Tuesday 29th May 2012

Weather :- Started dull and overcast, but brightened up.

Woods :- Noisy but not much in the way of birds actually seen. Chiffchaff singing in his normal place on tabletop, mistle thrush nest found with adult on nest. Great tits have fledged and adults still feeding young. Lots of young grey squirrels around.

Reservoir :- herring gulls, lesser black-blacked gulls, mallards, coots, great-created grebes and a mute swan.

Canal :- More mallards and coots and the moorhen family have hatched their young - 4 in total all looking well.

Netherton Hill :- Linnets, male blackbird singing happily away, 2 buzzards soaring over. Whitethroat finally spotted. 

Insects include :- ladybirds, carder and white-tailed bees.

Flowers :- Red champion, red valerian, oxeye daises, columbine, bush vetch, speedwell.

Thursday 10th May 2012

Weather :- dull and overcast with few sunny spells and windy.

Only a quick, short walk around the woods, due to bad back and wrist. Great fun birding and trying to keep your back straight, but going crazy being stuck inside!

Woods :- Pretty quiet, great tit nest found and male feeding young, 2 buzzard soaring with one displaying. Three chiffchaff singing, with one at the entrance of woods. Goldcrest, mistle thrush, treecreeper and nuthatch gave brief views. Otherwise all the usual suspects - blue tits, jays, magpies, carrion crows, etc. First swift and 3 house martins of the year seen, flying around by Doultan Clay Pit.

Reservior :- 6 coots, (3 fighting), 2 great-crested grebes asleep and and 2nd year mute swans.

Insects :- orange tip butterfly, lots of 7 spot ladybirds and a 22 spot seen. Red-tailed and buff-tailed bumblebees. Also longhorn moth - Adela reaumurella.

Flowers :- dead white nettle, last of the yellow archangel flowering, wood anemone, ramsons, herb robert and lots and lots of bluebells. Showing why it's one of the best bluebell woods in the borough.





21st April 2012

Weather :- cloudy with sunny spells, but 3 hours later - hail.

Woods :- The usual suspects around, blue/great tits, woodpigeons, wrens, etc. Bullfinches and greater spotted woodpecker heard. 2 chiffchaffs singing away. With added sighting of a male and female blackcap.

Reservoir :- quite again, but sailing club was out today. Mallard, coots and that was it.

Canal :- mallards, coots, moorhens. Chiffchaff heard, and then really good views of one in the reedbeds. Male and female chaffinches seen and greenfinch heard.

Netherton hill :- 2 buzzards, another 2 chiffchaff singing, male swallow and 2 linnets.

Lots of insects around including :- first orange tip, speckled wood and green-veined butterflies of the year, red-tailed and common carder bees.

Mammels :- grey squirrels and a brown rat.

Flowers :- Ramson, yellow archangel, garlic mustard, wood anemone and bluebells.

13th April 2012

Weather :- sunny with a light wind

Only had a couple of hours today, so kept it short around the woods and reservoir.

Reservoir was quite, few mallard, one swan, several coots - one dragging a rather large twig to the nest and a herring gull.

Woods showed up the usual suspects, with 4 chiffchaff singing away. Great spotted woodpecker drumming and a pair of jays showing well.

At tabletop - 2 buzzards displaying, good show from one of the chiffchaffs and the first swallow seen on the patch this year, male flying NE.

Grey heron flew over Doulton Clay Pit, along with woodpigeons and magpies.

Otherwise - grey squirrels and buff-tailed bumblebees. First of the bluebells flowering, along with white dead nettles and yellow archangel.

Yellow Archangel

24th March 2012

Weather :- warm and sunny with little wind.

Very quiet on the reservoir. One lonely great black-backed gull, great crested grebes still here and now have a pair of tufted ducks. Otherwise plenty of mallards and coots, one canada goose and one mute swan.

Canal showed a nesting pair of moorhens and more mallards, but did hear the first 2 chiffchaffs calling well, with a good view of one.

Netherton hill showed greenfinches, one goldfinch flying over, plenty of woodpigeons and 6 great black-backed gulls flying over. Third chiffchaff seen.

Made it part way to Daphnes pool, which is deeply buried in trees and I rarely manage to find. Another chiffchaff and a pheasent calling.

Back in the woods, good views of male and female bullfinches, 6 buzzards, sparrowhawk, fifth chiffchaff calling, along with all the usual suspects. Both nuthatches showing well and nest found. A pair of long-tailed tits nesting as well. Male chaffinches also showing well.

Otherwise grey squirrels, buff and white tailed bumblebees, first red-tailed bumblebee, lots 7-spot ladybirds around and first peacock, comma and small tortoise butterflys seen.

Blackthorn flowering and goat willow catkins.





10th March 2012

Weather :- started off dull and overcast but sun did eventually pop back out and quite warm, once the wind had settled.

Again I managed to cover the woods and make it up to Netherton Hill. Some controlled burning of the gorse, seems to have removed the pheasant's. 13 goldfinch flew over, 18 crows present on the hill. Generally alot more activity, lot more territory singing including a dunnock putting on a good show.

Back at the reservoir, 31 black-headed gulls, 7 in breeding plumage and a pair of great-crested grebes back.

While in the woods, lots of singing, chiffchaff heard, all great tits spotted were in pairs, both nuthatches seen - one with nesting material, but not found where the nest is yet. Treecreeper put in a brief appearance and great-spotted woodpecker drumming. Slow start to the raptors, but sparrowhawk finally appeared over Doultan Clay pit and 3 buzzards displaying over the pony field by car park.

Otherwise, 3 buff-tailed bumblebees spotted, 1st wasp of the year and primroses started to flower.

And I wasn't the only one birding today.



More History of the Reserve



Round Oak Shortcut

This was built back in 1858 and joined Dudley canal no1 to this spot, know as the 2 lock line. Eventually it collapsed and was abandoned, leaving the bridge on the right as the only reminder, that it was ever there.

Brewins Tunnel

The canal navigators hit a mass of Basalt rock. This forced them to cut Brewins Tunnel and was opene in 1858. This saved the leggers a tiresome job.

The photo also shows Brewin's cutting, on the Dudley no2 canal, which shows the conglomeratic base of the carboniferous rocks - the floor of the coal mine.