West Midland Bird Club

CURDWORTH MARSH.

By W. E. GROVES.

By courtesy of the Birmingham Tame & Rea District Drainage Board, and the tenant, Mr. W. Edkins, it has been possible to note the birds residing on and visiting the marsh adjoining the Minworth Sewage Purification Works of the Board, and records made have proved it to be one of the most interesting grounds near Birmingham, the distance from the centre of the City being about eight miles.

The area dealt with in this account covers approximately ninety acres. About forty years ago the ground was used for the disposal of sewage and was irrigated. With modern methods of sewage treatment its use in this manner was then discontinued and the pools are now formed almost entirely by surface drainage supplemented in dry periods by purified sewage effluent. The flooding is maintained to render the marsh attractive to waterfowl and the ground is strictly preserved by the tenant for shooting which is restricted to six months from August 1st, the shoots taking place about once a week during that period.

The preservation is very beneficial in providing quiet for birds during the nesting season and the exclusion of trespassers is favourable to the visits of migrants and passage migrants at all seasons.

The ground will probably not be required for the extension of the sewage works for about fifty years.

The Board takes an interest in the birds on its extensive estates, and when opportunity offers provides suitable environment for them.

The marsh is bounded on the N.W. side by a private road, with hawthorn hedges, leading from Curdworth to Water Orton; on the S.E. by a sewage effluent channel; and on the N.E. by a main road, separated from it by a belt of land about fifty yards deep. The two latter sides are surrounded by trees of considerable size.

The geological formation is sand and gravel, with patches of peaty land, overlying Keuper marls.

Details of the occurrences in 1935 of birds sufficiently interesting to call for special record appear in the classified notes of the Report. More general mention, however, of the bird life observed from December 1934 (when the site was first visited by a member of the Birmingham Bird Club) to May 1936 [1] is necessary for the purpose of this account.

A conspicuous feature is the colony of black-headed gulls which is mentioned in the British Association Handbook of 1913 and is said to have existed for some years previously. Their presence is believed to be very detrimental to other breeding birds and efforts are made by the tenant to destroy them.

The thick vegetation around the pools, consisting of a luxuriant growth of various grasses and sedges, is the resort at certain times of large numbers of teal, redshank, snipe, moorhen, coot, lapwing, etc. Clumps of rushes provide a certain measure of concealment for the birds and the mud on the margin of the smaller pools is frequented by waders.

The predominant ducks are mallard and teal, but shoveller are very much in evidence. Pochard and wigeon occur, and sheldrake, pintail, garganey, black tern, common tern and kittiwake have been seen. The most recent rare visitor is a little gull in second year plumage.

Of the waders the black-tailed godwit has twice been seen, ruffs on several occasions and dunlin frequently. Ring plover have also been observed and greenshank reported.

Owing to the ground being preserved it is not possible from direct observation to give a complete list of the birds breeding on the marsh, but the following are known to do so:- mallard, teal, shoveller, redshank, snipe, little grebe, coot, moorhen, lapwing and blackheaded gull. Many species of the commoner passerines, including yellow wagtail and reed bunting, whinchat, sedge and reed warblers, resort to the marsh and its immediate surroundings.