Friday 24th May 2024 it’s 6.52 am and I’m at the West Midlands Bird Club Premier reserve of Belvide. Some seven hours and 12 mins later I would have a tally of 52 species.
Within a minute of arriving there is a lovely coal tit paying frequent visits to the feeders in the car park, a sure sign that today is going to be a good day on site.
Beyond the car park was the wood and a cacophony of sound being produced by blackcap to blackbirds with multiple finches, passerines and Warblers.
On the shoreline just beyond the wood I bump into stalwart Birder Foz who has been on site for a good hour already. I ask if I could tag along with him. Due to my mental health issues it takes me a good while to open up and get to know people so this was a good opportunity to get to know the brilliant Foz a little better.
Within minutes I’ve already got a couple of Common Terns under my belt as well as loads of Swifts, House Martins and Swallow zooming in front of ius. It’s an incredible site to behold.
Moving back through the wood Foz points out birdsong from treecreeper and goldcrest but unfortunately I don’t get to see any on this occasion. Like myself Foz likes to take his time scanning the trees and shrubs for signs of these birds.
Within minutes were greeted by a dirty looking nuthatch feeding on the path in front of us. Unfortunately it doesn’t stay for long for me to get a shot of it.
Moving on I’m found in the west end hide watching oystercatchers, Little Ring Plover that’s far to distant to get a decent shot of due to the small lens I have and a Hobby.
However on the journey there we were greeted with Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, multiple warblers like Sedge, Reed and Garden.
We then move on towards the West end track and we get Linnet, Collard Dove, Greenfinch and a very smart looking Yellowhammer at the top of a distant oak.
There are also multiple Skylarks filling the sky with song. Onto the top hide of Hawkshutt where we’re greeted with a nesting Oystercatcher and a few pied Wagtail.
I’ve been on site now a good few hours and decide to thank Foz four his company and boundless enthusiasm for this place and start heading back to the car.
On the way back though I pop into the feeder hides of gazebo and in the wood where I’m greeted with the usual feeders like Dunnock, Great and Blue Tits as well as a smart looking Greater Spotted Woodpecker.
All in all an excellent few hours spent in good company with some brilliant birding although not as good as my previous visit when I got a common crane which you can read about in my previous post HERE.
Thank you Foz for a brilliant time yesterday and thank you reader for taking time out to read me ramble on about Belvide.
Happy Spotting people and please consider doing me a solid and share this post on your social media channels or even leave me a comment below.
