Night Heron

Today we decided to go for an nice an easy bird the Night Heron that had decided that as part of its on going tour of Shropshire a visit to the county town Shrewsbury was needed and had decided that the park and more precisely the Dingle was to its liking.
As per the last Night Heron we saw some years back in Leicestershire this one was asleep when we arrived but it did briefly wake up yawn, have a scratch and went back to sleep.

Although a small race was going on around the park the noise levels were still quite low down in the Dingle so I can see why it likes the place and under the cover of the dark it can always pop down to the river.

After watching the bird for a while we visited the nearby playground (Gem was disappointed that the it wasn't warm enough for the splash area).

On the way back we decided to eat our Sandwiches at Hanchurch seeing a single Tree Pipit, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, numerous Tits and Chaffinch plus a few Jays. We heard but didn't see the Blackcap around the carpark.

Goyt Valley Tree Pipit

Having not had a walk along the Goyt Valley for a while Gem and me had a little walk on Sunday she zoomed ahead on her bike while I toddled on along after her. The aim was to see if the any Summer migrants had arrived so I could take a closer look in a couple of weeks when I am off.

Three pairs of Common Sandpiper were seen along with numerous Willow Warbler but alas no Red Starts or Pied Flycatchers were seen or even heard. But I did hear a couple of Tree Pipit and while trying to get a shot of the Common Sandpiper my luck was rather in as a Tree Pipit was right in front of me!

On the way home we took a slight detour and called in at Dane Bower Quarry in the hope of some Wheatear action. Only a couple were seen but there were plenty of Meadow Pipits around the area between the lay-by and the pond along the track, seen flying over head were 2 Raven and a couple of Curlew and finally a nice male Stonechat poked it's head just over some Heather to check us out.

Tree Pipit

Today Gemma and me went for a walk around Hanchurch woods again, this is turning out to be a frequently visited location this year but has produced some good sightings.
After last weeks failed attempt at finding Tree Pipit around the woods (we did hear one but we just couldn't pin it down) probably not helped by a Mountain bike race being held in the woods. This week we were more hopeful as the weather was better and hopefully a few more birds had arrived on site.

Plenty of Willow Warbler were calling (no Whitethroat yet though) plus a couple of Blackcap we did eventually find a bird in the usual area just off the main track along we a fly over group of Redpoll. Too far for a shot but was good to see and hear in full song plus a Tiger beetle was spotted.

Back at the carpark we decided to have a look around the clear fell area as it was another likely spot for Tree Pipit and so it turned out to be with 3 different birds located plus a couple of fly over Crossbill.

Hanchurch Wood Crossbill

Had a walk around Hanchurch Woods on Sunday (02 Apr) mainly to see what migrates had arrived. But as a bonus Gem and me had some of our best ever views of a small group of Crossbill we watched while they came down for a drink, fed on the buds of the Birch and Beech trees and even while they firmed up their bonds (very cute).
Also had a group of Redpoll fly over and 2 Willow Warbler along the tracks along with a Tiger Beetle and finished off watching a couple of Hare box and then get down to business.