and we ended the year without a trace of wildfowl on the reserve.

Reserve management

Due to another year with below-average rainfall, most areas were accessible, allowing significant work to be done:

a) In August through to October, a vast area of encroaching willow scrub was removed from the left side of Main Pool, both in front of and behind the bank. This was done to increase the pool area and to encourage development phragmites. It should also facilitate the deepening of the pool in later years. In September, during the clearance work at the back of the pool, a fire took hold underground in the marsh to the left of River Pool, resulting in the clearance of a small area of reed and forming a depression in the ground.

b) In November, the path heading down from Main hide to Middle Path was redirected to drop its' height below the bank to avoid disturbance to birds on the pool.

c) The adandoned crane was removed from its' resting place on the riverbank below the scrape following an agreement with Mr Fox to exchange the crane for work with one of his bulldozers in 1997. Shortly afterwards, the original owners of the crane, Demoulder, came forward to claim it back many years after abandoing it. The matter was left in the hands of the Trust to settle.

Effect of previous management work

a) The work done in 1995 on the scrape was very disappointing and will require further work in the future. The deep pits that were created worked well, creating a good habitat for water plants, aquatic invertebrates and dragonflies, but these were too small in area to benefit wildfowl and too steep in profile for waders. The shallow profile of the main area proved to be not deep enough and had dried up by the end of May.

b) The work done on opening up back path produced an all-too-brief display of Southern Marsh Orchids, some 20+ plants in total, which fell victim to the voracious appetites of the resident rabbits.

c) By removing the willow scrub from the back of main pool, a good number of wildfowl were encouraged early in the year, before the pool dried up.

d) The new hide overlooking the flashes has led to some interesting records being received, with sightings of species such as Garganey, Green Sandpiper, Ruff, Dunlin, Jack Snipe and possible breeding Lapwing and Redshank. If success is to be achieved with these breeding species though, action will need to be taken to control both the grazing cattle numbers and the predation by corvids.

e) The work done at the top end of the birch woodland has shown little benefit this year.

f) Redirecting the path from behind the feeding station has reduced disturbance in winter and the formation of pollards has progressed.

g) Little pollard growth has been observed at the edge of the Severn Trent field, following the felling of the large, overhanging willows.

In general, the work carried out has shown some benefits fairly quickly, but for some projects it is rather too soon to see any significant improvement, such as the work on the woodland and besides Severn Trent field, both of which were done late in 1995.

Highlights of the year

A very interesting and exciting winter and spring period, giving some indication of the potential the reserve has if water levels could be controlled:

January: A brief sighting of a Bittern on the 6th, flushed from the sedge near Dragonfly pools. A flock of some 25 Redpoll frequented the alders on the reserve from January through to March, often with one or two Mealy Redpoll (C.f.flammea). A pair of Goosander was reported from Main Pool on the 13th. A Merlin flew through Ross' Rough on the 27th, with the first reserve record of Jack Snipe being found in front of the Flashes hide the following day.

February: Two Buzzard flew over the reserve on the 27th, whilst a Ringed Plover visited the Flashes briefly on the 29th.

March: A Stonechat lingered around the Flashes hide area for a couple of days on 2nd and 3rd, a good start to an exciting month. Two male and three female Pintail paid a short visit to Main Pool on 16th, when 3 Dunlin also turned up on the Flashes, one bird lingering until the 19th. The 19th also saw the arrival of a fairly long-staying Ruff to the same area; finally departing on the 27th. A flock of around 50 Meadow pipit lingered on Ross's Rough and the Flashes for the last two weeks of the month. The first Wheatear, of what was a very good year for this species, showed up on Ross's Field on the 24th (a female). Sightings of single males and females carried on until early May, with a peak of 2 males and 1 female on 24th April. Finally, a pair of Garganey were seen on the pool on the Flashes on the 31st, just before they took off and flew towards Ladwalk.

April: 3 Goosander flew over the Flashes on the 4th, whilst a pair of both Redshank and Lapwing were observed displaying and copulating in the same area. A pair of Lapwing also started nesting on Severn Trent Field. A House Sparrow in the roadside hedge on the 10th was interesting for its' rarity value on the reserve list as was a Ring-necked Parakeet flushed from Ross' Rough on the 20th. Warm conditions the following day saw a female Marsh Harrier glide over the reserve.

May: Each year usually brings a single sighting of Lesser Whitethroat and this year proved no exception with one found singing in the car park on the 5th. A Greenshank frequented the scrape from the 14th until 17th, giving a fly-past to visitors during a guided walk. Two Hares seen on the 28th at the Scrape were also worthy of note.

June: A Grey Squirrel was first sighted in June and was an unwelcome resident for the rest of the year, becoming a nuisance later on when it discovered the easy pickings of the feeding station. A Hobby flying through on the 19th was a more exciting and welcome visitor.

July: As the hot dry spell took a grip, a single Buzzard passing over was the sole highlight.

August: Bufferflies were the main players in this month with single Clouded Yellows being seen on 2nd, 15th and 26th. A Holly Blue on the 15th provided the single record of this scarce annual visitor.

September: A Buzzard flew over on the 4th, whist the autum passage of Yellow Wagtails peaked at 25 birds on Ross's Rough/Flashes on the 10th. A Little Owl was found frequenting Ross's Rough and the Flashes areas from 25th-30th, though due to the small number of visitors to the reserve, especially at dusk, it could not be determined whether this bird was resident for longer. A large flock, almost 200 strong and comprising mainly Greenfinch with a few Linnet build up on Ross's Field, feeding on rape Seed during the month. A Grey Wagtail on the 29th must have seemed somewhat out of place on the dried-up landscape of the Scrape.

December: Grey Partridge are scarce, but regular, visitors to the reserve; however, a count of 13 on the Flashes on the 3rd was exceptional.