Highlight of a couple of days visiting family in Stratford-upon-Avon was a Peregrine Falcon flying over the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre as we came out of the production at 21.45 on Tuesday night. Yep, the production was that good! Plenty of activity of activity among the local Swift population the following night with about 2 dozen in screaming parties over the nearby village of Tiddington
On the way back from seeing the Red-flanked Bluetail (see Gloscestershire thread) Mr Barber and I decided to try to find the reported Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler near Coleshill, at Hams Hall off Edison Road just NE of the bridge over River Tame in brambles and trees around the motorbike scramble area SP.201.914.
Access off M42 junction 9 and south on A446 to first roundabout, take first exit on to Faraday Avenue and at next roundabout take third exit on to Edison Road park off road and walk under the bridge.
Luckily for us the original finder of the bird was present and was able to point us in the right direction for our second good bird of the day
Anyone going remember to take wellies it is very muddy down by the river.
-- Edited by sid ashton on Saturday 8th of February 2014 09:51:38 AM
Just got back at 10.30 from a late afternoon visit with Phil Owen to Brandon Marsh in Warwickshire - we left Hale at 3pm and arrived at the reserve at 6.30 after taking one and a half hours to cover the last three miles of the M6 down to J2. When we arrived on site we luckily bumped into a local birder who knew which of the 6 hides we needed to be at and within a couple of minutes we were both on to the Spotted Crake a lifetime first for both of us
