West Midland Bird Club

Improvements

Press released by RSPB on 18 January 2010:

Visitors to the RSPB's Sandwell Valley nature reserve and the local community are set to benefit from around £120,000 worth of major improvements over the next three months, which will improve links with the Sandwell Valley Country Park, provide training and volunteer placements for local people and attract more visitors.

The wildlife garden will receive a facelift with a new pond, paths, flower borders and seating areas, and the funds will pay for a new volunteers' workshop, a storage facility and a cycle shelter to be built next to the visitor centre.

The funding also will enable Groundwork West Midlands to employ a team of apprentices to build an extension to the car park and widen paths around the nature reserve, which will make them accessible for wheelchairs and buggies.

The improved trails will link up with footpaths and nature trails across the wider country park, including a major Sustrans cycle route. The improved links will make the Sandwell Valley an even better place for locals and visitors to exercise, enjoy wildlife and wind down from the stresses of life.

The major part of the grant has been awarded to the RSPB by Advantage West Midlands and Natural England through the Natural Assets grant programme, which aims to support initiatives that provide economic benefit to local communities through improving the natural environment. Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust has provided further funding for the workshop and much needed storage facilities, and Waste Recycling Environmental Limited (WREN) towards the wildlife garden.

RSPB Site Manager, Lee Copplestone said:

The funding is really a great boost for everyone visiting the reserve. Once all the work has been completed, the reserve will be an even better place for a family day out or a lunchtime stroll. The end result will also help give local children better learning experiences through our out-of-classroom learning.

Due to all the work that will take place, the nature centre will be closed on weekdays during most of February and early March, except for pre-arranged groups but will remain open at weekends.

December 2009

A Lesser-spotted Woodpecker has again been seen in the wooded area near the reserve entrance and also in the same area Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrest and Ring-necked Parakeets. A small flock of Pink-footed Geese were seen flying over (13th) and much later the same day a Barn Owl was spotted near the Visitor Centre.

A snipe count (17th) revealed 45 Common Snipe and 3 Jack Snipe. Up to 4 Water Rail have also been seen.

On Forge Mill lake counts of water birds included 22 Teal, 15 Shoveler, 15 Pochard, 16 Gadwall and 60 Tufted Duck as well as Goosander, Comorant, Goldeneye, Little Grebe and Great Crested Grebe. On the island a Starling flock of about 25 birds mingled with the larger flock of over 100 Lapwing. 2 Common Gull were spotted along with more than three hundred Black-headed Gulls.

Regularly around the feeders were Reed Bunting, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Blue Tit and Great Tit and brightly coloured Bullfinch, standing out in the grey weather. 2 Stock Dove were also identified.

There were frequent sightings around the reserve of Song Thrush, Redwing, Long-tailed Tits, a flock of about 14 Goldfinch and a larger mixed flock of Lesser Redpoll with Siskin. Other occasional sightings included Green Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail, Wren, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk. A group (murder ?) of about 26 Crows was also observed.

A Raven was seen flying near Park Farm (16th).

Tom Watson

Tom Watson , MP for West Bromwich East, wrote the following in his column in the Great Barr Obvserver of 8 January 2010. 

Just before Christmas I had the delight of visiting Sandwell Valley Nature Reserve to meet the staff and join in with their 25 year anniversary celebrations. The site has certainly come a long way since Hamstead Colliery closed and Forge Mill Lake was created to aid flood alleviation work further down the River Tame.

Looking at the area today it seems hard to believe that the RSPB only opened the doors to the nature reserve in 1984 after leasing the site from Sandwell Council. It's now a real jewel in the crown of the borough.

Creating a nature reserve from scratch did not happen overnight and has only been made possible thanks to the hard work by determined staff, volunteers, the commitment of local councillors to the valley and the financial support of RSPB members and local trusts.

Colleagues in Westminster are often surprised when I point out that West Bromwich East constituency has twice the average amount of greenbelt land. Sandwell Valley provides a real taste of the countryside within one mile of West Bromwich Town Centre.

We have over 2000 acres of woodland and parkland with wildfowl lakes and the remains of an old Benedictine Priory. It really is a special place where people and wildlife mix in equal measure.

The RSPB have built up a good relationship with local schools offering children their first taste of nature and there is even now a Baby Birds parent and toddler group. Each year around 35,000 people visit the nature reserve and 3,000 of those are local school children.

There's weekly health walks around Forge Mill Lake, community events ranging from moth and bat evenings to bird ringing days, plus many guided walks and other family-focused activities too.

For people who would like to get involved in local conservation work, learn new skills or get to know new people, there is also plenty of volunteering opportunities available.

Over 200 species of birds have been recorded here and in the winter months you are likely to spot wading birds such as jack snipe, lapwings and redshanks. You may also get the delight of spotting a heron or a water vole.

Sandwell Valley Naturalists  (SandNats) have also recently discovered several rare species of bees and wasps. One of the finds was the large spring spider-hunting wasp — a new record for Birmingham and the Black Country.

I am really proud of the work that the staff and all the volunteers do at Sandwell Valley. It's a great resource for local people and we should use the site to sell the benefits of Sandwell to the rest of the country.

Congratulations to our friends at RSPB Sandwell Valley for this well-earned praise! Our thanks to Tom for permsision to reproduce his article.

November 2009

A rare sighting of a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker caused great excitement. It was first noted on the 9th in the wooded area near the reserve entrance and has been seen by a few lucky people on other days during the month. In the same area 4 noisy Ring-necked Parakeets were also seen.

Numbers of wintering wildfowl increased on Forge Mill Lake including 30+ Teal, 25 Shoveler, 40+ Wigeon, 15 Pochard, 7 Gadwall and 25 Tufted Duck. About 15 Goosander, 13 Comorants, 2 Goldeneye as well as Little Grebe and Great Crested Grebe are also on the lake. A Common Gull and two juvenile Herring Gulls joined the Lesser Black-backed Gulls and more than a hundred Black-headed Gulls. 50+ Lapwing continued to occupy the main island.

Jack Snipe were still being seen occasionally with the Common Snipe and up to 3 Water Rail around the margins of the lake. Other notable sightings around the reserve were a male Stonechat (8th), a small flock of Lesser Redpoll, Green Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail, and Reed Bunting. There were daily sightings of Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard.

Numbers of Blackbird increased, some of which wee probably wintering visitors from the continent. Other thrushes includedflocks of both Redwing and Fieldfare as well as Song Thrushes and Mistle Thrushes.

Under the feeder table 20 Magpies were counted together (not sure what this means in the song), as well as a cock Pheasant with 5 hens and several Dunnock. The feeder table was visited by good numbers of Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch and a Coal Tit.

At Salters Lane a Woodcock was seen (2nd.) and at Forge Mill Farm a Peregrine (24th).

A late-season Red Admiral butterfly was spotted on the 8th.