Today I paid a visit to West Midlands Bird Club's private reserve at Belvide, some 12 miles down the A5 from Telford.
Definite highlight of the visit was this Tawny Owl roosting in a tree. A nest-box has been erected nearby and it is likely that the box is full of the other adult and the juveniles forcing this one to spend the day in the open. One sleepy eye and one just about open eye peering at its admirers. Some other images from my visit follow.
This drake Gadwall shows no sign of losing its fine breeding plumage.
A different drake in flight.
Cute: two Mallard ducklings.
Not often seen out of the water at Priorslee so admire the feet of this drake Pochard.
A duck Tufted Duck about to touch down.
Another does the same.
What you might call 'splash down' for this drake Tufted Duck.
A fine Lapwing steps out. I bet it get clear reception on its antenna!
An Oystercatcher ponders its two eggs.
A first year Black-headed Gull. It has a single regrown tail-feather lacking the black tip. This was probably because the original feather was lost: if it were starting its annual moult it would be usual for pairs of feathers to be replaced synchronously.
A rather scruffy first year Lesser Black-backed Gull. It is already starting its wing moult with several inner primaries having been dropped giving the wing trailing edge a 'stepped' appearance.
A Common Tern: orange-toned bill with a black tip separates this species from Arctic Tern which has an all-red bill.
A pair...
...pairing while two Black-headed Gulls look on.
As one flies away note the dark wedge of feathers on the wing tip. An Arctic Tern has an all-pale wing with just a thin black trailing edge.
A different pair of Common Terns. The left-hand bird is wearing a green ring with '43' on it. Apparently ringed at Brandon Marsh, a Warwickshire Wildlife Trust reserve, just south-east of Coventry.
A male Great Spotted Woodpecker. You cannot tell it is a male from this angle...
...but here the red patch on the nape is just about visible though...
...it is seen better from this angle.
The Sedge Warbler at Priorslee has been hiding away. Not so this bird.
Having a sing. Note it is wearing a ring on its right leg.
A better photo than I managed at the lake of what I believe to be a Raspberry Beetle (
Byturus tomentosus) on the petal of a buttercup (Ranunculus sp.).
(Ed Wilson)
