Cannock Chase and Park Hall Country Park
Firsty this morning we visited Marquis Drive Feeding Station, Cannock Chase, hoping to year tick Brambling. Sometimes you have to wait around a while just to see one or two, but there they were - up to 20 of them on the bird tables and on the ground below foraging round in the light dusting of snow. A wonderful sight. Also there were Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blackbird, Dunnock, impressive numbers of Bullfinch, also a Nuthatch and a Jay (both very welcome year ticks). This feeding station gets very lively and theres always good variety (sometimes including Yellowhammers) and the birds are quite confiding.
Next off to try for the Great Grey Shrike in Sherbrook Valley. We’ve dipped GGS twice before; firstly this particular bird in December (although it might have helped if we'd been standing in the right place) and secondly the one at Roydon Common (Norfolk) just before New Year. The Shrike must have heard we were coming as it was nowhere to be found....becoming a bogey bird for us. Around the valley we did see Green Woody, Stonechat, Goldcrest, lots of Reed Buntings, more Coal Tits and a few Lesser Redpoll.
Trying not to dwell on the disappointment of the Shrike twitch too much we headed north to Park Hall Country Park near Stoke-on-Trent to try for the Long Eared Owls that roost there. It's hard work finding them; it was giving me a right crick in the neck, but this eventually this paid off and we had three LEO's high up in the canopy. It was amazing to see them sat up there, seemingly oblivious to the tree blowing all over the place in the wind, dogs barking, noisy walkers and excited birders chattering away – wish I could sleep like that.
We looked on the quarry cliffs for Little Owl, which are usually there, but they were obviously hiding away from the ASBO teens who were having a party under the cliffs (surely there's street corners and shopping precients in Stoke?). Finally popped up to Tops Meadows where we saw plenty of Fieldfare, Redwing and Golden Plover (year tick), which was a nice end to the day.