West Midland Bird Club

Leader: Eric Clare

Meet: 1 pm on the car park on the Abbots Bromley side of the causeway at Blithfield Reservoir. The Blithfield gull roost can be rather daunting so hopefully we should be able to sort out some of the scarcer species from the pack.

Leader: Ray Jennett

Meet: 9 am at the entrance to the gravel pits at Whitemore Haye (SK181140 ). The gravel pits along the Tame Valley are one of Staffordshire's jewels and in March some exciting birds should be available.

Leader: Alan Hancock

Meet: 10 am at the Cisterns Clough layby on the Buxton Road below Axe Edge (*). A walk to view some of the moorland specialities. This walk does involve some strenuous walking of a few miles and stout footwear is essential. Bring packed lunch to eat en route.

Leader: Martin Godfrey

Meet 9.30 am at the Punchbowl carpark (SK004207 ), Cannock Chase. Unchallenging walking mainly along tracks to find some of the summer birds of the Chase.

Leader Andy Lawrence

Meet:: at 6.45 pm at the Gradbach car park (SJ998663 ) hidden down the small side road. The Gradbach start gives us plenty of opportunities to choose from: a moorland stroll for grouse/curlew etc, or a river valley for the riparian birds.

Leaders: Bevan Craddock and John Bennett

Our annual trip, on one of the shortest nights of the year, to see the Cannock Chase highlight species. Meet at the 'Rifle-range corner' on the Penkridge to Rugeley road (SJ998168 ) at 8.30 pm. Will certainly finish in the dark, and so a torch might be useful. Walking: possibly 1–2 miles over loose surface paths.

Leader: Eric Clare

Another regular visit, this time to the Club's own Blithfield Reserve with the guidance of the reserve warden. Meet at 9am in the car park on the Abbots Bromley side of the causeway (SK063239 ). The autumn wader migration period is going strong and so we should find a few of these birds to enliven the day.

Leader: yourselves!

Meet: 9.30 am by the Barbeque area near Visitor Centre at Tittesworth Reservoir, Leek. Following the first Challenge in 2005, we thought that you needed another chance to test yourselves, so we've pulled the meeting forward a month in order to pick up the remaining few summer migrants. Although there's an element of a "Bird Race" in the meeting the main emphasis is on challenging yourselves to find 75% of the birds that are on site on the day. It's a great site and a good day is guaranteed.

Leader: Andy Lawrence

Meet: 9.30 am at the end of Arbourfield Drive, Berryhill, Stoke-on-Trent (SJ904464 ). Easy walking. This is a good time of year for odd migrants turning up in odd places and Berryhill should fit the bill for this! Although a city site its wide open spaces, and small stands of bushes attact a good variety of the more unusual birds, with recent visitors including Wryneck and Black Redstart and there's sure to be a few chats on site to provide some interest even if the more exotic birds don't show.